and Jumper NEWS
By Andrei Conovaloff   -- NEWS added before 2004
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more Molokans adn Jumper NEWS: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004
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2003

"Molokan Exemption"= No Photo on Driver's License  Updated  14  Sept  2005-
2003 October 30 — In 1977 a California man, Benjamin Stackler, requested no photo on his driver's license due to his religious belief. He was denied. His research found the case of the Jumper-S&L-user John Shubin who won a similar case in the 1960s. Stackler attended the Molokan Church in San Francisco a few times, acquired a kosovorotka (old style of Russian men's peasant shirt), consulted with Molokan elders and Ethel Dunn, formed his own congregation (of one), appealed his case in 1980 at which Ethel testified, and won in 1984 — Stackler v. Department of Motor Vehicles (1980) 105 Cal.App.3d 240, 245. This June the DMV decided that the "Molokan [Jumper] exception" was too risky for national security and overturned it which was announced in a press release on October 30. The Sacramento Bee covered the story the next day. On November 18, Los Angeles Jumper-S&L-users read the story in the Los Angeles Times which created lots of gossip. And the following week on November 24 the San Francisco Chronicle expanded the story with an interview with Stackler. — Thanks to Nick Shubin for the tip. If you know of any more accounts, please send them in.

Doukhobor Place Names Database           Nov  19
Jon Kalmakoff just added a new feature. Search this powerful, new database containing over 400 Doukhobor Place names in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Canada and the US. Search by name, type, alphabetically or geographically. The vast majority of the Doukhobor place names occurred in Canada in the 20th century. There were over 80 settlement in Saskatchewan and 100 in British Columbia alone. Many were known by more than one place name, which accounts for the surprising number of names. Also note that the Doukhobor Genealogy website has moved to http://www.doukhobor.org . The "Origins of Molokan adn Jumper Surnames" list moved to: www.doukhobor.org/Molokan.htm

Molokan-Jumper Holidays        Sept 26
2003 Sept 26 — This evening begin the Jumper-S&L-user holidays in America with the Memory of the Trumpet — Pamiat Trub. Would readers please e-mail in the holiday dates for the rest of this year and next year for the Constants and Jumpers in America?

Russian Tour of Doukhobors Planned       Sept 25
2004 Summer — Koozma Tarasoff is organizing a tour of the Doukhobor settlements in Russia beginning with the Caucasus; through Rostov-on-Don; Chernski raion, Tula province; and back to Moscow. The Tour is expected to be some three weeks in duration. Molokan villages are nearby.

Armenia Jumpers on Russian TV Show     Sept 16
2003 September 7 — Russian TV show: Vokrug Sveta (Around the World) — "Armenia Molokans" — Jumpers were interviewed on the popular Russian TV show, with a magazine of the same title, similiar to our National Geographic, but in 3 segments, like 60-minutes. The last segment is always about religion. Russians told us that the first show this month interviewed Jumpers in Erevan and Fioletova. We found the complete narration text on the show's website with 5 new photos. The story will probably appear in the magazine. Elder Novikov (shown) and wife, and the prophet Zadorkin and daughter Iurtaiev were visited. Many facets of village Jumper life were discussed — Saint Rudometkin, the language of Zion, beards, marriage, diet, fasting, prohibitions, TVs, and preparation for the 200th anniversary of religious freedom in 2005. See a summary of the text. A complete translation will be posted later.

Vedda Desatoff Recovering from 5-Year Coma     Sept 11
2003 July 12 — North County Times — "A Story of Faith" by Brian Hero, Staff Writer — "Her given name is Faith Desatoff, ...Vedda, which means "faith" in Russian. The youngest of six children born to a Russian family from Whittier, ... Cypress College to the state soccer semifinals in ... Desatoff ...expected to start at center midfield. But on Aug. 15, the very first day of practice, she went up for a header, and the ball struck her on the upper left temple. ... She then lost consciousness and slipped into a coma. ... Five years later, she has never -- and will never -- come out of it. ... ... traumatic brain injury (TBI), .....two priests from the family's traditional Russian religion — Molokan [Jumper-S&L-user] — were summoned to administer last rites. ...a rare operation known as a bilateral craniotomy, in which doctors removed a pair of 2-by-4 inch pieces of her skull to relieve brain swelling. ... "Now 24, Desatoff lives in CareMeridian, a residential neuro-care facility in the Orange County city of Silverado. Clinically comatose and physically disabled, she spends her days alternatively in bed and in a wheelchair. She is fed three soft meals a day with a spoon and one through a tube. Her mother, Priscilla, and father, Maury, visit every weekend from Whittier, but her recognition of them is spotty and she rarely smiles anymore."

