Ministry Leadership
Evgenyi, wife Saule, and Children
Rev. Evgenyi Kruzhkov
HopeRussia Seminary Rector &
VP for Eurasian Ministry
Rev. Kruzhkov coordinates all of HopeRussia’s field activities. He is a former Russian army artillery officer, and a 2011 graduate of HopeRussia Theological Seminary. As seminary Rector, Evgenyi handles responsibilities usually done by three people in a typical “brick and mortar” seminary: Dean of Students, Registrar and Academic Dean. In addition to his seminary work, Rev. Kruzhkov serves as Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Eurasia. He also assists in the work of our most recent church plant in center-city St. Petersburg. He and his wife, Saule, live in St. Petersburg, where he is also part of our church planting team.
Rev. Blake Purcell
Founder & President
Blake Purcell is among the West’s most experienced missionaries to the Russian-speaking world. In 1990, Blake and Cathy moved their young family to Leningrad (St. Petersburg), and lived there for 25 years planting churches and launching HopeRussia Theological Seminary. Blake and Cathy now have residences both in St. Petersburg and Fort Worth, TX, as Blake spends the majority of his time coaching and teaching our Russian pastor/students, while providing visionary leadership to the ministry as a whole. Blake and Cathy have six children and 17 grandchildren.
Rev. Mike Rasmussen, PhD
VP for US Ministry & Prof. of Biblical Studies
Mike Rasmussen works part-time for HopeRussia, coordinating our US support base, thus enabling us to pursue our important mission in Russia. Dr. Rasmussen holds an MDiv degree from Reformed Theological Seminary (1987) and a PhD in Old Testament from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland (2011). He has planted two PCA churches, both of which broke the 200 barrier, and has taught in several seminaries in the US and Scotland. In addition to teaching two weeks per year in Russia, Dr. Rasmussen also serves on the faculty of Metro Atlanta Seminary (Atlanta GA), and CityView Seminary (Augusta GA), where he teaches Greek, Hebrew and biblical exegesis courses. Dr. Rasmussen is the author of Conceptualizing Distress in the Psalms. He and his wife live in Athens, GA.