Seventh-day Adventist church members throughout Russia and central Asia will observe a day of prayer and fasting December 23 in response to ongoing persecution of Adventists and other religious groups in Turkmenistan. Adventist Church leaders in the Euro-Asia region voted November 21 to declare the day of prayer after receiving reports of another wave of anti-Christian state action in Turkmenistan, including the arrest and detention of an Adventist pastor. 

Pastor Pavel Fedotov was arrested on October 21 at a private home while holding Saturday, or Sabbath, church services.  Charged with holding “illegal religious meetings,” he was interrogated and held for three days.  Local church members report that in the days following Fedotov’s arrest, police warned individuals who had previously held worship services in their homes to stop the meetings or risk confiscation of their apartments.

“For many thousands of people, living their faith is a daily act of courage,” says Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist Church worldwide. “As a church, we believe that the ability to worship according to the dictates of one’s conscience is a precious, God-given right. I invite you, as fellow members of an international community of faith, to join with me in praying for persecuted believers everywhere, that they will hold fast to the hope and peace that only Christ can give.”

Dr. John Graz, director for public affairs and religious liberty for the Adventist Church worldwide, says that it is easy to take religious freedom for granted in countries where the right to worship is guaranteed. “In many places—from Turkmenistan, to East Indonesia, to Myanmar—individuals who defy the dominant religious culture or who disobey anti-religious laws risk their homes, their freedom, and even their lives.”

Pointing to the long history of religious repression in Turkmenistan, Graz says there is no easy way to address the persecution of Adventists, Baptists, Jews, Hare Krishnas, and other religious groups in that country. He adds, however, that the Adventist world church will continue its efforts to keep the plight of Turkmen believers before the international community.

Under Turkmenistan’s religious registration laws, only two groups are able to obtain legal status—Sunni Muslims and the Russian Orthodox Church.  Turkmenistan’s anti-religion activities made international news in November 1999, when authorities in the capital city, Ashgabat, ordered a recently built Adventist Church bulldozed.