Russia Train Explosion4 Killed, 92 Injured     Updated Sept 16
2003 September 3 — Kislovodsk, Stavropol'— The morning commuter electric train (electrichka) which runs between Kislovodsk and Mineral Waters, via Piatigorsk, was stopped when a bomb on the tracks exploded about 7:30 am on Wednesday. On Thursday September 4, 5 are reported dead and 79 injured. The bomb was placed in an isolated area between the last Kislovodsk stop (platform) and the first Essentuki stop. Many passengers were college students living in the Kislovodsk area on their way to the university in Piatigorsk. Of the 5 killed 3 were students. Many of the injured had severely damaged legs and arms. Some were injured after the explosion in the rush to get off the train. No word yet if any of the victim were Molokans. 7 Molokan churches are along this train route. Only one of the two tracks on the route was damaged. Even though the explosion was 100 miles from Chechnia, Chechens are the primary suspects. As reported earlier in Molokan NEWS, many terrorist acts, mainly bombings, have occured in Stavropol province where thousands of Molokans and Jumpers live. The hospital hostages in Budiennovsk, in 1995 the Piatigorsk train station 2nd floor was blown out, again the Piatigorsk platform, the Essentuki main market (rinok) was bombed, ... . My Russian-Molokan wife is from Essentuki and we rode this train many times. By phone she learned that a former co-worker was a passenger on the same train but in the next car, was injured by shrapnel and died within a week leaving a small boy.

UMCA-LA Picnic Saturday September 6   Updated Sept 4
2003 Sept 6 — Hacienda Heights — The LA-UMCA (United Molokan Christian Association) resumes it's annual picnic at home. This year's picnic will be held at the Hacienda Heights location for the first time ever. The picnic was cancelled last year for the first time since it was started in 1926.

  Yasnaya Polyana in Bulgaria Remembers Tolstoy   Aug 22
2003 August 21 — Ottawa, Canada — "Yasnaya Polyana in Bulgaria Features Conference on Lev N. Tolstoy" by Koozma J. Tarasoff — This Doukhobor historian and author submits his article about "an interesting meeting that was held last July in Yasnaya Polyana in Bulgaria." Koozma reports that Yasnaya Polyana, Bulgaria, is revitalizing it's history with a museum and an "...exhibition .... of 254 precious documents, photographs, manuscripts about the connections of Tolstoy with his Bulgarian followers and the new history of the village ..." For Molokans: "Yasnaya Polyana" ("serene clearing") is the name of Lev Tolstoy's estate in Tula province, Russia, where he was born and buried. On farms in southern Tula province live hundreds of resettled Molokan and Doukhobor refugees from the Caucasus.

Spirit Wrestlers Book Tour   Aug 22
2003 — Ottawa, Canada — Doukhobor Writer Publishes Major Book in May 2003: Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers Strategies for Living — by Koozma J. Tarasoff — "Koozma J. Tarasoff took his new book on the road for 7-weeks in May and June to do Readings, Signings, and Promotions in Western Canada. Logging in some 13,000 [8078 miles] kilometers, ...[he] ... delivered books to customers ..., met them ... , autographed ... , and thanked his supporters for making it possible to help finance this very expensive $100,000 book project with a CD-ROM. When the government refused to provide any funding, Koozma went to the people for pre-publication sales; the response showed trust in that 400 books were purchased before [publication] ...."

