CONGREGATION AIDS CHURCH IN BELARUS

JACKSON -- The Rev. Jim Raney will be keeping a close eye on the upcoming runoff election for the Russian presidency.

That's because the winner -- incumbent Boris Yeltsin or Communist Gennady Zyuganov -- could have a big influence on whether or not construction of a Baptist church in neighboring Belarus is completed.

The First Baptist Church in Jackson, where Raney is the music minister and minister for senior adults, is helping to raise funds to build a new sanctuary for the House of Gospel in Vitebsk, Belarus.

Under the Communist regime, churches operated in secrecy and oppression, Raney said.

"Right now, during the openness they have, they're building churches as quickly as they can," he said.

But the Belarussian government is still largely Communist, in sympathy at least, Raney said, and if Zyuganov wins in Russia, the Belarussians will have a strong enough ally to return to the old regime and history of religious oppression.

"That's a matter of prayer for us," he said.

Raney spent about two weeks in Belarus in May, part of a contingent of the Missouri Music Men, a group of music ministers from Southern Baptist churches throughout the state, visiting and preaching at churches throughout the former Soviet state.

"We had this as a mission trip to go to Belarus this year and sign concerts, preach, give testimony and just visit and encourage the churches that we sang at," he said.

The House of Gospel in Vitebsk is the "link-up church" for the First Baptist Church of Jackson, Raney said. So far, the Jackson congregation has raised more than $12,000 to help build a new sanctuary for the church in Belarus. The Jackson church donates 1 percent of its budget annually to help the The House of Gospel. Raney also delivered supplies to the church.

The pastor at The House of Gospel was imprisoned for seven years under the Communists for practicing his religion, Raney said.

"It's quite impressive to be in a service with a person with that kind of faith," he said.

Even with the new religious freedom, clergy and believers are cautious, Raney said. Many churches are in houses or are unmarked.

The two American missionaries working with the Vitebsk congregation can't get the proper visas to work in Belarus, he said. If the Communists win in Russia, that could be bad news for clergy in Belarus.

The Missouri Music Men -- including the president of the group, Rev. John Broom, music minister of the First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau -- visited seven Baptist churches in Belarus.

Part of the visit included a tour of Gorodishi, a hospital for children with thyroid cancer. Gorodishi means "children of the Chernobyl," and the children at the hospital were exposed to contamination after the accident at the nuclear reactor.

Raney said he particularly the enjoyed the chance for fellowship with the church members.

At one point, Raney's group and church members were singing verses of the hymn "Til We Meet Again in Heaven," alternating between English and Russian, and the point of the song came home to him, he said.

"I realized we'd never see these people again until we're there in heaven," he said.