| Summary/Abstract |
When U.S. evangelicals went to church in the winter of 1993, many of them opened their service bulletins to find an advertisement that offered them the chance to “change the course of history” in a place that evangelicals had long imagined as a global religious and political threat—the Soviet Union (USSR). “After 70 years of Communism,” the promotional leaflet declared, “300 million Soviet hearts finally opened. And now, they’re inviting you to introduce them to the life-changing power of God’s Word.” Offering evidence for that momentous invitation, the pamphlet explained that ministries of education throughout the former Soviet Union had opened their public schools to “the teaching of Biblical principles and values” by U.S. organizations. In response, U.S. missionary organizations were deploying their volunteers rapidly across Eastern Europe and Russia to place a Bible-based curriculum in those public schools and thus “reach an atheistic empire with the healing touch of God’s Word.” This campaign, the flyer promised, would be the “opportunity of a lifetime for you.” “Will you go,” the pamphlet asked. “Can the people of the former Soviet Union count on you?”
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