EASTERN EUROPE, RUSSIA AND OTHER FORMER SOVIET COUNTRIES
From 1998
FAMILIES IN NEED
Families are under attack as never before, and in every country are increasingly deviating from God's original blueprint set out in the Bible. The two regions of the world where this is most pronounced are the former Soviet countries and Sub-Sahara Africa. God has placed in our hearts a deep passion to seek to help in these regions through family ministry. We believe God has directed us to these places and we expect a rich harvest for Him - glory to his name.
We have also ministered in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Norway, Canada, Taiwan, Israel, Sweden, Singapore, Hong Kong, USA, and Switzerland.
The former Soviet countries have the highest divorce, abortion and alcohol addiction rates in the world with the accompanying family dysfunction and breakdown. Sexual addiction and AIDS are also very high. Vodka is very cheap and freely available. Drinking it is part of the culture. The need everywhere is indeed enormous, and there are not many available to help.
There is evidence of wealth and affluence in these countries but poverty generally abounds especially outside the main cities. Many workers (especially men in
However, progress is being made as these countries become more "Westernised," but it seems that the transition from communism to capitalism will take a long while to be like the rest of the western world.
However, hope lies in the young people who want the freedom of capitalism. Each year we return we see a little improvement, which is encouraging.
Some of the former Soviet countries have developed quicker than others. These include
OUR STRATEGY
We believe that God has called us, as directors of the Family Resource Centre of Youth With A Mission in
We operate mainly out of Youth With A Mission bases scattered throughout these countries, but also out of churches. Generally we have had good translators. We have taught and counselled in many cities in Russia,
Much of the material we present in our seminars is new to them. This includes teaching material on such topics as family values, healthy marriage, parenting, addiction, sexual health, domestic violence, child abuse, counselling and leadership.
It is generally believed throughout these countries that there is no hope for the addicted. We have developed a teaching on "Hope for the Addicted" to counter this false belief. This lecture series has been delivered very effectively on numerous occasions in all these countries.
In our teaching on "Hope for the Addicted" we refer to the Twelve Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous and its spiritual journey of recovery which we believe is effective for alcoholics and other addicts. This introduces non-Christians to spiritual concepts such as surrendering to God, prayer, confession, restitution and witnessing. This has been readily embraced as there is such a thirst for these concepts as a result of the vacuum produced by atheistic communism. We have been able to present the good news of Jesus Christ to many of these people and to distribute Bibles. The seeds that have been sown, we believe are many, and cannot be measured.
Everywhere we go we widely distribute four of our books, which have been translated into Russian - Let's Stand up Straight and Standing up Straight (a non-Christian version) both of which deal with unhealthy dependencies, How to Talk with your Child about Sex and Happy Families (which sets out the biblical principles of healthy family life, marriage, parenting, sexuality, communication, addiction, and restoration from family dysfunction).
A brief report of ministry in the various locations follows.
LITHUANIA
At
We also had the opportunity to give a series of lectures to the leaders of the medical profession and government heath services about addiction with over 100 present. This was filmed by one of the TV stations and we appeared on national TV in
We also gave a series of lectures to medical students and other health professionals on issues relating to public health at the Faculty of Health Science of the
At
We conducted two well attended seminars at
Leipaija
Twice we visited Leipaija (pronounced Lee-a-pie) in 2000 and 2005, the third largest city in
We addressed trainee nurses and psychologists on addiction and other topics at the
Vadermarpils
We spent several days at the YWAM base at Valdermarpils in north
Our ministry in
In 2005 we ran two successful seminars in
Minsk
We twice visited
We worked in conjunction with Minsk YWAM leader David Holmes and a Norwegian YWAMer,
In 2001 we met a faculty head of the pedogogy department of
In 2002 we met with the very influential national head of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Metropolitan of all
Also in 2004 we conducted seminars at the Minsk University Urban Centre for Social Help to Families and Children for two days with a large group of psychologists and social welfare workers on family health and addiction, which went very well. In fact, the seminars went so well that the Deputy Mayor of
UKRAINE
Kiev
YWAM has a large base at Kiev, the capitol of Ukraine. We have had several visits since 1998 and conducted seminars at the Base, in churches and Kiev University for university students.
