RUSSIA: NEW LAW BANS EVANGELISM
	President Vladimir Putin approved a package of anti-terrorism laws that usher in tighter restrictions on missionary activity and evangelism in Russia. Despite prayers and protests from religious leaders and human rights advocates, these laws went into effect on 20 July 2016. According to the new rules Christians in Russia won't be allowed to e-mail their friends an invitation to church or to evangelize in their own homes. The laws, considered the country's most restrictive measures in post-Soviet history, place broad limitations on missionary work, including preaching, teaching, and engaging in any activity designed to recruit people into a religious group. To share their faith, citizens must secure a government permit through a registered religious organization, and they cannot evangelize anywhere besides churches. "There are potentially very wide-sweeping ramifications to this law," Joel Griffith of the Slavic Gospel Association said. "It just depends on how it is going to be enforced, and that is a very huge question mark." Following a wave of Russian nationalist propaganda, the laws passed almost unanimously in the Duma and the Federation Council. The anti-evangelism law carries fines up to $780 for an individual and $15 500 for an organization. Foreign visitors who violate the law face deportation. Russia has already moved to contain foreign missionaries. The 'foreign agent' law, adopted in 2012, requires groups from abroad to file detailed paperwork and be subject to government audits and raids. Since then, the NGO sector has shrunk by a third, according to government statistics. Sergey Rakhuba, president of Mission Eurasia and a former Moscow church-planter, said: "Russia's evangelicals have gone underground before, and they'll be willing to do it again. They say, 'If it will come to it, it's not going to stop us from worshipping and sharing our faith. The Great Commission isn't just for a time of freedom.' " [Source: Barnabas Fund, Forum 18 News Service, via Joel News International 1002].