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• The former Soviet Union is one of the most fertile fields for evangelism today!

• After 70 years of Communism, people are searching for truth. Truth that can only be found through Jesus.

• Russian moral standards are wanting. Alcohol is destroying many families and the most vulnerable are the children.

• Each day is a struggle for survival for many people, especially the elderly and the single parent family.


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Updates Archive

September 7, 2004 Update – Beslan Confronts the Unthinkable

Dear Friends in Christ,

Russia is today in mourning for the heart-breaking loss of young and innocent lives.  Bit by bit, the full horror of Beslan will become apparent.  Never before has the world witnessed so many children being taken hostage.  Never before has the world witnessed so many innocent children slaughtered in seemingly peaceful times. 

First-Hand Account as told by our missionary Germen Djeriev, located in Beslan, Russia

In Beslan, the physical and psychological toll of the siege and its deadly end on Friday continue to mount.  Our missionary can only describe the town as in “pain.” 

On September 1, Pastor Taymuraz Totiev, Pastor of Russian Baptist Union, had five children.  As of today, one daughter is alive, two are dead and two are still missing.  His wife, Ray, is so badly in shock she has been unable to even begin to cry and grieve. 

His brother’s family had three children.  One child is still missing; and the lifeless body of one of their daughters was found.  One child was wounded in the eye and the optical surgeons are trying to save the sight of the eye.

Last year’s Safe Haven Summer Camp (that Russian Missions ran in this town) included approximately 40 children from the area.  Fifteen of these children are now with the Lord.

Humanitarian aid has gone out to so many grief stricken families.  For example, although they are not a member of the local Baptist Church, Russian Missions has assisted with the funeral expenses of the Guldaeva family.  The mother, Elza, and her two children were hostages.  The mother and the oldest daughter (Isa) were killed.  Alina who is around 10 was shot in the back.  The bullet hit her spinal cord. 

The local Baptist Church’s Sunday School teacher, Sedakova and her son, Zaurk, were both hostages and killed.

The stories of loss are endless.  Survivors will never totally recover from this emotional trauma.  The rescue workers, who descended on the chaotic scene and especially the relatives, will always wrestle with the tragedy.  The side effects can linger for years after such a tragic disaster.  Alcohol abuse, drug addiction, divorce and suicide rates rise as people try to cope and go on with their lives.  A simple thing like stepping on broken glass can stir painful memories.  The loss of a loved one to a bombing incident can be more overwhelming than losing someone to another, more common tragedy.  People may need more time to mourn.  Children who lost parents may begin having nightmares when they return to school or when some other stressful change occurs in their lives. 

Please continue to pray for my homeland.  God’s work has only begun in Beslan. 

We have created a humanitarian and spiritual assistance fund—Beslan’s Youthful Treasures Appeal.  These children and their families have a multitude of needs in order to return to something like normal life.  You can go immediately to our website for donation information or call our office (215) 354-0929.  Thank you and God Bless You!

Rev. Alexander Yuchkovski
(Pastor Sasha)

Background

Wails of sorrow echoed through the streets of Beslan in wake of the hostage-taking that left more than 380 people dead—nearly half of them children.  Officials said that the final figure would be even higher.  The din of hammers could be heard as carpenters toiled in the humid air to make enough coffins for the dead.  Stacked outside the town hall, the crude caskets, hewn from cheap local limewood, served as a symbol of the atrocity. 

The teaching and technical staff of the school numbered 60.  Four of the teachers were killed.  More than 700 people were wounded—mostly children.  Medical officers reported that hospitals were struggling to cope with hundreds wounded.  Twenty-three of the most badly injured patients were in Moscow and 11 in the southern city of Rosto-on-Don.  Over 448 people remain hospitalized and about 80 remained in critical condition. 

Churches were filled with shawl-clad grandmothers and relatives praying for their loved ones caught up in the attack on their school, in an effort to find solace and some kind of explanation for the violence that had shattered their lives. 

Volunteers, many of them relatives of the dead, dug graves in a football field-sized area next to the town cemetery while surveyors across the road marked out new plots with stakes and string.  Hundreds of mourners many clutching wild flowers, gathered at the graveside of teenagers sisters Irina and Alina Tetova.  As horns played a dirge, relatives tearfully embraced the youngsters in their open coffins.

