‘The light
keeps shining...
                   (John 1:5)

The reports, of which the following are just a brief, selection were supplied by Errol Pike, Marketing and Resource Manager of the Bible Society in New Zealand, who accompanied the then UBS Photo-journalist Maurice Harvey.

Most advertisements advocate a lifestyle that must seem very attractive to Russians after the restrictive, closed and authoritarian society they have endured for the last 70 years – “At last,” the displays shout, “break out and do your own thing. Have a party ... and ignore the consequences. You’re in charge now – no-one else! Do it!”

But the wiser Muscovites, and some westerners too, realise that this call to join the so-called ‘good life’ is a proven sham. Especially when it is typified by huge and attractive posters for cigarettes (‘the Marlborough Man’), for beer, or for a slinky piece of women’s underwear. No great society will ever be re-built when it primarily and openly encourages its citizens to smoke, to drink alcohol, and to indulge in casual sex. Russia, surely, has had enough of ‘the bad life’ and needs to know what genuinely offers the ultimate in ‘the good life’?

For one thing, this means that the Bible Society in Russia has a task of immense proportion. But it can be done, and with God and his people around the world, the strategic use and distribution of the Bible can make a difference – for good. 

Anatoly Rudenko, General Secretary of the Bible Society in Russia

 

It is especially significant that the Bible Society in Russia (BSR) has a presence in Vladivostok as it was one of the last places in Russia to be ‘opened’. Until 1992 it was a ‘closed’ city, primarily because it was the main sea port for the Russian naval fleet, where only authorised citizens were allowed to live or move around in.

 

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia — What was a state-run supermarket in the days of the communist regime, is now the home of the Bible Society in Vladivostok. Where the ground floor of the centrally-situated building once displayed groceries and other household items, now on sale there are copies of the ‘bread of life’ – the Bible!

It is especially significant that the Bible Society in Russia (BSR) has a presence in Vladivostok as it was one of the last places in Russia to be ‘opened’. Until 1992 it was a ‘closed’ city, primarily because it was the main sea port for the Russian naval fleet, where only authorised citizens were allowed to live or move around in.

The floor of the building where the BSR office is situated was purchased at a cost of US$115,000, funded mainly by the Korean Bible Society. There are a large number of Koreans in Vladivostok and every Saturday morning a school for Korean children, run by a Korean pastor, is held in the main office area of the building.

Since the formation of the BSR Vladivostok branch office, the staff has grown to a total of ten, although six of them are permanently working outside the office distributing Scriptures. The office, which is responsible for the very large eastern Russia region, is managed by Executive Director, Leonid Shilov, assisted by an accountant, a warehouse manager, and the sales receptionist, Irina.

Last year the Society distributed more than 57,000 Scriptures around the region. “But,” says Mr Shilov, “we’ve hardly begun to meet the vast needs of this area and these people. Please pray for us, especially that God will supply our transportation needs. That’s one of the biggest problems here – freight is expensive and the distances we need to cover are enormous!”

Mr Shilov gives the glory to God for the progress the Bible Society has made in such a short time in Vladivostok, and he adds that it is very encouraging to know that the churches are very supportive of the Society’s work. “There is no church in this area that does not have Scriptures supplied by the Bible Society,” he said.

MOSCOW

MOSCOW, Russia — The Word of God is ‘alive and active’ figuratively and literally in at least one part of Russia! – The Bible Society’s Moscow warehouse has Bibles constantly ‘on the move’ as it turns over well in excess of 100,000 Bibles every month.

800,000 Bibles a year are distributed from the warehouse to destinations within the Russian Federation and another 700,000 are exported to neighbouring countries such as Kazakhstan, Moldova, and the Ukraine, where they are distributed by local Bible Societies.

The warehouse complex itself is not easily accessed, with 24-hour surveillance and security guards watching over the three large buildings where stocks of Scriptures as well as paper, bindings, and other printing materials are stored.

In 1996 the Bible Society in Russia used about 400 tonnes of Bible paper – about 25 container loads – in its Scripture programs, and more than 95% of the Bibles are printed in Russia on paper supplied from either local or European mills.

About half the paper is made in Russia and over the past few years the Bible Society has worked closely with Russian paper scientists to develop a high quality Bible paper. Currently, paper thinner than 45gsm is imported from Europe.

Operating in the warehouse complex some 30-40 minutes’ drive from the Kremlin, the staff members are kept busy as Bibles arrive from three printing-houses in the Moscow area, are sorted according to destination and are finally packed and sent off by truck and rail.

And while there is an increasing variety of Bibles now available in Russia, Russian Children’s Bibles are still much in demand and most consignments leaving the warehouse contain at least some of these popular editions.

ST PETERSBURG, Russia — The large, old, wooden street door to the St Petersburg office of the Bible Society in Russia (BSR) gives an inauspicious impression to the first-time visitor there. But once inside the office itself the atmosphere changes dramatically: it exudes an air of orderliness, quiet yet determined busy-ness, and more than a hint of academia.

In this office is a team of talented, qualified and dedicated people whose task it is to translate the Bible into languages, formats and styles that are now needed by the growing church in Russia and the Russian people generally, as well as those in the other former Soviet republics – this office is the Society’s Translation Centre.

Office Manager, Andre Ovsiannikov, and his full-time staff of five are assisted by a number of part-time workers, among whom is one whose full-time work includes being Chief Librarian of the Oriental Department of the North West Library of Russia, while another is a senior lecturer in languages at the University of St Petersburg.

Modern translation facilities are used in the work, including the latest computer technology which can help reduce the time involved in translation work by up to five times. Currently the translation team is working on eight separate projects, but it could do more given more resources.

“The demand is certainly there but we can only do so much at present and we are insistent that what we do has a clear mark of quality and scholarship about it,” says Mr Ovsiannikov. “There are no short-cuts taken here. That is simply not our style. Only the best is good enough in this work!”

The Full Report includes the following stories...
 

Introduction
Values to Fill a Vacuum?
Bible Society: A Compact and Efficient Unit
 

Vladivostok
State Supermarket Now Sells Bibles!
Grandmother’s Bible Stories Planted a Seed
Warm Welcome
Bible Sought by the Blind
A New Life – in Two Dimensions!
Christian on the ‘Firing Line’
Bible Promoted on Russian TV
Bible Society in ‘Yellow Pages’
6,000-Kilometre Drive for Bibles
“God, Forgive Me!”
Putting Persecution Behind
The Word at the Heart of a Growing Russian Church
“Swords into Ploughshares” – Russian-Style!
Bible Stories Popular with Sick Children
‘Not a Lie: But The Truth’
 

Moscow
Warehouse Shifts 1.5 Million Bibles a Year
Bibles Now Available at The Kremlin
Russian Biblical Hebrew Handbook: A First
Mullah Welcomes Bible Translation
Tuvin People “Coming to Faith Weekly”
New Cyrillic Font Popular for Russian Bibles
Large-print Russian Scriptures in Demand
Former Communist Printing Company Now Prints Bibles
Disabled Russian Children Enjoy Reading Bibles
Former Bible Society President Now Heads Russian ‘Army’ Church
 

St Petersburg
“Only the Best is Good Enough!”
Children’s Scriptures in More Languages Than Ever
1,000 Slavonic Manuscripts Searched to Ensure Quality Translation
New Russian Translation Handbook
Russian Bible Society Board Member is a Third-Generation Christian
Children Flock to Religious Education Classes
Cooperative Translations: a ‘Powerful Witness’