http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20073624,00.html
A Russian Baptist pastor persecuted by the Soviet authorities for his
involvement in a network of independent Baptist churches. Georgi Vins was born
in the Russian Far East to Peter Vins, an American citizen of Russian origin who
had traveled to Siberia just two years before as a missionary and Lydia
(Zharikova) Vins. Peter was arrested in 1930, freed three years later but
re-arrested in 1935 and executed in 1936. The family was only later informed of
his murder. Peter Vins was the son of Mennonite Brethren leader Jacob J. Wiens
born in Borden, Saskatchewan.
Georgi Vins {Wikipedia) Following an agreement between Soviet leader Leonid
Brezhnev and U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Georgi Vins and his family were
expelled from the Soviet Union in 1979 with a group of other dissidents,Alexander
Ginzburg, Eduard Kuznetsov, Mark Dymshits and Valentin Moroz in exchange for
two convicted spies, Rudolf Chernyaev and Valdik Enger. ....
The young Georgi was brought up by his mother Lydia. After the Second
World War they moved to Kiev, where Vins qualified as an electrical engineer.
Georgi Vins became involved in Baptist churches in Kiev. As Nikita
Khrushchev's anti-religious persecutions began in 1959, the state imposed new
regulations on the Baptist church that drastically curtailed the small measure
of independence they had enjoyed. As the Baptist movement split acrimoniously,
Vins became one of the leading figures in the campaign to resist state pressure.
He publicly opposed the pastor of his own congregation, in Kiev, who had
accepted the new measures. Vins formed his own breakaway congregation, becoming
its pastor, despite a lack of formal theological qualifications. The group met
in a forest outside Kiev.
When the Council of Churches was formally set up as an
underground body in 1965, Vins became its General Secretary. Hundreds of
the movement's followers were already in prison. In a dramatic protest, Baptists
converged from all over the Soviet Union for a mass demonstration outside the
Central Committee building in Moscow. Several days later, Vins went to the
Central Committee with other leaders to ask about the fate of those who had been
detained at the unprecedented demonstration. As a result, they were themselves
arrested. Vins and the Chairman of the Council of Churches, Gennadi
Kryuchkov, went on trial in November 1966 and
he was sentenced to three years imprisonment. His wife Nadezhda was left to look
after their four children.
After release, Vins resumed his work as pastor and organizer of the movement,
but soon went into hiding to avoid arrest. He was discovered and seized in March
1974. Prodded by the human rights campaigner Andrei
Sakharov, the World Council of Churches joined the international protests at
Vins' arrest. Vins was tried in Kiev in January
1975 and sentenced to five years in labor camp to be followed by five
years internal exile, becoming the Soviet Union's most famous religious
prisoner.
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20073624,00.html
----
International pressure led to his dramatic expulsion from his homeland. On the
26th of April, 1979 Vins was woken up in prison and told to change into his own
clothes. Unaware of his imminent change of circumstances, he was flown to
Moscow, where he spent the night in a center for vagrants. The following day he
was issued with new clothes and informed that because of his anti-Soviet
activity the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet had stripped him of his Soviet
citizenship. He was being expelled. Vins protested in vain that his activity was
not anti-Soviet, but had to bow to the inevitable. He was told to write down the
names of his close relatives so that they could leave the country with him.
Realizing that he would be unlikely to see them again otherwise, he listed his
wife, children, mother and niece.
Vins was driven to Moscow's Lefortovo prison and then all five expellees were
taken to Moscow airport. Two American embassy officials on the plane explained
that their release followed an agreement between the White House and the Soviet
embassy in Washington, DC. It was not until the plane landed in New York that
they learned they were being exchanged for two convicted spies, and the handover
took place in an isolated hangar at Kennedy airport. The five walked off the
plane at one end while the spies walked on at the other.
Joined in the United States six weeks later by the rest of his family, Vins made
the town of Elkhart, Indiana his home and learned English. He received
invitations to the White House and to innumerable events around the world. At
first there was competition between missions supporting persecuted churches in
the Soviet Union to enlist him, but Vins kept his distance. He eventually set up
the international representation of the Baptist churches in the Soviet Union
that owed their allegiance to the Council of Churches, a group of tightly-knit
congregations that categorically rejected any compromises with the Soviet
authorities and refused to register officially. Their members were suffering
persecution, with hundreds in labor camps or psychiatric hospitals.
