LETTER FROM RUSSIA

[Guest Kurt]

LETTER FROM RUSSIA MARCH 27TH 2016 PAGE 1095

 

FOUR NEW, TRIED AND TESTED, SERVANTS OF JEHOVAH

In the run up to the circuit assembly we had to organise the question and answer sessions for five people as well as one for publishing. In the end it was decided that one girl would wait until the summer for baptism and so we had the prospect of four new brothers making their stand. In a country where literally 85% or so of the publishers are female it was quite an unusual event. But it has not been easy.

Firstly, Andrei, who has an opposed wife and two smart little girls, has been through the mill recently and had to move house three times. He was able to get to the convention with his daughters who were very happy to have the chance as their mother rarely lets them go to meetings. His grandmother, aged 87, had witnessed to him 18 years ago and told him it was the truth. She herself is not a Witness even now, being unable to leave her small home in a far away village. But he called her after the event and she was bubbling away happily. As he is so very tall he has been given an assignment using the roving mike.

Secondly, Anton, the masseur. As you will know from previous Letters From Russia he has also had great persecution from his employer, his family and also an old flame trying to get back together with him. All to no avail. Just days before the assembly he was attacked on a bus by a big burly drunk man. Anton got off the bus and the man followed him. When he attacked him the man hadn't realised that Anton is like a piece of garlic. That is, small but very strong owing to his body building. So the man fell back into the snow, got up again and continued his onslaught but Anton outran him. He just missed getting a black eye.

Rustem, the youngest candidate at 18, has also been through a testing period. The alternative service issue is now a reality. He knows that in the autumn he must face the call up. He has already lodged his documents well in advance, as have Konstantine, Tamarind and Dima. The military authorities must be really seething at the four of them, en mass, as it were, rejecting the army. Also there have been a lot of problems with girls at school, throwing themselves at him. But he is firm and determined to stay single and talks of pioneering in another city when he returns from alternative service in 2019. Just the week before the assembly he too was attacked on the street and given two blows, resulting in a beauty of a black eye. It was totally unprovoked. His dad, who is a policeman, said there was no point in going to them as it was just a minor matter. Makes you feel safe doesn't it? Andrei and I mused that it would have been funny if both Rustem and Anton had stood at the front row of the assembly with black eyes. A reminder of their leaving behind that lifestyle? In the event Rustem's black eye had more or less faded by the day of baptism but if you look carefully in the photos you can see a wee mark. (Just the other day Ruslanchik and Rustem were on the ministry and the thug who had given Rustem the black eye opened the door. Rustem was just out of eyeshot. The thug said he wasn't interested as he was muslim.)

Lastly, Ruslanchik, whose name has often popped up in these jottings in the last two years or so. He too suffered three physical attacks on him from knife wielding thieves in the last few months. The court case is ongoing. Since becoming a publisher he has actively witnessed and also does excellent printing for us. Over 300 Assembly Programmes and also leaflets and meeting workbooks. He also helped with the live filming onto the screen of the programme from the main hall.

Konstantine took an excellent photo from the side of the hall as all 8 stood up, our four and four sisters from other cities, and answered the two questions. There was much milling around in the foyer as we anticipated their return from the sauna that was hired and when they came through there were over 50 of us waiting for them and a big cheer went forth. All a bit over the top but nice nonetheless. Andrei and Nadia, my good friends, spoke to me a week or two beforehand about having a surprise party for them. But when to have it and how likely was it that they would find out? We had a surprise party for Andrei and Nadia for their first wedding anniversary but it was kind of bungled so they had guessed already. It was decided that I was the wrong person to try to trick them. They would see through it right away. (I'm not sure if I should be offended by that or not.) Anyway, we thought of a ruse. We had told them that we would be giving them assignments in the congregation after baptism. That was true. So we decided that Andrei would tell them to meet at his place to do some paperwork and then he would take them to my place to get my signature. They all swallowed it. Just for good measure at the convention I said to them, 'Circuit overseer is against parties for baptism. Thinks it's pagan.' Now, you'll notice I didn't say that 'the' circuit overseer, our one, had said this. In Russian there are no articles so the word 'circuit overseer' could mean either our one or any other one. I am sure there must be one who said something like this some time in history, some killjoy.

People arrived by 6.45 and all the balloons were blown up with my bicycle pump to save my cheeks. We were to hide in the room farthest away from mine. All the coats and shoes were hidden on the balcony so they would think I had no visitors. Our special pioneer elder was to talk to them in the living room with the organisation book and other things laid out. My washing and a drying mop completed the scene of domestic normality. We had to hide the sound system and speakers under my Rupert Bear bedspread (which I bought in 1985 and is still in good nick). Anton said afterwards he had got suspicious when he saw a pair of pink slingback shoes in the hall which a sister had neglected to hide. But he said nothing. Then after a couple of minutes of waffle about taking their assignments seriously I coughed loudly and the 40 or so hiding in the dark in the far away room started singing 'We Thank You Jehovah'. The four brothers' faces were a picture as the singers all swarmed in and sang with gusto and were hugged by one and all. Wonderful moments.

