Joseph Rhodes wants people in his adopted country to experience faith-based peace in their relationships.

Rhodes, who first traveled to Russia in 1996, helped the church in Barnaul host Russia’s first “ScreamFree Living” seminar last year.

Rhodes designed and organized the seminar to expose Russian churches to practical instruction for living life according to the principles detailed in the ScreamFree parenting program.

Hal Runkel, a member of the North Atlanta Church of Christ, developed the ScreamFree program. The Atlanta congregation has a long history of involvement in nations of the former Soviet Union. Runkel was a keynote speaker at the seminar.

“Church leaders from various Russian cities received private training and practical experience in how to be calm and connected in their own relationships and how to teach others,” Rhodes said. Then, more than 150 members from 20 Russian congregations participated in the seminar. Churches in Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Albania have asked for recordings of the seminar.

This year, Rhodes plans to develop a “traveling seminar” for other cities in Siberia and beyond.

“I am completely convinced,” he said, “that ‘ScreamFree Living’ is biblical, practical, useful and therefore a powerful tool for the churches in Russia.”