Friday, May 9, 2014

Ministry in Russia to Restore Compassion



The traumatic history of Europe in general and Russia/USSR specifically has serious implications for Christians. For centuries the secret sauce of success for world missions has been "Find a practical need and meet it".  In many instances that has led them to deliver high quality medical services. In that way people saw the love and care of God through Jesus the Great Physician. 

Because the Communists chose to throttle the Christians in Russia and the USSR by forcing them to stop all benevolent ministries, the care and cure of the soul was severely neglected by everyone. The church was not allowed to care and the state rejected the idea that the soul existed. The result was a disaster. 

In the midst of a 70 year reign of socialist terror, all formal nurture was drained from the culture. For example, people were suspected of evil is they showed others open respect, empathy, or warmth.  People stopped the practice of welcoming a neighbor with a smile and polite "How are you?" Kindness, the oil of human interaction was soon drained from society and replaced with a callous disregard for mutual compassion. 

Only Christians with the fruit of the Spirit can restore those nations to healthy living.

Russian believers whose goal is to build the Kingdom of God needed to relearn the Christian approach of "Loving our neighbor". Much of our work is designed to help Christians re-engage with humanity. Our books and classes all focus on listening, caring and mutual respect.

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