Vins' work aiding Baptist victims of persecution changed dramatically in the
late 1980s, when open Christian work in Russia became possible. In 1990,
President Mikhail Gorbachev revoked the decree that had stripped Vins of his
Soviet citizenship, thereby allowing him to revisit his homeland. In the 1990s
Vins made numerous preaching trips, especially in Russia and Ukraine. In 1995 he
was allowed access, in Moscow, to his father's KGB case file, and Vins finally
learned that his father had been executed in 1936.
Vins discovered in late 1997 that he had a malignant inoperable brain tumor,
from which he died in 1998.
Georgi's son, Peter Vins, returned to Russia in the 1990s, and founded a
shipping firm.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgi_Vins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vins (Wiens), Georgi
Georgi Vins (Wiens) (1928–1998)
Biographical sketch
Georgi Vins was born to Peter (-1936) and Lydia (Zharikova) Vins. Peter Vins
was the son of Mennonite Brethren leader Jacob J. Wiens born in Borden,
Saskatchewan. Peter Vins had attended seminary in the United States and soon
upon graduation became involved in a church with Russian immigrants. He felt
called to preach God's Word in Russia. So in 1926, he left his home bound for
Siberia. In 1927, he married Georgi's mother to-be, Lydia. Georgi Vins was born
August 4, 1928. In Siberia the Russian authorities revoked his US citizenship
and arrested him. He was arrested again in 1935, and was executed in 1936.
Lydia Vins took her son Georgi to Kiev, Ukraine where he finished his
schooling and graduated as an electrical engineer. On January 27, 1952,
Georgi married Nadia and five children were born in this marriage. Georgi was
required by law to have a secular job. In 1962, he was ordained as a Baptist
evangelist. The laws regarding religious services and activities were strict in
Russia. Vins saw them as hindering the church and so quietly he defied them. The
KGB soon saw this and Vins became a concern to them. In 1966, he was arrested in
Moscow. He spent three years in prison camps in the Ural Mountains. Once
released he continued his ministry underground. In 1974 the authorities caught
up with him and arrested him. He was sentenced to ten years. On April 27, 1979
he was stripped of his Soviet citizenship and through pressure from the Carter
administration in the United States, he was exiled to the United States. Later
his family was allowed to join him.
Once in the US he began to speak out against the persecution the Soviets were
inflicting upon the church. Vins founded a Christian ministry called
International Representation to represent, defend and aid the persecuted church
in the Soviet Union. He spoke and preached across North America, South America,
Europe, and Australia until the last prisoner was released in 1988. He then
renamed his ministry to Russian Gospel Ministries (RGM) and focused on aiding
local churches in their efforts to evangelize their neighbors. The organization
began to translate and print books, and Bibles for people in Russia.
In 1990 Vins' exile was lifted by Mikhail Gorbachev. In the following years he
made numerous trips to Russia where he preached at churches, prisons and
schools. In the fall of 1997 a brain tumor was discovered and treatment begun.
He died on January 11, 1998.
~Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches~
Described by Conrad Stoesz, September 24, 1999.
Scope and content
The material in this collection consists of some of the publications by the
organization that Vins founded. Other material was collected after his death and
put togther into this collection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Russian exile Georgi Vins dies of brain tumor at 69"
By Baptist Press
Jan 13, 1998
ELKHART, Ind. (BP)--Georgi Vins, 69, died of a brain
tumor Jan. 11 in his adopted hometown of Elkhart, Ind.,
where he had founded Russian Gospel Ministries
International, Inc., after his exile from the former Soviet
Union. Vins was diagnosed with a malignant inoperable tumor
last fall.
In 1979, Vins was stripped of his Soviet citizenship
and exiled to the United States with four Soviet political
dissidents, in exchange for two Soviet spies caught in the
United States. The swap was arranged by then-President Jimmy
Carter. His family was allowed to join him in America six
weeks later.
In the former Soviet Union, Vins had been general
secretary of the Council of Evangelical Baptist Churches,
the leadership body of 2,000 persecuted congregations, and
had spent a number of years in prison for his Christian
activities stemming mainly from his stance against the 1929
Legislation Regarding Religious Cults which required any
religious groups to be registered with the government.
Vins returned to his native Russia in 1990 when
restrictions on his travel there were lifted by special
decree.
