KALININGRAD, Russia -- When Nancy Edlund, of Moline, walks freely through the doors of her church, she remembers people a world away who once risked death to do the same.

Let there be light. An old woman lights a candle in a small chapel in Oryol. Passers-by regularly stop in to buy a slim candle for 3 rubles (13 cents) and say a prayer. All proceeds go toward renovating a nearby Orthodox church, the woman said. More than 10,000 new Russian Orthodox parishes have opened since 1988.

On ChildLife International's visit to Russia, Mrs. Edlund and other Quad-Citians visited a Russian Orthodox Church built in 1838. Church leaders were very proud it had stayed open during World War I and II and even under communism, Mrs. Edlund said.

``That told me there were people who were hungry for God, and they would risk everything, even their own lives, to worship,'' Mrs. Edlund said.

Attending church services under communism was dangerous. Informers reported on churchgoers, who were harassed, arrested, or even murdered.

It wasn't always that way. Pre-revolutionary Russians were deeply religious and relied heavily on Orthodox symbolism and pageantry to order their lives. Births, marriages and deaths were recorded in the church alone, and every village had a priest. The czars used Orthodoxy to unify the far-flung lands they had acquired.

When the Bolsheviks overthrew the czars, they destroyed their religion, too. Thousands of churches were stripped of their gold and marble adornments and blown up. Priests and protestors were arrested and imprisoned or sent to labor camps.

The communists officially endorsed atheism, but they cleverly recognized the people's need to believe in something. To fill the void -- and win the people's loyalty -- they replaced the church with the Lenin room, the priest with the political officer, the cross with the red star.

Communism's fall ended official atheism and allowed religion to return to public life in Russia, as Quad-Citians saw firsthand.

The temporary orphanage at which Terry Gleize, of Donahue, and Karen Paytash, of East Moline, worked had a small chapel decorated with Orthodox icons. At the temporary orphanage where Kathy Johnson, of Taylor Ridge, and Jean Mueller, of Bettendorf, worked, many children wore small silver Orthodox crosses, a sign they had been baptized, according to their teachers.

A temporary shelter in Mtsensk runs Sunday School classes. Nina Serykh, a regional social-service director, said Russian social workers are becoming more interested in spirituality-based therapy programs to address social problems.

Individual Russians are turning to religion for guidance, too. Irina Maslova, a 21-year-old student in Oryol, said many students stop into a church or chapel to light a candle and pray before exams. Though most churchgoers are elderly, more young people are becoming interested in religion, she said. More than 10,000 new Orthodox parishes have been opened since 1988, and half of all adult Russians identified themselves as Orthodox Christians in a recent poll.

Though Russian Orthodoxy is accepted and encouraged, other religions face restrictions. A 1997 Russian law outlaws activities of religions not registered with the government for 15 years. The law was initiated in response to Western missionaries that flooded Russia after 1991, according to Kerry Marks, who worked for years as a missionary in Russia.

``In the beginning, Russians were spiritually starving,'' Ms. Marks said. ``In 1991 and 1992, everything was open, and lots of people were coming (to revivals). But they have been inundated with so many evangelical groups and cults, they started being tougher.''

Quad-Cities ChildLife volunteers met mixed reactions when they handed out Bibles on their visits. Stacks of Bibles sat unnoticed and untouched on side tables at some orphanages. At others, the directors and teachers looked at them and thanked the volunteers. Children at others played with them. One elderly woman, who cares for her disabled granddaughter at home, kissed the Bible and cried.

The varied reactions are fine with ChildLife founder Connie Siefken. ChildLife believes one must meet physical needs first, and the spiritual will follow, she said.

``When they ask us why we're doing it, we say, `It's because it's what Jesus did,' '' Mrs. Siefken said. ``He came, and He fed them, and then He told them about the love of God. That's what we want to do.''