 

APRIL25TH 2016 PAGE 1096

GREAT MEMORIAL SEASON

Like many of Jehovah's people around the world it can be a time of looking back and looking forward. The stimulus of the invitation campaign makes us draw up our list of ones to invite and we look over our ministry over the past year and get round them all. Of course, for us here in Russia, it's not so easy in most places as we don't know where to invite people until the last minute. It wouldn't be wise if we told people of the cafe we had rented, especially if we don't know them previously. Many members of the police or FSB would dearly love to know where we are holding it so we had to keep telling our brothers and sisters not to be indiscreet. Many were afraid to miss the chance to invite someone who might attend and then come right into the truth. But the body of elders reasoned that, while there might be some people who would want to come to a meeting out of curiosity but not to study, most people who expressed an interest in attending would also be willing to discuss spiritual things with us. So we wouldn't be missing to chance to bring someone to salvation. There were so many cases of sisters telling me about men they met who were asking insistently where it would be held. After talking it over with them most sisters took our advice and didn't follow up. In two cases I went back to these men and they showed not the slightest interest in reading a verse or discussing the Bible. 'nuff said.

The matter of contacting the restaurant and booking it for the evening had always been handled by a brother who has now left the city. We were unsure who to get to do it as it has to be someone who could haggle successfully over the price. One brother was asked, a new pioneer lad called Vanya, who has just moved in from Siberia. He has a bad stutter and I was unsure if he would be able to deal with it. The restaurant has had a major refurbishment since last year so we thought they would want a big increase in the price which had been 5,000 roubles. In the end the administrator was a new woman and had no idea what they had charged last year so when she mooted 3,000 roubles, the brother jumped at the chance and it was settled. Good old Vanya!

As the three congregations in the city share such expenses it was not such a large amount. I called a meeting to discuss the shareout proportions as I was sure we generally were paying too much according to the numbers of publishers. Each elder tried his best to make it sound as if they had fewer publishers. Should we count it by the number of record cards, so that would include inactive ones, or not? Ashkadar was against that. They seem to have quite a few inactive ones. Tut!Tut! We, on the other hand have almost no inactive ones. Twice a year I do a survey and try to contact those on the list that have not reported for ages and we have managed to reduce the number of inactive ones down to just three, from a figure of 8. Some had moved away and some had died. Of the three left no one knows who they are. There is a Valentina that no one has ever met or even heard of. An address and telephone number on the list proved fruitless and the current owners of the flat where she was supposed to live knew nothing of her. Then there is a Vladislav someone. Also no one has any idea who he is. But I shall keep on searching and will not give up until I actually see a death certificate.

So it was decided that we would base the percentage figure on the actual number who had reported last month. As we had 99% reporting, while the others had only about 90% who reported, we were left with the biggest percentage to pay, 47% of all expenses. This was a bit more than in the past so as a cost cutting exercise for us it failed miserably. Andrei and I laughed wryly after the meeting on the folly of trying to fix things that didn't need fixing. The percentages will be reviewed in August. We shall pay for domestos, liquid soap, loo rolls, projector and rent of the hall in those strict proportions. Us, 47%, Ashkadar 31% and Tartar 22%. As we have three to five possible new publishers coming on stream in the next month or two we shall likely end up paying more in future. Oh, well, I suppose it is the honest, decent thing to do.

Two Tartar sisters, whose sons don't understand the Tartar language have at last decided that their sons should attend our congregation. So we will take them under our wings. One lad, Omar, is 16 and not yet a publisher but there is potential. He gives Bible readings. He has already got involved in the basketball games Rada and Rustem organise at weekends. The other lad, also 16, called Yural, has difficult circumstances as he is an invalid and so many of the activities the young ones do involve being physically active. He can walk slowly to the bus stop and across rooms by holding onto the walls. He has come to our PPP meetings. I tried him on stationary table tennis with another brother sitting opposite but the balls went just so wide all the time it became impossible to play. Maybe he can join Victor's art classes or something else. I am determined that he will go camping with us in the summer. The practicalities can be worked out later. Both have a level of spirituality which we will be exploring in coming months. Their mothers, one of whom is a pioneer, said they would not attend our meetings so they will not be 'registered' with us. That's good as it would mean we would have to pay 49% for all the expenses. If Omar and Yural become publishers we shall not say anything until the August reckoning.

