O Russia have you any hope?

I have recently been reminded about the darkness that exists in this country. Let me explain it to you. Before I do though, let me say that I know it is tempting as a westerner to always be able to find solutions for problems. In my first five months here I have had a long list of solutions as to how this country can be fixed. But the longer I live here the more I realise how much those ideas of mine are rooted in my own world view. I need to take the time to truly see this country through the eyes of God.



Hopefully, I can help to give you a glimpse of the darkness that exists in this country too. Then maybe you too will be moved to pray for Russia. As Russia really is a very desperate country, that is in deep, deep trouble.



Let me start by giving you a crash course in Russian history.
Russia has always struggled for identity. In the early centuries of its foundation as Kievan Rus in the 9th and 10th centuries the Rus looked to the Scandinavians for leadership, so the Vikings came in and ruled the Rus. This continued until 1242 when the Mongol Tartars invaded.



When the Mongol Tartars invaded in 1242 they decimated the city of Kiev. Some 200 houses were left standing out of the entire city. The Rus were completely terrified and traumatised. Only a few survivors remained and they were able to escape and tell their stories to people in other towns. This left the rest of the Rus living in constant fear of the Mongol Tartars. The Mongol Tartars were thus able to ruthlessly rule for the next two centuries. Any uprising was immediately crushed and they exacted their tribute from puppet leaders.



The principality of Muscovy was able to grow gradually. The princes of Moscow learnt their own ruthless methods from their occupiers. So when Moscow was able to throw off the Tartars it was only through the same kind of tyranny that they had seen.



Russians had been abused at the hands of the Mongol Tartars and Russian leaders have also been abusive. Russian history is full of stories of abusive tyrants such as Ivan the Terrible and Josef Stalin. We have all heard the stories of the tyranny that has existed in the 20th century. That millions were purged by Stalin. The truth is that deep scars still remain in Russian society. As an outsider I may never understand just how gravely Russia was wounded in the 1930s.



When Christianity first came to Rus many people did not actually come to faith. As the Slavs were baptised in rivers they took their idols in with them for protection. This is not to say that there is no faith in the orthodox church, but rather that much of Russia has never known true faith but rather a superstitious folk religion that has never really let go of its pagan roots. It is arguable today that the Russian people themselves are an unreached people group.



Russia is a depressed nation. Alcoholism is rife, suicide figures are overwhelming and the AIDS pandemic threatens to wipe the nation from the face of the earth. If current trends continue, it is predicted that Russia's population by 2080 will be 52 million. In one person's life time that is a drop of 90 million people. Putin has described the situation as a national crisis. Yet it remains to be seen what the national solution is.



So few Russians have the will to live. So many men become alcoholics at an early age. It is very common to see 10 year old boys walking the streets smoking. It is also very common to see a Russian man with cuts or bruises to his face as a result of a drunken brawl with his mates.



Russia is dying. The population is decreasing by 700, 000 people per year. In 1991 when the USSR was dissolved Russia's population (not the USSR) was over 150 million. Today it is 142 million. This is not just because of emmigration. It is because many are dying of AIDS related illnesses and many are simply killing themselves.



As these facts came home to me recently I found myself becoming overwhelmed and depressed by the facts. I found myself thinking "is there any hope for this country at all, will there ever be any change?"



The church here sometimes seems to be oblivious to the situation. I recently learnt that a church here in the city is accepting a $3 million loan from Germany to build a new building. It is easily arguable that is entirely unnecessary especially as this church may never be able to afford the repayments. At the same time there are countless towns and villages outside the cities that do not have a church at all. The average person there still believes that Christians eat the flesh and blood of babies. (A myth spread in communist times). There is so much to do in this country and the situation seems so desperate. It is stories like this that remind me that the church is not really established even among the Slavic Russians, let alone among the small indigenous peoples.



The other night I was at a prayer meeting. (A good place to start). I shared my broken heart for the desperate situation that Russia is in. As I prayed that night the Holy Spirit came upon me. God started to tell me and I started to proclaim "God will be glorified among all the nations, this includes Russia, this includes Siberia." Read Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth"; or Psalm 67:1-2 "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations." All nations, all nations. That includes Russia! That includes the depsperate indigenous nations of Russia and it includes the desperate Russian people. God loves the Russian and the Indigeonous Siberians. He has not forgotten them. I really hope that we do not forget them either.



I was also impressed by God that he has victory over sin and death. No matter what strife or trouble exists here, Christ's victory on the cross is complete. As in 1st Corinthians 15:55 "Where, O death, is your victory, Where, O death is your sting?" There is nothing that can stand in God's way. His name will be proclaimed in Russia, his name will be proclaimed in all the earth.



So I am excited by the encouragement that God gave me, that he gives us hope and he offers hope for the desperate land of Russia. I am also aware that many people here are very unaware of the hope that exists. Will you pray for the land of Russia? Will you pray for the peoples that are so desperate, that have no hope. Do not underestimate the impact prayer can have. You can change the world as you pray.



Let me leave you with one more encouraging verse that promises that God's glory will be made known in Russia. Habakkuk 2:14 "For the time will come when all the earth will be filled, as the waters fill the sea, with an awareness of the Glory of God."