Religious communities in various parts of Belarus have faced visits, threats and warnings for holding meetings of worship which officials regard as illegal. On one Sunday in January, officials visited three Pentecostal services in separate villages. Pastor Vasili Raptsevich – who led worship in a church-owned house in a village in Brest Region for about ten disabled church members - was summoned to the police station. There he was told that he had violated the law by conducting a religious service away from its legal address without permission. Police threatened him with court proceedings and threatened to strip his Pentecostal church of state registration. In February, police in the capital Minsk - among them masked riot police - launched a mass raid on a cultural meeting being held in a Pentecostal pastor's home. 34 participants were taken to a police station, but were released two hours later without any explanation and without any official record being drawn up.
Pray: that God’s Church will be protected from persecution. (Ro.8:35)