Russia is making expulsion of foreigners mandatory for a wider range of religious offenses. According to persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea, the new law, signed on August 4 and due to go into effect on November 3, could lead to mandatory expulsion of foreigners for simple acts like inviting someone to a religious ...
RUSSIA: PASTOR FINED BECAUSE CHURCH HAD MISSION EURASIA BIBLES
Voice of the Martyrs Korea has learned that a Moscow court fined a Russian pastor in June because scripture portions published by Mission Eurasia were found at his church ten days after Mission Eurasia was declared to be an “undesirable organization”. The court ordered the scriptures—178 copies of the New Testament and 74 copies of ...
RUSSIA: CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP DESIGNATED “UNDESIRABLE ORGANIZATION”
Voice of the Martyrs Korea has learned that Child Evangelism Fellowship-USA (CEF) has been added to the Russian Federation’s list of undesirable organizations. The ruling comes as CEF Korea Missionary Park Tae Yeon faces a possible 17-year sentence in a trial set to begin July 28 in Khabarovsk, according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea. ...
OCCUPIED UKRAINE: NATIVE-BORN PASTOR TO RECEIVE DEPORTATION VERDICT THIS WEEK
Persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea is calling for prayers this week for a 67-year-old pastor in Occupied Ukraine who is facing deportation from his native city and country because of his ministry activities. “Pastor Vladimir Pavlovich Rytikov was born in Krasnodon in 1959, in what was then the Voroshilovgrad Region of Soviet Ukraine,” says Voice ...
RUSSIA: PROSECUTOR TO CLAIM DETAINED KOREAN MISSIONARY “FORCED” CHILDREN TO PRAY
Voice of the Martyrs Korea, the persecution watchdog ministry which has been advocating for Korean missionary Park Tae Yeon since her arrest in Khabarovsk, Russia in January, has learned that the prosecutor will claim that she “forced” children who stayed with her to pray. The ministry says it believes a psychiatrist may be called to ...
RUSSIA BOMBS CHURCH BUILDING OF UKRAINIAN PASTOR IT PREVIOUSLY ARRESTED AND TORTURED
A Russian Shahed drone struck the building of The Light of the Gospel Church in Balakliia in eastern Ukraine in the early afternoon on Saturday May 23. Despite severe fire damage, none of the occupants of the building at that time, including the church’s pastor, Alexander Salfetnikov, nor the small group he was preparing for ...
LETTERS OF ENCOURAGEMENT REQUESTED FOR KOREAN MISSIONARY DETAINED IN RUSSIA
Voice of the Martyrs Korea, the persecution watchdog ministry which has been advocating for Korean missionary Park Tae-Yeon since her arrest in Russia in January, is asking Christians in Korea and around the world to send letters of encouragement to the missionary at the detention center where she has now been held for four months. ...
OCCUPIED UKRAINE: AUTHORITIES SEEK TO DEPORT NATIVE-BORN PASTOR FOR MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES
Soviet authorities imprisoned Pastor Vladimir Pavlovich Rytikov for his faith from 1979 to 1982. But now, authorities in Krasnodon are seeking to do something Soviet authorities never did: Deport Pastor Rytikov from the country of his birth because of his ministry. “In the last week of April alone, four Unregistered Baptist ministers faced court hearings ...
VOICE OF THE MARTYRS KOREA DELIVERS PETITION TO RUSSIAN EMBASSY ON BEHALF OF MISSIONARY PARK TAE YEON
Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley and CEO Pastor Eric Foley delivered a 5,000+ signature petition to the Russian Embassy in Seoul today calling for the immediate release of Missionary Park Tae Yeon. The Foleys addressed the media across the street from the Embassy before entering the Embassy. “Missionary Park faithfully ...
RUSSIA MOVES TO BAN PUBLIC WORSHIP IN HOUSES AND APARTMENTS
Churches in Russia are bracing for what may be one of the largest changes in the country’s religious life since the collapse of the Soviet Union. A bill set to come before Russia’s official legislature, the Duma, in June proposes to ban worship services as well as prayer, religious meetings, and evangelistic activities in houses, ...