At least three evangelical churches, with which the group has worked, were damaged over the weekend in fighting in the town of Zhinvali in South Ossetia, Russian Ministries said. The group made the announcement as Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russian troops have effectively cut the country in half by seizing a strategic city that straddles the country’s main east-west highway.
He spoke in a national security council meeting on Monday, about an hour after officials claimed Russian troops had captured Gori, about 96 kilometers (60 miles) west of the capital Tbilisi. The conflict began late last week, and escalated over the weekend, with Pope Benedict XVI appealing for for an immediate halt to the military clashes.
Making an appeal to the "shared Christian heritage" of Georgia and Russia– both predominantly Orthodox nations– the Pope promised that Catholics would pray for a quick resolution of the conflict. However on the ground, thousands of people, including many Christians, are suffering, Russian Ministries said in a statement to BosNewsLife.
2,000 KILLED?
"News sources now estimate that 1,500-2,000 people have been killed, and 40,000-50,000 of the 70,000 residents of South Ossetia may have fled their homes to North Ossetia and other parts of Georgia. They were promised safe passageway and refuge,” Russian Ministries said. On Sunday, August 10, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili backed the European Union-proposed ceasefire that was rejected by the Kremlin.
However, "As Georgian troops retreated from South Ossetia, conflict erupted in Abkhazia, a breakaway republic by the Black Sea," said Russian Ministries, which knows the area well. Russian Ministries Senior Vice President Sergey Rakhuba said ethnic areas of North and South Ossetia and other regions of the Caucasus have been trapped in territorial disputes for years, which flared again in the early 1990s. “However, they had enjoyed comparatively peaceful times until a couple of years ago. It’s a hard issue to resolve,” said Rakhuba.
Sergey Rakhuba’s main concern is for the well-being of the refugees, many of them families and children, he said. "I am worried that international aid might not be allowed to get to the region because of politics. I also am praying that the authorities can come to a peaceful, diplomatic solution to this fighting, for the sake of the thousands of people who have already been killed and injured, and for those who will be if this war continues."
LONG CONFLICT
Rakhuba fears that the turmoil could drag on for a long time, especially with families wanting revenge for the civilians who were killed in the fighting. He said he was concerned about the damaged evangelical churches. In addition Gennady Terkun, Russian Ministries’ ministry director for the Northern Caucasus ministry center in Vladikavkaz, said young Christian leaders are standing by “to provide comfort and counsel to the grieving and displaced.
Terkun and his team are located in Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia, where refugees are pouring in. In addition to its ongoing humanitarian assistance to this region, the Vladikavkaz ministry team is already planning additional aid, including medical assistance, food and crisis counseling, Russian Ministries said. Also, in Beslan—which saw the deadly siege of a school, Russian Ministries’ center is prepared to welcome and assist at least 30-35 refugee families, the group added.
"I want to encourage believers to pray,” said Sergey Rakhuba. “Pray for the families and children trapped in the fighting. Also pray for Mikhail Saakashvili, president of Georgia, and for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Pray that God will give them wisdom to resolve this conflict."
Russian Ministries has been active in the Northern Caucasus region for over ten years, including the regions of South Ossetia and Chechnya—another region that has been marked by violence and conflict.
