Religious Liberty Prayer List - No. 175 - Tues 2 July 2002

------------------------------------------------ BELARUS: THREATENING TO RETURN TO SOVIET ERA ------------------------------------------------ The government of Belarus (in Central Europe, west of Russia, north of Ukraine) is presently considering introducing a highly restrictive religion bill that would drive Belarus back into Soviet era oppression. If adopted as drafted, the new religion bill would outlaw unregistered religious activity and only those religious communities that consist of more than 20 Belarusian citizens may gain registration. To be registered as a legal entity, a denomination would have to have at least 10 separate registered groups. All religious literature would have to be approval by a new state agency before it could be distributed. Education and charitable activity would be restricted to faiths that had 10 registered communities in 1982 - at the height of the Soviet oppression. Many analysts believe the law is part of a wider political policy of supporting the Orthodox Church (who are in full favour of the bill) in an effort to strengthen Slavic identity and unity.

If adopted, the bill would cripple the numerous small Protestant evangelical and non-traditional groups that have revived, or come into Belarus, since Perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union. They would be forced underground - their meetings and activities deemed illegal. Felix Corley of Keston Institute says that only the Russian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, and the country's main Jewish organizations would be able to gain registration. The head of the Lutheran Church in Belarus acknowledged, 'If the law is adopted, our association would disappear. Our church was practically destroyed under the Soviet regime and we are still trying to rebuild it.'

On 15-16 June, Christians in Belarus fasted and prayed against the bill. The prayer and fasting vigil was organised by the heads of the Baptist Union, the Pentecostal Union, the Full Gospel Association and the Adventist Church.

On 26 June the lower house of parliament voted to postpone the second reading of the bill until after the summer break. However, on 27 June that decision was overruled and the bill was voted on and passed. The bill was expected to be passed by the upper house the following day. However, on 28 June, the final day of the spring session, the upper house voted to postpone the reading, citing their lack of time to get acquainted with the text. The reading in the upper house will not take place now until autumn / October. Anatoli Novikov, an official of the upper house's Commission for Social Questions, which is now handling the bill, told Keston Institute that his commission might hold seminars about the issue over the summer break.

PRAISE AND THANK GOD

* for mercifully answering the prayers of his people and stopping the progression of the bill at the last moment, granting this window of opportunity for more dialogue, prayer and witness.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR

* all those on the Commission for Social Questions who will be thinking about this issue over the summer break - may God work in their hearts.

* seminars on Evangelical Christianity and religious freedom and to be held over the summer and that the Evangelicals will be able to defend their faith, witness to the gospel, and display grace, integrity and strength of conviction.

* great wisdom for Evangelical leaders in Belarus. 'We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom.' Colossians 1:9 (NLT)

SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE: ------------------------------------------------------------------- BELARUS: THREATENING TO RETURN TO SOVIET ERA

The government of Belarus (in Central Europe) is threatening to return Belarus to Soviet era levels of repression with the introduction of a highly oppressive religion bill. If adopted in its draft form, it would cripple, if not annihilate all small, evangelical and non-traditional religious groups - all those groups not in existence in 1982 at the peak of Soviet oppression, before Perestroika. The heads of the Baptist Union, the Pentecostal Union, the Full Gospel Association and the Adventist Church organised a prayer and fasting vigil for 15-16 June, to pray against the bill which was expected to be passed by 28 June, the final day of the Spring Parliamentary session. However the bill was miraculously held up at the last minute and there is now a window of opportunity for more dialogue, prayer and witness before the parliament resumes again in the autumn / October. Praise God for his mercy. Pray for Belarus.

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Elizabeth Kendal researched and authored this message.