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  by Sam Slobodian(left) of Baptist International Evangelistic Ministries. Church historian Niels C. Nielson, Jr, has called it "the greatest persecution of religion since the end of the Roman Empire". It is well known that the followers of Lenin and Marx - the most notable being Joseph Stalin - launched and maintained a brutal campaign with the intent of wiping out Christianity. Though there were occasional periods of thaw, Christians were severely persecuted most of the time. Tens of thousands of churches were closed and thousands - if not millions - of Christians perished. By the beginning of World War H, there were only 300 functioning Orthodox churches left out of the 55,000 that had been operating in 1917. At this same time, the Baptists were left with only two officially functioning churches in Russia: one in Moscow and one in Novosibirsk. Of course, this does not tell the whole story since many churches went underground. World War n brought a thaw as Stalin sought to win the support of the people against the German invaders. The 1960's ushered in a new wave of violent persecution initiated by Khrushchev. The legal code was changed to make it easier to incriminate Christians. In his book, "Turtmient Times for the Soviet Church", Kent Hill describes this period: "The attack on the church -went well beyond an intensification of atheistic propaganda; if included a physically violent campaign against the church and its members. Some children -were forcibly taken from their parents because a religious upbringing was allegedly causing them psychological damage... church meetings were brutally broken up... The authorities subjected believers to vicious attacks in the press... " Once again, many believers were imprisoned. This was the setting in which the Rumachik story of triumph over persecution unfolded. Perhaps because of his leadership as vice-president of the unregistered Baptists, the Soviets singled out Pastor Rumachik for some of the harshest treatment suffered by any Christian prisoner by repeatedly re-trying, re-sentencing and reimprisoning him. At one time, he was the only imprisoned member of the leadership council. The president escaped imprisonment by spending over 20 years in hiding. This was not the case, however, for Pastor Rumachik. After every release, he resumed a public - though illegal - ministry as pastor of an unregistered Baptist church. This made him a repeated target for the wrath of Soviet authorities. Deciding to "obey God rather than Caesar", Pastor Rumachik accepted his cruel sentences with dignity, grace, and faith. Not many survived 18 years in the Soviet prison system. The story of how he, his family and his church survived victorious is as remarkable as it is moving. Peter's wife Luba became a part of that brave group of Christians that made up the Council of Prisoners Relatives. At great risk to themselves, this courageous group of mostly women defied the authorities and made the plight of imprisoned Christians known throughout the world. Pavel Rumachick, the son of Peter and Luba, endured his portion of persecution in the public school systems. There he was singled out because of his father's public trials and imprisonments. Today, Pavel is part of a group of national missionaries who, supported through Baptist International Evangelistic Ministries, have planted several churches in the Moscow area. Pavel even helped to found one church that meets in the same cultural center where his father was publicly tried and sentenced five times for preaching the gospel. Meanwhile, Pastor Peter Rumachik's church recently dedicated a beautiful church building that was built with the help of Christians from around the world. Home| Faith Statment| Salvation| Pastors Page| Missionaries Sermons| N. F. C. School| Soul Winning| Events| How to find US Gods help page| Patch Club| Childrens Church| Links |