A well-known pastor was beaten to death in St. Petersburg,
Russia.
Unknown assailants attacked Yuri Golovin, a 76-year-old
pastor at Central Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, outside the home of an elderly
church member he intended to visit, according to reports from the Slavic
Gospel Association (SGA) and the Russian Union of Evangelical
Christians-Baptists.
After the attack, Golovin was able to get the attention of
the church member, who called an ambulance. But the pastor later died at the
hospital from his injuries. The motive for the attack is unknown, but the
International Christian Newspaper reported that the assailants might have been
drug addicts.
In addition to his pastoral ministry, Golovin was head of
The Gideons chapter in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast state.
Youth
pastor Anton Tretyak said Golovin was “an example of a living Christian, who
was not ashamed of witnessing about Christ and living for Christ.”
In a ministry update, SGA President Bob
Provost asked Christians to pray that Golovin’s attackers would be brought to justice “and that
this tragedy will lead to many new opportunities for the gospel in the
St. Petersburg region.”
