I’d like to inform you that a group of Moonie missionaries has landed in the city of Krasnoyarsk. They rent school facilities, distribute invitations in the surrounding villages, and invite people to come to their sermons. Who are these people? What is this faith?
L.Z., Krasnoyarsk
We praise God for your diligence and faithfulness in the Lord’s work. We are positive that your Vestnik [research bulletin] serves the entire Body of Christ and helps to unmask “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” If possible, please send us information about the New Apostolic Church, which draws unsettled souls in Cherepovets over to its teachings.…In order to resist this sect we would like to know more about its errors, its history, and its arguments so we can combat its false doctrines.
N.S., Cherepovets
We are a group of missionaries from Grace Bible College in Moscow. We arrived [in Siberia] on May 7th. Our desire and task is to preach the gospel to the remotest corners of the earth, so we began with Siberia. We immediately ran into the Jehovah’s Witness organization. Soon after that I got hold of your [tract]. It’s great that there are tracts like that! Besides, it says in the tract that you are willing to send out other publications of a similar nature. Please send us other tracts, and at least 1,000–1,500 more copies of the first tract. There are a lot of small villages around where people have never even heard the Good News. We will quickly distribute these tracts [on Jehovah’s Witnesses], as there are four other groups of graduates stationed near us, so if you can send even more of them to us, we will only be grateful!
from three Bible college graduates, Siberia
Very recently I obtained your address and a list of the materials that you offer. I came to the Lord recently, and before that I had been studying various religions and cults, although those teachings would not have any influence on me personally. I knew of their existence but wouldn’t deal with them, although I have quite a lot of friends and acquaintances in all of these various sects.
But since trusting in Christ a certain pressure is on me, as those groups began to drag me toward themselves. In the old days they wouldn’t touch me at all as I did not believe in any god except for the ancient Slavic pagan god Rod (Svarog).
They began to give me various brochures and offered me to “study” the Bible and all sorts of other books (Bhagavad-Gita, etc.). This makes me stay away from such strange people. The Holy Spirit shows me that I have but a very little knowledge of God’s Word, and I can’t refute or disprove their statements. But even though I’m still a baby in Christ (I repented on May 17, 2000), I want to resist (not only for my own sake but also for that of others) this ungodliness in the form of false doctrines and various sects.
V.A., Ulan-Ude
I’m currently “fighting” the Jehovah’s Witnesses and I have obtained a number of their new publications. I would also like to help the Center in obtaining new materials about the JWs. I have a request: if possible, could you please send me some materials about the Mormons? This is a painful issue for me, as my relatives who live in Armenia attend the Mormon meetings — besides, this group has recently commenced their activities in my city also. Of course, I pray that the Lord may forbid Satan to act, but you know, these Mormons are very slick — they attract people with food and humanitarian aid, while the residents of my city are so naïve (ordinary people, I mean). The Mormons have already attracted 700 people in my city to themselves. I feel such a burden, and I have called the pastors of my city to pray that this activity may stop. This is so awful — please help me. Mormons first came from Krasnodar, and now they are attacking our city. I’m currently serving at the Bethany Christian Church…[as] a youth ministry leader.
V.V., Krasnodar region
I am an ordained Baptist Union pastor, and I am also responsible for the correspondence education programs in the Sverdlovsk region. We have more than 500 students in our school. Since we constantly face various false teachings and cults, we have to answer a lot of questions about world religions, etc.
Every time I have received your Vestniks in the past I have found a wealth of helpful and needed information in them. Please subscribe me to your Vestnik if possible.
V.Ch., Urals
I pastor a church in the city of Taganrog (Rostov region). I receive your Vestnik regularly. I always read each new issue with much interest. You help us ministers a lot, because we face various false teachings here.
A.T., Taganrog
I am a representative of the Bible League in the Republic of Buryatia. I began my ministry not so long ago and I don’t have much experience in sharing the Good News. I have obtained one issue of your Vestnik — and I loved it, and my ward did too. Your Vestnik is very straightforward and clear in presenting the biblical perspective on various cults that are widespread in Russia.
