UPDATE—Dennis Christensen Remains Steadfast After Transfer to Penal Colony

[Omoyeme]

https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/russia/UPDATE-Dennis-Christensen-Remains-Steadfast-After-Transfer-to-Penal-Colony/

 

Such an encouraging article; our Great God Jehovah is truly sustaining him!

 

 

[Skookum]

“On July 21, at the international convention in Denmark, Brother Lett of the Governing Body read a message from Dennis, which said, in part: “I wish I could be gathered with you, but this is currently not possible since I have not yet completed my present assignment. But it will be possible in the future, and I am looking forward to it.”

 

This gave me a lump in my throat and something got in my eye... what a perfect example and testimony to Jehovah's ability to give courage!

[humble bumble bee]

3 hours ago, Skookum said:

lump in my throat

This is the bit that stood out to me

Quote

According to Irina, the weekly letters from Dennis have been especially uplifting. one of her favorite letters from him, he wrote: “Staying positive is a key to success and we have so many reasons to be joyful.” He concluded: “Upholding Jehovah’s sovereignty is the reason for our existence. I know that our journey is a long one and we have not won the victory—not yet. But we will eventually come off victorious. Of that I am 100 percent certain.”

 

[Dages]

The writing looks like the Bible. We can be sure Jehovah is taking care of him

[Avuhe]

Brother Denis has become a wonderful example of faith. His example and those of other friends in russia has really strenghtened  me. I look forward to meeting them one on one and give them  a bear hug. I look forward to telling  them how much I loved them and prayed for them. Realistically I can't meet them in this system but imidiately the dust of armagedon clares up I am definitly going  to look for them. 

Edited August 6, 2019 by Avuhe

[Sheep]

In a post elsewhere in the forums here (which I can't locate now), I mentioned that there was a brother in my congregation, also of Danish descent, who knew Dennis Christensen in Denmark. This brother is no longer in my congregation, having moved to Toronto in April of this year. But we still keep in touch. Here is what he wrote to me yesterday:

 

Quote

Now that Dennis’ appeals have been rejected and he has been moved out of prison to a prison camp (one shudders to think what the conditions are like in these “penal colonies” - probably more towards concentration camp than regular prison), he needs our help more than ever. I have been trying to get his new address from his family in Denmark and I am happy to share it with you for wider distribution.

At the convention here in Toronto they told how his first month in the prison camp has been particularly hard; apparently the guards in the new place have taken the challenge of breaking him upon themselves. But from his family in Denmark I hear that as opposed to the prison, some things are more relaxed. The prison camp is about 200 kilometres from the town where his wife lives, but she has been able to visit him and stay with him for 3 days. No doubt a great encouragement. They have been physically separated since he was arrested at the meeting.

As for the address, he sent this along with the email:

 

[Sheep]

I am happy to report that the above address works! I had also sent it to several of the friends in my congregation and others, and received this from one of my recipients tonight:

 

Quote

I wanted to share with you that we sent a letter to Dennis Christensen and received his postcard today! It was such an encouragement! We were so happy that [my daughter]’s drawing and our letter got to him and to have received news from him. Thank you for forwarding his address!

By all means, to you parents of children, make use of it. You never know how much good your thoughts for Dennis are doing!

[Sheep]

A little more on that last post:

 

I initially misunderstood the sister whose family had written to Dennis. They actually wrote to him a few weeks before they left for the International Convention in Houston, which was before I sent them Dennis' current address. So they addressed their letter to the old address at the prison. Dennis' response to them was dated July 22, and has the address of the penal colony where Dennis is now located! That was the same address as the one I posted above. She is happy he got the letter in the time frame of his transfer.

 

Since the above email, the sister has sent me some photos of the envelope and postcard Dennis sent back to them. I can't post them here since they contain the family's names. However I can show you the front of the postcard he sent! It has 1 Peter 5:7 printed on the front of it in Russian.

 

 

The text of Dennis' postcard reads:

 

Quote

My dear friends, the [____] family, [followed by their first names]!

I was very happy to receive your letter, with a beautiful drawing! I liked it a lot. Thank you also for sending me the little card from the convention "Love Never Fails". I, too, love our international brotherhood. This is the best family ever, and I'm proud to be a part of it!! I'm okay and am getting used to my new life. I meet a lot of interesting people, and try to be like Paul & Silas. I hope that you are doing fine. Your little photo encourages me, because I feel now, that I know you a little more. Give many greetings to all your friends from me, and tell them that I'm grateful for all your love and support!! –Dennis. [plus his drawing of a smiley face]

 

 

Edited August 24, 2019 by Sheep

[JudyO]

Perhaps I am being a little suspicious. But I had family in prison, and I know that all of the mail is opened, read and scrutinized before allowing it to go to the prisoner. It puzzles me that the mail appears to be given to him without any censorship by the authorities, who even buy him nice postcards to send back, along with spending money on postage? What part of this picture sends up red flags?

