Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

st of society with the lowest — based on personal experience of Christ's love and genuine desire to share it - demonstrate the power of the Gospel message in the lives of the aristocracy. Caring for the Poor One of the most well known of Pashkovite social ministries was an inexpen- sive cafeteria for the poor of St Petersburg, which reportedly fed up to one thousand people each day. Students especially appreciated the eating-place, with its good food, inexpensive prices and friendly staff.’” Years later, Prin- cess Sophie Lieven met an elderly Russian believer in Paris, who recalled how he, as a poor student with revolutionary tendencies, had visited the 'S Lieven, Eine Saat, pp. 29-30. '6 Korff, Am Zarenhof, pp. 35-40; Pashkoff Papers II/1/b53, pp. 1-4; Pashkoff Papers II/2/384 and 391. See also “Life of Criminal Smirnov’, in “Interesting Details of the Lord’s Work in Russia’, Pashkoff Papers 3/1; “Life of Criminal Smirnov’, in copybook “No. 1’, in the per- sonal archive of Andrew Semenchuk, San Diego, California, USA, pp. 66-82. '7§. Glebov, “Polkovnik Pashkov’, Missionerskoe obozrenie (February 1904), p. 204; Lieven, Eine Saat, pp. 39-40. 58 cafeteria regularly for inexpensive soup. The Pashkovites hoped with this eating establishment to deter students from joining the revolutionaries, who also offered material advantages and a sense of security to those who supported their cause. : Although the purpose of the cafeteria was to feed the poor, rather than turn them from their Church, the Orthodox Church viewed it as a threat. In 1882, Chief Procurator Pobedonostsev reported in a confidential memo to the Minister of Internal Affairs, “Mr Pashkov has opened at his own expense a free cafeteria for the poor, into which people are allowed under the condition that they listen to the sermons and teaching of Pashkov and Bobrinskii.’!* A 1912 anti-sectarian report explained, “In order to maintain his sectarian propaganda in our capital, Pashkov created an inexpensive eating-house, where impoverished visitors were fed a cheap meal, even for free, if they demonstrated a tendency toward conversion to sectarianism.” Soon the authorities ordered the Bible verses removed from the walls, and later the establishment was closed altogether, one of the cooks expelled from St Petersburg for giving a New Testament to a policeman on the street. Yet three more such soup kitchens were opened in late 1880, feeding 1,800 persons daily for a few kopecks each.” With their eyes opened by the Gospel message, the Pashkovites also became aware of the social injustice that prevented many from earning a living, and developed a programme to provide income to poor women, offering an alternative to prostitution. Iulia Zasetskaia, daughter of 1812 war hero and poet Denis Davydov, established sewing cooperatives in various districts of St Petersburg, which were taken over by other Pashko- vite ladies after Zasetskaias death in