V., Buryatia
My daughter-in-law became a Jehovah’s Witness. My son attended for a while, too, but he quit — I asked him to. But my daughter-in-law and their son (7 years old) continue to attend. She gives my son magazines to read and takes him to their conventions in various places. This faith was brought here from Tumen by her father. She loves him very much and probably could not just say “no.” JWs are very educated and clever people, and they do a lot to lure you. I filed a complaint to our local administration, but they only told me that it is better to be a JW than a drunkard. I went to the church, but they only told me that this organization is bad and I should not go there. And that was it. My daughter-in-law is deeply involved, and she says that it is this faith which brings sense to her life. I’m worried about my grandson. He loves us very much, and my daughter-in-law would use that to punish him: "If you don’t do this or that, you won’t go see your grandparents." We had an embroilment recently and we have not spoken to each other for a month. Now she’s going to go to the convention in Orenburg, and she will take the whole family with her. I’m worried. My son is not really inclined to do it, but she has a way to make him do what she wants. Of course, I should be able to influence him in some way, but I was raised an atheist and it is very hard for me to deal with all this. Or should I just let it go? I don’t want to because we’re Christians and I go to church now. We have freedom to do it now. Please help me. It is pain. Much pain. We live for the good of our grandson, but who will he be? Will he be in a sect? I don’t even want to live anymore.
N.M.A., Orenburg
I receive your Vestnik regularly and want to express my deepest gratitude for your labor. Vestnik greatly helps those who are in search for spiritual truth to find the right way in the world of religion. There are so many cults, sects and false teachers of all sorts in this world, that an inexperienced person can hardly sort through it all. That is why your work is so important for proclamation of truth. May God help you in everything.
S.S., Khabarovsk region
I like your articles about cults very much — they help me a lot in my ministry. Recently I had a chance to talk to a Jehovah’s Witness. Your newsletter greatly helped me to do that.…By the way, your Vestnik gave a great overview of the Local Church of Witness Lee. I had three copies of his Recovery New Testament and other books and also several issues of the Stream magazine. I heard that there were some problems with his doctrine, but did not know anything for sure and nobody could give me an explanation. And your Vestnik gave a clear-cut explanation of this teaching. Praise God!
A.Z., Perm region
I'm on staff with Siberian Theological Institute. I'd like to thank you for your labor and for regularly sending me your Vestnik. Although there are some materials on apologetics in our library, we really need periodicals that regularly address these issues. These studies are indispensable because our students study world religions and different cults, and our city is a center for many religious groups. We also have a lot of JWs, Theotokian Center, Hare Krishnas, and Buddhists here. Everything you write about is relevant to us. Thus our students should be fully equipped to contend with the cultists, and your newsletter can be a great help to them.
E. Ya., Irkutsk
JWs are very active in our territory. They have filled the surrounding villages and towns. They are extremely active in the city of Stavropol, constantly having their congresses. They go door-to-door in twos, and when you try to talk to them it is usually the one who has more experience who does the talking, and the "newbie" is watching and learning. We always try to engage the younger of the two, and very often the Word of Truth would penetrate their hearts. In such cases the older one tries to finish the conversation and leave.
M.Sh., Stavropol
There are 42,000 residents in our town, and about 300 of them are Jehovah’s Witnesses. And our Baptist church has only 25 members, primarily old ladies. Only three of us are young — the rest of the youth go to the JWs. They give out a lot of Watchtowers. I'm very grateful for the articles you sent me — I had them duplicated and now I give them to the JWs to read.
A.A., Stavropol region
I'm very much interested in your materials, since I often have to deal with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. One family in our town had been going to the Witnesses for eight years, but now they have decided to break up with them and repent. They are about to be baptized, praise God!
S.B., Kemerovo region
Thank you for the materials on William Branham — it was very helpful for my understanding of this movement. The situation here is pretty explosive because of the Local Church and Branhamites — their literature circulates in many Krasnodar churches. Many Christians are simply not ready for the cultic invasion.