[thegreenjudy]

15 hours ago, JudyO said:

Perhaps I am being a little suspicious. But I had family in prison, and I know that all of the mail is opened, read and scrutinized before allowing it to go to the prisoner. It puzzles me that the mail appears to be given to him without any censorship by the authorities, who even buy him nice postcards to send back, along with spending money on postage? What part of this picture sends up red flags?

Well don't forget Jehovah in the picture. If he wants Dennis to receive these cards he will. From past experience we also know that prison staff is often nowhere near as nasty as the people who got the brothers into prison in the first place. There are many experiences where prison staff made life for our brothers more comfortable and provided them with literature and gave them freedoms other inmates didn't have. I think Joseph is a prime example. At the end of the day just keep sending encouraging cards and letters and leave the rest to Jehovah.

[Omoyeme]

Quote

He concluded: “Upholding Jehovah’s sovereignty is the reason for our existence.

 

I deduce that Brother Christensen had Ecclesiastes 12:13 in mind when he said that, yes?

 

 

Edited September 11, 2019 by Omoyeme

[tekmantwo]

19 minutes ago, Omoyeme said:

 

I deduce that Brother Christensen had Ecclesiastes 12:13 in mind when he said that, yes?

 

 

Mayhaps verse 14 as well.....

[cme]

I'm sure that Jehovah has a keen eye on our brother Dennis Christianson.   He's like a modern day Paul.   Maybe where he is the word needs to be known.  We don't know but, Jehovah has the bigger picture here.  Lets all just keep praying for him and his wife.  Let Jehovah do his work through this brother.  Jehovah's holy spirit is on him. 

[cme]

It was told to me today by someone that went to the Gilead Graduation that bro. Losch had an episode while speaking.  A slur of words and then started to talk in german.  Bro. Sanders had to gently walk over to him and tell him that we couldn't understand what he was saying cause he was speaking in german at which time he did not realize that he was.  He finished his talk in English.

 

Prayers for our dear brother.  It is a matter of time before he is with his Lord.

[Omoyeme]

1 hour ago, cme said:

Prayers for our dear brother.

 

Yes, indeed!

[Bluebell]

https://jw-russia.org/en/news/19102917-1305.html

 

In the Сolony, Dennis Christensen Suffered Pneumonia.

Recovery Is Slow Due to Unsatisfactory Living Conditions

[booboo]

The full article translated😢😢😢😢🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fjw-russia.org%2Fnews%2F19102917-1305.html

[Omoyeme]

Prayers...continued!

[cme]

May Jehovah be with him!  Supplications and prayers for this dear brother.  Tears welled up in my eyes.  They are making him into a martyr.  Jehovah will deal with them shortly.

 

 

[New World Explorer]

I just can't wait for a time when Jehovah turns tables on KOTN.... this is just a matter of time.

 

[Miss Bea]

Prayers for our dear brother. 
I don’t know about you, but I can almost feel this system’s end. 
Jehovah, let your Kingdom come🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[Omoyeme]

Dennis Christensen Has Served Over Half His Sentence for Faith. The Law Allows His Release, but the Court Ignores the Motions

7 May 2020

 

https://jw-russia.org/en/news/2020/05/4.html

 

 

We have not forgotten you Brother and Sister Christensen; our prayers for you continue! To you, and our spiritual family imprisoned in Crimea, Eritrea, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan:

 

We won't forget you

We are your family.

We won't ignore you.

We will not fail to see.

We'll take your hand.

We'll help you stand.

We'll help you carry on.

We won't forget you.

We are a worldwide family.

We won't forget you.

💕We are your family. 💕

 

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by Omoyeme

[cme]

He's always in my prayers.

[Omoyeme]

Dennis Christensen, Now Imprisoned in Russia for Three Years, Remains Steadfast and Joyful

https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/russia/Dennis-Christensen-Now-Imprisoned-in-Russia-for-Three-Years-Remains-Steadfast-and-Joyful/

 

James 1:2, 3

 

[My little flower]

 

Crimean Supreme Court Sentenced Brother Artem Gerasimov to Six Years in Prison

 

On June 4, 2020, the Crimean Supreme Court sentenced Brother Artem Gerasimov to six years in prison for his peaceful Christian worship. He was seeking acquittal from his original sentence by the Yalta City Court, which was a fine for 400,000 rubles (approx. $6,000 U.S.). The appeal ruling immediately came into force and Brother Gerasimov was taken into custody. He will appeal this decision.