A family ministries team operates at the YWAM Base under the directorship of Yura and Tanya Sokolowski. They arranged to have our book Happy Families printed into Russian.
In 2007 we visited the Kiev YWAM Base and conducted a week-end seminar on the family. It was also the occasion of the official launching of our two books recently translated into Russian - Happy Families and How to Talk with your Child about Sex, published by YWAM Publishing in Kiev. These books a being widely distributed throughout the Russian speaking world.
We gave several very well attended seminars at a Pentecostal church in the large industrial city of
We stayed several nights in the very simple home of Pastor Vladimir and Vika Svistenov. Every spare moment he had he would get us into his little office and pull out his tape recorder and ask us numerous questions about a wide range of topics and record it.
Kharkiv
In 2002 we visited Kharkiv, a significant university town in
After a long overnight train trip in 1998 to Crimea in southern
Sevastapol,
We ministered to several addiction workers in this important Ukrainian port city where alcohol addiction is particularly high.
Russia is a mixture. Parts of it are well developed, especially in the large cities, but other parts are not much different to Soviet days. Winston Churchill once said, Russia is a conundrum wrapped in a puzzle in a mystery. This is very true even today.
We need to pray for the church in Eastern Europe. There is a marked division between the Orthodox Church and Protestant churches. There is also a division between the conservative Baptist Church and Pentecostal and charismatic churches (over the issue of speaking in tongues). Many new churches are springing up with pastors, who have had little training, leading them. They need all the prayer and support they can get.
Rostov-on-Don
At Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia we had an intensive week of public seminars in 1998. We also met with AA leaders and spoke at a combined AA/Al-Anon Group meeting. Seven members told their stories and all referred to Jesus Christ as their Higher Power. Most attended the Baptist Church. Psychologists from the Hospital and Government health services were included among those who attended the lectures on Hope for the Addicted.
Volgograd
We spent a week in 1999 in this, the third largest, city in Russia, with a population of 2 million including adjacent Volzhski, and lying 1000 kilometres SE of Moscow on the Volga River. Volgograd was formerly called Stalingrad, the scene of the fiercest battle of World War 2, where over 1 million Russian and German soldiers lost their lives.
Soon after arriving in the city we were taken to a one-hour media interview, where over 50 media people were waiting for us for questioning about our visit and teachings on addiction. That evening and the next day it was reported on TV, radio and newspapers. But that was not all! We were asked if we would go the leading TV station for their 7 PM Hotline TV program! At the Hotline interview I was asked several questions about addictions and then it was open to telephone calls. We were told the next day that it was the most successful Hotline program on record with telephone calls coming in till midnight!
On the following three days we conducted seminars for health professionals (doctors, psychologists, social workers) on addiction. The 45 present all received copies of our book, Standing Up Straight, which has been published into Russian. As a group they all expressed considerable interest in the concept of spirituality (which I mentioned in relation to the 12-Step Program of AA) and gladly took two copies each of the Russian New Testament.
We also gave a public seminar for a day on healthy families at a teacher’s college with a large number present. The rest of the time was devoted to addressing a group of Salvation Army workers and preaching in their church on the Sunday.
For organising our schedule in Volgograd we are indebted to a YWAM brother from Canada, Jack McNeil, who has a real heart for the Russian people and who visits there several times a year.
Murmansk
In 2001 we spent three weeks in far north-west
We also had a good week in another large city and naval port in NW Russia –
Naryan Mar
After that we flew two hours north-east to an isolated town called Naryan Mar, the centre of the Nenetz nomadic tribal peoples. These mongoloid nomads keep reindeer herds, and live off reindeers, berries and mushrooms. The Nenetz are dying out because of alcohol. We conducted a seminar at the local hospital teaching a group of 30 doctors and nurses about addiction - which was much appreciated. We also ministered in a church there.
In 2004 we had a very fruitful and fulfilling three weeks in two places in Far Eastern Russia – Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka. These two remote areas, like all remote areas in Russia, have larger problems with addiction (especially alcohol addiction) and divorce that even the rest of the country.
Both Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk are major fishing ports providing a large part of Japan and Korea’s fish.
