“The fall of communism wasn't a one-day event, it was a process," Andrei Blinkov says.
"When the final collapse came in 1991, I was 19 and Irina, now my wife, was 16. Neither of us had any experience of Christianity or any other aspect of the supernatural - for both of us finding Christianity was a process, too!"
The young couple now run Revival Centre in the northern suburbs of Moscow where drug addicts and alcoholics are ministered to in a residential setting based on three wooden cabins. With three young ministers and the cooperation of Agape Pentecostal Church with its 50 members, the centre was opened in February 2006. Since then more than 40 addicts have been through the rehabilitation programme. It is the power of the Holy Spirit to help withdrawal from drugs that accounts for much of their success. Out of the 34 people baptised into the church over the past two years the majority have come through the Revival Centre.
In 2006 Andrei was invited by a friend to one of the Jesus Fellowship's Marquee Festivals. He found such blessing that he brought Irina with him to the Multiply International Leaders Conference two years later.
"Our special moment at the conference was when one of the brothers who set up the Northampton Jesus Centre took us up onto its roof to look down on the city," says Andrei.
"He explained that everything God was doing through the Centre - through the community and the church businesses, through evangelism - had all come from the vision of just a handful of people. It was at this point that I realised just how much God can do, but that He can only work with people who are open enough to let God turn them upside down."
Andrei considers his country's political history and how this affects people's attitude to radical Christianity: "Communism was designed for economic reasons with 'all things in common' in mind - but it didn't work. It meant five families sharing one kitchen and one bathroom - and all hating each other!
"As a result, looking at it logically, I find it hard to think that Christian community living - and sharing money and businesses together - will be acceptable to Russians. Yet I had heard that UK people are naturally very stiff and formal so I wouldn't have expected to meet anything like Jesus Fellowship and its community in the UK. Maybe if it is possible in the UK it is possible in Russia! Seeing what God has done through Jesus Fellowship has opened new horizons for us."
New horizons
NEW HORIZONS