3 Things To Know About Life in Russia

Update from Buddy, missionary

These last weeks, I have had good opportunity to be in contact with several of our Russian partners and staff from Smolensk. I thought it would be a good time to they to give you and idea of what life is truly like in Russia right now. So:

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LIFE IN RUSSIA RIGHT NOW.

1. THE SANCTIONS HAVE HAD LITTLE EFFECT,SO FAR.

I think that everyone in America was looking forward to the sanctions putting such incredible pressure on Russia and secretly hoping that life would become so difficult for the Russian people that they would be begging for the war to end. In reality, if you ask the average Russian on the streets of Smolensk if the sanctions have changed their life, they are answering me by saying, “…only slightly…” Of course, they miss Big Macs. Chanel, and Calvin Klein in Moscow and St. Petersburg regions, but it is important for westerners to understand that it is in the Russian gene, in his DNA, to adjust to the hardships of life. They will return to the soil and plant potatoes and cabbage, cucumbers and beets and life will go on. Grandmothers tell stories of how it was in the Soviet days, and the children will now live out the stories of their father’s fathers.

They are now working on making their own brand of everything they have lost to sanctions. Of course there is not quality or taste, but it is something. It has been our experience that anything made in Russia can be made better somewhere else…except ice cream. It may be that over time the sanctions will have some effect, but sanctions will not be the reason the war is won or lost. The only place that this war will be finished is on the battlefield.

2. RUSSIANS ARE PERPETUAL BAD LOSERS

I remember when I coached the Smolensk Bulldogs basketball team there was very often problems following any game that we won, because the other Russian teams would always look for reasons why they lost. Either we cheated, or the refs were biased, or we had payed off the officials. They never seemed to know how to lose gracefully. I have watched this attitude over the last three decades in everything from car making to chess matches, and yes, politics. In the Russian culture, they like to be first by no matter what means, (i.e. Olympic doping), and if they are not, instead of gearing up and trying harder next time, their is a national “sulk" that takes place and an immediate scurrying around to find someone to blame. That’s not sour grapes, rather it's information for those who have not lived in, nor understand Russian culture.

And… I write it because I hear it in the rhetoric and propaganda coming out of Moscow. In reality the Russians lost the Cold War. For thirty years, Vladimir Putin and his partners have sulked about it, biding their time and waiting for the right opportunity throw a lucky punch. They thought they found it but, unfortunately, did not count on the strength of the Ukrainian people nor the unification of non sulkers around the world.

Now, that they realise that they are in a fight for their lives, they are acting like the kid who gets caught in his mischief and has to play it out as if he meant for it to be as it is playing out indeed. You’ll often hear ... “ I actually wanted it to be a fight…”, the kid will lie. Believe me, Putin and his group will play this out as if they know what they are doing, even if it costs thousands of lives, which it will. Admitting that they are on the side of evil is not an option. It is that awful, deadly, horrendous, sin of pride in it’s most hideous role. It is the obvious illustration of why God so hates it.

3. THE OPPOSITION VOICE FROM THE CHURCH IS WEAK IN RUSSIA - BUT THE UNDERGROUND CHURCH WILL EMERGE AGAIN.

I regret to say that, for the most part, the church in Russia has failed to take a stand against the evil regime. We do not speak only of the Orthodox Church because we know that they are lock step in time with Putin and they have worked together since the beginning of his reign. Here, I am speaking of the evangelical churches. Do an internet search, if you would like to, and if you find a story about the evangelical church in Russian banding together against the Putin war, it will be the rare exception and not the rule. They, at very best, have taken a neutral stand against war in general, and at the worst some are backing the murder of innocents in Ukraine. As I speak with my Pastor friends in Ukraine and then with my friends in Russia, I realise that there is a divide between brothers from these countries, that just a few months ago spoke in each others churches and ate at each others tables.

For the pastors in Russia, it seems that the main reason for their reluctance is... fear. It is an old story. We read of it in the Bible often. Israel feared Pharoah’s army in the presence of God’s obvious power, Saul feared the strength of David from the highest position in the world. All of Jesus’ own disciples often lost faith because of fear of the Pharisees and in the end ran away from Him in His most desperate hour for fear of the Romans. “...The fear of man brings a snare…” we are told in Proverbs. So it is with the church at this time in Russia.

That is not to say all churches or all Christians of course, there are those who are trying to take a stand, and some have been arrested. Our staff who is there has continued to work and are continuing to minister, but they are limited in how loud a voice they possess. Some of the best Christians I’ve ever met are Russian, and they will find their voice over time and truth will be heard. We must not, because of frustration or anger, fail to remember these good people. They are fighting this war with us, only on a different front and at a different level. Living in Russia now is exactly like living in the Soviet Union in the 50’s or 60’s. We have yet to see, I believe, how the underground church will develop. Some of us remember hearing and reading the stories of the heroes risking their freedoms in order to further the work of the Kingdom during those days of Russian communism. Heroes emerged…and they will in these new struggles. Those days are coming again in Russia, and it is in these days, right now, we will be wise to build inroads and continue relationships that will continue to help our brothers and sisters in Christ living under that regime.

Pray for peace. Pray for your brothers and sisters living under oppression, in Ukraine and Russia. Thanks for every thought and prayer.