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Two Catholic priests from Poland were ordered to leave Belarus by the end of December after officials refused to renew their religious visas.  The priests, who had spent more than a decade in the country, were given no reasons for their removal. One of the priests serving in the Minsk-Mogilev diocese has chosen to not fight the deportation. He did so in order to assist in better relations with the Belarusian authorities, since a new priest was recently allowed to enter the country.  According to a December 22 report from Forum18, the other priest, Fr Robert Krzywicki, attributes his expulsion to his work with young people in the town and his involvement with other Christian Churches in ecumenical and humanitarian events.  The parishioners in the town of Borisov where Krzywicki has been serving have begun a petition calling for the authorities to overturn their decision.

Belarus is the most religiously restrictive nation in Europe.  Pray that religious freedom will improve in this country. Pray for the salvation of those in government leadership. Pray that young people will be allowed to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and be brought into a personal relationship with Him.

For more information on the persecution of Christians in Belarus,click here.  A video news report filmed in Belarus is also available on the multimedia website, www.vomcanada.com.

For several months, the difficulties facing the New Life Church on the outskirts of Minsk, Belarus have been closely followed.  According to a December 7 report from Forum 18, the Economic Court of the City of Minsk has rejected the appeal of the city's plans to confiscate the property.  The church's website also reports that proceedings have begun to confiscate all the property of the church's administrator, Vasilij Yurevich, in order to pay fines levied against him.  Authorities told the news to Yurevich's family while he was at work and forced the family with four children to leave their home with nothing. Yurevich has been told that he must pay the fines totaling 8,000,000 rubles ($4300 CDN) within three weeks or his property will be sold.  The fines amount to more than 25 years' wages at the minimum wage in Belarus.   More information on Belarus is available through a video news report on www.vomcanada.com.

For more information on the persecution of Christians in Belarus, click here.

The New Life Church in Minsk continues to face harassment and fines in their quest for the freedom to worship. The church administrator, Vasily Yurevich, has recently been handed his third fine in the last year. Even though he insists that he was on leave at the time, police claim to have identified him "by his outward appearance" as being the individual who was leading unauthorized worship on September 4. The October 7 court decision ordered him to pay more than ten times the average monthly wage in Belarus. Pastor Vyacheslav Goncharenko has stated his determination to continue meeting despite official opposition.

For more information on the persecution of Christian in Belarus,click here.

In recent months, The Voice of the Martyrs has been following the ordeal facing the New Life Church in Minsk, Belarus. On September 23, the church administrator, Vasily Yurevich, was fined 4,080,000 rubles ($2250 CDN), for not stopping religious services as ordered.  This is the second fine in less than a year.  This fine is the equivalent of over 13 years' pay at the Belarusian minimum wage.  On September 26, the New Life Church also announced that it will be filing a lawsuit against the Minsk City Executive Council over the decision to confiscate the church's land.

For more information on the persecution of Christians in Belarus,click here.

Image fromwww.newlife.by

Pray that this decision will be reversed and that the New Life Church will be able to worship freely.  To learn more about the pressures facing the Church in Belarus, see our audio and video features on https://www.vomcanada.com/.

For more information on the persecution of Christians in Belarus, click here.

Image fromwww.newlife.by

For several months, The Voice of the Martyrs has been following the plight of the New Life Church in Minsk.  According to the church's website (www.newlife.by) the city is again attempting to prevent the church from using a converted cow shed for a church.  The city council is intending to insist that the building be used by the church for its original purpose, breeding cattle.  However, commercial breeding of animals, however, is forbidden within the city limits of Minsk, thus causing a dilemma for the city council.  The church intends to continue fighting for the right to use the building for meeting.

For more information on persecution in Belarus, click here.

A priest with the unregistered Russian Orthodox Church Abroad has had four lengthy "discussions" with Belarusian authorities in just over a week.  The authorities warned him of the possibility of imprisonment or a substantial fine if he holds any services outside his home. 

The troubles began for Father Leonid Plyats when a commission arrived at his home in the village of Zabolotye near Minsk on May 17.  The commission came under the pretense of conducting a fire inspection as they searched for indications that the house was used for "illegal religious activity."  Following the inspection, Plyats, his wife and parishioners faced interrogation on three other occasions.

When Forum 18 was informed of the situation, they contacted authorities to ascertain the reasons for these discussions.  The local police chief, Valentin Nikolaenok, refused to speak with them.  Aleksandr Kozmin of the Smolevichi district Ideology Department was part of the initial commission investigating Plyats.  Speaking with Forum 18 on June 6, Kozmin said, "Plyats is innocent. No court has found him guilty. The warning was just an explanation of the law."  Kozmin denies that any pressure was put on Plyats.

Pray for Father Plyats and the many other leaders of unregistered religious communities in Belarus who are facing threats, fines and interrogations because of their faith.  Pray that the Belarusian leaders will recognize the need for freedom of religious expression in their country.  Belarus has the harshest religious controls of any European country. Despite international human rights commitments, the government has declared all unregistered religious activity illegal and has cracked down on any religious community who has not been registered.  For more information on the situation in Belarus,click here.  A video report from Belarus is also available in the Video section of our multimedia website, www.vomcanada.com.

The church administrator for the New Life Church in Minsk, Belarus faces additional charges of repeatedly organising "illegal" worship, says a May 19 report from Forum 18.  The administrator, Vasily Yurevich, has previously faced fines of 3.2 million rubles ($1900 CDN or 150 times the minimum monthly wage in Belarus).  On May 15, ten police officers came to the church service and demanded that Yurevich come to the police station the next day.  He refused until he received a written summons, which was given to him on May 18.

The Minsk church also received its third warning on April 28 to cease meeting.  According to Belarusian law, a church can be officially dissolved after two such warnings.

Police arrive at New Life Church Images fromwww.newlife.by

For more information on the New Life Church and other difficulties facing Christians in Belarus,click here.Log on to VOMC's multimedia website, www.vomcanada.com, to view a recent video report on the challenges Belarusian evangelicals experience.

Image fromwww.newlife.by

The New Life Church has been facing difficulties for several months.  They have been refused permission to rent a facility.  City planners say that a new house of prayer does not fit into the development plans for the area, despite plans to build an Orthodox church there.  Consequently, the church began meeting in a former cowshed.  The city officials claim that this is illegal, since a cowshed is not an approved facility for a church meeting.  In March, Pastor Slava Goncharenko was fined 720,000 Belarusian roubles ($406 CDN): equivalent to thirty months' wages.

Pray that the ministry of the New Life Church will be able to continue despite the ongoing opposition.  Pray for peace and comfort for Pastor Goncharenko and the members of the church.

For more information on the trials facing Christians in Belarus,click here.  VOM has recently released a video documentary on the Belarus in the Video section of our multimedia website, www.vomcanada.com.  Free registration is required to access the website.