Novikova,
Olga & Laine, Heikki: A Journey to Samara. The
Voice of Zion 7/2001.
We left St. Petersburg, Russia, by train on March 4th
for Samara. After traveling for a day and a half, we arrived in Samara and were
met by local believers. We heard "Smiron Boga!" [God's Peace!] from
every direction. How beautiful it was to see those happy faces around us; at
last our much-awaited meeting was occurring! The nervousness and tiredness of
travel disappeared quickly.
From the train depot we went to Larisa and Sergei
Chernishkov's home, where we were lodged for the following week. In the
afternoon more people came to the house, and in the evening we had services.
Russian speaker brother Yuri Serov spoke. In Samara and surrounding area there
are 30 believers who gather for services every weekend in different homes and
at a church. There is one local speaker, Yuri Serov, and five or six times a
year the Zion of Samara gets services with Finnish ministers.
Russian Zion's Destiny
It seemed unbelievable to be at services this
far into Russia. We felt the Heavenly Father's miraculous acts as if we could
touch them with our hands. When our strength runs out, God arranges things on
our behalf. A person can't comprehend everything, and the destiny and fortune
of Russia's Zion goes beyond our comprehension. How, so deep inside Russia,
could this small flock of believers be preserved throughout the Soviet era? We
had many questions with which we bombarded Yuri. Late into the evening, he
tirelessly told us of the Russian believers' lives. the periods of heresy, and
of the contact they finally made with Fin- land's believers. We wanted to
engrave each word into our minds; we even recorded part of our conversations.
The stories made us both laugh and cry at the same time.
A Wonderful Visit
The Samara believers had arranged a wonderful
schedule for us. We skied on the Volga River. One evening we visited a small
country village for sauna. The gentle steam of the Russian sauna was a surprise
even to Finns accustomed to sauna. One day we toured a Lada factory in the
nearby city of Toljat. The factory's immensity dumbfounded us. Our guide
reported that 250,000 employees work at the factory or in jobs directly related
to it. This year the plant will manufacture 750,000 cars, all of which will be
sold on the Russian market.
At the City of Samara's War Museum, we heard
interesting stories about Russia's war history. To the Finns on the tour, the
guide's narratives were really interesting, and the stories about past wars
weren't in conflict with the Finns' understanding of the wars.
On March 8th we celebrated International
Women's Day, which is really popular in Russia. We also partook of the Russian
tradition and remembered the women with small gifts and
flowers. The Finnish guys sang
Finnish folk song, sa kasvoit neito
kaunoinen.
IThe five days we spent in Samara flew past like one day. Each evening
there were services in homes and the evenings often streched late into the
night.
At least for now, the history of Russia 's
believers has not been researched exhaustively. As oral traditions, however,
stories have been passed down to new generations. Before the 1917 Russian
Revolution there were about 1000 believers there. They lived in various
localities across Russia-St. Petersburg, Moscow, Pskov, Samara, as well as the
Lithuanian capital of Riga, which later came under Russian control. Russian and
Finnish believers maintained close con- tact. The first Russian language
Laestadian hymnal was published in 1901 in St. Petersburg.
Persecution
After the Revolution, the national border
separated Russian believers from those of Finland. The difficult years of
Soviet rule began. In 1937 and 1938, many believers were exiled to the work
camps of Siberia because of their faith. A few returned home from exile, but
the greater part of them died in the poor living conditions in Siberia. Matvei
Gerasimovich Orlov, of St. Petersburg, returned to his home town after a
20-year exile and found God's children. The congregation was then experiencing
difficult times, and Orlov immediately noticed that there was an inflamed
spirit in the group. There
as a strong preacher in he congregation who
gathered much power for himself. After Orlov arrived, and partially because f
his instructional endeavors, the situation cleared up and the preacher, who had
been spreading the false spirit, left the congregation.
During Orlov's time believers registered their
association and Orlov's home served as their meeting place. These believers
were called "Old Believers." Orlov was called to St. Petersburg a few
times to appear before the Committee on Religious Activity for interrogation.
The officials asked him difficult questions. Orlov had to answer without
offending the Soviets, but still remain faithful to the HeavenJy Father. He was
questioned in this way: "We are communists and we also want peace, love,
and all the best for people; will we get to heaven ?"
"You will if you confess Jesus,"
Orlov answered.
Further they asked: "The Bible says “Thou
shall not kill”. If a person is in the army, he may have to kill someone in
war. What does a believer do in this instance?" Orlov replied: "The Bible teaches us to be obedient to
government, and if it commands us to kill people, the government becomes responsible."
In Samara,
Feodor Ivanovich Vdov served as speaker. There were 15 believers in Samara at
that time. The group was not officially registered, but the local Commit- tee
on Religious Activity, had a list of the believers. The committee's inspector
came to the services now and again and gave the believers permission to gather.
The Russian believers were in touch with each other through letters. There was
active correspondence between St. Petersburg and Samara.
Contact with Finns
The Russian believers knew that their faith had
reached them from Finland, but they weren't sure if there were still believers
there, because their letters went unanswered. Orlov had a dream of a men's
choir singing, which he took to represent Finnish believers. Before his death,
Orlov emboldened Yuri Serov to seek contact with Finns, because he wasn't up to
it any longer.
Due to the breakup of the Soviet Union, hope of
again meeting Finnish believers grew. Seeking them, however, was difficult,
because even the foreign believers' name wasn't clear. They only knew that they
sought "living faith." In June of 1990, Yuri Serov was in Moscow on a
business trip. He searched a bookstore and found a book about the world's
religions. From it, he recognized the name Laestadius, by which a Finnish
revivalist movement got its name. The nature of the revivalist movement was
familiar, so Serov focused on Laestadianism. In August of the same year, he
listened
to a spiritual radio program on which a Finn
was preaching. On the program they gave addresses to which listeners could
write if they had any questions. Serov wrote a letter to the Finnish preacher's
address and asked if there were any Laestadians in Finland. Two years later the
Finns made contact with Serov. The letter sent by the SRK's Voitto Savela felt
good to those in Samara, and Serov relates being warmed by Savela's words,
"you dear brother, can also believe that your sins are forgiven." For
the first time after the Soviet era, Russia's "old believers" met the
believers of Finland near St. Petersburg in Volodarskaya in November of 1992.
Olga
Novikova, Heikki Laine