In a message to his supporters last fall, Vins had
written, "Of course, the Lord is powerful and could shrink
my tumor. But if not and God calls me to heaven, I won't be
sorry to go! However, my greatest desire is that the work of
Russian Gospel Ministries continues -- whether I am
personally on earth or with the Lord. Russian Gospel
Ministries does not belong to me or any man. It is God's.
The Lord's work must go on."
Currently, Russian Gospel Ministries translates and
publishes Christian literature; supports about 50 national
pastors financially; helps provide funds to purchase land or
building supplies in order to construct new prayer houses
(church buildings) or remodel existing structures; ships
humanitarian aid, including food, clothing and medical
supplies; and recently had opened a medical clinic in Kiev.
Vins is survived by his wife, Nadia, five children and
three grandchildren.
His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, at
First Baptist Church, Elkhart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Obituary: Pastor Georgi Vins
SATURDAY, 17 JANUARY 1998
by Felix Corley
Georgi Petrovich Vins, pastor: born Blagoveshchensk, Siberia 4 August 1928,
married (one son, three daughters); died Elkhart, Indiana 11 January 1998.
Georgi Vins hit the world's headlines twice - when he was sentenced in 1975 for
his work as a leader of the Baptist churches that resisted Soviet government
controls and again in April 1979 when he was dramatically expelled from the
Soviet Union with four other dissidents in exchange for two spies convicted in
the United States.
The events surrounding his expulsion were bizarre. On 26 April 1979 he was woken
up in prison and told to change into his own clothes. Completely unaware of his
imminent change of circumstances, he was flown to Moscow for what would be his
last night on Soviet soil, which he spent on bare boards in a centre for
vagrants. The following day he was issued with new clothes and informed by an
official who refused to give his name that because of his anti-Soviet activity
the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet had stripped him of his Soviet citizenship.
He was being expelled.
Vins protested in vain that his activity was not anti-Soviet, but had to bow to
the inevitable. He was told to write down the names of his close relatives so
that they could leave the country with him and, realising that he would be
unlikely to see them again otherwise, listed his wife, children, mother and
niece. He was driven to Lefortovo prison and then all five expellees were taken
to Moscow airport. Two American embassy officials on the plane explained that
their release followed an agreement between the White House and the Soviet
embassy in Washington. It was not until the plane landed in New York that they
learnt they were being exchanged for two convicted spies, and the handover took
place in an isolated hangar at Kennedy airport. The five walked off the plane at
one end while the spies walked on at the other.
Once in the United States, Vins (and six weeks later the rest of his family)
gradually settled down to the very different life of an exile, making the town
of Elkhart in Indiana his home and slowly learning English. He received
invitations to the White House and to innumerable events around the world. At
first there was hot competition between missions supporting persecuted churches
in the Soviet Union to enlist him, but Vins kept his distance. He eventually set
up the international representation of the Baptist churches in the Soviet Union
that owed their allegiance to the Council of Churches, a group of tight-knit
congregations that categorically rejected any compromises with the Soviet
authorities and refused to register officially. Their members were suffering
fierce persecution, with hundreds in labour camps or psychiatric hospitals.
Vins was born in the Russian Far East in 1928 to Peter Vins, an American citizen
of Russian origin who had travelled to Siberia just two years before as a
missionary. His father was arrested in 1930, freed three years later but soon
rearrested. The family was later informed he had died. The young Georgi was
brought up by his mother, Lydia.
After the Second World War the two of them moved to Kiev and Georgi qualified as
an engineer. He also became involved in the Baptist Church there. It was as
Khrushchev's anti-religious persecutions began in 1959 that the state tried to
impose new regulations on the Baptist Church that drastically curtailed the
small measure of independence they enjoyed. As the Baptist movement split
acrimoniously, Vins became one of the leading figures in the campaign to resist
state pressure. He publicly opposed the pastor of his own congregation in Kiev
who had accepted the new measures. Vins formed his own breakaway congregation,
becoming its pastor despite his lack of theological qualifications. The group
had to meet in a forest outside Kiev.
