Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

existed. ttempts to Restore Foreign Communication sae an ae 1 J. H. Bushbrooke, who had had pean interest in the Russian Baptists earlier in the decade, was the ee secretary for the Baptist Nit a i ig core a zi - i nouncement of the creation of the metas as Rushbrooke learned of the new union, he ne a ee effort to resume contacts, including visits to the Soviet Union. A he in interview at the Soviet embassy in London, he sent a letter to I - - Lewis in Washington (then general secretary of the BWA), in - ic : complained that it “is really unfair that there should be an si oe visits between the Episcopal ae Sea Ae eon a ae munion with one another, and that nothing o ! een en fellow Baptists who are all included in the Baptist Wor renee we exchange ‘of delegations had just taken place ea ae Church of England and the Russian Orthodox Church. A few months 2 in August 1945, in a further letter, he stated that “to me, i is neh portant that I should visit re ae ee cree in Europe. ince Rushbrooke died shortly thereatter. es peers visiting the Soviet Union, the Baptist World ee pursued two other goals. In his letter of congratulation io the AU unity congress, Rushbrooke made a broad offer of assistance: It. is our earnest hope that we may be able prea our ee ie | i i ation regarai iet Union, but at present we have no inform as Our hope is that wherever buildings have been haart or seriously damaged, where there is a shortage of Bibles or other snleuge where there is need to train students for the preaching of the gospe Ps short, wherever Christian and philanthropic seas ane seeekia bail i i — ay be allowed to the disruption and ravages of the war—we m brothers aa sisters through the period of emergency. Could you write The Foreign Connection 361 me on this subject, and give me an idea what damage you have suffered, and in what ways it would be possible for us to help you?4 Shortly thereafter, Rushbrooke received a telegram from Moscow which in- cluded the curious phrase that the AUCECB “rejoice of distribution to our motherland of all Baptist brotherhood God bless you all and us” (sic). Rushbrooke decided that must mean a “thank you”’ for their contribution via the Lend-Lease program, but direct assistance proved impossible. By 1947 President. Jacob Zhidkov was reporting very specifically that: there were many different foreign missions who “work as they say, for Russia, though no one ever entrusted this to them.” The AUCECB, he said, was responding to all requests from abroad whether they need material aid: “No, we don’t need it.” That attitude had already become pronounced in the late twenties. Russian evangelicals were attempting to assert their inde-. pendence and above all were trying to demonstrate to the authorities that they were not a subversion agency financed by Western capitalists. These contacts soon came to an end due to the Cold War. An addi- tional factor may have been the c