"Favor" on the land of Ryazan
2022-07-12

"Favor" on the land of Ryazan

Recently, in the Ryazan region, against the backdrop of the summer landscape, surrounded by forests, fields and lakes, a special congress of churches of Russian Evangelical Christian-Baptists "Favor-2022" was held under the motto: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever" - (Heb. 13:8).

The entire program of the congress was devoted to a significant date - the 155th anniversary of the Evangelical-Baptist movement in Russia.

In reports, testimonies and sermons, the original path of our Baptist brotherhood was explained, by which we were able to see a clear picture of our rich history.

Those who had gone before us had to experience much suffering and persecution for preaching the gospel. The furious persecutors of tsarist times and the persecutors of Soviet times failed to crush the Church of Jesus Christ, largely due to the sacrificial sufferers for the faith.

During the program, a "prisoner's page" was launched to play short documentaries about God's faithful servants of the Ryazan region, who experienced many years of bonds and exile for the advancement of spiritual enlightenment for the peoples of Russia.

The filmmakers captured the fate of Sergei Golev, Anatoly Redin, Nikolai Popov, Georgy Kudryashov, who bore the burden of ministering to heal the sick and preached the Word of God to perishing sinners with great boldness.

Those present heard testimony about the Zhirov families ministry, as they provided an attic space for an illegal printing house that published more than 100 Christian literature titles.

These faithful believers helped in the formation of theology of our confession, martyrdom and the theology of life, which determined the originality and traditions of Russian Baptists. This rich spiritual experience during the years of trials helped the Russian Baptists to avoid falling into Calvinism or Arminianism. In theology and doctrinal practice, Russian Baptists kept to the golden mean, preserved spiritual wisdom and sobriety, developed a balanced, versatile, balanced approach to various systems of theology.

In the 1960s, writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn worked on the land of Ryazan for 12 years. At the Ryazan school, he taught mathematics and physics. Here he wrote his famous story "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", where the image of Alyoshka the Baptist is displayed. Soviet editors demanded that the Baptist be removed from the text, but the writer was adamant. Why was the portrait of a Baptist so dear to Solzhenitsyn?  Solzhenitsyn had many Baptist friends among his fellow campers, and as an honest artist and Christian, he could not fail to capture their feat of faith. Alexander Solzhenitsyn considered Alyoshka the Baptist a part of Russian spirituality, Russian history and Russian culture.

Also many poems and songs were performed by the combined choir of churches, children's choir and the youth literary and musical composition "Heroes of Faith." Their contributions also corresponded to the main motif of the congress.

The final sermon was delivered by the guest, Senior Pastor from the neighboring Tambov region, Anatoly Alipichev. He called those present, relying on the example and experience of their predecessors, to embody the love of Christ, which extends not only to neighbors, loved ones and friends, but also to our enemies.

The program of the congress was led by Andrey Krylov, senior pastor of the association of UECB Ryazan churches. Summing up the festive thematic meeting, he expressed special gratitude to the Ukholovo "Resurrection" Church, which blessed the attendees by being the hosts to this wonderful conference. And on behalf of all Ryazan residents and guests, everyone agreed that this time of fellowship served as a source of inspiration and encouragement in order to continue the work of those who have gone before us.

Vladimir Popov.

 
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