Pentecostal church members agree to give up Russian citizenship

27-10-2022

Eastern Europe

The Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith in Orsk renounces their Russian citizenship. The church’s pastor, Valery Markov, cites Russia’s latest events in Ukraine and ongoing persecution among members as primary reasons behind the move. Some have been forced to go into hiding from Putin’s partial mobilisation decree, because they refuse to leave.

According to an inVictory report, the Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith (“House of the Father”) posted a YouTube video on their decision. “If necessary, we will go to jail for our beliefs. We will not go to war. We will talk people out of it. We will say that murder is evil,” pastor Markov said. The Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith is part of the Pentecostal movement.

Markov also said in another inVictory article that he stands by the Ukrainian people, despite that his country is “in shambles” and that it has “lost its adequacy.”

“And to the Ukrainians. In principle, I was with you since 2014, always supported, always spoke about my position, I did not hide it. In any case, this does not justify me in any way, I am very ashamed in front of you, and it hurts because I could not keep it here, he said.

Asylum

As more members have reported threats from the police, the church hopes to apply for asylum in Ukraine and the US, as these countries have “rights in a civil society.”

“We want to live in a normal country,” Markov declared in SlavicSac.com.

Even while Markov and his congregants are looking for citizenship elsewhere, he continues to not hold grudges on anyone.

“I bless you and just wish you repentance. I want to turn to them and say that please think about what the Scripture says. On whom is eternity, your life and do not play with your life,” he said in a YouTube interview.

The church was registered in 2010 but has now been listed as “liquidated” as of 7 September this year, according to Rusprofile.ru.