Anyway, back to the Memorial. Andrei, our newest elder, was assigned to give the talk, which he did with great enthusaism and with the help of benches and 38 stools from my flat and Ruslanchik's were were able to accommodate everyone more comfortably than last year. The deaf section was being held in the rented hall where we usually meet and two congregations met there in two shifts. Also two other towns where we provided speakers had record attendances. For the first time over 400 attended and it was held with no interference from the authorities.

One Tartar woman, Marina, who wants to become a publisher, invited the man she lives with and he came along. Since then they have got married and next day we had a small wedding lunch for them where Andrei said a few words and now she is going to go through the questions for publishing. Her daughter, Leah, who studies with our newest pioneer, Rada, is now at all the meetings and answers up well. We knew there was a boyfriend, Tyoma, lurking about in

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the background and were unsure what was going to happen. Somehow we found out that he goes to the same sports club as Anton, the masseur, and they know each other. Tyoma likes him a lot. (Once again our city of 275,000 people seems like a village.) He was impressed that he was a Witness. He said that if studied he would only study with him as he was quite 'cool.' She invited him to the Memorial and he came and was cagey but not unfriendly with us, and agreed to be in all our photos of the event. He is really worried about his parents' reaction if he did study so has stalled a bit since then, keeping in touch with Anton only by his online means.

As Leah's boyfriend, I thought it would not be out of place to invite him to the little wedding lunch. Leah was really pleased I had asked him and so he turned up too and was much friendlier. Andrei spent some time witnessing to him. So the way is being paved for him to study. But his parents are strong muslims which is a bit unusual here. Tyoma turns 18 next week and he says he will have the right to study as he will be legally of age. He also has got friendly with Roman, a 14 year lad in the congregation, who attends the same school.

Very specific advice was given at out meetings for field ministry about following up on people who attended the Memorial and so now, a month later, we see several ones still attending and studies being conducted with them, which is a direct result of that one meeting.

The week after the Memorial we were expecially happy to see that three of the newly baptised brothers were auxiliary pioneering, all wishing to do so permanently. So along with another 12 or so brothers and sisters we can see that over one third of the congregation are pioneering this month. There are 18 pioneers and two special pioneers. (We don't use the term 'regular' pioneer here as it could be misunderstood. It could mean clothes size, which would be a glaring lie in my case, or it could be construed as something medical and to do with certain movements in the nether regions.)

So, despite having no literature and threats all around us, we are booming and strengthening. The Sunday meeting is constantly overflowing and potential for the future is really developing before our eyes.

 

THE BIGGEST THREATS EVER

For many years, as those who have kept in touch with things in these jottings will know, there has been much written about the various forms of opposition against us. The Society has even described it as 'state sponsored' persecution. Other groups that the government doesn't like and fears have also been doled out repression. This includes political, environmental, NGOs and other organisations. Many of them have simply folded owing to such pressure. It must really irk the authorities, and especially the orthodox church, that we are so resilient and carry on so successfully, somehow getting round the many restrictions and obstacles. Yet still staying within the law and that we keep on growing and keep on building new halls in secret in every corner of Russia.

In our province's main city another Kingdom Hall was completed recently and it was a real shock to the city police and FSB who hadn't managed to catch us building it, although it was right under their noses. After the brothers started to meet there after it was dedicated, two policemen tried to get in but were refused. The halls are now not the property of the local religious organisation (the MRO) but are now registered as being in private hands, so there was nothing they could do to gain entry. If you have seen the video about the FSB getting into halls and planting banned literature you can see what the police were possibly up to. So, in many cities, brothers guard the entrances and admit only those they know or who are with someone in the congregation. The campaign to close down MROs all over the country reached fever pitch in March and April and continues. The FSB didn't even bother to hide what they were doing in some cases and simply bodily threw the brothers out, went into the empty hall and declared that they had found banned stuff. In some cases they switched off the electricity to the hall so that our video surveillance wouldn't capture their nefarious deeds. In April the Tartar translation office, in Kazan, was also raided and with no regard for the law all those were flung out, all the equipment confiscated and just for good measure they also raided about a dozen brothers' houses in the city just to spread panic among the friends.

Now why is this activity intensifying at the moment? One clear reason seems that the ECHR in Strasbourg will soon be reaching a verdict on the ban of our literature and the Russian authorities misuse of their law on extremism. Last summer the matter, which had been presented to them in 2010, was at last being deliberated on. This summer they will declare their conclusions. A definite outcome however is not assured. Why not? Even if, as seems definite, the ECHR declares against Russia, it could be totally meaningless in any case. Why so? Last year Russia passed a law that stated that any ruling of the ECHR could be declared null and void if it contradicted the Russian constitution. Basically, their signature on the European Convention on Human Rights is rendered irrelevant. They can refuse to implement absolutely anything they don't like. The law on anti-extremism is really provoking a lot of criticism, both within and outside Russia.

