How do you write “Desiring God” in Russian? Жаждущие Бога, which transliterates into English as “Zhazhdushie Boga” and comprises zhazhdushieboga.org, the address for our new, fully Russian website featuring 64 resources by John Piper (with many more to come, Lord willing).
Russian is the 8th largest language, spoken by 144 million first-language and 114 million second-language speakers in 33 countries worldwide. The top of the list includes Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. Through diaspora movements the United States has experienced strong growth in Russian language speakers, likely to be thousands more than the 706,000 of the 2000 census.
The fall of the U. S. S. R. in 1991 opened massive opportunities for the spread of the gospel throughout much of Eastern Europe. Many congregations emerged from underground. New religious freedoms gave rise to new churches, which increased the demand for pastors and leaders and, in turn, the need for more theological training materials to equip them.
Russia itself wrestles with entrenched instability. Just this week saw fresh political unrest. Its population declines by 500,000 each year with huge economic implications. Abortion, alcoholism, and drug abuse wage war especially on its young people. The Russian Orthodox Church maintains strong political influence despite reforms. Evangelicals make up only 1.2% of the population.
In the face of such need, we are praying that God might use this website to strengthen his church. In particular, we want to make sure you see the video messages that are available from Pastor John’s trip to Russia back in 2009. Also be sure to check out the five full-length books that you can download for free, thanks to our friends at In Lumine, our most significant Russian-language publishing partner.
Please join us in thanking God for this new website, and for the faithful labors of our translators, ministry partners, and web team who have together made it a reality. And join us in praying that God will use it to equip Russian-speaking saints around the world.
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