When the Council of Churches was formally set up as an underground body in 1965,
Vins became its general secretary. Hundreds of the movement's followers were
already in prison. In an astonishing protest, Baptists converged from all over
the Soviet Union for a mass demonstration outside the Central Committee building
in Moscow. Several days later, Vins went to the Central Committee with other
leaders to ask about the fate of those who had been detained at the
unprecedented demonstration. They were themselves arrested. Vins and another
colleague finally went on trial in November 1966 and he was sentenced to three
years' imprisonment. His wife, Nadezhda, was left to look after their four
children.
After release, Vins resumed his work as pastor and organiser of the movement,
but soon had to go into hiding to avoid arrest. He was finally discovered and
seized in March 1974. Prodded by the human-rights campaigner Andrei Sakharov,
the World Council of Churches finally joined the international protests at Vins'
arrest. Vins was tried in Kiev in January 1975 and sentenced to five years in
labour camp to be followed by five years' internal exile, becoming the Soviet
Union's most famous religious prisoner. International pressure finally led to
his dramatic expulsion from his homeland.
Vins' work aiding Baptist victims of persecution changed dramatically in the
late 1980s, when open Christian work became possible. In 1990 President
Gorbachev revoked the decree that had stripped Vins of his Soviet citizenship,
thereby allowing him to revisit his homeland. In the 1990s Vins made numerous
preaching trips, especially in Russia and Ukraine. In 1995 he was allowed access
in Moscow to his father's KGB case file, and it was with mixed emotions that
Vins finally learnt that his father had been executed in 1936. But reading the
record of his father's interrogation he realised that throughout his own battles
with the Soviet authorities he had been following in his father's footsteps.
Vins was a thoughtful leader with a certain presence. Although he had taken a
hard line over the split in the Baptist Union in the early 1960s, he later felt
a little uncomfortable with the aggressively uncompromising stand taken by many
of his former colleagues. Splits within the Council of Churches over the past
few years caused him much sadness and he was unhappy with those in Russia who
called themselves Vinsites.
When he discovered late last year that he had a malignant inoperable brain
tumour, he faced up to it with courage. He had already successfully undergone
heart bypass surgery in the late 1980s, but this time treatment was
unsuccessful. "The Lord is powerful and could shrink my tumour," he said. "But
if not and God calls me to Heaven, I won't be sorry to go!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Georgi Vins - A Great Warrior For The Gospel
"A Hero Of The Persecuted Church In The Former Soviet Union Loses His Battle
With Cancer"
By Dan Wooding
Georgi Vins, 69, the former General Secretary of the Council of Evangelical
Baptist Churches, the leadership body of 2,000 persecuted congregations in the
then Soviet Union, was a great warrior for the Gospel. Vins, who spent many
years in the Soviet Gulag for his Christian activities, had been diagnosed with
a malignant inoperable brain tumor. He finally passed away peacefully in his
adopted home town of Elkhart, Indiana, on Sunday morning, January 11, 1998, with
his elder son, Peter, at his side.
I first met this formidable man after he hit the world's headlines when he was
stripped of his Soviet citizenship and exiled to the United States on April 27,
1979, along with four Soviet political dissidents, in exchange for two Soviet
spies caught in the U.S. The swap was arranged by then President Jimmy Carter.
I was in Seattle, Washington, at the time doing a writing project with Ray
Barnett, founder and president of Friends in the West, a Christian human rights
group that had long campaigned for Georgi Vins. At the time of Vins' release,
thousands of American and Canadian Christians were wearing a Friends in the West
"prayer bracelet" that carried his name.
Ray Barnett, an Irish-Canadian who had been deeply involved in the "spy swap"
negotiations, asked me if I would accompany one of his board members, Pastor
Gary Short of Seattle, to New York to see Vins. We immediately caught the "red
eye" flight to JFK and then headed for the hotel where he was being "protected"
by American secret service agents. We immediately went up to the 47th floor of
his hotel, that overlooked the United Nations building, and met briefly with
this extraordinary man and also the Rev. Michael Bourdeaux of England's Keston
College (now called Keston Institute,) who was acting as his interpreter.
Wearing a dark suit and with his famous white beard, Vins looked totally bemused
at his new surroundings. This was hardly surprising as, just a short time
before, he had been whisked from a labor camp in the Soviet Gulag, where he was
halfway through a second 10-year prison term, taken to Moscow and put on a
flight to New York.
