{"id":47209,"date":"2023-06-27T14:35:26","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T05:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=47209"},"modified":"2023-06-27T15:27:05","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T06:27:05","slug":"vomk-report-260","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/06\/27\/vomk-report-260\/","title":{"rendered":"RUSSIAN COURTS RULE THAT PERSONAL EVANGELISM IS AN ILLEGAL FORM OF CHURCH RECRUITMENT"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47201″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”In separate cases in May, courts in Russia\u2019s far northeast Chukotka Autonomous Okrug fined two Christians for personally distributing Bibles and Christian books, ruling that the distributions constituted illegal church recruitment and not personal evangelism.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]The two Christians, <\/span>Ryshkov<\/span> Mikhail <\/span>Ivanovich<\/span> from <\/span>the <\/span>easternmost Russian <\/span>city of Anadyr<\/span> and <\/span>Kovtun<\/span> Nikolai <\/span>Alekseevich<\/span> from the <\/span>Arctic port town<\/span> of <\/span>Pevek<\/span>, have each filed <\/span>appeals<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley, the cases <\/span>represent a new level of restriction on personal evangelistic activities for Russian Christians.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time that Russian courts have ruled that <\/span>individual Christians <\/span>handing out Christian Bibles, books, and tracts <\/span>in public <\/span>is <\/span>a<\/span>n illegal<\/span> form of <\/span>church recruitment,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>There are previous cases where <\/span>court<\/span>s have<\/span> fined <\/span>Christians <\/span>for <\/span>doing various Christian activities, but those rulings <\/span>associated the offense with <\/span>churches<\/span>\u2019<\/span> failure to register with the government<\/span>. But in these two rulings, no mention is made of the registration status<\/span> of the defendants\u2019 churches<\/span>. <\/span>Instead, the courts<\/span> criminalized the public distribution of Christian literature, ruling that it <\/span>is <\/span>not an act of personal evangelism.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47228″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In the <\/span>first <\/span>case<\/span>, <\/span>Ryshkov<\/span> Mikhail <\/span>Ivanovich<\/span> was fined for <\/span>violat<\/span>ing<\/span> Article 24.2 of the Federal Law No.<\/span>,<\/span> \u201cOn Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Associations<\/span>\u201d<\/span>.<\/span> \u201cOn March 11<\/span> of<\/span> this year he and a group of friends distributed <\/span>calendars with the title <\/span>\u2018<\/span>What God Promised<\/span>\u2019<\/span> along with the Christian <\/span>books<\/span> \u2018<\/span>The Most Important Truths<\/span>\u2019 and \u2018<\/span>Stop and Ask<\/span>\u2019 and other Christian tracts <\/span>in the city of Anadyr<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cNo authorities stopped or interfered with them at that time, but six days later police came to the address shown <\/span>on the materials<\/span> and <\/span>accused <\/span>him <\/span>of <\/span>\u2018<\/span>distributi<\/span>ng<\/span> information about the doctrine of a religious organization among the inhabitants … in order to get new <\/span>members<\/span>\u2019<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that i<\/span>n <\/span>the <\/span>Anadyr district <\/span>court on May 18, <\/span>Ryshkov<\/span> Mikhail <\/span>Ivanovich<\/span> pled not guilty<\/span>. \u201cHe <\/span>explained that<\/span> he had <\/span>not <\/span>distributed the materials <\/span>to recruit people to his church but to lead people to salvation,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>H<\/span>e cited <\/span>Article 28 of the <\/span>Russian <\/span>Constitution, <\/span>which says that <\/span>every citizen is guaranteed the freedom to spread their religious beliefs and act in accordance with them.<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, the court found <\/span>Mikhail <\/span>Ivanovich<\/span> Ryshkov<\/span> guilty <\/span>and fined him <\/span>10,000 rubles (<\/span>approximately 150,000 KRW<\/span>).<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In the second case,<\/span> Kovtun<\/span> Nikolai <\/span>Alekseevich<\/span> handed out copies of a book called \u2018<\/span>25 <\/span>F<\/span>avorite <\/span>S<\/span>tories from the Bible<\/span>\u2019 while at a store in <\/span>Pevek<\/span> in March. <\/span>According to Representative Foley, h<\/span>e also was charged under <\/span>Article 24.2 of the Federal Law No. 125<\/span>, with authorities contending that distributing the Bibles was an illegal form of church recruitment<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47217″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”In separate cases in May, two Christians were fined for personally distributing the Christian books shown here, along with other Christian materials.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\u201cAt the <\/span>Chaunsky<\/span> district <\/span>court o<\/span>n May 31, 2023, <\/span>Kovtun<\/span> Nikolai <\/span>Alekseevich<\/span> pled not guilty,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cHis defense was that the <\/span>Bible<\/span> is the word of God, not a church recruitment tool. It leads people to God, not just to church.<\/span> He said that in distributing the Bible stories <\/span>he <\/span>was not acting <\/span>on <\/span>behalf of any religious organization but as <\/span>a <\/span>citizen of the Russian Federation who has the <\/span>legal <\/span>right to <\/span>share his faith<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d But according to <\/span>Representative<\/span> Foley, the court found him guilty and fined him <\/span>5,000 rubles (<\/span>approximately 75,000 KRW<\/span>).<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says the cases <\/span>illustrate the increasing difficulties facing evangelical Protestant believers in Russia. \u201cThe Russian Orthodox Church exercises strong spiritual as well as political <\/span>and legal <\/span>influence<\/span> across all of Russia<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>Where evangelical Protestant practice is different than <\/span>Russian Orthodox <\/span>practice, the<\/span>re are growing difficulties for the<\/span> evangelical practice. For example, in Russian Orthodoxy, evangelism and distribution of Christian literature would indeed <\/span>be <\/span>forms of <\/span>building the church. But for <\/span>evangelical <\/span>Protestants,<\/span> coming to faith in Christ and joining a specific church organization are separate matters. These court cases <\/span>are just the latest examples <\/span>show<\/span>ing<\/span> Russian courts operating according to the Russian Orthodox understanding and criminalizing the Protestant one.<\/span> It is a trend that Christians around the world should bring to the Lord in prayer.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs Korea is also calling for prayers for the Christians and for the judges <\/span>who will be involved <\/span>as the two cases are <\/span>reviewed in appeals courts.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in learning more about <\/span>V<\/span>oice of the Martyrs Korea<\/span>\u2019s work with evangelical Russian believers can visit <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/<\/span>en\/<\/span><\/span>project\/russia-ministry\/<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”47201″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”In separate cases in May, courts in Russia\u2019s far northeast Chukotka Autonomous Okrug fined two Christians for personally distributing Bibles and Christian books, ruling that the distributions …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":47202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47209"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47233,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47209\/revisions\/47233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}