Russian Molokans and Doukhobors Today    Aug 20
2000 — Religion, State & Society — "Molokan And Doukhobors: Living Source of Russian Protestantism" by Roman Lunkin and Anton Prokof'yev — Translated from Russian — This article attempts to summarize the status of Molokans and Doukhobors in Russia since perestroika. The authors do a fair job of reviewing the history and analyzing the politics of resurrecting these two sectarian groups after decades of oppression, but they missed some major facts.

Armenia Maksimists: 4 New Photos, Revised Story        Aug 16
2003 January 17 — ArmeniaNow — "Bound by Belief: Molokans hold on to faith and tradition in changed world" by Viorica Vladica, ArmeniaNow correspondent — 4 photos never before published and another first hand story about Molokans and Jumpers in Armenia. The author is a journalism student of Mark Grigorian who sent this story in last year. Viorica wrote it in English, but a few items were not clear, so we collaborated to clarify the article and it was posted on Molokan NEWS February 5, 2003 as "FIOLETOVO" (Maksimist holiday Sedmina in Fioletovo). She also rewrote it somewhat for publication in this Armenian magazine. The value of promoting Molokans and Jumpers to the Armenians is to prevent all Molokans and Jumpers from leaving Armenia. At least 80% have moved to Russia to find work. Often children are left behind to be cared for by grandparents who won't move. Armenian is now the official language. Before the breakup of the Soviet Union only Russian was taught in all schools. The Molokans' and Jumpers' Russian school in this village of Fioletova (formerly Nikitino) is funded by private payments to the teachers who bus in daily from the neighboring town of Lermontovo (Where Edgar Bibayoff of Big Church in LA recently married an Armenian-Jumper bride.). There are some public Russian language schools in Erevan. If American Jumpers would fund just $100 per month, the village school could greatly improve. Better if we would send volunteer teachers every 6 months in rotation on tourist visas. But is seems that most American Jumpers do not want to give or to associate with those "left behind", because many believe that the grandparents of those in the FSU did not follow the profesy to America to become "saved" like their grandparents did.

McDonald Park Jumpers To Build New Church        Aug 11
2003 July 30 — Adelaide, South Australia — Messenger — "Russian church wins approval" by Verity Edwards — "Identity: Holding true to tradition" — 2 articles with photos appeared after the city council debated whether to allow the McDonald Park Jumper-S&L-user congregation to build in a rural area outside Adelaide, SA. They have 35 family members and only 15 parking spaces at their Elizabeth South industrial location. The local paper interviewed council members and Presbyter Phillip Tolmachoff. "The council received four objections ... But arguments in favour .. swayed ... the majority voting in favour." "... we didn’t think it was going to be such an issue," Mr Tolmachoff said.

Spirit & Life Diagrams Explained by Scholars        Aug 7
1992 The American Journal of Semiotics "Semiotics of Inspired Illustration in a Molokan [Jumper-S&L-user] Sacred Text" by Jules F. Levin and Steven E. Merritt, University of California, Riverside These 2 scholars studied the Spirit and Life pictures published in 1915 and 1928 and how they are arranged in the text. They explain that M.G. Rudometkin was graphically interpreting the Bible, particularly the Book of Revelations, to better understand it for for himself and his followers. "Unlike conventional illustrations which may present information otherwise not conveyed in the text, these drawings diagram the text itself, in some cases (as in Fig. 6) condensing a great deal of textual information into an image that may be contemplated."

1938 San Francisco Faces Identified           Aug 5
Click for MORE INFOHave you wondered who the people are that were photographed in 1938 and appear on the Library of Congress website? "On Sunday, September 14, 1938 .. Folklorist Sidney Robertson Cowell recorded the distinctive preaching and singing..." and took some pictures. About 1997, the Library of Congress put this collection on their website. You can hear our Molokans in 1938 singing, speaking, and see them. This year, genealogist Nancy Poppin-Posey asked her relatives in San Francisco who the faces were. They found Agapoffs, Esaieff, Fetesoff, Klistoffs, Loskutoffs, Poppins, Semenoffs, Sohriakoff, and several unidentified which you might know. "Thanks to my cousin Ann Pappin Loskutoff and the Potrero Hill ladies who identified names to the faces and identified their spouses. — Nancy Poppin-Posey

