Pastor to tell about Soviet prison during visit to Yuma

The Rev. Peter Rumachik, a Baptist pastor who spent more than a decade in the Soviet gulag, will recount his experiences today and Sunday when he speaks at Faith Baptist Church.

Rumachik, on a 10-week trip to the United States from Russia, will be speaking in translated Russian at 7 p.m. today, and at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday at the church, 699 S. Avenue B.

"He.ll be speaking about his imprisonment, 18 1/2 years in labor camps in Siberia," said Ron Brewer, a missionary in Russia who is traveling with Rumachik.

Brewer said Rumachik was imprisoned for being a pastor and tried under the Soviet parasite law.

"A preacher of the gospel was a parasite of society, not contributing to society," Brewer said. "It.s the law they used to try him and many religious prisoners during the Soviet regime - thousands."

The Rev. Luke Andrews of Faith Baptist Church is looking forward to Rumachik.s visit.

"For me, he is a representative of somebody in an Eastern bloc country who has gone through a time of severe persecution," Andrews said. "He has a testimony of someone who has gone through that, demonstrating the role of God in his life. ... He has gone on to be an example for all of us in living the Christian life."

According to information provided by the church, Rumachik was first arrested in 1961 and sentenced to five years in the gulag prison camps in Siberia for starting a church, holding services in a private home and organizing children.s activities and youth work.

From August 1980 until his final release Feb. 5, 1987, Rumachik was arrested and sentenced four more times. He has since started several new churches in the Moscow area, and resides and works in Dyedovsk, a suburb of Moscow.

Tammy Krikorian can be reached at tkrikorian@yumasun.com or 539-6847.