As the first funerals began, thousands lined Beslan’s main street clutching photographs of those they had lost.  In the town emergency workers completed their task of searching for bodies amid the smoldering rubble of the school where the bloodbath occurred.  Dozens of people crowded around lists of survivors posted at the local hospital, searching desperately for news of loved ones who were not yet accounted for-that number looms at 180 people still missing.  Many relatives are praying that their missing loved ones will be found among the wounded who were sent throughout southern Russia’s regional hospitals

According to our information, 32-35 terrorists had been involved in the hostage-taking; the bodies of 30 had been found.  The school tragedy left few families untouched in the tight-knit, mostly industrial town 1,000 miles south of Moscow.  The population of 30,000 still keeps the life in a village atmosphere in which many leave their doors unlocked.  Most people of Beslan had a relative, friend or neighbor killed or wounded.  Light rain fell on funeral processions as they snaked through the streets and weeping mourners placed flowers and wreaths at the graves.  At the school, window sills remained strewn with red and pink roses and, in the playground; children’s shoes littered the ground.  Grief, anger and uncertainty mingled in Beslan days after the crisis ended.

Over the weekend, bodies were laid out in the yard of the school, most in body bags but some, lay uncovered beneath a window.  Bewildered relatives gathered at Beslan’s cinema where officials were due to provide details of the dead and injured.  Many relatives were angry at the way the crisis had been handled by security forces.

Officials said that most victims died in the school’s gymnasium on Friday, either from the explosions that brought down the roof – mined by the hostage-takers - or the battles between soldiers and captors that followed.

Benchmark of Strangeness

No matter how repugnant a place Middle School No. 1 had become, the townspeople couldn’t turn away.  They wandered by the hundreds, leading each other from place to place.  Some sifted through the rubble and pulled out hints of the terrorists’ preparations: abandoned gas masks, compasses, bags of dried soup, first aid gear, etc.  Uncountable thousands of bullet holes and shrapnel-marks scarred the walls.  Blood-soaked bandages littered the floor.  New badminton rackets were bundled together among the dust and debris, as were an assortment of brightly-colored jump ropes.  On the auditorium’s stage, a large cut-out display read “Happy Holiday.”  Dried bouquets of roses and field flowers brought to the teachers for the first day of school were tossed aside - never used as they had been intended. 

There was evidence that the attackers had secreted a cache of weapons or other equipment weeks and perhaps months before their attack – possibly during a seemingly innocuous summer renovation.  Holes in the library’s floor, underscored the sophistication and coordination that have increasingly characterized the attacks that have recently shaken the country.

The school will be demolished and replaced by a memorial to the victims.  A new school will be built elsewhere.

Please monitor our website: russianmissions.org for current information.

 

September 8, 2004 Update – Mass Funerals in Beslan while Russia Mourns

Dear Friends in Christ,

Thank you for your continued support of Russian Missions, the people of Beslan and all the people of Russia.  I share with you some points to ponder: 

  • Iraq war casualties for a full year - 1,000 soldiers – average age 26 years
  • If this had happened in New York City – There would have been 76,000 deaths
  • Beslan’s population is 30,000 – Deaths to date >380 – one half are school-aged children

(This figure increases each day)

I would like to share some updated information on our Beslan brothers and sisters who are so dear to our hearts, especially during these past few tragic days.  One immediate impression from our missionary is that there are no kids on the streets playing.  With so many dead or hospitalized, the whole town’s soul has been injured.  Words cannot fully express the feeling in Beslan…grief…shock…agony…anger.  Our team is “exhausted.”

On September 1, Pastor Taymuraz Totiev, Pastor of Russian Baptist Union, had five children.  As of today, one daughter, Louba, was found among the dead.  Daughter Madina who is 13 years old is alive.  Three of his children (Boris, Albina and Larissa) are still missing.  His wife, Raissa, is so badly in shock she has been unable to even begin to cry and grieve.  Raissa places her hope in the Lord, as everything is in His hands.  In her heart she is constantly offering up a prayer for her children.  His brother’s family (Sergei Totiev) had three children.  One daughter who died was only 8 years old.  A son of Sergei named Azamat is in the hospital.  An explosion in the school injured his eye badly and the eye had to be removed.  Please pray that his sight in the other eye will remain strong throughout the medical procedures.  Another daughter of Sergei named Dzerra, is still missing.  Another child whose family was from the Beslan Baptist Church bled to death after a piece of explosive seriously wounded his head.  The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to these children and we know that God has drawn these children to Him in love and peace. 