The original law, passed in the very early days of Putin's rule, has the phrase that it was a criminal offense to write or speak anything which could arouse hatred or enmity against another group of people with the possibility of causing violence or physical harm to them. There was certainly nothing in our writings or our message that was a call to violence against anybody. So in the early days of this law it was harder to get convictions on that basis. But then, quietly and without any involvement of lawmakers in the Duma the section about 'violence or physical harm' was removed. Without that section the law now made it very easy to ban us and our literature. They say that if we hold firmly to the notion that we are the only true faith this causes enmity and hatred to people of other faiths.

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There was an ironic turn of events in the autumn which was caused by a court in Russia's far east. They had tried to ban a certain translation of the works of a muslin cleric who quoted extensively from the Koran. In the ensuing row over this the president of Chechnaya appealed to Putin himself to change the law and declare that no ancient holy scriptures could ever be declared extremist. This was done in October of last year. So the Bible, Koran, Bhuddist sacred works and the Bagadavita (sorry for the spelling) were all declared sacrosanct. I remember thinking at the time that this was a very perverse turn of events. Could Putin have dug himself into a very difficult semantic or legal hole if ever the New World Translation were under threat. Since March 2015 over 10 millions pieces of literature have been held, confiscated at the Finnish border. Also included were some NWTs.

The seemingly unthinkable has happened. There are now court cases, ongoing, to ban the NWT. In the latest one there were amazing shenanigins in the courtroom. The brothers, numbering over 100, had requested well in advance, a large room but had instead been given the smallest room in the courthouse, barely enough to hold 10 people. After two hours of this the judge finally agreed to go to a bigger room. During the trial, the prosecution produced three sealed envelopes which they said were samples of what had been confiscated. The judge would not allow anyone to check this and the strong implication is that the contents of these envelopes, which are to be sent to 'experts' for analysis of any extremism content, are not the same as what was confiscated. Many totally illegal procedures were used and a firm refusal to consider anything the brothers wanted to say in defense were used to get us out of the way. One interesting thing is that a TV station, called Life, which is notorious for smearing and propaganda, did a quite long reportage of the case and was more or less fair-minded. Does this mean that there are people in the media or in Russia in general who feel that this time the authorities are going too far in their attempts to ban the NWT? It's hard to say.

The Society's legal team, really run off their feet as you can imagine at the moment, applied to have the prosecutor and judge removed for bias but this rejected. It seems clear that the decision to prosecute this case is being taken from above the that judges are just expected to try to get the whole process over and done with as quickly as possible.

One statement that was made by the public prosecutor was that only ancient and well attested translations can be exempt from being banned. So, owing to Putin's statement last year, they are now having to backpedal. The can't say that there Synodalnoe translation is the 'Official' one as Russia is not supposed to have an official religion. So the whole thing could become an absurd game of semantics. (Actually the Synodalnoe is quite a good translation, despite using archaic language. But there is a howler in Malachi chapter 3. Where it should say, according to all ancient manuscripts and every single Bible in any lanaguage on earth, that God hates divorce, the Synodalnoe says something quite different. 'If you want to to just sent her away and divorce her.' That is not even a bad translation ; it is a downright lie.)

Then the most worrying attack is on our precious Bethel, liquidating it and closing us down. In reality, if we had to stop using the NWT and also never have literature again, we could cope, as the brothers in places like Singapore do. But if we were liquidated as an organisation that would be very hard to deal with. Even saying we were a Witness, even meeting in small groups would become dangerous. Closing down Kingdom Halls is one thing but turfing out the over three hundred Bethelites and taking over the building would certainly bring worldwide condemnation. But would the Russian government care? At the moment, no one knows what is going to happen. The brothers though are in great spirits and having no printed literature hasn't stopped us preaching.

The authorities are just so determined to wipe us out and many human rights bodies are speaking up in our favour. A sister in my congregation has a brother in law who was just promoted to a captain in the police force. He attended a meeting of the police chiefs of our city and the city police general gave a talk about combatting extremism and terrorism. He declared that Jehovah's Witnesses were on a par with ISIS and were to be wiped out this year all over Russia. Human rights organisations have written to the Russian parliament pointing out the absurdity of such comparisons. It really all just goes to show how far the orthodox church will go to stop us. It is a real proof that we are the true religion and that we are the most persecuted, as was prophesied.

 

NEW TACTICS

You can see that very often the authorities try to give the impression that they are acting within the law and so justify their actions. Like it says in Psalms 94:20, 'Framing trouble in the name of the law.' The latest attempts, from the province of Ivanovo are to close the local religious organisation and therefore our Kingdom Halls by claiming they do not meet the safety standards. There are laws about anti-terrorist measures in a building and a certificate of compliance must be applied for. Of course, the relevant authorities will not issue this and will simply put up barrier after barrier and block any reasonable attempt to keep the building open.

