Story number 4 for 12 Sep 2000

Meanwhile, we turn to Russia, where a recent mission involving JAARS and Wycliffe Bible Translators helped set a course for the church there. JAARS’ Jim Akovenko explains the point of his visit. “Our purpose was to go to St. Petersburg, Russia to encourage the newly formed Wycliffe organization. In the ‘New Russia’, as they call it, they have formed this organization to mobilize Russians to go out from Russia to the remaining parts of the world where translation is needed.” Akovenko adds that the future for the spread of the Gospel is a hopeful one, because: “We found it very encouraging to see that they were above ground, public and they had a sense that they were a privileged group now to be involved in the church worldwide. That seemed to give them a whole sense of ‘This is working out.’ It was a different sense of how is this new organization going to engage the church in Russia.”