T b i l i s i -- Georgian Baptists have called on their own government and the Russian government to immediately end the war over the provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In a phone conversation with European Baptist Press Service, Merab Gaprindashvili (Tbilisi), General-Secretary of the country’s 5.000-member-strong Evangelical Baptist Church, affirmed that political questions should not be settled through force. In the night before 8 August, Georgia had started a surprise offensive against South Ossetia, a province striving for its own independence. In response, Russia sought to stop the Georgian offensive by attacking military bases within Georgia. Russia simultaneously beefed-up its troop presence in Abkhazia, a second Georgian province fighting for its independence, and handed Georgia an ultimatum demanding that it pull back all troops from that province.

Gaprindashvili reported that many members of the country’s 75 Baptist congregations are holding around-the-clock prayer meetings for peace. They emphasise the seriousness of their concern by fasting 24-hours-long “for peace”. A large Georgian Baptist family conference to be held under the motto of “Transformation” was called off. The finances collected for this event are now being used to aid the refugees from South Ossetia, which Gaprindashvili reckons counts as many as 45.000. Almost nothing is known about the plight of people in South Ossetia, for the Russian military capped all phone lines there. The Internet had also broken down. There is news that a small Baptist church in the South Osssetian capital of Tskhinvali has been destroyed. Its 37 members apparently survived the bombing by the Georgian air force and fled to the near-by city of Gori. From there they called the Baptist offices in Tiflis. It is not known how the Russian-speaking congregation in the Abkhaz capital of Sukhumi is faring. Agreements have been forged by all of Georgia’s religious leaders on how best to co-ordinate relief efforts

Gaprinidashvili called on the Baptists from throughout Europe to pray for a quick resolution and for peace in that country. At the same time, he expressed concern regarding the fact that his country’s closeness with the West and the resulting democratisation of the country is apparently not wanted by Russia. “This amounts to a very difficult situation for us,” he stated. The spiritual head of Georgian Baptists is Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili. He is presently residing in London.

The General Secretary of the European Baptist Federation (EBF), Tony Peck (Prague), stated: "We are very concerned about the whole situation and urge a peaceful resolution of the conflict." He called on the Baptists of Europe to pray for peace in the Caucasus region.