Vol. 10, No. 1, Winter 2002, Covering the Former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe
Non-Indigenous Protestant Missionaries in Post-Soviet
States, 1994 - 2001
Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryck
(Note: The original print version of this chart contained several errors which have been corrected below.)
|
Former Soviet Union
|
1994
|
2001
|
Percentage Increase/Decrease
|
|
Armenia
|
10
|
N/A*
|
--
|
|
Azerbaijan
|
N/A*
|
N/A*
|
--
|
|
Belarus
|
6
|
82
|
+1,267
|
|
Estonia
|
45
|
95
|
+111
|
|
Georgia
|
8
|
24
|
+200
|
|
Kazakhstan
|
N/A*
|
N/A*
|
--
|
|
Kyrgyzstan
|
N/A*
|
138
|
--
|
|
Latvia
|
29
|
72
|
+148
|
|
Lithuania
|
4
|
62
|
+1,450
|
|
Moldova
|
0
|
50
|
--
|
|
Russia
|
505
|
2,200+
|
+336
|
|
Tajikistan
|
N/A*
|
N/A*
|
--
|
|
Turkmenistan
|
N/A*
|
N/A*
|
--
|
|
Ukraine
|
48
|
463
|
+865
|
|
Uzbekistan
|
N/A*
|
N/A*
|
--
|
|
Missionaries "working in Eurasia
or in sensitive countries"
|
458
|
N/A*
|
--
|
|
Subtotal
|
1,113
|
3,186
|
+186
|
|
East Central Europe
|
|
|
|
|
Albania
|
1,113
|
460
|
-59
|
|
Bulgaria
|
77
|
132
|
+71
|
|
CzechRepublic
|
87
|
232
|
+167
|
|
Hungary
|
213
|
489
|
+130
|
|
Poland
|
77
|
151
|
+96
|
|
Romania
|
165
|
453
|
+175
|
|
Slovakia
|
10
|
131
|
+1,210
|
|
Former Yugoslavia**
|
53
|
399
|
+653
|
|
Subtotal
|
1,795
|
2,447
|
+183
|
|
Total
|
2,908
|
5,633
|
+185
|
* Information not available
** 2001: Bosnia, 137; Croatia, 117; Macedonia, 47; Slovenia, 46; Yugoslavia [Serbia-Montenegro], 52.
Source: Johnstone, Patrick and Jason Mandryk.
Operation World. 5th ed. (Bromley, England: OM Publishing, 1995); 6th ed., (Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster Publishing, 2001).
Editor's Notes:
-
In countries where figures for both 1994 and 2001 are available, increases in the number of Protestant missionaries occurred in eight former Soviet republics and in seven Central and East European nations. The exception was Albania which experienced a sharp decline of 241 percent.
-
Anecdotal evidence might have suggested missionary retrenchment in post-Soviet territories in recent years, given growing government restrictions and rising anti-Western sentiment. The increases noted above come as such a surprise that the East-West Church & Ministry Report hopes in the near future to undertake a survey of the largest sending agencies to compare figures published previously with current figures.
-
The data in many cases raise as many questions as answers. What is the status of the missionary community in Central Asia? How did mission sending agencies manage such large increases in the face of growing domestic opposition? Could it be, even assuming accuracy in reporting, that the figures reflect more of a short-term than career missionary surge? Could it be that many local authorities and residents quietly favor Protestant compassionate ministries, public protests notwithstanding? Does the Albanian civil strife of 1999-2000 fully account for the dramatic decline in the number of missionaries in Albania? Reader comments on any of these questions would be welcome.
Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryck, "Non-Indigenous Protestant Missionaries in Post-Soviet States, 1994-2001," East-West Church & Ministry Report 10 (Winter 2002), 15.
Written permission is required for reprinting or electronic distribution of any portion of the East-West Church & Ministry Report.
© 2002 East-West Church and Ministry Report
ISSN 1069-5664
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