JW Broadcasting - International Delegation Supports Russian Brotherhood (Bros. M. Stephen Lett & Mark Sanderson)

Transcription

1 We would like to welcome all of you to this update on the situation facing our brothers in Russia. As you know, on April 20th, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled against Jehovah s Witnesses and decided to liquidate the Administrative Center of Jehovah s Witnesses in Russia and all of our Local Religious Organizations. We appealed this decision, and the hearing for the appeal took place in Moscow on July 17th. Sadly, the three-judge panel upheld this unjust decision against us, which effectively bans our religious activity in Russia. In a few moments, we will be speaking with Brother Mark Sanderson of the Governing Body, who was with our brothers during the appeal hearing in Moscow. But before we talk to Brother Sanderson, let s first visit with the delegation that accompanied him in attending the Supreme Court hearing. The delegation s resolve to help our brothers in Russia reassures us of the unity of our organization and the need for all of us to face challenges with courage. We are en route to Heathrow Airport. I m flying to Frankfurt to meet up with some brothers who are heading off to Moscow together to go to the Supreme Court hearing on July the 17th. Our delegation is made up of 20 brothers from 18 different lands. I truly love the brothers in Russia. I ve had association with them for many years. I was in a Russian congregation, and so my heart is right with the brothers and sisters in Russia. Page 1 of 10

2 I worked in the Russian-language field for 13 years before I came to Bethel. So I feel like the Russian brothers and sisters are really my family. Everywhere I go, the brothers are always asking, How are the friends in Russia? And they want me to reassure them that they have been praying for them, and that s not just mature brothers in the congregation young children ask the question as well because they have been taught to pray for their brothers in Russia. I could have filled up my luggage with many drawings from the children in Belgium for the brothers their little brothers in Russia. And we also have heard of some cases of inactive brothers and sisters who have been deeply moved by the determination of our brothers in Russia. The brothers in Sweden were so impressed by their fine attitude, especially when the police were raiding the Kingdom Halls. Sometimes they were threatened, but they were sitting there quiet and calm, and they were not insulting in return. Do I fear going to Russia where our work is under ban? Not at all. There is no reason to be afraid. I am ready to join my brothers and stand by their side in this historic moment. I m not afraid to go to Russia, not because I feel I m so strong, but because I feel that Jehovah is going to be with us and he s the one who is going to be supporting us. Our intent is to try to meet with as many of the high officials from the various embassies in Moscow as possible. We have done those meetings in the spirit of 1 Peter 3:15 where it says that we should defend our faith and our hope, but do it with a mild temper and deep respect. And that s what we have done. Page 2 of 10

3 We don t demand anything from the officials, but we tell them what s the situation with our brothers. The court case against our brothers in Russia in some aspects resembles the court case against Jesus Christ. In Luke 22:67, when asked if he was the Christ, Jesus said to the Sanhedrin: Even if I told you, you would not believe it at all. Similarly, our brothers have been able to show striking evidence to prove that the charges against us are completely unfounded. But despite such evidence, which is clear even to non-witnesses, it is as if we have said nothing. Such treatment of God s people, though, is to be expected in these last days. But now, we have Brother Mark Sanderson of the Governing Body tied in with us. And first we d like to say, Mark, thank you very much for joining us for this interview. And especially, thank you very much for being with the brothers there in Russia. Well, thank you so much, Steve. It really was a joy and really an honor to be with our brothers in the courtroom in Russia. But now, let me ask you this: What impact will this decision have on our brothers and sisters in Russia? Well, perhaps it s too early to know exactly what will take place. But certainly, when we met with various officials at the embassies in Moscow, their feeling is that this is going to give open license for individuals who are prejudiced to really just take out their feelings on all of Jehovah s Witnesses. Already we ve seen incidences of Witnesses having their homes burned; we ve had Kingdom Halls be vandalized; we ve had children harassed at school by their teachers; Page 3 of 10

