A Closing Door?
By Erik Debalek
May 12, 2008
How much longer can missionaries stay in Russia?Since Spring 2007, many missionaries have been having trouble getting visas. Some missionaries have been denied visas, while others are granted visas for 90 days, then they must leave the country for 90 days before they can return again. At first, there was no clear reason for these problems, then in the fall of 2007, a new series of laws came into affect regarding foreigners living in Russia. These laws only dealt with business visas and since these laws came into affect, two missionaries in Petrozavodsk were granted year long religious worker visas.
May 12, 2008
How much longer can missionaries stay in Russia?Since Spring 2007, many missionaries have been having trouble getting visas. Some missionaries have been denied visas, while others are granted visas for 90 days, then they must leave the country for 90 days before they can return again. At first, there was no clear reason for these problems, then in the fall of 2007, a new series of laws came into affect regarding foreigners living in Russia. These laws only dealt with business visas and since these laws came into affect, two missionaries in Petrozavodsk were granted year long religious worker visas.
Three times, we checked with the Russian government office that issues the necessary invitations for religious workers visas, and three times they told us that these visas will allow us to stay in Russia all year long. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
This month, when we arrived at the Russian consulate in Helsinki with all of our paperwork in order to receive new visas, the consulate told us that they don't give out any kind of year long visas anymore. Is the door to Russia closing?
There are essentially three types of visas left for missionaries: work visas, which are very difficult to get, plus non-profit organizations cannot hire foreign workers at all; student visas, which require full time study; and the 90 days in-90 days out visas. What does this mean for missionaries? For most of them, it means they need to go home.
Although it is impossible to know how many missionaries have already left Russia, the number must be high and stands to grow. Most mission work simply cannot survive if the missionaries are only there half of the time.
What does this mean for the Christian Center?
Since Liza Debelak is a Russian citizen, Eric and Vladik are applying for residency permits, which will allow them to stay in Russia for three years. The earliest these permits will be issued is in January 2009, which means they need to spend 90 days out of Russia.
In the Spring of 2009, the Debelaks were already planning a speaking tour and a time of rest with family in the U.S., and now this will be moved up to the fall (September, October, and November 2008) in order to fulfill the 90 days out requirement.If God grants the residency permits, the Debelaks will be okay to stay in Russia for the next three years, but if these trends continue, the door to Russia may be again closed for foreigners.What should we do?
God has given us this time. We do not know what the future holds, so we must use the time we have to do the most we can. We must continue to support the work of the Christian Center while there is still an open door and we must try to complete the campground project within three years.
The Apostle Paul writes, "See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:15-16).
Let us redeem the time God has given us, let us share the message with the people of Petrozavodsk before it is too late, let us build a campground that will minister to Russians long after we are gone. Let us be wise and may we love our Russian brother and sisters "not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth" (1 John 3:18).
