Speech #990039163

I learned of the case of the aproxlmately 170 Pentacostals living in Chuguyevka. a small community in the Soviet Far East. To this community of Christians who have sought basic religious freedoms. such as worship services and religious education for their young. the Soviets have responded with unbridled and unrelenting suppression and intolerance. All efforts by this group of ethnic Germans to emigrate have been unsuccessful. During my discussions with several Pentacostals I was told how on Saturdays they visit the Moscow synagogue of their Jewish friends who faced a similar fate under the thumb of Soviet persecution. They explained that they found a helping hand in those visits and that In times of trouble the Jews and Christians were able to come together to share their despair. while all too often during better times they stood apart.