Tolmachoff's Produce Stand, Glendale, Arizona          July 5
2003 July 5 — The Arizona Republic, by Rhea Davis — "What a sweet deal!: Produce stands are open in West Valley" — "Tomatoes are bright red and a great green at Tolmachoff's Garden Fresh Produce Stand on 75th Avenue Diane [Bolderoff from Kerman] and Ephrem also sell cucumbers, zucchini, sweet corn, honeydew, cantaloupes and watermelon. ... Ephrem Tolmachoff's Garden Fresh Produce Stand is on 75th Avenue, a half-mile south of Glendale Avenue. ... The stand, which has been operating in Glendale for 10 years, sells produce grown on Tolmachoff's farm [rented]. Tolmachoff, 45, a Glendale resident, has been growing vegetables since he was a child. He said he experimented with different kinds of tomatoes until he found the ones he now sells. He described his tomatoes as being like beefsteak tomatoes, but juicier and tastier. All the produce he sells is picked the same day, he said, ... Just about everyone who stopped at the stand last week left with a bag of tomatoes. ... Tolmachoff keeps his stand open during harvesting season, from mid-May until the third week of July."

3-day Harvest Fast & Prayers for Unity         July 5
2003 May 22 thru Saturday May 23, 2003 — Break Fast on Sunday May 24, 2003 — In South Russia there is a drought, Molokans there need rain to grow their gardens. A 3-day fast with prayer is called among all believers for (1) rain, (2) to unite all Molokane, and (3) to unite the world in peace and love for all faiths. Too much rain came last summer and destroyed the crops and harvest. This year appears to be the opposite. Pass this message on to your congregation, collect charity and send it to Molokans in need in Russia. UPDATE: Rain fell 2 weeks later, on June 5. Thanks to everyone's prayers.

Arizona Treguboff Recollects History         May 2
2003 May 2 — Sun Cities-Surprise Section, The Arizona Republic: "Plenty of work for boy on early Glendale farm" — by Gerry Niskern — "Fred Treguboff, 64, grew up in Glendale. His mother died when he was 5, and he went to live with his Russian grandparents on their farm on Lateral 20 (75th Avenue) and West Glendale Avenue."

International Molokan Convention May 1-3        Apr 12
All Molokans around the world are invited to the 2003 annual convention of Molokans, May 1-3 (Thur-Fri-Sat) this year, hosted by the Kochubeevskoe congregation in Stavropol'. The purpose of this meeting is to plan for the 200th aniversary of religous freedom for Molokans to be held in July 2005. So far 20 congregations have appointed 53 delegates and more help is needed. This Molokan NEWS website is hosting announcements posted on the Internet.

Potrero Hill Neighborhood House  
"This neighborhood house was established in 1919 by the Presbyterian Church to serve the Russian immigrants who had been settling on the hill since 1905. ... some two thousand Russian immigrants, mainly from the Volga and Caucasus regions, arrived after fleeing Czarist oppression. Known as the "Molokani," the milk drinkers, they were a puritanical sect who worshiped at a modest little church where the women and men were segregated during services. At the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, ... the Russians took classes in the English language and learned how to use sewing machines...."

Molokan history in Utah      Apr 10
2003 April 10 — "Russian Colonists in the Utah Desert" — by Dr. Marshal Bowen. A research paper about Molokans and Jumpers in Utah was presented today at the WSSA—Western Social Science Association—annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada (April 9-11), in the panels on Arid Lands. (See page 16 of the PDF schedule).  Dr. Marshal Bowen will explain what he knows about the migration of Molokans adn Jumpers to Utah in Panel Session IV: Desert Identities, Thursday at 2:45 pm. This is a continuation of his work on how "city people went to poor lands at this time". After the conference, Bowen will spend a week in Arizona. The Arizona Jumper-S&L-user congregation will meet with Bowen to share information about the Arizona Molokan settlements and learn more about his work. See earlier posts. Dr. Bowen will share his paper and color photos with us which should be posted here probably next week.  —- Also check the Slavic Studies panels on page 82. The paper on page 85, presented in Panel 11 : “Arbiters of the Free Conscience: State, Religion, and the Problem of Confessional Transfer after 1905,” Paul W. Werth, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, mentions Molokans and Doukhobors. I have this in PDF from Werth. If you want a copy let me know.

