Missionary Information

Belarus had been a part of the Russian empire since the late 1700s but declared its sovereignty in 1990 and its independence in August 1991. In December 1991, Belarus and ten other former Soviet Republics announced their membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Much of Belarus is hilly lowlands with forests, swamps, and numerous rivers and lakes. Its rivers empty into both the Baltic and Black Seas. Ray Nicholls and other AIMers who went to teach in School of Tomorrow schools planted the UPC of Belarus in the early 1990s. According to the 2006 Annual Field Report, the UPC of Belarus has 500 constituents, 13 licensed ministers, and 42 churches and preaching points. Mark Shutes oversees the Belarusian church from his base in Riga, Latvia.

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Bio: Mark and Robin Shutes received their appointment to Belarus in 1996 with an additional appointment to the Baltic Republics in 2002 and as the director of evangelism for the former Soviet Union in 2006. They currently work from their base in Riga, Latvia, where they continue to train teams of AIMers and nationals to bring the gospel and establish churches in the cities and villages of each country. When they first arrived on the field as AIMers in 1993, there were only two converts in the country of Belarus. Since that time, they have seen God multiply that work to over 60 churches throughout Belarus and the Baltic Republics with a first time opening into the countries of Latvia and Lithuania. In the coming years they will continue to build and multiply teams of people to evangelize the nations of Belarus, the Baltic Republics, and the entire former Soviet Union.