Story number 1 for 7 Jun 2000

Our lead story today takes us to Russia, where the country’s new president, Vladimir Putin has sent out enough mixed signals to alarm some mission groups. The Keston Institute has released a report indicating they believe this year will be worse for religious freedom than last year. Russian Ministries’ Anita Deyneka sits on the U-S board for Keston. She says: “I think what it bodes is the extreme importance of emphasizing national leadership. It’s their country; they best know how to evangelize the country. Our role is standing behind them, and it certainly could be that there will be less opportunity for Western missionaries to live fulltime in Russia.” Deyneka adds that: “If we could pray that God would help these young Christian leaders to be able to receive training, to expand their ministries, and that we as Westerners, would do all that we can to help them, I think this might be a priority at this time.”