Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

perienced was published by the British Baptist Times. In response, Alexander Karev and the new AUCECB president Ilia G. Ivanov addressed a letter to the British Baptist Union urging them to reject the Reformers’ claims.”? Before Bourdeaux’s book was scheduled to appear, the Moscow leadership sent an envoy to London in order to counteract the publicity the Initsiativniki were receiving, urging British church leaders to support the AUCECB but not to support Bourdeaux, who, the envoy claimed, was siding unfairly with the Initsiativniki23 Michael Bourdeaux’ s book was published and helped to make the developing public debate more factual, although British Baptists were publicly very restrained, not really supporting Bourdeaux and his research center until 1974. The AUCECB developed growing letter correspondence with many churchmen abroad, sent their journal abroad, and in the seventies in- troduced an English-language information bulletin in order to communi- cate better the fact that their union was alive and growing. During this period of international development, BWA leaders, as well as EBF spokesmen, played a passive role in relationships with the Russians. They valued the fellowship. Those who visited the Soviet Union were deeply moved by the piety and intensely warm hospitality. A few indi- 364 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War I! viduals, such as Carney Hargroves, Joseph Nordenhaug, and Erik Ruden maintained a continuing interest in the Soviet Union but for the BWA as a whole this was only one part of a very large world fellowship. Virtually no one had the language skills to communicate with the Russians significantly. AUCECB International Department When postwar foreign relations were developed, General Secretary Alexander Karev did most of the foreign traveling. Unlike Jacob Zhidkov, he was fluent in German and could read a little bit of English, vital credentials for such activity. Soon a young lady named Klaudia Tyrtova be- came the regular translator to accompany church delegations, Karev intro- ducing her in 1957 as secretary of the international department.” Such a department came into existence more formally in 1959 when Alexei Stoian and Ilia Orlov returned from their studies in England. None of the various revisions to the AUCECB statute make any reference to such a department before 1979, although the 1966 statute authorized the AUCECB to maintain foreign communications by means of letters and ex- change of delegations. Karev announced the existence of this department in his first report given at the 1963 congress but otherwise little has been said about the international department. It still appears somewhat shrouded in secrecy. At the 1974 congress, Alexei Bychkov.complimented this small de- partment for the work