2003 Jumper Holidays    Apr 10
Paskha (Passover) starts Monday evening April 14 with "Breaking of the Bread". American Jumper-S&L-users often refer to this day in Russian as Paskha zaedat' translated as "to take (passover) bread with" — an old peasant way of referring to communion. In Russia the bread is taken with salt. The holiday proceeds for 7 more days, ending Monday April 21. Note that in Orthodox Russia, paskha is a cheese spread that is put on kulich (sweet bread). For some reason Molokans and Jumpers, particularly in America, labeled the sweet-bread paskha. See more about paskha and kulich. I don't have the complete holiday calendar to post yet. If someone can e-mail it in, all the readers will appreciate you help.

The Molokans: A little-known sect on Potrero Hill     Apr 1
1975 — By George John Poppin — "Dad had this article in his things. There wasn't a date, and surmised it was before 1975 because my cousin, Vasily Petrovich Semenoff, mentioned in the article, died October 22, 1974 in San Francisco. It may be of interest for the Molokan News." — Submitted by Nancy Poppin-Posey

The Lord’s Mercy: The Holy Spirit in Action      Apr 1
A spiritual lesson by Nick Ghosoph, Fresno CA, who vows: "I promised Him that I would speak about his mercy until I depart!" These 4 parts were written by Nick, submitted to "The Molokan" (the UMCA newsletter) and distributed among American Jumper/Maksmists over a period of several months. They are submitted here as a collected first-hand report of how the Holy Spirit works among the Spiritual Christians. Thanks to Nick & Joseph for submitting it.

"The Russians Are Coming!"      Mar 26
1982 Spring — Elite Society Magazine — "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!" — by Bill Coates — Using the same title of a popular comedy movie about the same time, Coates interviews the larger Conovaloff family of Arizona—and particularly the oldest Jumper, Martha Papin. After her husband Nick died, Martha married the widowed presbyter, Vasili Tolmachoff, until he died. Martha lived to a few days shy of 100. Thanks to the Papin-Poppin family — Nancy, Debbie, and Fae for sending in the source files.

500 active Molokans in Azerbaijan?       Mar 14
The State Committee of Azerbaijan Republic of the work with religious associations — This report: Who are Molocans? provides a short history and demography: "Molocans are one of the sects of spiritual Christianity. The founder ... was peasant of Tambov Semen Uklein. He was Orthodox, but then he joined sect of spiritual fighters [Doukhobors], then he separated and established his own circle. He chose 70 'apostles' among his followers and triumphantly entered Tambov singing religious songs so that to teach his new doctrine openly. But police arrested them and put into prison. ... Molocans don't have churches, and dogmatic doctrine of Molocans is stated in so called Books of Rites... At the present time there are 11 registered communities of Spiritual Christian Molocans in Azerbaijan. The largest of them are located in Baku (about 150 persons) and in Sumgait (about 100 persons). Other communities consisting of no more than 10 persons act in Shemakhi, Garadag, Hizi and Ismailli areas. There are also some unregistered communities in those areas. In all communities is conducted calculation of members, who are elderly people. The young people and children usually don't attend communities. The members are only citizens of Russian nationality. The communities don't act as missionaries and the number of their members reduces year by year. ... They don't have religious centre and each community acts independently. At the same time they support close relations with Baku community and Molocan communities of Stavropol. The financial income is not high and is used to support financial help to their members and worship houses. Last years the tendency of closing of many communities because of the lack of the people is observed. General number of all members of Molocan communities is about 500 persons." [This 500 number appears to count only those who attend sobrania. Click here to see the Russian version.]

