Some Christians Under Siege in 'Season of Hope'

An Indian Christian prays on Christmas Eve in New Delhi

December 25, 2008

From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
By Jeffrey Donovan

On the snowy outskirts of Moscow, beneath a tent awning flapping in the freezing wind, Pastor Bakur Azaryan is preparing for Christmas service at Emmanuel Pentecostal Church. He's got all the essentials: Bibles, hymnals -- and electricity generators to power portable heaters to warm his flock of 700 faithful.

It will be a cold Christmas, for sure. Over the years, Azaryan's church -- part of a Protestant movement with 130 million global followers -- has faced such hostile red tape from local officials that worshipers have been forced to pray in a tent next to the church building, which was also hit by arsons last year.

"They cannot use the building for worship because bureaucrats won't complete the paperwork on it to allow it to be used," says author Felix Corley, the news editor of Forum 18, a Norway-based religious rights news service. "So they've got to set up a tent. They've got to bring in benches. They've got to bring in portable heaters and generators. It's expensive. And a lot of people don't want to come because it's cold."

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