March 4, 2008

Dear Friends,

Although the Neva River right next to our seminary is still frozen and snow-covered, tree branches on the campus ground are already showing all the signs of new season. The weather of this past winter in this part of Russia has been very unusual. Many Russian friends said, “We did not have a real winter.” We didn’t have any severely cold weather.

Special prayer for the third-year students who are leaving for their one-year internships.

Soon after the opening of spring semester, with four newly admitted students (two male and two female) on February 6, the third-year students began to take their graduation examinations, both oral and in writing, for all the major theological subjects for three consecutive weeks. Altogether, 16 students (10 from our on-site program and six from the extension program) took the exam and successfully completed their theological studies at the seminary. On March 1, all the graduating students left campus for their one-year internship at local congregations in different regions in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Archbishop Ratz delivered a very encouraging message to these students at the closing and sending-off worship service and Holy Communion.

Hannah Kang and Mrs. Ratz with female interns. Elena Bondarenko is at the far left.

This year, the internship for our graduating students it has become an ecumenical program. For the first time in ELCROS history, one of our students—Vladimir Tatarnikov from Vitebsk, Belarus—is doing his internship at the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy (MPC) in Moscow, where our PC(USA) long-term mission volunteers, Bob and Stacy Bronkema, will be supervising his pastoral work. The Anglican Chaplaincy in St. Petersburg also agreed to have Elena Bondarenko, Joe’s Russian translator, who is graduating from the extension program. She’ll do a part-time internship there while another half of her internship will be translating Joe’s lectures and teaching an introductory biblical subject at the seminary. The seminary faculty agreed to develop her for the future teaching in biblical subjects before Joe’s departure in a few years. She has a doctoral degree in English, and her graduation exam results were outstanding.

This theological seminary will celebrate its tenth anniversary in October. We are planning a special international theological conference along with a homecoming of former lecturers and students. We will write you all the details after those events. In the meantime, we find the campus much more quiet than it was when the third-year students were leaving.

Joe is teaching three biblical subjects this semester: general introduction to the Old Testament for first-year students and Deuteronomistic, historian/former prophets, and Pauline writings to the combined class of the first- and second-year students. He is supervising Elena’s teaching of the general introduction to the New Testament. Hannah continues her Russian language study and ministry through the home.

We were so thrilled and pleased to hear from our son John that his wife Agnes gave a birth to their third child, Matthew, on February 25. Now we have six grandchildren: three from John and Agnes, and three from Ruth and Mike. We are so blessed and thankful for our growing family.

As the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus is approaching, we would like to extend our Easter greetings to you all.

May the Lord of life keep you, your family, and your ministry joyful and fruitful! Christos boskresen! (Christ, risen!)

Yours in Christ,

Joe and Hannah

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 158