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Winnipeg, Man
Russian radio series celebrates Christianity


In a declaration issued earlier this year, Russian President Boris Yeltsin urged all cultural agencies in Russia to make plans to celebrate the year 2000. Yeltsin, however, may not have counted on the creativity of Muscovite Leonid Sergienko, a producer of indigenous Christian radio programs in Russia.

News of Yeltsin’s plea sparked Sergienko’s imagination. Since many Russians see religion as a cultural activity, he reasoned, why not create a unique gospel challenge and channel it through the secular network?

In his Moscow studio, Leonid Sergienko (l) stands before an enlarged map of Russia with Canadian visitor Delbert Enns. Alexander Lazhov, a regular listener, points to the city of Zarkamensk on the Mongolian border where, thousands of kilometres away from the studio, he hears Sergienko’s programs.

The result was a series of 100 radio spots called “Celebrating 2,000 Years of Christianity” that secular stations are eating up. Along with the programs, Sergienko mails a copy of Yeltsin’s letter instructing all Russians to participate in this celebration.

“On the commercial market, his religious programs are welcomed because of their high technical quality and creative content,” says Delbert Enns, associate director of MB Communications/Family Life Network, the Winnipeg telecommunications agency supporting Sergienko.

Before perestroika, homes in Moscow were wired to receive obligatory government propaganda over radio. Ironically, that same wiring now carries God-focused messages into thousands of households, ostensibly atheistic.

A first-time listener writes, “I was struck to the heart. Where are these words from? Where is this music from? Now it’s almost 12 midnight and I can’t sleep, the words and music go around in my head.”

Russians, struggling with rising food prices, uncertainty in political circles and the stark terror of civilian bombings, are unashamedly seeking spiritual answers. Bookstands are flooded with literature on religious sects and the occult. “Everywhere I see books on magic,” writes one listener.

Says Sergienko, “After 70 years of communism, our people don’t know right from wrong. On one hand, Russia is like a huge empty field, but on the other hand, it’s a field full of stones.”

His dream is to plant seeds of hope in that vast field. Mail from listeners assures him he’s doing just that. Six university students from Smolensk signed a common letter: “We young people are now giving serious consideration to God and to what our life on earth is about. We thank you for your programs – we need them.”

Another young man writes, “I was desperate. I heard your program. I really mean it when I say you saved me.”

Sergienko’s creativity has been admired by other Russian producers since 1993 when, on the heels of perestroika, he created his first “The Bible Today” program.

“He’s not just a producer,” says Ukrainian producer Miroslav Peyter, “He’s an artist.”

Sergienko trained in Winnipeg at MBC/FLN 1991-93 before returning to Moscow. Respect for Sergienko is so great that two national networks grant him airtime several times a week at drastically reduced prices. As of May 1999, his programs were selected for broadcast into Russia by the Arctic Broadcasting Association via its new satellite in Alaska, with full backing by private sponsors in the US.

“This kind of backing is unheard of,” says Dan Johnson, the owner and director of another Moscow-based radio ministry. “Between $250 and $500 US per minute is the airtime cost in Russia today.”

Sergienko’s programs can be heard across 11 time zones by a potential audience of more than 200 million people. Often listeners from the far reaches of this vast country drop in at the Moscow studio. Sergienko shares a cup of tea with each one, taking time to listen to each story.

His programs show up in unexpected places, cutting across denominational lines. “People come and ask for tapes,” he says. “We just give them away. If someone has airtime, they can air them.”

Some orthodox and conservative Christian churches that have not previously approved of the use of radio, now play his programs on their public address systems on Sunday mornings prior to their services.  – Dorothy Siebert, MBC/FLN

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Last modified October 13, 1999.

© 1999 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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