Our Past…
THE RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY WAS BROUGHT TO LIFE IN 1944, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF PASTOR BASIL MALOF.
Pastor Malof was converted at 15 years of age in the little Baptist assembly that met in his father’s house. He was baptized with other converts after midnight for fear of persecution and imprisonment. Shortly after this he was called to preach and gave his first sermon at the age of sixteen. He was trained at Spurgeon’s Pastors College in London, England, as there were no evangelical training schools in Russia.
In 1907 he graduated with honors and returned to Russia with this conviction: “If John Knox could claim all Scotland for Christ, why can I not claim all Russia for Christ?” God led him in the founding of three Baptist churches. The first was the Dom Evangeliа (Gospel House) in St. Petersburg. Later he established the Moscow Baptist Church. This church is still in existence today. Pastor Malof also started the Salvation Temple in Riga, Latvia, which was recently returned to the Baptists in Riga and has both Russian and Latvian-speaking congregations.
In 1914 Pastor Malof was arrested and sentenced to Siberia. Later this sentence was commuted to banishment abroad. He then began to evangelize the 2 million Russian war prisoners in Germany and Austria. He later came to the United States from where he was able to send large quantities of Bible portions and other Christian literature and gospel tracts, which were translated into Russian by his wife. These were distributed to the Russians who were prisoners in Germany.
Pastor Malof never forgot the people of Russia. His burden was to reach his own people. In 1944 he reopened the Russian Bible Society and began the first real effort in modern times to get Bibles in Russia. Basil Malof went to glory in 1956. The work continued by his capable friend and fellow laborer, Dr. James Stewart, until his own passing in 1975. Since then Dr. Bob Doom has been the International Director.
Our Purpose…
THE RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY IS COMMITTED TO GIVING THE PURE WORD OF GOD TO VARIOUS LANGUAGE GROUPS IN THE C.I.S.
The Russian Bible Society has been at the front line of providing Bibles for Russia and its people since 1944. We are convinced that the greatest gift we can give to any people is the pure Word of God in their native tongue. Thus, we are interested only in word for word translations (not para-phrases) based on reliable manuscripts, such as the Received Greek Text. Therefore, we are committed to continue providing the “Synodal Translation” of the Russian Bible for the Russian people. Also, we want to see reliable translation of Scripture into as many minority languages as possible.
It is a goal of ours at the Russian Bible Society to help provide the New Testament for all the non-Slavic languages which have one million or more speakers and do not yet have a New Testament. There are nineteen groups of this size in the C.I.S.
The opportunities are at hand. Bibles have been entering the largest country in the world after years of their rejection and confiscation by the Communist authorities. Never since the history of Marxist control has there been such openness. We are committed to using this open door to its fullest possibility and to do our very best to provide the Word of God for all the people of the former USSR.
We believe that the Living God is using us along with others as an instrument in seeing many “redeemed … to God by thy blood out of every KINDRED, and TONGUE, and PEOPLE, and NATION.”
PROJECTS COMPLETED SINCE 1975
Bibles and New Testaments
Russian
Russian Preacher’s Bible
Bulgarian
Czech
Georgian
Georgian-English
Hungarian
Latvian
Lithuanian
Moldavian
Ossetian
Polish
Romanian
Slovak
Tadzhik
Ukrainian Bible (Kulish translation)
Ukrainian New Testament (Popchenko translation)
Scripture Portions
Four Gospels in Bashkir (reprint)
Gospel of John in Chuvash
Jonah in Crimean-Tatar (new translation)
Gospel of Mark in Karachay (new translation)
Four Gospels in Kazakh (reprint)
Kazakh Plus New Testament
Gospels of Matthew and John, Acts in Kirghiz
Jonah in Tat (new translation)
Four Gospels and John in Tatar (reprint)
Four Gospels in Udmurt (reprint)
Gospels of Mark/John in Ukrainian
Gospel of John in Uzbek (reprint)
Jonah in Uzbek (new translation)
Other Christian Materials
Georgian, Kazakh, Yugoslavian Bible Dictionaries
Armenian, Georgian, Hungarian, Latvian, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian Children’s Picture Bibles
Georgian and Russian Children’s Books – Caring Creator
Bosnian, Kazakh Children’s Bibles
Russian Children’s Book on Jonah
Russian, Estonian, Latvian, Romanian Hymnals
Georgian, Russian Pilgrim’s Progress
Georgian, Russian Scripture Calendars
Children’s Scripture Calendar for Kazakhstan
Georgian Morning by Morning (by Spurgeon)
PROJECTS IN PROGRESS
Ukrainian Old Testament Translation
Georgian New Testament Translation
THE RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY NEEDS YOUR INVOLVEMENT
Please see our current Bible Journal and prayerfully give as the Lord leads using our secure donations page.
RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY
Ben Wilkerson, Director
PO Box 505 Skyland, NC 28776
828-681-0370, 800-252-8896
