Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

sions, for example, have a great degree of local independence, whereas Underground Evangelism International is highly centralized; national branches perform primarily a fund-raising function. Most of the smaller missions involve only one or two persons. The longer-established missions such as Licht im Osten, Slaviska Missionen and Slavic Gospel Association, with budgets hovering around half a million dollars, are direct contact missions. Other missions are non-direct contact missions, which means that they pass their resources on to a second or third agency before it reaches the final recipient. Although Underground Evan- gelism has a staff totaling 500 persons,°° it now provides a mixture of direct contact services and indirect aid, but the latter is particularly true in its rela- tionship to the Soviet Union. | Generally speaking, medium-sized and larger missions maintain only a small full-time staff of missionaries plus administrative personnel Much of the actual program outreach is done through voluntary labor, including the use of couriers during the summer tourist season. The majority of the couriers are college students interested in gaining experience with adven- ture, very few of them having had East European training or language . ability. A continuing weakness in this staff structure has been the superficial preparation and briefing of the couriers. Slavic Gospel Association launched an Institute of Slavic Studies in order to produce more missionaries who would have up to two years of study of Slavic culture and society, 3! The fund-raising techniques are those common in voluntary societies or faith missions, Open Doors and other medium-sized missions rely ona growing core of regular contributors who receive the organization's regular reports, Underground Evangelism and Wurmbrand have become most ——_ ee 400 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II prominent because of their fund-raising. The Wurmbrand organization sends a monthly magazine on glossy paper which is distributed free in large quantities. Richard Wurmbrand is constantly on the road, speaking at large fund-raising rallies. The organization also derives income from the sale of the many books and brochures authored by Wurmbrand, his wife and son. Underground Evangelism is the most professional as fund-raiser, having in- stalled its own computer. The address lists are regularly revised in order to limit free distribution of the glossy magazine and other mailings to contributors. Larger contributors receive personalized replies prepared by electronic typewriters. Each national branch of Underground Evangelism has a net of agents who solicit film showings. At these film. showings the dis- tributor collects: more addresses and takes a collection, being reimbursed himself on a commission basis. Both Underground Evangelism and Wurmbrand find fund-raising and administrative