Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

indigenous, others imported through the mission influence of Method- ists or the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA). Contrasts here were related to the considerable statistical strength of Baptists and Pentecostals in Ukraine compared to the widely scattered and minority status of the same in Russia. A third category consists of the Trans-Caucasian unions (Georgia and Armenia in particular), which became more mono-cultural and grad- ually lost ground as religious freedom for non-Orthodox churches became more problematic.” Fourth were the Central Asian unions, including Kazakhstan. The ECB Unions of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan restructured themselves, emphasising an active and systematic mission programme” and regularly holding joint mission conferences. In both countries, sub- structures for non-Russian linguistic congregations were fostered, and their new theological schools emphasised cross-cultural mission. The union of the former Central Asian ECB churches (Tadjik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Azeri) became a shell of its former strength, and the rising challenge of Islam to Christianity, evident across Central Asia, has resulted in a steady rise of persecution of Christians - indeed of radical Islamic believers also - in those countries. What were the central challenges and temptations of this period of transition? The explosion of Christian ministries in 1989 required a period of frenzied activity before efforts at more careful leadership were even possible. By that time, the economic collapse, in Russia and Ukraine in particular, accounts for the quite fragmented way in which such programmes continued, dependent on the “accident” of foreign support of specific projects. Foreign support, especially from Britain, for the Broth- erhood of Compassion charity programme managed by Mikhail Zhidkov next door to the former central Baptist Church in Moscow and through the Baptist network, continued for about a decade. The Ukrainian union incor- 0 In Georgia, the birthplace of a multilingual Baptist movement in 1867, Bishop Dr Mal- kaz Songulashvili, an expert in Biblical and Semitic languages, now introduced rituals and robes not unlike the Orthodox to demonstrate a distinctly Georgian evangelical culture. The positive cooperation in earthquake relief efforts for Armenia between Evangelical and Orthodox Armenian congregations in America influenced local relationships for a time. 21 In both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, mission societies that had sprung up were incorpo- rated into the structure of the ECB union, the mission leaders also leading the unions. 198 porated immigrant churches in Canada, Australia and the USA, ensuring a stronger outside economic support. The Euro- Asiatic evangelism depart- ment, though soon becoming a division of the Russian Union, was able to shape some of the national evangelistic ministries by means of regular conferences on mission, but aside from initial financial and personnel su