Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

lectric bill would not betray the press location. Usually the press was started by hand in order to over- come the initial inertia, after which the motor could run the machine on its own. It was constructed out of washing machine wringer rollers, bicycle pe- dals and chains, and other assorted materials. It could be packed into five small suitcases at very short notice and be hand-carried elsewhere. But for 248 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II this press to function, supporters throughout the country were busy strip- ping off bark from trees in Northern Siberia, burning tires and finding other scraps of the correct metal, which were melted down and cooked together in order to provide the proper chemical mixture for making ink and other necessities. There was no typesetter, but some of the workers, who spent up to two years literally underground, were engaged in the laborious task of finding perfectly shaped letters in other printed books in order to provide typeset equivalent master sheets which were then photographed. Since no single person could buy more than a ream of paper without attracting suspi- cion, there were literally hundreds of persons involved in collecting paper and transporting it. It is difficult to obtain accurate statistics on Khristianin production achievements. It has printed a number of books, including Pilgrim's Progress, New Testaments, songbooks, and some books by Charles Spur- geon: In 1968 the first copies of the Gospel of John were distributed, and congregations received fifteen copies each. Finally, in the spring of 1978, Khristianin printed its first Bibles.” The organizing geniuses behind the publication work were Georgi Vins (until his arrest in 1974) and Gennadi Kriuchkov. Many other key indi- viduals have devoted their lives to this work but their.names can become public only when they are arrested. Local AUCECB churches secretly sup- port this work and have also shared in the distribution, but here, too, the less said, the better. Bleak Prospects for the Seventies After 1969, the AUCECB gave up on a formal reconciliation, turning its attention to winning Initsiativniki back locally. They also became much more aggressive in seeking the support-of the unregistered churches so that the decade of the seventies became a period when more churches were registering each year. A shift in state policy also became apparent. After 1966 many con- gregations discovered it was again possible to obtain registration. By 1969 state officials were actually offering registration to churches that had requested it in. vain for the past several decades. The purpose behind this was clear, and the CCECB issued very sharp warning statements.”” The lat- ter felt that the authorities were intent on permitting a large number of con- gregations to obtain. autonomous registration. These would then be permit- ted to form a new, legalized Council of Churches o