From St. Petersburg to Moscow
Retracing a centuries-old route through a new Russia

Part Two:

Irina Borisova, 57, is the power house behind the Novogorod Women's Parliament, a kind of club where women can study law, business, women's issues and computers, in hopes of improving their lot in life. Were it not for the backing of American women, especially their financial support, Borisova says she could never have set up this institution.

The new Baptist church in Novgorod was built with financial contributions from American and Canadian congregations and the labor of local Baptists, whose congregation has grown in the past decade from 20 to over 500.
The local minister hopes to establish 35 Baptist churches in the Novgorod region alone.

Baptist Minister Anatoly Korabel, left in the photo above, was a minister in Soviet times but was not allowed to proselytize or teach children. Only in 1993, after religious restrictions were lifted, was he able to get formal training in a theological seminary. Pictured with Korabel are American minister Mark Lukins and his family, who've moved to Novgorod to minister and evangelize.