Mikhail Morgulis is the founder and president of the new spiritual-political movement called Spiritual Diplomacy. In 1982, he established the first Slavic spiritual publishing company in the United States and went on to translate the works of more than 116 writers into the Russian language and print over fifteen million books. Dr. Morgulis also began the first Christian television program in the U.S.S.R. For several years, Mikhail Morgulis was an advisor to Senator Mark Hatfield.

Dr. Morgulis has met with many world leaders and other influential people. He is the author of eight books, including the bestseller Return to the Red Planet.

– In 1991, American writer Philip Yancey and Russian journalist Yuriy Shekochikhin wrote that you helped to bring down the spiritual iron curtain that hung over the Soviet Union. It happened after the first official visit of American Christian leaders to the U.S.S.R., which you had organized. You had meetings at the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R., the Supreme Soviet, the Ministry of Defense, and the KGB. You also met with President Gorbachev. How was it possible for you to put this trip together?

– It truly was a fantastic event by the standards of its time, an event that left its mark on history. Even today, it would be practically impossible to conduct such an exchange. This was a type of spiritual science fiction.

Philip Yancey, a member of our delegation, wrote a wonderful book about the visit titled Praying with the KGB.

I received a letter from Konstantin Lubenchenko, Chairman of the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. On behalf of the Soviet government and the President of the U.S.S.R., he extended an invitation for a group of American Christian leaders to visit Moscow.

When we came to Russia, we met with the leaders of most of the key Soviet administrative agencies. We went to the Council of Ministers; we spoke before a session of the Supreme Soviet. We visited the Defense Department and the Academy of Sciences. We also had a legendary meeting with the chiefs of the KGB. In all likelihood, it was their first meeting with Christian people who voluntarily came to the agency’s headquarters. Finally, there was the Kremlin. What we did came to be known as the tearing-down of the spiritual iron curtain.

I forgot to mention that while still in America I made a promise to God that I would glorify His name if only my dream could come true. With that in mind, I lead prayers after each of our meetings. It was very unusual at the KGB headquarters. My American friends, for whom the Russian intelligence agency stood for inhumane tortures of thousands of innocent people, tried to dissuade me from praying with the generals. They were afraid, saying that we may all get thrown into prison. Guards with brick faces carrying Kalashnikovs were walking in the halls of that building. Portraits of Lenin and Dzerzhinsky with malicious smiles watched us from the walls. Even so, I remained faithful to the promises I made. After our discussions with KGB officials, I asked for permission to pray. I prayed in a loud voice, and KGB generals attentively listened to my unusual prayer.

Finally, we met with Gorbachev. There were eighteen of us – Christian leaders of America. There was Chuck Colson, former advisor to the American president, Bill Melvin, chairman of an evangelical association that united fifty thousand churches in America, Bill Bright, Secretary of the American Association of Radio and Television, as well as Brent Gustavson, Joel Nederhood, Peter Deyneka, Kent Hill, Alex Leonovich, and other famous people. Our delegation sat on one side of a very long table facing Soviet officials. Gorbachev greeted us with words of welcome. I spoke next. I said something along these lines: “There can be no genuine Christianity where there is no love. Where there is no love, there is no Christ. Our faith should be filled with love and action. Faith is not alive without works.” I sat in front of Gorbachev, and he told me: “Michael, you said it well. Faith without works is dead.” I responded that I did not invent these words, that they were from the Bible. Gorbachev answered: “It is a pity that we had so much to do, yet we had the wrong faith. We believed in something that, perhaps, we should not have.” He sighed and went on: “And it seems that it is too late to begin now.” After this event, we started to have a personal connection with each other, if not friendship, then at least human sympathy. We met with Gorbachev several other times, as well as with his wife Raisa. I talk about those relationships in my book Spiritual Diplomacy. After that first hour-long meeting, I asked the Soviet President to allow a prayer. Gorbachev looked at me and said that the Kremlin was not a church or a place to conduct worship services. I replied that the Kremlin has always been a spiritual symbol of Russia. Gorbachev looked out the window and finally said that a prayer would not hurt anyone. I prayed for our mothers, our countries, and our hopes. I suspect that no one had done such a thing before. When I finished, the Kremlin tower clock began to strike all of the sudden. Everyone looked outside. Maybe it was just a coincidence. After that Gorbachev took me aside and asked: “Do you know where you were just praying?” I answered that this must have been the President’s office. Gorbachev turned to me and said that the room was the former office of dictator Joseph Stalin.

That was the time when everyone started to write about the fall of the spiritual iron curtain. After our visit, a great number of pastors and missionaries went to the Soviet Union. Why? After our meetings, everyone understood that the gates were open, and it was safe to travel to the U.S.S.R.

– Mikhail, if I remember correctly, your television program The Return to God Hour was the first Christian program on Soviet television. How did you manage to do this show? What was the response of your audience?

– This was also a phenomenon that it is hard to explain. At the same time, we know that what may sound illogical to us, humans, is fully understandable to God. At that time, television was still airing under the Soviet system. Russian television, with Information Minister Oleg Poptsov as its godfather, was only in its infancy. Oleg asked me: “Michael, you must decide which television model you support, the Soviet or the Russian one.” I answered  him that we must be for everyone. We made a proposal to the directors of Soviet television at Ostankino. Everyone was hesitant: “We’ll be stripped of our Communist Party cards over your spiritual show.” I tried to explain to them that the Soviet Union and Russia have reached a new phase in their historical development. Russia would not be able to enter the global orbit without a spiritual foundation. I always had an ability to persuade people with light spiritual thoughts, to distract them from the daily routine and the focus on political or commercial advancement. After great efforts and many prayers, the television show was approved. At the time, there were few spiritual shows. They did show poorly translated programs of Robert Schulerand and almost hysterical episodes of Jimmy Swaggart, who tossed the Bible to the floor and jumped around it.

