Unregistered church leaders in the country of Belarus continued to feel the effects of the toughest religion laws in Europe in late 2004. In the December 22 edition of the Persecution and Prayer Alert, we reported that the church administrator and the pastor of the New Life Church near Minsk were facing charges for leading an unregistered worship service. Forum 18 reports that, on December 28, the church administrator, Vasily Yurevich, was fined 3,200,000 rubles ($1800.00 CDN). This is about 150 times the average monthly wage in Belarus; an exorbitant amount for the father with three children. The punishment for Pastor Vyacheslav Goncharenko has not yet been announced. Yurevich intends to appeal the fine.
Pray for Yurevich, Goncharenko and the members of the church as they face this action against their church.
Representatives from the Voice of the Martyrs in Canada have recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Belarus. Their report will be featured in the March edition of our free monthly newsletter. To subscribe, click here.
For more information on persecution facing Christians in Belarus, click here.