S.K., Krasnodar
Having read your materials I was strengthened in my conviction that it is necessary to grow in the Word of God in order to avoid being trapped into deception... Some time ago I have left a charismatic church (we have separate charismatic and Pentecostal churches in our city). At that time I had no Christian literature regarding the Faith movement whatsoever (and it was rapidly growing in the church that I left). But, praise God, I had the most effective antidote and the strongest shield in my hands, which is the Word of God.
Thus, we wish you to grow stronger both in the Word and in prayer. I can only imagine how many books with filthy teachings you have to read and then explain their errors to people. May God strengthen you in this ministry.O.B., Murmansk
I work in a Christian Church in our town. I found a tract that you have published about Jehovah's Witnesses and knew that I need to write to you. I am really scared for many of the people in our congregation, as they have been approached by many who have begun to preach other gospels in our town. I have trouble even keeping them straight. Do you have any more information about the Jehovah's Witnesses? Transcendental Meditation? New Apostolic Church? Are the United Pentecostals just like our old Russian Pentecostals? What about Spirit-Talkers [those who claim to talk with spirits]? Seventh-day Adventists? Please help us with information. All I know is that my spirit aches and our church life suffers from these groups.
Nizhny Novgorod
We thank you so much for you incredible gift of tracts that you sent to us. They have been such a help. Our town is relatively a young town, built after the Revolution. Our church has grown to over 300 members since evangelization began here! Unfortunately, however, the Jehovah's Witnesses are growing even more rapidly. They had a huge conference here in December. We decided to print very large quantities of the tracts you sent us and have been handing them out to every house in our city. Thank you again for your service to us. We truly thank God for you….
(Russian Far East)
It is very nice that your information contains no propaganda or emotionalism. You just write it “like it is.”
I used to work in a surgery department. We had a patient, a 40-year-old man with cancer, who needed a blood transfusion. The doctor tried to persuade him, saying that his little kids would like to see their father alive. The patient gave his permission. After the procedure had already begun, some people came and talked to the patient, and he refused to take the blood. Two days later he died of anemia. All these years I blamed the doctor who couldn't persuade the man. And only after reading your article [on Jehovah’s Witnesses] did I understand that the doctor wasn't guilty.
L.S., Rostov region
Recently we addressed a request for any information about the Jehovah's Witness sect to Moscow State University. In response we were told about your Center.
We have a problem in our family. The family is split in halves, but we lack information and knowledge to demonstrate the danger of this sect and to show that it is different from beliefs traditional to our family.
We would be grateful to receive more complete information about this sect: What is so dangerous about it? And the main thing: How to escape the Watchtower’s influence?
The S. family, Moscow
I'm very much interested in various divinations, spells, witchcraft — everything concerning magic!!! I'd like to know more about it. Please, send me one or two books about magic or witchcraft or anything else resembling magic. I'm in the 7th year of school, I'm 12 years old. I'm not a very good student. I used to be a really good one, but now I'm getting C's. My mom rails at me for this. I believe in almost all omens: for example, if you wash your face in the morning, you will get a D at school. So what should I do? Stop washing my face or get D's? And stuff like that! Please, help me!!! I don't know what to do! I think you might give me advice.
I.M., Kirov region
Last August I had to review what I learned from you about the JWs [at Trinity Bible College]. My close relatives’ family that had already been believers for about a year decided to leave for the JWs. Peace was completely gone. By the time I learned about this my brother-in-law's wife had already been thinking and speaking as a JW. I had to arm myself with everything I have learned from your materials. And the Lord's blessing was upon me. At times I was almost desperate, but God was doing mighty miracles. The battle was going on for three months. At the end of September she repented of the heresies and returned to Christianity. Now she wants to help people like herself. Thank you for the great part you have played in all this. Your materials were invaluable. Especially Dima's lectures. Thank you for the Behind the Watchtower Curtain book. [I’m] praying for your ministry,
M.S., Belgorod