Vladivostok, capital of Primorsky Province in far-eastern Russia and a city of a little less than a million people, is at the end of the Trans-Siberian railway. It was a former important USSR naval base but is now liberated and free for Westerners to visit. Being part of Asia it is very much influenced by the East. It is slowly developing into a significant Asian city.
At Vladivostok we ministered each day for a week on family values, addiction, leadership and healthy sexuality in a large charismatic church and its associated theological college. The church is very active in planting other similar churches through the Primorsky region. Thirty such churches have already been established.
Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky
From Vladivostok we travelled to Petropavlovsk, capital of Kamchatka Province, is a very remote part of Russia, over three hours further North East not far from where Russia meets Alaska. It is a city of 270.000 people. The temperature ranged from -15 degrees to zero, with a lot of snow. Kamchatka is called the “Land of fire and ice.” As well as being one of the coldest parts of Russia it is very mountainous and has 30 active volcanoes, some of which erupt every now and then. Three large volcanoes, twice a high as Kosciusko, are close to the city, and one of these is constantly pouring out smoke. There are many geysers, boiling mud pools, and hot springs (we swam in one of them with snow all around us). Kamchatka also has over 10,000 brown bears.
At Petropavlovsk, we stayed on the YWAM Base, teaching for a week on relationships and sexuality at the Discipleship Training School on, and we ministered every day in the two largest churches in the Province. These churches are also very active in planting similar churches throughout the Province. We also visited the Medical College and addressed 100 nurses on the subject of “Hope for the Addicted,” and also 40 speech therapists on family values. We were also able to address a group of dentists at the dental clinic. It was not easy staying on the YWAM Base with the very basic accommodation and food but it was a very productive time. They are all pleading with us to return for more ministry.The needs in the family are very great (second only to Africa) in all former Soviet countries. They have the highest divorce rates and alcohol addiction in the world, and other addictions are also rampant. AIDS is a very big problem.
. . 
Bruce teaching with translator in Russia
KAZAKSTAN
Almaty
Kazakhstan is one of the five republics of Central Asia, which were part of the Soviet Union in the past. It was a country of nomadic herders before Stalin ruthlessly forced the KAZAK nomads to take up grazing. It also became a place to exile his opposers such as Trotsky, Solzenitzin, many Germans and Koreans and others. It became an artificial country of 17 million people with many grey concrete cities interspersed throughout. Things are rapidly changing now it has its independence. The Kazaks (people like the Mongols – descendants of Genghis Khan) are now in the ascendancy and have regained control of the country.
In 1999 YWAM workers, David and Cathy Pratten from Australia, arranged an excellent and very full schedule for us in Almaty, the largest city of 1˝ million. This involved addressing doctors at two medical clinics and in a postgraduate seminar, two high schools, a two-day public seminar on addictions. We spoke for two days on healthy families at a Russian/Kazak seminary to over 100 students and at two large churches on the Sunday. We were also able to encourage the 17 YWAM workers in Kazakhstan, who we met with.
ARMENIA
The
Yerevan
At
The training program was arranged by a missionary, Alan Gogbashian of the American Global Corporation International which trains university students in Eastern European in leadership, and in doing so are able to skillfully introduce Christianity to them.
We also worked with a Norwegian YWAM group led by Ola Osttveit and spoke in several churches and visited several Christian workers in various locations in Armenia such as the towns of Sietak and Gymri. We visited an Orthodox ministry at Sevan and were able to address some of the students and leave copies of our books in Russian with them which they greatly appreciated.
MONGOLIA
In 2007 I visited Mongolia for two weeks of teaching about addiction and sexuality to 40 Mongolian students doing a 6 week Family Ministry Course at the YWAM Base at Darhan City (second city of Mongolia) only one and a half hours by car from the Siberian border.
It was an excellent time with the students who were very enthusiastic and thirsty for truth, and highly appreciative.
YWAM Mongolia is under the directorship of a very capable Korean brother and sister, Hae Young and
The Mongolian people are similar to the Koreans in many ways, clever, enterprising, and very proud of their Genghis Khan history. Many Koreans live and work there.
Mongolia is a big country with only two and a half million people with over half living in the cities (mainly Ulaan Bataar – the capital) and the other half being nomadic herders. A large part of the country is desert (
When I was there in April it was cold (-15 degrees) and very dry, dirty and dusty. However, it is beautiful in summer.
