--- id: 20170301_unseen_and_untold title: BLOG - Unseen and Untold! category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: hidden-suffering-to-prayerful-support sentiment: Convictional emotions: - Concerned - Compassionate - Urgent keypoints: - Dean and Vickie have long supported Overseas Council seminaries in hard places - A seminary director describes Ukrainian anger after promised Western help failed - Pastors associated with the West face jailing and torture; propaganda targets children - The underground church in Russia is growing despite surveillance - Nehemiah 4:9 frames the response — pray and post a guard against the threat summary: > Dean Rush reports on Overseas Council seminary work and a director's briefing on Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Kosovo: broken Western security promises, jailed pastors, anti-Western propaganda, and a growing underground church. He closes with Nehemiah 4:9 — pray to God and post a guard day and night — as the takeaway call to prayer and support. tags: - blog - policy - overseas-council - ukraine - russia - underground-church - nehemiah-4 - prayer - persecution - dean-rush sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 8 entropy: 4 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: blog created: '2017-03-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: BLOG prefix: BLOG enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: BLOG_2017-03-01_unseen-and-untold.md source_kind: blog_article proposed_topic: Wisdom lane: Wisdom voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Wisdom content_status: active date: '2017-03-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/unseen-and-untold source_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/unseen-and-untold site_category: Policy archive_month: 2017-03 description: > Dean shares a seminary director's report on persecuted believers in Ukraine and Russia and answers with Nehemiah 4:9 — pray and post a guard — calling for prayer and support of seminaries the news rarely covers. --- # Unseen and Untold! **Author:** Dean Rush **Original post:** [deanrush.net/blog/unseen-and-untold](https://deanrush.net/blog/unseen-and-untold) **Archive month:** March 2017 · **Site category:** Policy > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's article** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned of HTML/image artifacts only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. Spellings and names appear as on the live page (e.g. Overseas Counsel/OC, Taurs Dyplkive, Nehamiah). --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) Dean surfaces suffering the Western news cycle often skips — believers under pressure in Ukraine and Russia — and answers with Scripture he already quotes: pray to God and post a guard day and night (Nehemiah 4:9). The enrichment below does not replace his report; it shows the wider biblical frame for solidarity with the persecuted church. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | --- | --- | | Hidden suffering deserves to be told | Remember those in prison as if with them (Hebrews 13:3); weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15) | | Broken promises wound nations and churches | Let your "yes" be yes (Matthew 5:37); the Lord hates a false witness (Proverbs 6:16–19) | | Faith can grow underground under hostility | The word is not bound (2 Timothy 2:9); light shines in darkness (John 1:5) | | Prayer and watchfulness belong together | Pray and post a guard (Nehemiah 4:9); watch and pray (Matthew 26:41); pray for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18) | --- ## Dean's article ### Overseas Council Seminaries ![Hope and despair image from Dean's original post](https://deanrush.net/Portals/0/Hope%20and%20dispair%20640.jpg) Vickie and I have supported Overseas Counsel (OC) for more than twenty years. OC is a group that supports seminaries in third world countries or countries that overtly do not believe in Christ. This past week, we were privileged to hear Taurs Dyplkive speak. Taurs is the director of the seminaries in the Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Kosovo. He provided an insight into the attitude and conditions of the people who believe in Christ in those nations that was very interesting and deserves repeating. > **Scholar sidebar — Partnership with the global church** > Supporting gospel training across borders echoes the New Testament pattern of partnership: Philippians shared in Paul's trouble (Philippians 4:14–16); churches sent relief to Judea (Acts 11:29–30). Dean's decades with Overseas Council are not tourism; they are sustained investment in forming pastors where open faith is costly. Hebrews 13:3 keeps the ethical demand personal: remember prisoners *as bound with them*. ### Seminary Student's Attitude Toward America First he discussed the attitude of the countries he was overseeing toward Americans. He said in the Ukraine the people were skeptical and very angry. When the US and UK promised to help the Ukraine maintain their independence after the Iron Curtain fell, a military was not maintained to protect the citizenry from invasion because they were told to focus on developing an economy and trade policies. When the Russians invaded Eastern