This reminds me of the computer company I worked for which was based in St Petersburg from 1996-2005. The fire inspectors came along and wanted a bribe and said we didn't comply with their regulations. The owner of the company, a British citizen, stood his ground. The Russian accountant and manager of the office was all for just giving it to them, for the sake of peace. When they came back the next week we argued that as we hadn't been given a note of the actual regulations how could we know what they were. They left, livid. They came back with a grubby photocopy of them and we did what we could to comply. Where it said there should be X number of fire extinguishers we placed three times that amount. Where it said the distances between doors and other objects should be such and such we did so in every case, well within their stated limits. The number of staff trained in basic firefighting was tripled and so forth. They were

 

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really mad when they returned and found everything was in order. They also said that the number of fire extinguishers was too many and they constituted a fire hazard. (!) They then said that the instructions we had given them were old ones so we were still not compliant. Well, we, the owner and I got all the necessary regulations downloaded from the internet and when they came the following week we showed them the latest information. They left and we never saw them again.

So, this new tactic, using the fire and anti-terrorist building regulations, seems to be a new way to stop us. More hard work and hours of arguing in the courts awaits the already stretched legal department at Bethel.

One rather worrying thing happened the other day. The Oryol prosecutor simply closed down the local religious organisation without due process of the law. Just like that. They said that the decision would be confirmed by a court case next week. Just like that. As if it were a foregone conclusion. Absolute lawlessness on the part of the prosecutor who didn't even wait for the niceties of the law to be considered. A worrying precedent.

Another new tactic is the following. For a number of years, while JW.org was being banned, unbanned and then banned again, many of have used other means to access it. For example the site Chameleon.com, which you go to and enter in the site you wish to view, without the provider of your internet service being able to know what you are accessing. Another means has been the Zenmal programme and also an actual browser called Tor, which is slow but lets you access JW.org with no fear of being found out. It is a personal decision of each one of us as to how we use these means. As well as that there was a site called PS8318.com which had all our things in Russian. This has disappeared now. At the moment we have Isa5417.com which has all the unbanned material on it in Russian. This has not gone unnoticed by the authorities and in one province a prosecutor has applied to have Chameleon, Tor and others banned from Russia, so as to stop us from getting access to our material. The depths that the various authorities are going to, to pummel, restrict and squeeze us out seem to be, at times, fanatical and extremist. Almost pathetic in their attempts to stop goodhearted, honest, Christian people from practicing their faith.

Meanwhile, the branch has sent an appeal to the very top of the Russian government, outlining all the various illegal actions on the part of the police, FSB and prosecutors all over Russia and reminding them of the need to uphold the law. We await news but have no idea what the outcome will be. Many of the brothers and sisters are already prepared mentally, to go 'underground', to use other versions of the Bible and to meet in smaller groups. How all these new measures against us will impact on the house to house work we are unsure about. But we are all determined to carry on, no matter what Satan and his cohorts throw at us.

 

After I wrote the above I found another piece of information about what has already been directed at us, and at the preaching work specifically. An amendment was added to the Law on Religion and Conscience, (which itself dates from 1997), which finally defined Missionary Activity. It looks on the surface as if were a normal, reasonable addition until you consider the timing of it. Then when you read the last part it becomes clear what it is all about. It says that missionary activity is permitted on the territory of the Russian federation but only by those who belong to a registered religious organisation. So, all the attempts to liquidate the local legal entities, over 400 of them, and now the actual central organisation based in St Petersburg, can now be seen as a wider plan to shut us up. If you live in a city where there is no local religious organisation, an MRO, it literally could be a criminal offense to say to someone that God's name is Jehovah.

Within the defined 'Missionary Activity' are also included prohibitions on the following:

 

A person must not cause harm to morality established by law and to the health of citizens, including the use in connection with their religious activity of drugs and psychotropic substances, hypnosis, and the performance of depraved and other illegal acts. [That's fine as we would never do such a thing.]

There must be no encouragement of suicide or refusal for religious reasons of providing medical aid to persons who are in a condition dangerous for life and health. [Here is an obvious reference to the refusal of blood transfusions.]

No encouragement to refuse to obtain compulsory education. [This is interesting as our literature abounds in encouragement to make use of all primary and secondary education. If they had wanted to 'get' us they could have mentioned that often we don't pursue higher education. A little slip up on their part.]

Any encouragement of citizens to alienate property belonging to them for use by a religious association. [This is talking about us 'stealing' property when someone legally wills their apartment to the Society or the local congregation. There are several cases of this each year and aggrieved worldly families usually make a loud noise and go public about it.]