4 we ve had brothers threatened with loss of employment, so we can expect that we will see greater persecution in that land. Well, we re sorry to hear that, but we know that s reality. But let me ask you, Are there options for appeal available at this point? Well, within the country of Russia, we ve exhausted all of the available appeals. But of course, we are going to take this matter to the European Court of Human Rights. In fact, within the next day or two, we will be applying for what is called interim measures, where the European Court, if they choose, can step in and even attempt to block the carrying out of a major decision. Of course, really it s very uncertain as to whether Russia will actually respect the actions of the European Court. We ll have to wait and see. Mark, do you see any Scriptural parallels to the events you witnessed at the Supreme Court? You know, Steve, I couldn t help but continually think of what Jesus had said in Matthew 5:11 when he said that they would lyingly say every sort of wicked thing against you. And that is just exactly what we heard again this time during the appeal hearing. These officials were just repeating these ridiculous accusations against Jehovah s Witnesses, attempting to even equate us with terrorist groups. Now, already the authorities of the world are speaking out about this. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, on Monday, already issued a statement. And maybe I can just read you the first paragraph of this statement that was released. Page 4 of 10

5 They said: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) denounces the Russian Supreme Court ruling on Monday rejecting an appeal by the Jehovah s Witnesses against an April decision declaring them as extremist. USCIRF Chairman Daniel Mark commented that The Supreme Court s decision sadly reflects the government s continued equating of peaceful religious freedom practice to extremism. The Witnesses are not an extremist group, and should be able to practice their faith openly and freely and without government repression. So these government officials of the world they recognize the truth. They understand that these charges that have been laid against us are truly ridiculous and absurd. What a powerful statement you read there! Now, we learned in the segment we just watched that the brothers in the delegation had an opportunity to speak to embassy representatives in Moscow. Let me ask you, Mark, What were the results of those meetings? Well, just to begin, Steve, I d like to just comment about the courage of these men who accepted this assignment to go to Moscow. You know, when they were invited to come on this assignment, not one of these men even for a moment asked a question like: Is this safe? Will I be in danger in going on this assignment? Immediately they said yes and began making their plans. And then once in Moscow, we divided into five different groups so that we could visit the embassies of the countries that we belonged to. And so, myself, I was assigned to go with the group that met with four different embassies. We visited the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Canada. And at each of these four embassies, we were given a beautiful reception. In one case, we met with an ambassador; in two cases, we met with deputy ambassadors; and in the final one, we met with one of the secretaries. Page 5 of 10

6 But I have to say, as these people listened to what we had to say, of course they re already very informed about our issue, the question that kept coming over and over again was: Why Jehovah s Witnesses? Why is it that Jehovah s Witnesses are receiving this kind of attention from the government? Well, we were able to give a very, very fine witness and include many Scriptural thoughts. And particularly to one ambassador who s a real gentleman and really listened to us patiently, we were able to say that Jehovah s Witnesses have come through the concentration camps in the Nazi times, we ve survived being exiled to Siberia, we survived the work camps in the Gulag, and all of this because of the protection of our God, Jehovah. That s why we re still here, and we continue to look to our God, Jehovah, for his protection. And so the reason that we had come to see these officials was because we are reasonable people, and we wanted to talk to other reasonable people to see what might be done to help our brothers and sisters. And these officials were so extremely receptive to this type of approach. And what an honor it was to be able to praise the name of Jehovah before them! Very encouraging, Mark. How did the brothers, though, react when they heard the negative decision? Well, you know, Steve, there s always been a joyful presence in the courtroom on these different occasions when I ve been present in Russia, but this time with the reading of this decision, there is certainly a soberness among our brothers, and they recognize the seriousness of this matter. But I have to say, I think the apostle Paul really sums up the way our brothers feel in Russia. In 2 Corinthians 4:8, where he said: We are hard-pressed in every way, but not cramped beyond movement; we are perplexed, but not absolutely with no way out; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed. And I think just even in a small way, you know where it says that we are persecuted, but not abandoned, I think that to have this international delegation in the courtroom; to see that brothers were willing to come, risking their own safety to support the brothers; to be there with them in the courtroom at this difficult time was just a reassurance that Jehovah himself was with them and that these representatives, in some small way, represented to them Jehovah s love, Page 6 of 10

