Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

in particular, the Khrushchev campaign was not very thoroughly enforced. Consequently, CCECB churches in the region can be characterized by greater radicalism, a confrontationist stance against the state which was re- jected by many on theological grounds. One of the ministers in Dushanbe sided temporarily with the reformers but found their radicalism distaste- ful. N. N. Sizov was a young preacher in Frunze who found Ilia Ivanov’'s explanations for submitting to state demands unacceptable and joined the CCECB. He, too, returned after about a year and was elected senior presbyter for Kirgizia in 1969 in spite of state resistance. As a result the Kirgizian leadership gained wide respect, which made the CCECB alterna- tive less attractive. Another change that took place after 1965 was the gradual ouster of senior presbyter for all of Central Asia, M. S. Vashchuk. Local believers dis- trusted him, whereas his successors now enjoy wide respect.>° The problem may have been, however, that the well-educated Vashchuk with his wide- ranging interests in theological trends, may have seemed too liberal for the conservative and suspicious membership. The churches in Kirgizia once took a decision to reject AUCECB membership in the WCC and are still showing great reluctance about the Moscow course, which they consider too liberal theologically. They were the ones who helped the Ukrainians Life in the Provinces 267 elect Andrei Klimenko as the president acceptable to their simple and con- servative tastes. The Caucasus This is a region rich in romance. It includes the territory between the Black and Caspian seas and includes not only the republics of Georgia, Ar- menia, and Azerbaidzhan, but also the large region around Stavropol and Krasnodar and the autonomous republics of Dagestan, Checheno-Ingush, Kabardino-Belkar, and Osetia. For the evangelicals this is also a place of ro- mance because their movement began in a little village near Tbilisi. Key persons such as V. G. Pavlov and V. V. Ivanov-Klyshnikov started here and eventually became national evangelical leaders. I. S$. Prokhanov also had his origins in Ordzhonikidze. But after the war this leadership role disappeared. A long-time, much-beloved leader was Pavel G. Ter-Avanesov who was a real father-figure to the members. Once some Moscow representatives had to reprimand local church members who literally kissed his feet.5! When he died in 1962 there were a number of years of prob- lematic leadership which weakened the church.5? Reform Baptists found support here, especially in the Northern Caucasus where state treatment was more unfriendly. In recent years the AUCECB has gained senior presbyters who have graduated from the Bible correspondence course and new growth is anticipated.*8 The North and the East In Soviet dissident circles, the Northeast sometimes refers to the region which Solzhenitsyn has labeled “The Gulag Archipelago.” From Arkha