Slovo Very (Word of Faith) published again       Updated Mar 14
2003 — The Russian Molokan religious journal Slovo Very (Word of Faith) was last published in Moscow from 1994 to 1996. Click to see the online editions for 1994 to 1996. This year the Molokan Center in Stavropol' published the first edition in 8 years. Co-editor Sergei Ryzhkov e-mailed it to us in 2 parts. Click here to see Ryzhkov's letterClick here to see a translation of the Table of Contents, and at the bottom you can download your own 60 page copy in brilliant PDF format—a 380KB size file. It's best just to save the file on your PC to read anytime you want.

San Francisco Molokans in Student Report     Feb 28
2002 June 5 — (28 page PDF file) — "Poppy Hill, Goat Hill, Holy Hill...Potrero Hill: The Cultural and Development of San Francisco's Sunniest Neighborhood"  by Lisa Schiller — According to an original Molokan settler, Vasily S. Fitisoff, there were 30 Molokans in the original group arriving days after the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. [Most came from the failed commune in Hawaii.] "The City authorities did not know what to do with them so they sent them to the city dump on Potrero Hill in garbage wagons. They were thrown together with earthquake and fire victims and lived in emergency tents and refugee shacks until the community was further settled. After the cleanup of the earthquake the government began building prefabricated houses on Potrero Hill, but they were in short supply so the Molokans began building their own. Although small, the new homes were considered more than adequate, compared to their previous living conditions in Russia. Once this initial settlement occurred more Russians, including Russian Baptists, joined the Potrero Molokan community." In 1906 they divided themselves into 2 separate religious communities — Constants and Jumpers — and began working for Union Iron Works. One of the centerpieces of the Molokan Community was the Molokan Church, built on Carolina Street in 1937, which has been replaced. Jumper Molokans closed their "sobraniia" and joined the new Constant church in the 1960s when most on Potrero Hill walked to church. The neighborhood, also called "Goat Hill" for a large goat farm, and "Holy Hill" for many religous groups, is sunny, isolated from fog and traffic and has the best view of Downtown. Locals called the western side “Russian Hill” or “Little Russia” and described the first Russian settlers as “very big guys with beards. They were loud talking and hard drinking.” "In the 1970s the Russian Molokans were known to be a very insular and quiet group that preferred not to attract attention to themselves. Their community had grown over the years, even up to 700 in 1945, but greater numbers created further diffusion of their religious communities." 

Spirit Wrestlers due in April           Feb 28
2003 Feb 27 — Koozma Tarasoff's reports that his next big book: Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers' Strategies for Living will go to press at the end of March, then he says: "Once the book is out, I plan in April to head out with a carload of books to Western Canada and hold some Readings, Book Signing, and showing of images ... demonstrate the use of the interactive CD-ROM... I plan to deliver books directly to the customers who are in my route. I expect it will take me some five weeks of exciting sobranies, visits, ... I expect some debates along the way esp. on the issue of zealotry, orthodoxy, and criteria of who is a 'pioneer'." The book will also be on CD. See excerpts and order it at: http://www.spirit-wrestlers.com  Note this is Koozma's 25th book about Doukhobors, in addition to 61 articles, and 44 other projects!  

Jumper-S&L-user holiday Sedmina in Fioletovo       Feb 5 
2002 Dec — Fioletovo by Viorica Vladica — Victor and Sasha Zadorkin invite you to their Jumper holiday service "Sedmina" as reported by a Moldovan journalism student in her early 20's who came to Armenia to study journalism at the Caucasus Media Institute, where Mark Grigorian is the deputy director. Viorica researched and wrote this article herself in English.

Fading Fortunes of Molokans in Armenia     Feb 5 
2001 Nov — Armenia: Fading Fortunes of 'Little Russia' — By Mark Grigorian in Fioletovo — Interviews Tatiana Mechikov. Here's another first-hand report from one of Armenia's lead journalists and media analysts about the condition of Molokans and Jumpers in the new Armenia.