There should be no encouragement of citizens to refuse to fulfill civil obligations established by law and to commit other illegal acts. [This is talking about military service, although alternative service is now available, though given grudgingly and often only after a long fight. This cannot be used against us as this 'obligation' has an alternative form.]

While conducting missionary activity the following is not permitted: Violation of public safety and public order; to conduct extremist activity; encouraging citizens to destroy the family; infringement of the person, rights, and liberty of citizens. [The fact that we practice disfellowshipping and the situation that many family members cause rifts in their

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relations when people become Witnesses has been noted. The last one, the infringement of rights and liberty, related to their charge that we use brain washing, hypnosis and other methods of control.]

When reading this one is struck by the very finely detailed prohibitions into a person's conduct which could be construed as criminal. That the law of any land would poke its nose into such miniscule details of citizens' everyday behaviour also reeks of desperation on their part. Also you are left with the very clear impression that the law is framed specifically for Jehovah's Witnesses. What does the term 'encouragement to...' mean? How could this be used in a court of law? All this really demonstrates that opposers of Jehovah and his people haven't changed since those words in Psalm were composed. 'Making trouble by the law' indeed. This law, and many other very repressive measures, were made legal by the president's signature just the other day. There is massive opposition to them by many groups. Coincidently or not, Mr Putin went on a leave of absence for several days, something he has never done before, except for 8 days during the worst of the Ukraine crisis.

LEARNING FROM YOUTHS MAY10TH 2016

We now have an electronic translation of some articles in the Insight book which we need for various parts in the Christian Life and Ministry meeting. Part of one article had already been translated some years ago by a brother in the Russian Bethel. It is the article on 'Perfection,' which has some nice thinking on Jehovah voluntarily using his free will to subject himself to his own righteous standards.

I was explaining this to Roman, a 14 year old boy that I studied with. He seems to have Asperger syndrome tendencies which make him a joy to study with as he sees things quite literally and lucidly sometimes. He asked, “You mean that Jehovah could have decided to be a bad God, to just do what he wants?” He shuddered visibly at that and it was very moving to see his realisation of this new idea to him. He shuddered again and said, “Wow! I am so glad he decides to be good because... none of us would be here at all.” He then said that he would pray extra fervently that night to say thank you to Jehovah for choosing to subject himself to his own wonderful norms. He said that while he was already dedicated, (we think he will qualify for baptism in the autumn), He would now be double dedicated, “if that's possible,” he said, and wanted to serve him forever. Simply lovely to see his reaction to this great truth and how he has increased his resolve to serve Jehovah even more.

Since then he has been as good as his word and in the school holidays has been on the ministry every day, helping me on studies and sometimes staying out late to give me company after my English teaching work finishes. Good potential for the future.

 

TAMARINDS' RUNNING MATE

He is making good progress, consolidating his knowledge and making lot of changes. He said to me that it seemed he was on a plateau spiritually speaking but reassured me that there was a lot going on inside him, lots of internal struggles he was overcoming, decisions being made and so forth. He was held back from publishing as he has a tendency to answer questions rather obliquely but is determined to keep reaching out for it. Also it was, for me, the first time we had a question and answer session for someone who has not studied the Bible Teach book, which we are banned from doing. His study is based on the 42 Plan question format, which is what we use now. It does not cover everything so we have to add material as appropriate. Later he said he now understood what being a publisher really means and so he had been slightly arrogant to have presumed he qualified. A good attitude. He said he would work towards it in the next two months.

What also helped was that his neighbour, a stocky 17 year old, athletic boy called Edik, with whom he went running, started to ask many questions about us. He then appeared at my house with him one day and we got right down to a study with him. As Edik is very shy I decided not to ask anyone else to his study so Tamarind sat in and learned a lot about how to take a study, how much material to cover, which questions to ask and also which questions and points not to bring up at the moment. I had to kick him under the table a few times when he put his foot in it by trying to correct Edik's misapprehensions. Tamarind soon learned to take the lead from me. (It's not hard to reach him under the table as he has long, lanky legs.)

What was interesting to observe was that, once again, if there is a mixed marriage between a Tartar and a Russian, the children are much more likely to be orthodox, or at least call themselves Christian. Even if the father is muslim and therefore the head of the household and the mother is orthodox, the majority of the children reject islam. So too with Edik. His dad is not Russian and Edik calls himself Christian.

When Edik started to dig deeper in the study he got a bit afraid of commitment so the study stopped. Tamarind was really sad about it. I said to him that it was not in vain that Edik had studied and that maybe he would start up again one day. I said that it was also good because Tamarind had seen how we study with people and he agreed he had learned more about what the ministry involves. It was all part of a learning process.