This past Monday there were 162 funerals, on Tuesday 60, and the scheduling of the funeral services continues.  Our latest number of missing persons is between 250 and 300. 

“It goes in stages: first crying, depression, hysteria. Then helplessness.  As time goes by, if they keep crying, it’s good.  Otherwise, if they don’t cry, they keep it inside and souls change.” – Ekaterina Burmistrova, psychiatrist with Moscow City Psychological Pedagogical Institute.

Six children and ten more later this week were selected for flight to a specialized hospital in Speransky because of the seriousness of their burns. 

They are from 2 to 12 years old.  Their conditions range from excruciating to merely serious.  Some may be able to make painstaking recoveries over months. It is an open question whether many of them will be able to ease back into something like a routine life.  For example: The eleven year old Zoma slept fitfully swathed in bandages.  He had given the ambulance workers the thumbs-up and said he would not cry because it would not be fitting.  “In Ossetia, I’m already a man,”  He hasn’t spoken since.  More than 400 other children are hospitalized near Beslan. 

Russian Missions has created a benevolent fund for these children: Beslan’s Youthful Treasures.  It will be designated for humanitarian aid and spiritual guidance.  I ask you to open up your great heart and support this good Christian cause.  You may donate through our website: www.russianmissions.org  or send directly to Russian Missions, PO Box 754, Richboro, PA 18954.

Let us humbly pray to our Lord God that He will help these innocent victims, their families and friends, and safeguard the community of Beslan. 

Thank you.  God bless you.

 

Your Brother in the Lord,
Pastor Sasha
(Rev. Alexander Yuchkovski)

 

September 9, 2004 Update – Russian Town Mourns 

Dear Friends in Christ,

Your continued support and prayers have aided me during this unbearable situation.  My heart is burdened with the news from Beslan.  The town will forever be changed.  No children are playing in the streets.  So many children are dead, so many are wounded, so many are listed as “missing.”  The families who have been blessed with living, healthy children are keeping them close to their homes.  This closely-knit community is in shock. 

The government put the official death total so far at 328 children and adults.  That count could easily climb to 500.  Since there were over 1,200 hostages and 727 received medical treatment.  Virtually every survivor was taken to a hospital or given emergency first aid.

Relatives in Beslan continued to call hospitals and morgues looking for missing loved ones.  233 bodies had been identified, leaving 95 undetermined.  Others were likely incinerated or blown apart in the explosions that destroy the school gym. 

Our Christian team has been encouraging those who faced with such personal tragedy.  They providing comfort and are a shining example of God’s love and caring. 

You Asked How You Can Help…

You are our most important resource.  There are several ways that you can help, none of them require very much time or money.  First, pray for our ministry and for the Russian people.  Second, spread the word about our ministry and our Beslan’s Youthful Treasures appeal.  Embedded in this link is a flyer describing our ministry and Beslan’s Youthful Treasures appeal.  Please click here for our link You Asked How You Can Help

Compassionate Notes …

Another new aspect of our website is our Compassion Notes page.  When you link to it, you will be able to send a personal message to the people of Beslan.  Our office will transcribe your letters and send them to our missionary and our partner church, Beslan Baptist Church.  In this way you can express your love to this hurting community.

Beslan’s Youthful Treasures…

We have created a fund for spiritual counseling and for humanitarian aid.  Your donation can be designated for Beslan’s Youthful Treasures.  Donations can be made through our website or mailed to Russian Missions, PO Box 754, Richboro, PA 18954.

Please feel free to contact my Churchville office: (215) 354-0929 for more details.

Your Brother in the Lord,
Pastor Sasha
(Rev. Alexander Yuchkovski)


 

I share with you a poem from the Internet by Sophia Hunt:

They went back to school that morning with hope in their hearts & flowers in their hands.
Summer holidays were over,
Time to go and see the little new kids arrive in the youngest class.
Dance steps had been practiced; speech in pocket, music was playing on September 1st.
Balloons had been prepared; Moms had made cookies and cakes for the festivities.
Now a discarded shoe lies in the ashes,
On the floor of the gym, and fresh flowers have
Been placed on the burnt out windowsills.
The children have gone.  They will not return.  All that remains is grief.