Canadian Agency Helps Molokan Refugees       Feb 5
1993 — "Going with the grain in Russia" — 19 Molokan families fleeing war in Azerbaijan arrived in the Tulskaya region, three hours' drive from Moscow. They got a small, deserted village with one building and no roads leading to the village. $16,500 from CIDA—Canadian International Development Agency—brought them a grain separator, grain cleaner, and mill to help them survive.

Kheryn Klubnikin on world peace & ecology  Updated Feb 13
2002 Fall — The role of the environment, especially forests, in peace, conflict, and human security (Klubnikin & Causey, 2002) — Kheryn Klubnikin graduated from USC and did her graduate work at California State University Fullerton. She reports: "I continue to have a keen interest in all aspects of Russian history, especially the lives of people in Anatolia who fled from the Ottoman Turks. ... In April I'll be singing some classical Russian songs for a friend's art opening in Georgetown [Washington DC]." She is the environment chair for the Washington DC Chapter of the Society for International Development, conducting inquiry into the interface between western science and traditional ecological knowledge, particularly in the Russian Altai and Central Asia, where she visited about 5 times. She is an ecologist with USDA (Dept. of Agriculture) Forest Service Research in Washington, DC, and participated in the first exchange on biodiversity between the US National Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1992-1993. This paper she co-authored correlates world peace to protection of the eco-system.

Doukhobors Still Working for Peace     Jan 23
2002 Jan 22 — "Protest in Ottawa Brings Consensus Against War in Iraq" by Koozma Tarasoff — This Doukhobor historian reports first hand about his work for world peace. "Activists invoked the non-violent legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on the U.S. holiday weekend that marks the civil rights leader's birthday." Canadian Doukhobors feel it is their historic duty to evangelize for peace, but American Molokans and Jumpers have lost this part of their heritage.

Mexico Molokans Still There    Jan 23
2002 Dec 1 — Los Angeles Times — By Jessica Garrison — A reported 300 people of Molokan and Jumper descent still live near the Fransico Zarco, formerly the Russian Colony of Guadalupe, about 50 miles south of the boarder. Fewer than 20 are "pure" Russian. The church ha been closed for decades. This story features Gabriel Kachirisky (right) who repaired the neglected church (big hole in the roof) cleans the cemetery and makes a little catering to the tourist trade. The village now has 2 Molokan museums, tour buses stop for Russian lunch and a history lesson.

New Church in Samara, Russia    Jan 23
2001 Aug 29 — Tol'iatti, Samara, Russia — Tol'iattinskoe Obozprenie (Tol'iatti Review) — This city is about 40 miles (60 km.) northeast of Samara, location of the "Molokan-Mormons":
"Molokans found their prayer house
     "Last Sunday a blessing and opening of a prayer house took place for the Spiritual Christian Molokans. The believers waited almost 4 years for this event. 
     "In 1998 the city [of Tol'iatti] authorities allotted the congregation (obshchina) land to build a prayer house and 10,000 rubles. The congregation members added more money and rapidly started to build.
     "And finally a spacious 2-story house for prayer was built. For a special blessing from Stavropol' region, where the the Molokan spiritual center is situated, came the elder presbyter of the Russian Union of Spiritual Christian Molokans Timofey Schitinkin [in photo]. For parishioners gather about 80 people. By tradition, they read the Bible and sing Psalms. 
     "The trustee of the Tol'iatti congregation Vasili Lankin said that the prayer house is open for everybody and religious readings will be held every Sunday."

Armenian-Molokan Photogallery    Jan 22
The Cultural Diversity in Armenia website added 5 photos of Armenian Molokans and Jumpers. This wedding scene is part of one. 2 old photos and 3 recent shots are featured. This page links to Ivan Semionov's report on the history of Molokans in Armenia. 

100s of Molokan Genealogy Postings    Jan 14
2003 January 14 — Find 318 postings on the Molokan and Jumper Genealogy Board since it was founded February 2002, and 181 questions posted on all board regarding Molokans since June 2000. Thanks to Ancestry.com for sponsoring the service.


more Molokan and Jumper NEWS: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004
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