|TOP|The Russian Government has delayed the second reading of a bill that will reduce the number of visas given out to foreign missionaries wanting to carry out mission in the country.

The bill was supposed to have its second reading on 9th December but the date has been pushed back to December 16th as President Vladimir Putin amends the legislation, reports Mission Network News.

Vice President of Russian Ministries, Sergey Rakhuba, said the legislation would mean that when foreign missionaries living in Russia with foreign affiliation need to renew their visas they will need to “prove the funds they receive from abroad are used strictly for religious purposes”.

According to Mission Network News, the proposed law is the result of revolutions in the Ukraine and Republic of Georgia and is intended to restrict foreign political action groups funded by other countries. |AD|

According to Rakhuba, the Russian Government is paranoid about outside political influence: “"The Russian government is threatened by the foreign activity and involvement in those democratic revolutions in Ukraine, Georgia and other former Soviet Union countries. They feel that they're threatened by that and they want to stop all this funding."

Rakhuba said it was not a direct attack on mission activity but he remains concerned: “The Orthodox church (could) take advantage of this and will put more pressure on the Russian government to use this law against national NGO that are funded by foreign partnerships."

Although Russian Ministries is a nationally registered organisation, Rakhuba says that 70 per cent of its funding comes from outside of Russia.

Rakhuba is praying for the Russian Government to “continue giving freedom to the evangelical church and all Christian initiatives in Russia that brings spiritual renewal to that long time suffering country”.