Fortunately, his family - wife Nadezhda ("Hope" in Russian,) and their five
children, Peter, Natasha, Lisa, Jane and Alex - were allowed to join him in
exile in America six weeks later and Georgi Vins was able to begin to rebuild
his life. But even that was not without difficulties for him. Not long after
this, I met him again in Washington, DC, at the National Religious Broadcasters
Convention. I could see he felt completely out of place amongst the flamboyant
broadcasters; this came to a head as I watched him take a seat in the front row
of a live broadcast of the "Jim and Tammy Show." I stood at the side to watch
his reaction and, as I expected, he was horrified with what he saw. The
circus-like atmosphere, a long way from the underground services he was used to
in Russia, appalled him so much that after about ten minutes, he stood up and
stormed out.
I followed him and asked him what he made of what he had just seen. In broken
English, he spluttered, "This is terrible. It is nothing but a show." I got the
feeling that Georgi Vins was going to have a struggle with some of the excesses
of American televangelism. In some ways, it must have been more difficult for
him to cope with than the years of persecution he endured in the Soviet Union.
Hard Labor
Back in the Soviet Union, Georgi Vins' problems with the law had been numerous.
In November 1966, he was charged with publishing religious literature, setting
up Sunday schools for children, and organizing a May 1966 demonstration at
Communist Party headquarters. Sentenced to three years hard labor, he served one
year (1966-1967) in Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, then 2 years (1967-1969) in Camp
Chepichanka in the Ural Mountains. This experience is detailed in Vins' book
entitled "Konshaubi."
He was arrested again in January 1970, this time for "parasitism," or not being
gainfully employed. He was sentenced to a year's labor in a Kiev, Ukraine,
factory. In September 1970 he left Kiev to become a traveling minister, going
into hiding from the government.
Vins was arrested again in 1974 for his work as General Secretary of the
Evangelical Baptist Churches, and was sentenced to 5 years in a Siberian labor
camp, followed by 5 years' exile in Siberia, as well as confiscation of his
property. Charged with "causing harm to citizens' health" by "preaching
religious beliefs and performing religious ceremonies," he served from 1974-1979
at a camp in Tabaga, Yakutia, in Siberia.
Charged With Writing Psalm 23
"During Georgi Vins' second trial in Kiev, the court brought a long list of
accusations against him," Rick Barry, Administrative Vice President of Russian
Gospel Ministries stated in a previous interview. "However, one of the
accusations was very original. When the police arrested Georgi Vins, he had a
hand-written copy of Psalm 23 in his possession. The presiding judge asked if he
was the one who had written that document. Georgi Vins replied that he had
copied it from the Bible, but that 'King David had written it 3,000 years ago.'
The judge's response was, 'I don't know any King David. You're the one who wrote
this. You're the author.' And so part of Georgi Vins' second prison sentence was
for being the author of Psalm 23."
Vins' problems stemmed mainly from his unwillingness to compromise his stand
against the 1929 Legislation Regarding Religious Cults, which required all
religious groups to be registered with the government. "Registration," explained
Barry, "meant restrictions - restrictions aimed at destroying the Church. No
charitable work was allowed. It was forbidden to have meetings for children, for
women, or for young people. Group Bible studies were prohibited, as well as
Christian literature discussion groups and Christian excursions.
"Christian children could not gather, even for recreation. It was forbidden to
form a Christian library, provide medical care among Christians, or to help old
or needy people in the church. His godly example was a point around which other
Christians could rally and gather strength for their opposition to this
legislative attempt to control the churches."
The Start Of A New Ministry
Once in the United States, Georgi Vins organized a new ministry, originally
named International Representation for the Council of Evangelical Baptist
Churches in the Soviet Union, which explains its broad purposes. It was
established in 1980 to represent, defend, and aid Evangelical Baptists in the
Soviet Union and to further the cause of the Gospel there.
"We sought to echo the voice of the persecuted church in the former Soviet
Union, informing on current oppression and urging Christians in the West to
share in the sufferings of God's children."
The new name of the organization, Russian Gospel Ministries, International,
Inc., was adopted to reflect the group's broadened ministry that came with the
advent of perestroika.
"Currently, RGM translates and publishes solidly Biblical Christian literature,
supports about 50 national pastors financially, helps provide funds to purchase
land or building supplies in order to construct new prayer houses (church
buildings) or remodel existing structures, ships humanitarian aid, including
food, clothing and medical supplies, and has recently opened a medical clinic in
Kiev."
