The labour, the many donations and also the setbacks do not seem to have been in vain. A small Baptist union with less than 14,000 members is able to own this true gem.

The governor of the region wrongly announced on television that Baptists arriving in Russia from Spain had brought the coronavirus.

Inter-denominational contacts are on the rise in Russia.

The REA wants to be a lay movement of church people concerned about inter-denominational cooperation.

In their own quiet way, Russia’s Protestant denominations are continuing to evangelise.

Called in Russian the “Youth Business Prayer Breakfast”, its primary supporters are Russian businessmen and politicians.

“Except for a few Orthodox extremists, I do not hear a single voice expressing approval for the prohibition of the Jehovah’s Witnesses”, says Russian church historian Constantine Prokhorov.

“This kind of precedent is highly frightening and raises the question of who’s next”, says Evangelical-Baptist leader Vitaly Vlasenko.

It appears once again as if the Russian state will be moving simultaneously in opposite directions. Restrictive measures are combined with financial support for Protestant and multi-confessional projects.

A Commentary on Russia’s new anti-terror legislation. By expert William Yoder.