California pastor Thomas Kang was arrested by Russian authorities on charges of bribery and jailed for five months. Mission Eurasia, formerly known as Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries, has taken up his case. That organization focuses on Christian charity and leadership training in the area.
According to that ministry, Kang, a US Citizen born in Korea, has lived in Russia for almost a decade. He is the leader of “Hosue of Joy,” a retreat for the families of soldiers and a Christian ministry. The ‘bribe’ he offered Russian police was actually a small donation he paid alongside a minor fine. Before his arrest, he was called to an immigration office shortly before his ministry was due to open.
The former military chaplain had unwittingly hired a Ukranian laborer with an expired visa. Authorities ordered him to pay 2,00 rubles, or around $65. Kang agreed to the fine but was not released. For the next several hours, police interrogated the pastor with vague threats. The pastor assumed that the police were trying to extort him for a bribe, which is common practice in Russia.
When he paid his fine, he added an additional $30 as a donation. He was immediately arrested, and his supporters think he was tricked into being arrested. The charity said, “Why is such a simple matter taking so long to resolve? Is it specifically to keep him from opening ‘House of Joy’ for Christian worship, or a more subtle attack of Satan against this devoted man of God?”
According to the project manager for Religious Freedom Issues in Eurasia, Wade Kusack, Russian authorities are free to terrorize religious minorities: “Government officials can basically do whatever they want towards minorities.” He added that police oversteps “usually go unpunished.” He is hopeful the Kang will be released soon from prison.
He recounted how he had a ‘Promising ” meeting with diplomats from Washington. “I think we found understanding in this meeting. I believe the Russian Embassy will make all the effort possible to free Mr. Kang from prison,” Kusack told reporters. He concluded by saying, “I believe the decision of the court to give Kang a minimum sentence and send him back to the United States will be good for him and his family.”
According to the webpage, “Mission Eurasia trains, equips, and mobilizes national Christian leaders throughout Eurasia and Israel who are engaging in evangelism, church-planting, holistic ministries, and church growth to transform their countries for Christ.” It explains how “Mission Eurasia (formerly called Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries) was founded in 1991 just after the collapse of the Soviet Union by Reverend Peter and Anita Deyneka.”
They founded the ministry “to react quickly and decisively to new opportunities for evangelism and church-planting in this former communist empire.” However, the caution that while, ” The collapse of the Soviet Union more than 30 years ago brought great hope for increased religious freedom throughout the post-Soviet/Eurasian region. However, during the past decade, there has been a sharp increase in religious freedom violations against religious minorities.” Hopefully, Pastor Kang will be released from prison quickly.