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SUMMER WITNESSING AND PROGRESS JULY17 TH 2016

Spring came very early this year and about two to three weeks before the normal time the usual pattern of people disappearing to prepare their out-of-town gardens and dachas took place. This is when weekend witnessing becomes harder with people not at home from Friday evening until Sunday night. Also on week days, as the sun makes its presence known after the darkness of winter, people flock on the streets, walking with their babies, riding bikes and also not obliging us by being home.

So already in the early days of May we organized group witnessing in two villages attached to the city which have almost never been witnessed to before. One, Zagorodnoye, had been covered about 10% two years ago and the other village, Otradovki, about the same. After a detailed search on Google Earth it was ascertained that about 1,455 houses were in the area so perhaps 3,500 to 5,000 people live there. One thing we discovered was that the elite of the city have their homes there and also many police and FSB members. So in a few days there were several incidents of people calling the police, three men gave their phone numbers to be called on again. We were suspicious and when they were contacted they tried to get information from us about the meetings and how we do the ministry and so on. The police were called and turned up three times and simply told us to move on. So it was decided to work one side of a street only and leave the opposite side to others for another day.

Results? Yes, there have been. Ruslan got talking to man on the street for an hour and he left his number to be contacted and they now call each other and have a telephone study. The man is working over 160 km away at the moment but said he will study properly when he returns. And sisters also have started studies which continue until now. We were emphasizing the need to talk to people who pass by, who are sitting on benches on the streets and so forth. I had just been at an apartment door and was rebuffed by the couple who live there. As I went down the stairs I saw a man who was going upstairs and began to talk to him. After reading one verse together I suggested going out onto the street which he agreed to. We sat on a bench and I was able to discuss the Bible for another 15 minutes or so. We exchanged mobile numbers. His name is Artyom, aged 32. I found out it was his parents who had been so rude to me so they don't know we are studying. He comes to my house and sometimes we study in the forested area near his house if he hasn't the bus fare to the city. He is now on Bible Plan question five and brings his wee Gideon Bible along. He washes up his cup and plate after the study so he feels quite at home. He has started talking to his friends and one of them, Roma, has joined in a few times. By chance, Roma studied a couple of years ago so he was able to tell Artyom that there was nothing suspicious about us.

After a few weeks he came to his first meeting and sang out strongly. Anton helps me with the study so he invited him to his house and they watched some good clips from our site. So now a new potential brother is in the making.

Viktor is also doing well and making changes. He realises that many deeply ingrained personality traits need to be addressed and rooted out. He asked me to be frank with him and gradually over a month or so we spoke about them and he is trying to put our advice into practice. He is being tested also in a very big way, regarding his son, Dima and his battle with the army commission. Viktor is determined to support his son in this decision, at great sacrifice of time and money and nerves. He sees even more clearly the difference between this unprincipled, cruel world and the principled, loving brotherhood of Jehovah's people.

It is now 18 months since Dima applied for alternative service but the kommandant dealing with his case has point blank refused to let him do alternative service. The kommandant said that he needs a letter from the local congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses saying that he is a baptised Witness. (He is only a publisher at the moment.) But this is absolute nonsense. Any person, even not professing a religion, can apply for alternative service.

Viktor and Dima have raised court case after court case, which have all been in their favour but the kommandant is refusing to accept them. The appeal to the provincial court is also certain to be won, unless the judge there is totally prejudiced, but the kommandant said to Viktor on his last visit to them that he wouldn't grant it. “You'll have to go to Strasbourg, which will take you years to win.” He also belted out angrily, “It is my firmly held desire and wish that your son will be in a uniform before the year is out, court victories and supreme court decisions notwithstanding. And by God, he will be!”

The matter has become so serious that he may be picked up by the military police any day and taken into custody, illegally. The battle to free him would take months if not years. The punishment for evasion of military service is severe, several years in jail. He will have to find somewhere to stay and try to deal with this matter, ghastly though it is. But he is standing firm and could well be baptised in the autumn.

 

CHAGREZ-AT LAST A CONGREGATION JULY 25TH 2016

Readers of these scribblings may recall me mentioning an area called Chagrez, in the Stepanopel province, where we tried to form a group from the basis of having two local sisters. In most places this can take a year or two but usually it happens eventually. The two sisters were on their own, 165 km from the city, with almost no response from the territory. We visited regularly and got round several villages nearby and tried to kick start it. That was back in 2002 to 2005. Nothing permanent ever came from our efforts. The area has 42,000 people, 28,000 in the main town itself. There was a tract campaign in 2007 and we hired two buses and 70 of us blanketed the town. Two special pioneers were sent in the following month, and two regular pioneers went with them. No visible result. In a year many studies were started but not a single person came to any meetings. The special pioneers were reassigned. The thin red line of the truth got very

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threadbare as the two local sisters became older and infirm. In 2009 the special pioneers returned. Still no result after another 6 months. They left. Another bus party arrived in 2010 and blitzed the town again. Nothing. The town was developing the reputation of being difficult and unmovable. Then in 2011 a sister called Xenia arrived with her partner, determined to set the torch of truth alight. After a few months more pioneers arrived, then an elder and his family. At last something began to smoulder. Renting the local House of Kultura, the meetings began to attract locals at last. Finally, the witnessing work began to bear fruit with some local publishers qualifying and getting baptised. Now there are 25 publishers there. Xenia admits that the vast majority are incomers but the locals are beginning to respond, with baptisms of locals at almost every congress in the last two years. The time was now ripe for the truth to grow.

