Beslan Update
11/12/04

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3).

Dear Partners in the Gospel,

First I want to convey deep appreciation from the pastoral staff of Beslan Baptist Church. The leaders and their church family have been humbled by the tremendous support of Christians throughout the world. They are quick to acknowledge that prior to September 1, 2004 neither their church, nor their city, nor even their republic was known around the world. They are also quick to acknowledge that God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways higher than our ways. In light of this, these dear brothers and sisters are pleading that their fellow Christians throughout the world would please keep praying for their unprecedented, unimaginable opportunities for the Gospel. Specifically, it is their great desire that we all keep praying that from this horrible tragedy the Lord will raise up a great movement to take the Gospel to their entire Republic of North Ossetia. In the meantime, there are a number of important items to report to you:

  1. NEWSPAPER SAYS NUMBER OF BESLAN VICTIMS THREE TIMES GREATER THAN OFFICIAL FIGURES. The weekly Versiya, No. 40, has reported that the morgue in Vladivostok has issued 648 death certificates in connection with the Beslan school hostage taking last month. The paper also reported that 540 victims have been buried so far. A correspondent for the paper reported counting 345 graves in the local cemetery on 1 October, many of which contained several people. In addition, he reported seeing 100 new graves being dug. According to official statistics, 323 people died during the 3 September storming of the school and 12 more died subsequently from their injuries. The weekly reported that the actual death toll could be around 1,000. The newspaper also reported that in the middle of August, police in Beslan issued an official warning of a possible terrorist act in connection with the beginning of the school year and urged citizens to be vigilant. Nonetheless, the paper reported, there were no police at all at the school on 1 September. The paper also claims to have received information from former hostages about four terrorists who are not accounted for in official accounts of the incident — one of whom was reportedly killed by enraged local residents, one of whom was reportedly badly beaten by locals but was taken away alive by police, and two of whom may have escaped. RC

    Used by permission. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague, Czech Republic RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 8, No. 200, Part I, 21 October 2004, Copyright © 2004 RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
  2. Beslan Baptist Church youth pastor, Gherman Dzheriev, was an eyewitness of the beginning of the three-day siege of Beslan School No. 1. He told me how the terrorists arrived in two large army trucks, parking one in front of the school ground and one behind the school grounds. He estimated at least fifty terrorists, all dressed in camouflage outfits, wearing ski masks, and equipped with high-tech communications equipment and machine guns. Gherman went on to say that first the terrorists scoured the surrounding homes and apartments and rounded up local residents and brought them to the school grounds. Next they cleared the parking lot, shooting fathers who were waiting as their wives were attending the school opening ceremony. Finally, shooting over the heads of the children, teachers, staff and parents, they entered the school grounds where the annual opening day festivities were underway. Taking over the sound system, they herded more than 1,200 people into the small gymnasium and the three-day holocaust ensued.
  3. The high school senior camp scheduled for November 10-16 had to be postponed. In the sensitive aftermath of the catastrophe a concern developed about taking young people away from their families overnight. Please pray that matters can be worked out to enable the evangelistic camp planned for early January to take place, as well as the other camp sessions planned for youth and children in 2005.
  4. The Beslan pastors have asked Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptist (UECB) youth president Eugene Bakhmutsky, and Todd Provost, SGA youth ministries director, to travel to Beslan to help youth pastor Gherman Dzheriev and his team shape and develop the youth ministry strategy for the whole region. Please pray for the Lord's blessings upon these planning sessions scheduled for December 7-14.
  5. The grief-counseling conference that had to be postponed due to visa denials has been rescheduled for December 17-18. Please pray that visas will soon be issued to Pastors Phil Manly and Jim Pile of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, enabling them to join me and proceed to equip some 300 pastors, church planters and church workers from the entire region to be more effective in using God's Word to help the grief-stricken families some of which are filled with a desire for revenge.
  6. Please pray for printing soon of three important Russian-language publications that are in production to assist the pastors and church workers as they minister to the grieving community. In the Lord's wonderful providence, three books written by Dr. John MacArthur, a long-revered author and teacher of the Russian pastors, are especially well suited for the opportunities before the Beslan Baptist Church. A Beslan edition of Safe in the Arms of God will be distributed to all families who have lost children. The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness will be distributed to all families in Beslan. And, Lord willing, Faith to Grow On will be distributed to all the school-age children in North Ossetia.
  7. Beslan Baptist Church has a pressing need for the expansion of their facility to provide for their growing ministries to the children and youth, and space is so short that even adults are standing in their worship services. An attempt to purchase the adjacent property as a first step has met with difficulty concerning an estate proceeding and they may not be able to complete the purchase. This would leave them with no alternative but to begin to move in the direction of acquiring property elsewhere and constructing a suitable facility. Pray for the Lord's clear and quick direction as the lack of adequate facility is hampering their ability to seize the enormous opportunities.

Finally, thank you for keeping the Beslan situation in your prayers and for your support as the Lord may lead. Please feel free to forward this information to others whom you feel would like to be aware of the progress of the Gospel in Beslan, North Ossetia, following the terrible September tragedy.

Dr. Bob Provost
President
Slavic Gospel Association