Ukraine last year, there was no help from any western nation. The citizens of the Ukraine have individually taken up weapons as they are able to provide a weak resistance but still no assistance is coming from America or Britain. He feels the situation is futile to avoid a takeover by Russia. He estimates there are now more than 300,000 Ukrainians in the resistance but no support from other countries is expected soon. ### He has grave concern for his students,. There has been, in the last months, a strategic jailing of anyone associated with America, who is teaching independence, or communication with anyone from the West. He has two good friends (pastors) who were recently dragged out of their homes, accused of spying, and jailed. They have been tortured until they confess to anything and then face up to 10 years in a Russian prison. The children are told to watch American television to verify the breakdown in a western culture. They are told that to survive in America you must be a member of the LGBT community. The children are told that anything other than communism fails as away of life. The society is constantly barraged with propaganda about western cultures. > **Scholar sidebar — When the state targets shepherds** > Jesus warned that disciples would be hated for His name (Matthew 10:22; John 15:18–20). Acts records apostles jailed for teaching (Acts 4–5; 12). Dean relays a director's report of pastors dragged from homes and tortured toward false confession — the same pattern of coercive false witness Scripture condemns (Exodus 20:16). The enrichment does not litigate geopolitics Dean reports; it names the biblical category: persecution of gospel workers and propaganda that catechizes children against the truth (cf. Deuteronomy 6:6–7 as the opposite parental charge). ### The Good News The good news was that the underground church in Russia is growing. On the surface Christian churches are approved but they are constantly investigated and their pastors questioned by the KGB. Therefore, a lot of the Christians have gone underground to worship and teach. It is apparent that our news media provides very little coverage of the problems in Russia for Christians . Taurs suggested that we call for all out prayer for the churches in the countries he regularly visits. He also emphasized the need for support of the seminaries in that area. Take away thought, **" We prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat".** (Nehamiah 4.9) > **Scholar sidebar — Nehemiah 4:9: pray and watch** > Nehemiah's people faced mockery and planned attack while rebuilding Jerusalem's wall. Verse 9 pairs dependence and diligence: prayer to God *and* a posted guard. Neither piety without prudence nor vigilance without prayer is the model. Dean's takeaway applies that dual posture to unseen suffering: intercede for the churches and support the seminaries that form their leaders. Ephesians 6:18–20 likewise joins "praying at all times" with prayer for bold gospel speech — including for those in chains. --- ## Takeaways 1. **Long obedience in partnership.** Dean and Vickie frame the post from twenty-plus years supporting Overseas Council seminaries. 2. **Broken promises breed anger.** The director's Ukraine report centers on Western security assurances that, in his telling, left citizens exposed. 3. **Pastors pay personally.** Jail, torture, and forced confession are named as current costs for association with the West or gospel independence. 4. **Underground growth is real good news.** Official churches under surveillance push many believers into hidden worship that still multiplies. 5. **Nehemiah 4:9 is the ask.** Pray and post a guard — all-out prayer plus tangible seminary support — not mere awareness. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? Christians in Ukraine and Russia are under pressures Western media barely covers — so pray hard and keep supporting the seminaries that train their leaders. ### Why Nehemiah 4:9? Because Nehemiah's people met a real threat with both prayer and practical watchfulness. Dean wants the same dual response: spiritual intercession and concrete support, not spectator pity. ### Key verses to read with this post - **Nehemiah 4:9** — Pray to God and post a guard day and night. - **Hebrews 13:3** — Remember prisoners as bound with them. - **Matthew 5:10–12** — Blessed are the persecuted. - **John 15:18–20** — The world hated Jesus first. - **2 Timothy 2:9** — The word of God is not bound. - **Ephesians 6:18–20** — Pray for all the saints and for bold witness. - **Romans 12:15** — Weep with those who weep. ### A simple practice This week: (1) set a daily two-minute prayer for pastors and seminary students in hostile regions, (2) read Nehemiah 4:9 aloud, (3) ask one concrete question — "What support (prayer list, gift, or advocacy) would 'posting a guard' look like for me?" ### How this feeds Ask Dean Seed material for questions such as: *What does Dean say about the underground church in Russia? Why quote Nehemiah 4:9? How should Christians respond to persecuted believers?* Keep Dean's reported briefing primary; use scholar notes only as biblical scaffolding. Preserve his spellings of names and "Nehamiah" as published unless quoting the verse in standard form in enrichment.