Xenia is an amazing sister from the south of Russia who has a flat there which she rents out. She then only has to find a little work to support her in her pioneering. She moved to Bogolubov (65,000 population) also in Stepanopel province back in 2002 or so, when there were no Witnesses there. Imitating her example many pioneers followed her and started up a group which eventually became a congregation by 2008. It even has its own secretly built Kingdom Hall.

I called her recently and talked about the possibility of moving to our area. Maybe it was time to leave Chagrez after all she had accomplished there? She said that there were also two areas, north and south of Chagrez, Bolshoimurashkino (which means Big Goose Pimples in Russian), 17,000 people, no publishers and also Burlitino, 18,000 people, also no Witnesses. So she said she will only leave once there are groups in one of those places. What a great spirit she shows. I also should mention that she is hard of hearing and has only partial vision. Despite this she has been such a zealous pioneer and is very precious in the eyes of everyone and very dear to Jehovah.

 

TWENTY YEARS GOES BY SO AMAZINGLY FAST

Yes, it sounds very unsubtle to say that, 20 years going by so fast. Half of my adult life has been spent in a foreign land. Nowadays, Scotland to me is like going abroad. It feels alien and even uncomfortable. Russia has become my beloved home. Beloved because of the spiritual opportunities it has given over the years. Opportunities I would never have experienced if I had stayed in Auld Scotia.

When I realised in the spring of this year that the anniversary would be in July I hinted like mad about it so that the friends would maybe organise something to mark the occasion. They were not to disappoint me. It would have been impossible to keep it a secret as we have done several times before. The party for Andrei and Nadia's first wedding anniversary and the one for the four newly baptised brothers this spring for example. So, there was to be no hiding the fact that something had been organised. I was told to go to such and such a cafe at 7 o'clock. Wondering like mad and feeling a bit unworthy of all this I walked dutifully round to the place. And a wonderful spread was laid out, over 50 happy, smiling brothers and sisters from the three congregations in the city were there. We danced, watched excellent sketches, heard great singing, and photographed like crazy. A Bible drama was part of the programme too and a number of the lads I study with took part, dressed as ancient Israelites. All the rehearsals had been kept secret from me and it was really moving to see it all. The organisation behind it all, the responsible way all the young ones arranged it made me feel so happy and secure. Secure in the knowledge that if I have to leave Russia in a hurry owing to the present wave of persecution, the congregations are in fine hands. The fine hands of all these brothers and sisters.

Not too much attention was focused on me, which was I was glad of. They made a wonderful video for me too with warm, touching messages. (They even managed to slip into the video hints about a young pioneer sister and I. A bit unlikely considering the 30 year age gap, but they live in hope!) All in all, a wonderful way to look back on these years fondly and say they have been the best years of my life. I don't ever regret coming here.

 

THE FUTURE?

We know that Jehovah will allow what he wants to allow to accomplish his overall purpose. The current nasty tide of opposition seems to be endless. Only time will tell what happens. As for me personally, yes, there have been sleepless nights when you hear of more raids, more arrests, more lost court cases. When will they come for me? I am prepared. Plan B, another Russian speaking country, is a possibility. Nothing concrete in terms of job offers from, for example Belarus, have been forthcoming. Maybe a Russian congregation in Turkey, Budapest, or even Israel? They are all possibilities. Maybe future letters will be called Letter from …, who knows.

One thing is sure though, that I won't leave willingly or voluntarily. I won't be exactly kicking and screaming but I am determined to hold on here as long as I can. Watch this space.

 

 

The next dairy will likely be in the autumn of 2016. From where, I don't know yet. Let's hope we can keep the same old name, 'Letter From Russia.'

 

The sixth volume of 'Letter From Russia' will become available in August 2016. It is called 'Blagodarnost,' which means gratefulness in Russian, exactly expressing the way I feel about life here. I have already uploaded it to the publishers feedaread.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Kurt]

Blagodarnost

By Struan Hamilton

This is the sixth volume in the series 'Letter From Russia' detailing more adventures and experiences of Struan Hamilton's pioneer life in Russia.

source

Profile: Struan Hamilton