Russian Revolution!

By David Devenish

Woodside Church

Bedford, UK

The years following the fall of communism and the breakdown of the Soviet Union presented huge opportunities for the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church. Previously the church had been severely persecuted and often had to meet in secret. Pavel and Marina Savaliev (Moscow) have powerful testimonies of conversion and life during the persecution. Pavel vividly remembers meetings in the woods. Shortly after the fall of communism, they helped start, and went on to lead, Rosa Church in Moscow where many thousands have found Christ.

During the early 1990s, a member of Kings Church, Brentwood, UK (then led by David Rigby) worked in Moscow. This led David and Jackie to start a friendship with the church and they brought Pavel and Marina over to Stoneleigh Bible Week. This had a massive impact on them and Rosa church eventually became part of the Newfrontiers family in 1996. Because of our links with Rosa, we have formed friendships with a number of other churches in central Russia, in Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, Zaraisk, Podolsk, Klimosk, ObniImprisoned leaders
carry the torch.

Imprisoned leaders carry the torch

Another group of churches now in the Newfrontiers family also have a very interesting history. Before the Russian Revolution in 1912, Nikolai Koloskev, an Orthodox priest, was converted resulting in an amazing signs and wonders ministry in the Moscow area. He was imprisoned under the Tsar and met Lenin in prison. After the communist revolution in 1917 he was released, but persecution of Christians started and he appealed to Lenin. As a result, he was given a large country estate where a Christian community that lived according to Acts 2:42ff was established. They ran orphanages and other social projects but persecution started again in 1928 and the community was dissolved.

Koloskev died in prison in 1931. Before he died he had trained a spiritual son, Semyen Makarev, who operated strongly in the word of knowledge and prophecy. He planted many churches in prisons as a result of his own frequent arrest and imprisonment. They used handwritten copies of the gospels and the rule in their prison churches was that if a copy of the gospels was confiscated, whoever it was confiscated from had to write out four more copies! He in turn trained another man, Vladimir Korchagin, who also spent 23 years in prison but during that time received revelation from the book of Isaiah of a glorious end-time church. He was released from prison in 1964 and taught this doctrine but it was rejected by many who predicted a decline of the church.

Korchagin had a major influence on Anatoly Bondorenko who was saved in 1956. Anatoly has become a spiritual father to a number of churches in the North Caucasus region, East Ukraine and the Crimea, including the apostolic base churches in Armavir led by Valery Seleznev, Sevastopol led by Yuri Seleznev, and Krasny Luch (where Anatoly is based) now led by his son, Andrey Bondorenko.

In the mid-90s, the church in Armavir was experiencing a move of the Spirit at the same time as the ‘Toronto blessing’ was having such an impact in the West. During that time, Martyn Dunsford (Kings Community Church, Southampton, UK) visited there and witnessed this amazing move of the Spirit, and into that context taught about grace. Subsequently, I followed up this visit and found a real spiritual bond with these leaders. They already shared our understanding of the end-time glorious church and the restoration of Ephesians 4 ministries to equip the church. We brought an emphasis on understanding God’s grace, team ministry and practical application of apostolic and prophetic foundations.

Divine appointment in Ukraine

Another move of the Spirit in Sunderland around the same time led to Pam Baker from Barnabas Community Church in Shrewsbury receiving a prophetic word about ‘bread for the hungry in Ukraine’. She joined a group of Christians travelling around Ukraine and the bus they were on broke down in a city called Makjevka. There they met a pastor called Vladimir Gorbachev, who had also received a word from the Lord that his church was to have a vision for ‘bread for the hungry’. This resulted in a strong relationship being formed, and Vladimir Gorbachev and his late wife Tanya attending Stoneleigh. Now Rema church in Makjevka and a number of other churches in that area have joined the Newfrontiers family.

Over the past few years, I have led a team that has been seeking to ensure good foundations in all of these churches. Our objective has been to raise up apostolic teams to care for the existing churches and plant new ones. We now have regional apostolic teams based in North Caucasus, Crimea and East Ukraine, and are in the process of forming a team in central Russia.

Our Russian-speaking churches are characterised by:

• Joyful worship and real love for Christ, often against the background of difficulty.
• A passion for kingdom ministry, including such social action projects as drug rehabilitation schemes, feeding schemes for the hungry, reaching orphans and prison ministry. The church in Armavir still supports churches in prisons where, if you are seeking to develop leadership, you need to work amongst the long-termers! I find real faith amongst our Russian and Ukrainian churches to see people set free from alcohol and drug addictions, and church-based rehabilitation centres are considerably effective.

A real desire has developed over the last few months to see Russian and Ukrainian churches involved in mission, in terms of church planting within their own cultures, reaching into Islamic groups within Russia and Ukraine, and beginning to send church planting teams to other parts of the world. A church in East Ukraine is currently training a team who are keen to start church planting in a Muslim country.

We are also developing a relationship with an excellent base church in Makachakala, Dagestan, led by Artour and Gulya Guseynov. There are around 40 people groups in Dagestan, many of whom do not yet have the full Scriptures in their own languages, but this substantial church includes many from these ethnic groups. The intention is to increase church planting from this base.

Please continue to pray for the many challenges and exciting opportunities as we see God at work within our family of churches in the Russian-speaking world.

In May 2006, elders and wives from 70 Newfrontiers churches in the Russian-speaking world gathered in Yalta, South Ukraine, for a major conference. They came from Russia (including Siberia and Dagestan), Ukraine and Moldova.

A few years ago, we would not have anticipated a conference involving so many churches from this vast area. Some had travelled 36 hours by train, others for twenty hours by bus, others an additional ten hours by car to catch that particular bus! Speakers came from Russia, Ukraine, USA, Kenya and UK.

As one Russian leader, Valery Seleznev (Armavir), commented, ‘This conference was quite different from previous ones because Russian-speaking leaders took part in leading. We really felt we are a team together, the family of Newfrontiers. There is no “you and us”.’ Among these Russian leaders, I shared about discipleship, Anatoly Bondorenko (Krazny Luch, Eastern Ukraine) spoke memorably on how to handle difficulties, Pavel Savaliev as a real artist ‘drew’ a passion for Christ. This conference was full of God’s presence. The Holy Spirit gave words of knowledge for healing and strategic words for unreached people groups in both Africa and the North Caucasus. God was speaking about new steps of faith and moving to new places.

David Rigby, UK, commented that ‘a highlight of the conference had to be the magnificent worship! There was something awesome about gathering together after such long journeys, with such a desire to meet with God. The Sevastopol church band led us in each session and they were outstanding in their sensitivity and leadership.’

Ukrainian leader, Andrey Bondorenko, commented, ‘It is a joy to see the increased spiritual level evident in the abundance of manifestations of the Spirit and use of the gifts, and also the serious and practical nature of the topics of the conference. There was a deep desire to learn how to influence society with the kingdom of God. Even the weather helped us to be focussed – it was so cold that you didn’t want to go down to the sea!’

The spiritual climate is much tougher now for response to the gospel than it was immediately after the fall of communism. Nevertheless, we are seeking to plant new churches but the near impossibility of getting jobs in some of the smaller towns and cities imposes problems. We are, therefore, starting to form businesses in order to help church planting. Edward and Fridah Buria from Kenya, who both fitted in so well, were extremely helpful in speaking into this area.