7 Jehovah s care, and that certainly we were not going to abandon our dear brothers in Russia, no matter what situation may come. I like that thought too, Mark, that we re knocked down but we re not destroyed. We could say we re knocked down but not knocked out. That s right. With Jehovah s help, we get back up again. But now, how have our brothers and sisters in Russia been faring since the first Supreme Court ruling in April? Well, you know, Steve, as I mentioned earlier, there have been many incidents across the country of vandalism, of attacks, of course. We ve been reporting on jw.org about our dear Brother Dennis Christensen who was arrested and has been held now for two months, basically, in the prison there in Russia. He has not been allowed to communicate with his wife during this time. And now we learned, when we were present in Russia, that the officials only allow him to shower twice a week. Can you imagine? Treating him as though he was a very, very serious criminal when all he did was attend a meeting to read God s Word and worship Jehovah. What a horrible thing! And of course, the officials from all the countries of the world recognize the terrible, terrible injustice that s being done here. But having said that, in spite of these attacks that we have seen across the country, what we also see is that our brothers and sisters are continuing in their worship for Jehovah. They re continuing to have their meetings. Page 7 of 10

8 One of the brothers commented to me, he said: Some who used to never comment at the meetings, now they love to come and comment and express themselves. Some who have been inactive have begun to attend the meetings again. And one brother told me that when they held a small mini-convention, you know, watching some of the replays that have been made available, that just in their small group, they had five baptized. Can you imagine? So we can say with confidence that all of these efforts that are being made to try to stop our worship of Jehovah, to wipe it out, are not going to have any success. It really reminds me, would it be OK if I just shared this Scriptural thought? Absolutely! Please. It just makes me think of this thought in Psalm 124. And this really has to be the confidence of our brothers in Russia, but it needs to be the confidence, really, of God s people all around the world. We have to put our faith in these words. It says: If Jehovah had not been with us, this is verse 2: If Jehovah had not been with us when men rose up to attack us, then they would have swallowed us up alive when their anger was burning against us. Then the waters would have washed us away, the torrent would have swept over us. The raging waters would have overwhelmed us. May Jehovah be praised, for he has not given us as prey to their teeth. We are like a bird that escaped from the hunter s trap; the trap was broken, and we escaped. Our help is in the name of Jehovah, the Maker of heaven and earth. Well, you know, so many times, our enemies have thought that they had us locked in that trap and that there was no way to escape, but how Jehovah has proven them wrong, and how he has come to the aid of his people! And that is the same confidence that we have today, and it s the same confidence our brothers will have. Page 8 of 10

9 It s the same confidence we ll have no matter where we are in the world as the scene of this world continues to change. We wholeheartedly agree with you, and it definitely warms our heart to hear these strengthening comments. Thank you very much, Mark, and thank you again, too, and the rest of the delegation, for traveling to Russia to be with our dear brothers and sisters. And we re confident that your presence assured them of Jehovah s love and Jehovah s care for them. Thank you so much, Steve. As I said, it was a great, great honor and privilege. I truly love our dear brothers in Russia. Although the appeal decision was not in our favor, we are not disheartened. As our regional convention theme for this year emphasizes, we do not give up! Brothers and sisters in Russia, we encourage you to stay close to Jehovah and his organization. Continue to pray to Jehovah for strength to face this persecution with boldness, knowing he will provide you with the strength needed along with the guidance and wisdom that you need. And please know that you are excellent examples for the rest of us to follow when we face persecution. We wholeheartedly agree with the Bible writer s expressions in Habakkuk 3:18. He said: Yet, as for me, I will exult in Jehovah; I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. Yes, whatever the world does to us, we maintain our faith in Jehovah s saving power and will do our utmost to remain in Jehovah s protective care. Page 9 of 10

10 This is JW Broadcasting from the world headquarters of Jehovah s Witnesses. Page 10 of 10