Before the death of Georgi Vins, Barry said, "Brother Vins has adjusted well to
life in the West. Just before his exile to the United States, a Soviet official
told him he would never set foot on Soviet soil again. That prediction came
true, as when he returned to his homeland in 1990, the Soviet Union had ceased
to exist."
He concluded by saying that Vins had once told him, "It has always been my goal
to imitate Jesus. I'm not sure to what degree I've succeeded, but that has
always been my goal!"
In a separate interview, Rick Barry added, "Many people knew him for his serious
side, but he had a sense of humor as well. When he was standing in the pulpit he
had a serious message to convey. But he had another side to him. He was also a
husband, a father and a good friend."
Barry revealed that Georgi Vins' father, Peter Vins, had gone to the Soviet
Union as a missionary from the United States. He was arrested and had been
subsequently executed in his prison camp. "Brother Vins was ready to join his
father," said Barry. "He had run the race."
In a moving message to his supporters before his death, Georgi Vins wrote, "Of
course, the Lord is powerful and could shrink my tumor. But if not and God calls
me to Heaven, I won't be sorry to go! However, my greatest desire is that the
work of Russian Gospel Ministries continues - whether I am personally on earth
or with the Lord. Russian Gospel Ministries does not belong to me or any man. It
is God's. The Lord's work must go on."
The "great warrior" has now gone - but his legacy will be with us for many years
to come.
SOURCE: dan wooding (assistcomm@cs.com; www.assistnews.net) is an award winning
British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is
the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in
Strategic Times). Wooding is also the author of some 35 books, the latest of
which is a thriller called RED HAND, a syndicated columnist and a commentator on
the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. ASSIST Ministries is involved in
linking pen pals in the West with new believers in the former Soviet Union and
also providing them with the Scriptures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the many notes to the office of Russian Gospel Ministries:
"Rosalynn and I were saddened to learn of the death of Pastor Georgi Vins.
Please know that you are in our hearts and prayers during this difficult time.
We hope that your warm memories adn the love and support of your family and
friends will be of comfort to you."
~Jimmy Carter, 39th United States President~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"United States Social Security Death Index," Georgi P Vins, 1998
first name: Georgi
middle name: P
last name: Vins
name suffix:
birth date: 4 August 1928
place of issuance: Indiana
last residence: Elkhart, Elkhart, Indiana
zip code of last residence: 46515
death date: 15 January 1998
estimated age at death: 70
Source Citation
"United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V392-Y57
: accessed 24 July 2012), Georgi P Vins, 1998.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GEORGI VINS' LIFE SEE ALSO:
"CAPTIVE FAITH" (Movie)--- The moving story of three Russian pastors imprisoned
for preaching the Gospel and God's faithfulness though persecution. A true
story. Based on his book, "KONSHAUBI: FREE ON THE INSIDE" by Georgi Vins.
READ MORE:
"BAPTISTS IN HISTORY CALLED TO SHARE THE FATE OF RUSSIAN BROTHERS: THREE
PREACHERS NAMED VINS"
The Baptist Bulletin" publication date February 2002.
Testament of Georgi Vins (13 May 1979)
TV Episode - 45 min - Documentary
Read: "Testament from Prison" by Georgi Vins
http://asweetfragrance.com/2009/05/18/book-review-testament-from-prison-by-georgi-vins/
Also read: "Children of the Storm" by Natasha Vins
"The Other Dissident: Georgi Vins"
The story of the Georgi Vins, a Russian Baptist pastor persecuted, then expelled
from the Soviet Union by Soviet authorities for championing the Baptist church
in Russia.
PBS – Bill Moyers' Journal --One hour--(1990)
READ MORE: "The Ukrainian Weekly" June 24, 1979 from Jersey City, NJ -- "Georgi
Vins reunited with family at Middlebury College."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Family links:
Parents:
Peter
J. Vins (1898 - 1943)
Lydia
M. Zharikova Vins
(1907 - 1985)
Spouse:
Nadezhda
I. Lazuruk Vins
(1927 - 2004)*
*Calculated
relationship
Inscription:
I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 2 Tim. 4:7
Burial:
Prairie Street Cemetery
Elkhart
Elkhart County
Indiana, USA
Created by: Debra
Polly
Record added: Jan 04, 2012
Find A Grave Memorial# 82946445