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April 16, 2004 News from Abroad- Remember how free we are...

Easter Celebrations of Evangelical Christians in Russian City Broken
Up by Authorities

Michael Ireland, ASSIST News Service

Easter Celebrations in Tyumen, Russia, were broken up by secular
authorities on April 14 and 15, according to a report from the
Association of Christian Churches in Russia (ACCR). Believers of
Protestant churches in Tyumen united the auspices of the Council of
Christian Churches of Tyumen in order to celebrate Easter in a special
way. Not having facilities of their own large enough, the Methodist,
Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, and other Evangelical churches
rented the City Sport Stadium for the event until local authorities
stepped in to halt their efforts. Several days prior to the event rumors
began spreading throughout the city that “someone from (the) authorities
who dislikes that kind of belief was going to cancel the Celebrations.”
On the evening of April 12 the believers received a letter of warning
from the Federal Security Service. On April 13, the Department of
Internal Affairs officially notified the believers that the event should
be canceled. That very day they received a denial from the Director of
the Sport Stadium and a letter from the City Vice-Governor. According to
ACCR, the Easter events are especially significant for Christians.
Sergey Lavrenov, Priest of the Light to the World Church in Tyumen,
said: “I can't understand why we have been treated like this in the holy
Easter days.”

Have you noticed this or is it just me?