EVANGELISING RUSSIA.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 110, 9 April 1929, Page 9

EVANGELISING RUSSIA.

ADDRESS BY AUSTRALIAN SECRETARY.

Last evening in the Baptist Church an interesting address on the work of the Russian Mission was given by the organising secretary for Australia, Rev. A. L. Leeder. Rev.’ F. A. Crawshaw presided over a good attendance.

Mr Leeder prefaced his address with a few remarks on the present state of Russia. “The Government,” he stated, “is not truly representative. There are 150 million people in the land and an incredible number of them are out of sympathy with tire Soviet wolf. I don’t suppose the proportion of Bolshevists or Communists in Russia is greater than it is in Australia or New Zealand. The trouble is that they have the power and keep themselves in power at the point of the bayonet. After the War, proceeded the speaker, large areas of Russia on the eastern boundary had broken away and the states of Esthonia, Latvia and Lithuania had been formed, while Poland and Roumania had received accretions. As the Soviet would not permit missionaries to cross the boundary into their territories, it followed that a good deal of the work, was done in. the lost provinces where there were great numbers of Russians. The headquarters of the mission were at Riga, the capital of Esthonia. The mission’s work had been begun about fitfy years ago by Lord Radstock, who had converted several noblemen from the Othodox or Greek faith to the evangelical faith. One of these earl- > converts had been an intimate frie: f..the Czar’s, but the feeling again. was so great that lie had to leave the country. During the Russo-Japanese War religious liberty was granted, and the work proceeded apace under the direction of a Russian, William Fetler. In 1914, however, Fetler had been arrested and ordered to leave the country. Fetler went to the United States where, with the aid of American sympathisers, ho worked for the Russian prisoners-of-war in Germany and Austria of whom ther were some two millions. Each was sent a Bible and 20,000 converts were made. These converts on their return to Russia had done much and now four millions had espoused the evangelical faith. It was, in the speaker’s opinion, one of the few bright spots of the war. The work of the Russian missionaries was not easy because of the attitude of the Soviet. Under Lenin and Trotsky the Bolshevists had endeavoured to rid the land of the intelligentsia and had caused great suffering. Lecturers had been sent round to preach against religious beliefs. Under the loose marriage laws many unwanted children were born and, under the debasing conditions these became vicious and constituted the Mission’s greatest difficulty. At the conclusion of his remarks, which were illustrated by lantern slides, Mr Leader thanked Messrs Crawshaiv and F. Bycroft for the welcome they had extended to him and also Mr Forde Carlisle for operating the lantern.

Mr Forde Carlisle moved a hearty vote of thanks to the speaker which •was carried by acclamation.