Despite of the fact, that the primary aim of any missionary activities is a religious one, they also play an important role in politics and ideology, form a way of thinking, determine society’s tastes, and influence its culture. In my presentation I describe the missionary role of Russian Orthodox Church in the general stream of European and American missionaries in Levant. I make the comparative analysis of their activities there, covering the period of the second half of the nineteenth - to early twentieth centuries. My research is focused on the work, which was done by Russian, Western European, and American missionaries for the development of education in Levant together with the formation of its ideology, and the reevaluation of the cultural heritage of the new Arabic intelligentsia. I pay special attention to the specifics of the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in the area and point out to its strongest and weakest sides. The theoretical and methodological base of my research is based (but not limited to) on the works of the following authors: Adams, al-Hajjaj, al-Fakhouri, al-Salibi, al-Khalidi, Almond, Azoury, Beliaev, Coleman, Cook, Cromer, Daniel, Deutsch, Farrouh, Frazee, Fortesque, Gibb, Grabill, Hopwood, Ivanov, Khouri, Khourany, Khalaf, Kirillina, Kotlov, Krachkovskij, Krymskij, Landa, Lavan, Lavreckij, Levin, Lerner, Lewis, Mahameed, Meyer, Petkovich, Pye, Rodionov, Taher, Tibawi, Shbaru, Zhuraviskij. I have also used the materials of discussions on the problems of civilizations and religious issues of several conferences, the speeches of political and social activists, autobiographies, memoirs (Naimy, Uspenskij, Khitrovo), notes and travel journals, together with the primary sources, such as Russian Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society periodicals, and copies of historical documents (Andersen, Yakushev).