Pray for Romania & Russia

Today we lift in prayer Romania.  Seventh-day Adventists in Romania are Europe’s largest community of believers and are positively impacting even neighbouring countries.  Just this year church members distributed ½ million of Great Controversy copies!  Since the fall of communism the church planting has been very active, reaching every community. The country also has the largest presence of Roma (Gypsies).  Pray that the gospel work would have no limits, and church members would embrace ethnic and class differences, loving all, serving the needs of the poor.

Starting tomorrow we will pray one week for Russia.  The largest country in the world by territorial extent, it is 8^th by population, having large distances between people and settlements in most areas (just like Canada, Mongolia, Libya, etc.).  9 time zones span between Baltic and Pacific.  Western Russia is more densely populated and has two federal cities Moscow (the most expensive in the world to live in!) with over 10 million population, and St.Petersburg with 5 million people.  Pray for these policy making cities to be influenced by justice, righteousness, and Godly values.

The Russian Orthodox Church has very strong influence over the army, politics and minds of people.   Just this last week I watched a “crusade” by members of the Orthodox church destroy an Adventist literature booth (check my FB blog/status).  Pray for religious freedom to be protected in Russia.

Decades of corrupt practices also affected the church structures, where bribery is accepted as normal.  Pray that Adventist church would be an example of integrity, transparency and honesty to the people of the land.

Special need for prayer is for the Caucasus region with its autonomous republics of Adygea, Karachay–Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia–Alania, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan are in continuous turmoil of ethnic infighting, terrorism, clashes between armed forces and local militants.  Islamism is on the rise and local cultural traditions are used as an excuse for un lawful practices.  The Adventist church is very small in those regions.  Pray for safety and protection of pastors and missionaries.

Pray for the youth of Russia, lured by rapidly growing materialistic culture, Russian version of free-enterprise, rule of oligarchs – their interest is in secular pursuits, pleasure and quick money.  Pray for spiritual revival of basic godliness.  Pray for existent churches to drop traditionalism and embrace seekers.

AIDS epidemic in major cities is reaching catastrophic proportions, homeless population is growing, alcoholism is “national disaster” – highest world rates of alcohol induced diseases, also contributing to violence.  High rate of human trafficking and slavery of children is also a concern of human rights activists.  Pray for God’s protection of people and opportunities of hope in Russia.