 

September 14, 2004 Update – Sharing The Lord’s Strength

Dear Friends in Christ,

The following excerpts are from recent conversations with our missionary, Gherman Dzheriev:

A new, fresh cemetery marks the entrance to my town.  Graves are being added quickly by heavy equipment.  Flowers are traditionally are laid at the grave sites.  However, what is also found there are bottles of water.  Standing at the grave site, one mother said, “My child died thirsty.  What I can’t do in life; I now can do in death.” 

The streets are either filled with mourners or eerily silent.  Amid this beautiful day, there are no children playing outside in the sun.  They are either dead, wounded or being kept securely in their homes with family members. 

The constant question being discussed in every household is:  Could this have been prevented?  Feelings of anger, abandonment and betrayal are flooding the community and Russia as a whole. Police and troops have been out in full force in North Ossetia and Ingushetia as the Beslan hostage tragedy inflamed old hatred between regional ethnic groups and raised the threat of war.  Ossetians’ initial shock has turned to rage—at law enforcement for failing to protect the people, at the government for lying about the number of hostages, and at their old rivals, the Ingush. 

There are a lot of appeals and funds being set up for the people of Beslan; however, nothing is filtering down to the people who need immediate assistance.  One French journalist saw the poverty and gave a widow $200.  She was immediately besieged by relatives who wanted to borrow money from her just to buy groceries.  The Russian government has decreed that each person affected by the tragedy would receive 100,000 rubles or an equivalent of $3,000.  That would be a good sum to receive, but nothing has trickled down to the people who are hungry.  Our missionary is doing as much humanitarian aid as possible.  He is with his people and is tightly monitoring any financial resources available to him to distribute directly to the needy.

Update on

Pastor Sergey Totiev and his son, Boris.  His son has lost the injured eye.  If financially able, the family would like to bring Boris to America.  First, his son needs to be medically evaluated and, if he is deemed eligible, he will be placed on an eye transplant list.  In addition, he has incurred a hearing problem that needs to be evaluated also.  I spoke with him this past week-end and Pastor Totiev is so very grateful to Russian Missions as well as to churches and individuals who have kept his family in their prayers. 

The Beslan Baptist Church:  It had 244 members.  That membership will be decisively dropped as final death statistics are made available.  One testimony is from Irina Koieva and her two children who were among the hostages.  During the explosion and following storm, Irina tried to escape from the school.  Her son, Arthur, 9 years old was killed before her eyes…She was holding another younger child and they managed to escape.  If you would like to pray for an individual child, please link onto our Sunday School List from Beslan Baptist Church. 

Compassionate Notes:

Thank you for your loving notes expressing your sympathy and Biblical words of guidance for the people of Beslan.  If you have not done so as yet, the link is repeated here Compassionate Notes.  When you link to it, you will be able to send a personal message to the people of Beslan.  Our office will transcribe your letters and send them to our missionary and our partner church, Beslan Baptist Church.  In this way you can express your love to this hurting community.  Perhaps your church or Sunday School would also like to be included in these expressions of Christian love.  Feel free to check out our link to see what others have written. 

You Asked How You Can Help…

You are our most important resource.  There are several ways that you can help, none of them require very much time or money.  First, pray for our ministry and for the Russian people.  Second, spread the word about our ministry and our Beslan’s Youthful Treasures appeal.  Embedded in this link is a flyer describing our ministry and Beslan’s Youthful Treasures appeal.  Please click here for our link You Asked How You Can Help. 

Beslan’s Youthful Treasures…

We have created a fund for spiritual counseling and for humanitarian aid.  Your donation can be designated for Beslan’s Youthful Treasures.  Donations can be made through our website or mailed to Russian Missions, PO Box 754, Richboro, PA 18954.

Friends, let us pray to God for comfort for the people of Beslan…Let us pray for those who are still missing…There is hope that missing children might still be in other hospitals…Oh God, we cry out to you on behalf of Beslan.

