Belarus

Have you been following the events in Belarus? Gary and I were there in 1992 and 1993, and we made some dear friends. Several people whom we came to know and love trusted Christ at that time.

We have had ongoing contact with them. One took care of Alexandra so Gary and I could go skiing in Banff. She was baptized in our neighbor's pool here in Texas. Another lived with us for a month three summers ago.

Our Belarussian friends have often referred to their president as Big Daddy, which is no term of endearment. Think Big Brother and you get the idea. So I smelled a rat as soon as I heard about his landslide re-election win.

When I saw this quote in today’s NY Times, I sent it to one of the aforementioned friends, who shall remain nameless:

“They may attack and beat us and inflict great trauma. But we have already achieved a result: we have shown our country that we are not afraid to stand against arbitrary rule.” –Stepan Svidersky, 18, a protester in Belarus

I asked my friend how she was holding up (she works for an office in Minsk that is monitoring the situation), and she wrote this in response:

It is a difficult time here as we had the so-called presidential elections last Sunday, and we have this week people who dared to protest. There is a little camp in the main square. The authorities finally decided not to destroy it by force, as we still have a lot of foreign press in the city, but [the authorities] “destroy” the participants by arresting one by one and not only the participants but those who try to bring food to the square and blankets.

Right now about 200 people are arrested and tried. They are kept in very bad conditions. As it was reported to us, some were beaten up. They do not allow to pass food to the arrested. [A mutual friend who also trusted Christ when we were there in 1992] tried to pass a package to one of her students from the religious college. He was arrested as he tried to take the blanket to the square. Finally she managed today to pass it, but she told me that it was by a miracle.

I have been working a lot these days and hardly had any rest, but it is not to compare with the brave people in the square.

Please remember our friends in Belarus. Read today's NY Times for the latest.