The Joyful Burden

named Sergey Totiev, identified himself with the Lord Jesus Christ and the Union of Evangelical
Christians-Baptists.
Sergey Totiev lives next door to his brother Taymuraz. Both serve the Lord in Beslan at the
Baptist Church. Together they had eight children trapped in the school. Taymuraz and wife Raya
fear they have lost four of their five children (only their oldest teenaged daughter survived). Segey
and wife Bella had three of their six children in the siege; their 12-year-old son lost an eye, 8-yearold
daughter was killed, and their youngest son's body is still missing and feared dead. Before the
tragedy the Totievs had eleven children combined. Only five survived the September 3 attack. At
the funeral service, the Totiev families had only two caskets for the bodies that were found.
Among the hostages taken were 33 children who attend Sunday School at the Beslan Baptist
Church located just down the street from the besieged school. Along with them was one of the
Sunday School teachers, 36-year-old Dzera Sidakova who perished in the fire-storm that ensued.
Eight of these precious Sunday School children perished with their teacher, seven of the children
are still missing and presumed among the unidentifiable bodies, six of the children are injured and
three of them severely. This leaves twelve children who somehow in the Lord's providence
managed to survive the explosions, fires, bullets, dehydration, and unimaginable trauma.
At the time of publication, the official number who perished is listed at 338. But only 207 bodies
were identifiable, including 105 children. Also, 340 injured victims remain hospitalized in regional
North Ossetian hospitals, in Rostov-on-Don, and in Moscow. Identifying the injured is extremely
difficult. Many are so traumatized that they are unable to say their names or the names of their
parents. Identifying the bodies of those who have died is equally difficult as many of them were
killed by explosions and the ensuing fires. It is felt that the number who have perished will reach
five hundred.
The Beslan Baptist Church has 224 members. They have begun visiting the homes of the families
who lost children. Their goal is to visit every home in Beslan that was affected by the crisis. They
are expressing their love, sharing the Gospel, and praying for each family. They are also giving
each family a Bible or New Testament, and children's Bibles, as appropriate, as well as a modest
present to each grieving family.
The UECB (Baptist Union) leaders have been fully involved. Dr. Piotr Mitskevitch, UECB Senior
Vice-President (who was trained at Dallas Theological Seminary), participated in the Totiev
funeral service where 2000 people gathered. Piotr reported that before the funeral, he prayed with
the Totiev mothers and these grieving women prayed, "Lord, you are teaching us to be thankful
for everything." Then during the funeral service, Segey Totiev said to those who are seeking bitter
revenge, "We don't want to curse anybody. We want even the death of our children to be a shining
light. We know that our children are with God and we want everybody in this community to have
the same hope."
Dr. Bob Provost wrote: "Beslan Baptist Church, led by Mikhail Kodzaev, is known for its
outreach to the children in the community. Join us in prayer as our Christian brothers and sisters
seize the opportunities to minister to the grief-stricken families. Pray for Bibles and literature in
the Ossetian language. Pray also that out of the ashes of this horrible tragedy, the Lord will raise
up a wonderful Antioch church to love and reach the suffering people of Beslan, a church capable
of training church workers and sending them out to reach all of Ossetia for the glory of Christ."
Those who wish to contribute to the Beslan School Victim Assistance Fund may do so by
contacting Slavic Gospel Association at 800-BIBLE50.