Russian Baptist Welcomes Refugees, New Life Radio & The Next Chapter of Protecting Human Life

The Russian Baptist Church in West Sacramento, California has honed its purpose while helping diverse refugees of Russia’s war on Ukraine resettle in the US, Senior Pastor Mikhail Avramenko told Baptist Press.

Avramenko and other leaders of the church of about 2,700 Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic worshipers decry the war. He and other pastors there have led the church in settling 40 refugee families in California since April, hiring a temporary employee to work with and coordinate volunteers focused on the outreach.

Russian Baptist welcomes refugees to worship services and encourages them to participate in fellowship. Transportation, housing, court appointments, banking, social services, medical care and school enrollment are among necessities the church helps refugees navigate.

Meanwhile, in Odessa, Ukraine…New Life Radio continues its ministry of sharing the Gospel in the Russian language amid myriad challenges.

New Life Radio is Russia’s first ever Christian FM radio station and has been broadcasting since the 1990s, according to station co-founder Daniel Johnson.

Content of the broadcasts includes biblically focused music, Scriptural content and expository preaching.

The station quickly expanded to broadcast in several surrounding Russian-speaking nations, including Ukraine, through the use of satellite radio, and now also streams worldwide via the internet.

After broadcasting for years from Russia, New Life Radio moved its central broadcast location to Odessa, Ukraine, several years ago due to increasingly restrictive Russian media laws.

Johnson said he has even heard reports that the Ukrainian government is working to restrict the country’s internet to allow only Ukrainian-language websites.

He says they’re working on a second worldwide broadcast in the Ukrainian language.

The new law may make such a broadcast a necessity, and the organization may simply have to find another place outside of Odessa to broadcast its Russian-language broadcast.

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The leader of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission says local churches and state conventions of churches will play a key role in the next chapter of protecting the sanctity of human life.

In an interview with Baptist Press, Brent Leatherwood says as the debate shifts to the state-level, state legislators will be pivotal in the laws passed within the state government.

Leatherwood says local church and even state conventions or denominations can help to make sure the sanctity of human life and pregnancy support centers are protected under the law.