When Paul the Apostle got a message from a Macedonian to “come over and help us,” it was in a dream. About 2,000 years later David Pyles got a similar message, but it was from Russia and it was by e-mail.

Pyles, who pastors Grace Primitive Baptist Church in Pearl, received the request in March 2006 and has since made two trips to visit the congregations in Siberia and is hoping to make another.

He was in for some surprises: the poverty in Russia, the lawlessness, the drabness of life in general. There were also some positive aspects, the main one being their friendly attitude toward Americans.

He also found congregations who shared his theological beliefs and, except for the language, he might have thought he was in just about any Primitive Baptist church in America. Their Calvinistic beliefs were the same as was their manner of worship — services of a cappella singing, praying and preaching, the use of real wine and unleavened bread in Communion, the apprentice system of teaching young preachers rather than relying on seminaries and the absence of any auxiliary organizations such as Sunday school.

They call themselves Independent Baptists, but Pyles said, “They are Primitive Baptists for all essential purposes,” pointing out that doctrine connects the churches in the denomination, which is known by different names, even in this country.

The Russian churches got in touch with Pyles because of his Web site that has an abundance of church literature and links to other congregations. Included is an e-mail address. The Russians were seeking fellowship and reassurance as they struggled to return to their basic beliefs.

“There’s a large group of Russian Baptists who are gravitating back toward Old Baptist roots,” Pyles said. “The Baptist churches in Russia have done as churches of many denominations in that they have gone through some fairly radical, or modern changes, many of the same that American churches face,” such as gimmicks to attract and entertain crowds, excessive music, improper dress and ordaining women to the ministry.

To get to the Russian churches, Pyles took a flight to Moscow and then another of about five hours to Siberia where 15 churches are located, all within 400 or 500 hundred miles of Irkutsk near Lake Baikal.

Pyles, who doesn’t speak Russian, said many of the people could read a little English, “but reading and hearing are two different things,” and most of the time he had to have an interpreter. When he preached to the Russians, he said, “The delay in interpreting was not bad at all because there are those continual pauses which give you time to think, not only about what scripture you want to use but about how to say it so that it will be very simple and easily understood.”

His goal was “not to change them but was to give them confirmation and confidence” in their search for the old paths, he said. Primitive Baptists have often been erroneously called “anti-mission” because they believe Christ’s command was to feed his sheep not to make sheep. Ministers of the church, called elders, go wherever the spirit leads

and wherever a door is opened, Pyles explained. The ministers are not financed or controlled by a board. His trips were paid for from his own funds plus donations from individuals and the church he pastors, which numbers about 240 members. The denomination, which is the oldest in several states including Mississippi, has been called by different names, the word “primitive” meaning original, but many members prefer the designation “Old Baptist.”

Pyles’ hosts told him that around 1900 most Russian Baptists were what might be termed very Calvinistic, or believers in sovereign grace, much like the American Primitive Baptists. After the Bolshevik Revolution and the takeover by the Communists, the Baptists were uncooperative, and many of their ministers were murdered by the government. All denominations other than the state church were forced together, given puppet ministers, and the Baptists began to lose their identity. Half a century later or more, there was a relaxation of rules under Secretary General Mikel Gorbachev and others who made it possible for the Baptists to meet and seek the old ways and beliefs. Despite the destruction of much of their history and literature, they began to gravitate toward the beliefs of their forefathers.

Most Russian congregations are members of the Russian Baptist Union, but some churches withdrew from what Pyles termed “a contentious relationship.”

He was interested not only in the spiritual welfare of the people but also in the nation’s economy, as he holds a doctorate in economics from Oklahoma State University where he taught before moving to Jackson in 1990. He had

seen places where there was greater poverty, he said, “but I expected more from Russia. I was shocked at the impoverished state of that country.” Several states in our nation, he said, have greater economic outputs than all of Russia.

“The country is very much a junk yard,” he stated, as buildings everywhere were vacant and collapsing. Most of the people live in drab apartments, and most of the homes are on a par with the worst here. Kitchens are usually about the size of a small bathroom in America. He also noted the lack of landscaping — “They don’t know what a lawn mower is” — and said open areas and lots are usually overgrown with weeds.

Pyles sees Russia as basically an infidel nation, and his Russian friends told him it was because most of the people have no fear of God, “and the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord.” Russia, he said, has more crude oil, more natural gas, more timber, more base metals and more farm land than any other nation, yet its enormous wealth is controlled by a handful of men who seized power when the Communist government fell. Lawlessness is also practically unchecked with the mafia in control in many places.

Yet his hosts were able to laugh. He noted that drivers pay little attention to rules of the road, zooming through red lights at intersections. He was told the story of a Russian driver who, when he approached a green light, slammed on the brakes, the car fishtailing before it came to a screeching halt. “Why did you stop on green?” the driver was asked, and he explained: “Ah, there might be a Russian coming from the other direction.”

“When you go there,” Pyles said, “it makes you appreciative of what we have. You see nothing there that you want to bring home. Our lives are so much better here.” With all our faults, Pyles believes God will continue to bless America “not because America is good, but because he is merciful.”

Pyles has also preached to congregations in the Phillippines and is in touch with Primitive Baptist churches in India, Poland, Nigeria, Romania, Mexico, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Ukraine and Australia. Other ministers who have gone to Russia include Elders Zach Guess of Memphis, Herb Hatfield of Aberdeen and Jeff Harris of Tipton, Ga.

A visit by the Russian ministers to Mississippi is anticipated with only one possible downside: they will be shocked at the casual dress of Americans when they go to church, Pyles said.

Gordon Cotton is an author and historian who lives in Vicksburg.