Our show was broadcast on Channel 4 of the Russian television. Television directors told me at the beginning that no one would watch our show, that the people of Russia have no need for God. I disagreed. In the three years our program aired, we received 32 thousand letters. What we read was very dramatic at times. The show deterred people from committing suicide, saved marriages, and helped them cope with life’s difficulties. I remember one letter in particular. A woman from Donetsk, who lost her husband and her work at the same time, decided to kill herself and her daughter by turning on the gas in her apartment and locking the windows. She lay down on the sofa, turned on the TV and heard the beginning of one of our programs. I was saying that our lives belong only to the One who gave them to us. These words stopped her from taking her life.

– Mikahil, everything you have done in your life, including your meetings with high-profile officials effectively constitutes your attempts to implement the concept of Spiritual Diplomacy. Could you tell us more about this idea?                   

– Spiritual Diplomacy is a new spiritual-political concept, whose purpose is to resolve international and intrastate conflicts in the world on the basis of common spiritual values of the opposing sides. The most significant spiritual values of both parties have to be taken into account. Not only political conflicts can be addressed in this manner. Religious, ethnic, national, and social strife can be mitigated on the grounds of common values. This is the essence of the entire concept. Nobody has looked at the issues in a similar light before. Even today, many people say that in our cynical and pragmatic century, the application of such concepts is utopian. To such assertions, I respond with the words that two thousand years ago, one person was able to conquer the world without tanks and airplanes, but with love. We are not trying to create something new here. We are simply brining to life God’s words “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Once, when Gorbachev was visiting the Middle East, he said that peace in the region can only be established through Jesus Christ. People immediately thought of my influence on Gorbachev. No, I’m just a little seed like the rest of us. God himself influenced Gorbachev.

With this concept we try to resolve the disputes and conflicts in the world today. I need to add that Spiritual Diplomacy acts without needless noise, the involvement of the press, and people who like to talk much. The most important decisions are made in silence. The words from the Bible “You must be as wise as a serpent and as gentle as a dove” are especially fitting here. For example, some time ago, we were visiting Israel and Palestine. We were talking to spiritual and intellectual leaders on both sides. I told them: “I have always asked people to love each other. However, that is not so easy for you to do. Therefore, I ask that you have patience and temperance towards each other, so that the flowers of love may one day blossom on that soil.” We also try to improve the relations between the United States and Belarus. I spoke before the U.S. Congress and addressed the Helsinki Commission. I said: “If you do not like President Lukashenko, you don’t have to love him. He is not an angel; he is just like all of us. Not one of us is an angel; otherwise we would be in Paradise. I have not seen any angel-presidents. Neither George Bush, nor Vladimir Putin is an angel. To make matters worse, President Lukashenko, with his charismatic character, expresses himself in much stronger terms than he really means. You need to love the people, even if you do not care too much for the leader. The people of Belarus suffered great casualties in the Second World War, where every fourth citizen of the country was killed. People continue to die of Chernobyl radiation there. You should not deny these people your help.” I also met with President Lukashenko several times and discussed spiritual subjects with him. He is nothing like the media wants us to believe. He has a capacity for making deep judgments. He can understand you. Lukashenko is not at all a blunt farmer, as some want to portray him. He is a historian; he majored in history and has a fine knowledge of world events and the history of religion.

Another important component for Spiritual Diplomacy is that we do not forget that we are just people. We are not Americans, Russians, Chechens, Africans, or Arabs. We are just people, a creation of God. It is true that we are very different. Still, in solving disputes, Spiritual Diplomacy presumes that we are equally valuable to God. We try to extend our love to everyone. This is one of the main Christian postulates.

I’d like to thank all of the members of the Spiritual Diplomacy Foundation for their efforts, especially Sir Michael Markham, Cornelius Matwijecky, Frank Abernathy, and Dr. Alex Leonovich, union leader Ottivell Simmons, Mark Bazalev, William Alexsen, and others.

– With what other world leaders have you met? What acquaintances were the most memorable for you?

– I have met with many interesting individuals, including four American presidents. Most of all, I remember Ronald Reagan. Once, we were organizing a meeting with him and some representatives from the Soviet Union. The Cold War still dominated our relationship. We had representatives of Jewish dissidents and members of the Russian Orthodox Church. There also was an evangelical pastor from the U.S.S.R. named Stepan Matveuyk. He spent 14 years in concentration camps for his faith.

When Reagan learned of his life story, he said that while many different people have visited the Oval Office, this is the first time that he actually met a man who spent 14 years in jail just because he was a preacher. He added: “This is yet another flabbergasting example of the Soviet regime’s inhumanity.” I said: “Mr. President, this is a country where people pay for their faith with their life.” President Reagan was shaking his head.

He then told us a story from his youth that I really liked. His mother was a good Christian, very sincere. Once, when he was 17, he came home and said to his mother: “I think that God cannot hear me because I am too small for him. I pray and pray, still I lost my job, my grades aren’t that good, and my girlfriend left me.” His mother answered: “You cannot be too big for God, even if you become President. But neither you, nor anyone else, can be too small for him because he can see and hear everyone. You will never be too small for God, don’t worry.” He remembered this story and was so emotionally touched that he gave me his mother’s Bible and said: “You will be able to keep this better than I, since you remember those who suffered for God.”