Russia's persecution of Christians intensifies. Putin can't be trusted, experts warn.
Some Christian foreign policy experts are warning that despite Russia President Vladimir
Putin's stated mutual interest in combating radical Islamic extremism, he cannot be regarded
as a defender of Christians amid his country's crackdown on non-Russian Orthodox denominations.
Last year Putin signed the Yerovaya Law that bans all missionary activities in residential areas
and requires Christians who want to share their faith with others, even on the internet, to obtain
authorization documents from a religious association. It also imposes a fine of $75 to
$765 if the violator is a Russian citizen and a fine of up to $15,265 in case of an organization
while foreigners would be deported, the Christian Post has reported. So, soul winning is illegal in
Russia. If you're an American citizen, you go to Russia and go soul winning, you're going to be
deported. In December of 2016, a Russian court ruled that 40 bibles that the Salvation Army
was distributing had to be destroyed. In parts of Russian occupied Ukraine, photographs show
Ukrainian evangelical pastor Alexander Komchenko, who was allegedly beaten by authorities in an
attempt to convert him. Here's the pictures right here. Says pastor Komchenko on the left said his
captors tried to force him to join Russian Orthodox Church and was beaten when he refused.
He said this is what happens to evangelical pastors in Russia occupied part of Donbas. He said the
Orthodox Church is on a roll and emboldened, highlighting their success in the past few
months in using the government to shut down religious groups. But Christians in Russia
refuse to stop sharing the gospel despite Putin's ban on evangelism. Christians in Russia have said
that they are determined to preach the gospel and fulfill the Great Commission despite tough new
laws signed by President Vladimir Putin that ban evangelism outside of churches. Of course, this was
right after the law was passed. So things are getting pretty dark in Russia. They have been for
quite some time, I can imagine, but just pray that the gospel continues to get out over there
and people continue to get saved. So let me know what you think about this in the comments below
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amazon.com. You can find a link to it in the description below. Thanks for watching and stay
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