Yanis Alfred Smits ( Latvian: Jānis Alfreds Šmits; August 9, 1941 – April 23, 2020), commonly known as

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Smits, was a Latvian theologian and Baptist pastor. He was persecuted for his political and religious activism against the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

rule over

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

during 1956-1976. His personal story has aroused global interest in the Christian community in his struggle for basic human rights and social justice. He would eventually be elected as Bishop of the Latvian Baptist Union.

Biography

Ministry

Yanis and Ruth Smits were both born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia. Life for Christians under a communist regime was not easy. Yanis was baptized in a river at night. He was unable to study theology because of government restrictions, so he studied

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. Ruth's father was a pastor and she met Yanis when he attended Bible studies in her parents' home. Yanis began preaching in 1961, but in 1974 Soviet authorities revoked his preaching license because of his evangelistic efforts. Threatened with imprisonment or worse, the family emigrated to Canada in 1977 where Yanis was involved in outreach to Latvians through pastoral ministry and radio. He made numerous visits to Latvia to do evangelism and leadership development. In the mid-1990s he returned to Latvia to serve as the pastor of the historic Salvation Temple in Riga. In the early 2000s he was elected Bishop by the Latvian Baptist Union, whom he served for 2 terms. After the completion of his terms he resigned his pastorate and returned to Canada. He continued his ministry after retiring to Canada, serving as an elder and preacher of the Slavic Evangelical Baptist Church in Niagara Falls until the Lord called him home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smits, Yanis Living people Latvian bishops 1941 births