Jehovah's Witnesses being imprisoned in Russia for their faith
For many years, the Russian authorities would not allow Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to practice their religion freely. According to the official website of Jehovah Witnesses, as of September 23, 2019 there are 42 witnesses who are in pretrial detention or sentenced to prison, 23 witnesses who are under house arrest, and 93 witnesses who are not allowed to leave their hometowns. These Jehovah's Witnesses have been charged with organizing, participating in, or have been financing the activity of an "extremist" organization; and at least 252 witnesses are being investigated, ranging from the ages of 20 to 85 years old. These kinds of things have been happening to Russian witnesses for a very long time.
What Jehovah Witnesses Believe in
Jehovah's Witnesses strive to adhere to the form of Christianity that Jesus taught and practiced. Here are some of the few basic beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses. God, Jehovah's Witnesses worship the one true and almighty God, creator of all things, Jehovah. Jehovah Witnesses also believe in the all inspired word of God, the bible. The Bible. Jehovah's Witnesses base their beliefs on all 66 books in the bible, Including the " Old Testament" and "New Testament". Jehovah Witnesses also recognize that parts of the bible are written in symbolic and figurative language. Jesus. Jehovah's Witnesses like to follow the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ, and honor him as their savior. Relationship with others. One of the teachings that Jesus commanded, is stated in Matthew 22:39 which states, "you must love your neighbor as yourself". Jesus also stated that Christians "are no part of the world" which means that Jehovah's Witnesses try to "work what is good toward all". So Jehovah's Witnesses remain strictly neutral in political affairs and like to avoid any affiliation with other religions, but they also respect the choices others make. As we can see, Jehovah's Witnesses remain neutral meaning that they do not practice any extremist activities and remain peaceful with others and the government.
Jehovah's Witnesses being tortured by Russian authorities
Nine days after a Witness named Dennis Christensen was unjustly convicted in a Russian court, at least seven of Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to physical abuse, electric shocks, suffocation, and beatings by Russian investigators. The officers were also demanding the Witnesses to give the known identities of their other local Witnesses. The incident began in the early hours of February 15, 2019. After the officers arrested some Witnesses and took them to be interrogated, the Witnesses refused to disclose details about their fellow worshipers. The agents began to put bags over the Witnesses heads and sealed the bags with tape, they then tied their hands behind their backs and beat them. They soon after started to strip the Witnesses naked and began dousing them with water, the agents then shocked them with stun guns. The torture lasted for about two hours. After the mass searches were completed, the Russian authorities initiated criminal cases against a total of 19 Witnesses for so-called "participating in extremist activity" and "organizing an extremist organization." This is only one of the many attacks from the Russian authorities against Jehovah's Witnesses.
What is being done to help Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia
These Witnesses in Russia have been struggling due to the Russian authorities for alleged "extremist actives", but fellow believers around the world have been trying their best to help against the Russian authorities. Back in March of 2017, the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses invited fellow worshipers and believers to write letters of appeal to governmental authorities at the highest level who are threatening to ban Jehovah's Witnesses activities throughout the Russian Federation. But sadly the Russian Government chose not to heed the respectful appeals and has misused its authority to attack the worship of Jehovah'a Witnesses. Many witnesses even went to great lengths to participate in the campaign. In some countries, sending letters to Russia presented a significant cost. In other cases many believers sent their letters to friends in other countries with lower shipping costs. Jehovah's Witnesses also gathered up as families or congregations to write the letters together and send them in bulk. In this way not only did the fellow witnesses save on shipping, they also made the campaign a memorable spiritual event. There are even reports of postal workers giving support to the campaign. According to the official Website of Jehovah's Witnesses, believers and non believers were struck by the unity of Jehovah's Witnesses. For example, the manager of a service in Barranquilla, Colombia, stated: " I was struck by the worldwide unity that exists among you, and that you have come together for a good cause like this matter in Russia. I imagine that what's happening here in Barranquilla is going on in every city throughout the world. This message will be massive, on a global scale, and I hope it echoes." In Anseong, South Korea, a postmaster created a special window for Jehovah's Witnesses to send letters and even provided the brothers with an envelope designed for international postage, free of charge. Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses, explains: " When the Brothers in Russia heard that the Governing body had initiated a global letter- writing campaign in their behalf, they knew that no matter what the outcome in court, they were not alone in the faith."
Letter campaign in Austria
How can you help?
You can help by sending letters, such as the ones we did in the 'letter writing campaign' to convince our senators here in Palm Springs, to convince our US Government to help out other world leaders, such as Vladimir Putin, into stopping the unfair punishments against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia for "extremist acts'. You can use this letter format as an example for your own letters. Remember to keep things neutral/peaceful we don't want to carry any offenses to the name of Jehovah's Witnesses.