M o s c o w – Baptists also lost their homes to Russia’s devastating forest and peat fires. This is reported on by Moscow offices of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (RUECB). The Baptist Ivan Galitsyn writes that fires broke out at midday on 28 July in the village of Gorkhovka in Voronesh region 500 kilometres southeast of Moscow. Within a period of 15 minutes, strong winds drove the fire to the village of Olkhovatka nine kilometres away. When the winds suddenly turned, the fires returned to Gorkhovka. Within 45 minutes, 120 houses had burned in Olkhovata including those of seven Baptist families. The Baptist meeting place in Olkhovatka was not harmed. Regarding the Voronesh Baptists, Galitsyn assured: “We’re doing all we can to meet the need.”

Pastor Ruvim Voloshin, the RUECB’s coordinator for humanitarian aid, explained that Baptists have chosen not to wait until state aid finally begins to flow. Baptists have already begun aiding the needy by gathering money, food and clothes for school children as well as coal for the winter. He noted that most of the homeless have been able to find refuge among friends and relatives. The RUECB’s offices in Moscow will also be coordinating international aid.

In Russia, roughly 700 fires have been burning on a territory covering 1.200 square kilometres. The situation has improved during the last several days; over 160.000 fire-fighters are on location.