Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

port in triumph that they had printed and, at the opening of the congress, had received 20,000 copies of the New Testament with Psalms. Some German Bibles had also been sent from the DDR and there was an agreement in principle, he claimed, to print the Bible in German, plus a German songbook. Bratskii Vestnik had increased its citculation by 1,000 copies, that is, they were now printing 6,000 copies. Bychkov went on to list a number of other publications that were ready for printing, including a pictorial history and a memoir by Alexander Karev. Since the regional congresses had reported many requests for more articles in Bratskii Vestnik about unity which had greater theological depth, he promised they would try to comply. He also promised articles discussing differences of opinion on the question of baptism by the Holy Spirit and articles giving historical sur- veys of their brotherhood. It was apparent that Bychkov had a personal interest in producing a history of the AUCECB. He devoted lengthy sections to historical anec- dotes about their churches in Moldavia, in Latvia and elsewhere. They were beginning to expand their archives and had received the memoirs of V.M. Kovel’koy, Iu. S. Grachev and S. P. Fadiukhin,° They had also obtained the personal archives of Jacob Zhidkov, A. V. Pavlov, and Alexander Karev. In a similar historical vein Bychkov reported that in two years’ time they would be celebrating the hundredth jubilee of the publication of the Russian Bible. There was presently a project underway including Baptist pastor Oswald Tiark to translate the Bible into modern Estonian, There was an especially great need to translate the Bible into modern Georgian, since they were using a translation from the 12th century. With regret he also reported that “our Russian brotherhood so far does not have theologians who know the ancient languages.”!! They were seriously considering pre- paring persons who would be able to study the Old and New Testaments from original sources in order for them to make a contribution to a new translation of the Bible into modern Russian that was being attempted in Leningrad.'? Here Bychkov for the first time drew attention to the United Bi- ble Societies, noting their emphasis on legality and distinguishing them from the work of people like Richard Wurmbrand, Joe Bass, and Haralan Popov. 420 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War Il Bychkov then proceeded to list many of their international activities, beginning by describing their international department briefly. Generally speaking, they had good relations with the president and general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, although at times some delegates introduced proposals which they did not approve. Bychkov noted that their many visits abroad and ‘the official guests to their country “involve much work, responsibility and tension, but they are necessary for the sake of the growth of