Prayer for Pastor Balaev's Appeal

Dear Precious Partners in the Gospel,

As you might have heard by now, the Lord has gloriously answered our prayers for Pastor Zaur Balaev in Azerbaijan. Because of a presidential amnesty granted March 18, Pastor Balaev has been released from the prison where he had been held since last May.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the prayers you have offered up on this faithful brother’s behalf. We have been deeply encouraged by the many special notes you have sent praising God for Zaur’s release from prison. It is a great comfort and encouragement to Zaur and his family to know that people around the world have been entreating our God and Father on their behalf.

There is yet another very important matter pending in this situation that we need to lift up in prayer. Today, the Azerbaijan Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the long-pending appeal of Pastor Balaev’s conviction, according to Ilya Zenchenko, president of the Azeri Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.

To review quickly, Pastor Balaev was arrested last May following a police raid on his church. The frail, physically ill pastor was falsely charged and convicted of resisting arrest. Pastor Zenchenko says this appeal is important, because while Zaur is a free man, in the eyes of society he was convicted of a crime and will be viewed with suspicion. If the appeal is not successful, Pastor Zenchenko says they will consider appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.

Please pray with us that the Lord will guide the justices to overturn Pastor Balaev’s conviction. And be watching SGA’s website in the coming days. We plan on posting two exclusive audio interviews with both Pastor Zenchenko and Pastor Balaev regarding this matter.

Thank you again for standing together with us on behalf of our faithful brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan, and across the former Soviet Union.

Bob Provost
President, Slavic Gospel Association