We are Christians whose faith and traditions have stood unchanged since the early 1600s. Our ancestors lived in the farmlands of Russia until the Russian Revolution of 1917. At that time, they were faced with making a choice: Faith or Freedom?
That choice lead to government persecution. Our ancestors found themselves fleeing Russia in the early 1900s seeking a country where they could pray in peace. For a time some found peace in asian countries like Turkey, Kazakhstan, or China. Others settled in Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina.
Then, in the late 1900s they heard of a great nation. One built on liberty that promised their Freedom of Religion would never be tampered with. The land that fulfilled their dream of a safer future for their children, where they no longer had to live in fear of religious persecution. That land was called America.
With the help of the Molokhani, Red Cross, and World Council of Churches, we settled in Oregon — and later Alaska, Washington, and Minnesota. Now, in 2020, the Russian Old Believer Community is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the beliefs and traditions that our ancestors sacrificed so much to protect as we give back to the community that helped us not so long ago.