Your Brother in the Lord,
Pastor Sasha
(Rev. Alexander Yuchkovski)

 

September 20, 2004 Update – A Town that Has Stopped Smiling

Dear Friends in Christ,

Last week began Beslan’s school year… two weeks late…and a very emotionally charged opening.  First of all, the children from School No. 1 – where hundred of terrified children and adults had been held by militants—have been granted stays, along with their families, at resorts in the Black Sea and other locations. 

Other students from the district began their school day with a minute of silence and the town’s seven schools would have a shortened day.  The children were dressed up—boys in their suits and girls with colorful bows in their hair.  They were accompanied by concerned relatives and met by school officials.  What was added to their surroundings were security guards and armed police troops.  Classes had been scheduled to start earlier in the month, but authorities were taking extra security measures including daily armed patrols of schools.  Many regional students are still suffering from shock and stress and were not expected to show up for classes.

Update from Gherman Dzheriev, Our Missionary

“Every day I attend a funeral.  This past week we buried a lady and a 13 year old boy from our church.  Look around this town, no one smiles any more.  All one can see is people dressed in black.  Black will be the color each family member will wear during the traditional 40-day mourning period.  As a matter of fact, the attire of the town is black.  You might be interested to know that the average wage per month is $100 - $120.  The people of Beslan are faced with overwhelming expense of a funeral.  A very modest funeral (without a permanent headstone) costs $1,200 to $1,500.  Wooden markers are being used for temporary purposes to designate and separate the rows of burial plots.  This is an agricultural-based area, the main crop is a plant that is used in the production of vodka.  A bottle of vodka costs less than a loaf of bread.”

Political Reforms

President Putin has ordered sweeping political changes to Russia’s political system to help combat terrorism.  The Kremlin leader said he wanted a new election law to limit the number of political parties and to have full control over nominating regional leaders.  Critics say that it is further proof that he is rolling back democracy in post-Soviet Russia.  This may be a forewarning of negative changes that will affect religious activities throughout Russia. 

As Christians, we all know the power of prayer.  Our Lord, please grant your peace to all those families who lost loved ones, are in need of healing both in body and mind and spirit. Grant healing to those harmed those in fear, and those in grief.  Grant wisdom and power to those who would bring peace to this area. 

Your Brother in the Lord,
Pastor Sasha
(Rev. Alexander Yuchkovski)

 

 

September 23, 2004 Update

Dear Friends in Christ,

I have just gotten off the phone with our missionary, Gherman Dzheriev, and I wish to share some updates on our Christian families in Beslan. 

The following are excerpts from this morning’s conversation: 

The most important request I can ask of you is to keep Beslan in your prayers.  Previously I shared with you that a young 11 year old girl named Alina Gouldaeva was shot in the back in two places.  The first wound is in a fleshy part of her back and is not in a dangerous area.  However, the second bullet is lodged in her neck and is very close to her spinal cord.  At the present time, the doctors are very reluctant to operate on her as there is the possibility of paralysis after the surgery. 

Amina Khadartseva, 8 years old, was seriously wounded.  Her life is in damager.  Four days ago she almost died.  This child also needs constant prayer support.  Amina’s father, Zhorik, has a serious head wound.  Please pray for God’s protection, grace and recovery for both family members. 

I have previously shared with you the events surrounding the death of Zallina’s son.  Three days ago she passed on a message to me through one of her visitors.  She asked me to visit her.  My wife, Madina, and I immediate went to be with Zallina.  She said, “I don’t want to be angry with God.  I don’t want to ask him WHY?  I don’t want to rebel against God any more.  I want to confess my sins to Him.  I want to love Him and give my life to Him.  We cried together and prayed together.  Zallina received salvation that day.  Thank you for your prayers for this hurting mother.

The two children of Pastor Taymuraz Totiev remain missing as of this date.

Blessings

An owner of a local Beslan cafeteria has allowed me and some others to open a rehabilitation center inside her cafeteria.  The owner is not even a member of the Beslan Baptist Church but was moved to assist the needy people of her town.  It will be opened from 10 Am until 6 PM each day.  The center will focus on emotional, spiritual, financial and social aid.  An ad has been placed in the local newspaper advertising this free service. 

I thank you for your continued support for the people of Beslan and my homeland, Russia.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.  I shall try to keep you, my Christian friends, abreast of current news.  Thank you and God Bless you.

Your Brother in the Lord,
Pastor Sasha
(Rev. Alexander Yuchkovski)

 

 

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