October 29, 2004
Dear Friends,
The next month and a half promises to be a very busy one for
our family. This is a brief note to tell you of my travel itinerary
and ask for your prayers.
Tomorrow I fly to Salekhard, a city in the north of the Tyumen
Region of Siberia which sits directly on the arctic circle. Salekhard
is the governmental center of that region. It is also one of the
centers for the work among the native peoples of the area, the
Nensi, the Khanti and others. I will be meeting with Russian,
Ukrainian, Nensi, and Khanti missionaries and believers who are
working in the area to learn more about what they are doing, to
encourage them and be encouraged by them. I will see Pyotr Khudi,
a Nensi believer in Salekhard and others in the area who recently
translated and published the Gospel of Luke in the Nensi language.
One of the matters we will be discussing is the need to help Nensi
people learn to read their own language, since their culture is
traditionally an oral culture.
The missionaries working in this area are divided by a river
and a huge tract of swamp land. The only direct route between
them is by air. We hope that by learning more about one another’s
work they will be spurred on to more effective ministry. Two of
the missionaries with whom we work in Novi Urengoi and Samburg,
Taras Tkachenko and Andre Chmiel, will make the flight to Salekhard
to join me. Then next Thursday, after flying back through Moscow,
the three of us will fly to the eastern Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk
to attend a two-day conference on ministry among shamanistic people
groups. Please pray that God will use these conferences and meetings
to speed the growth of the kingdom of God among those ethnic groups
who do not know him and have no church where they can worship
in their own language.
I return to Moscow on November 8 for a few days. Then on November
11, I fly to the United States to attend a leadership summit on
children at risk that will be held in Rome, Georgia, November
14-17. A coalition of Christian mission organizations and churches
networking to address the severe problems faced by children in
Russia and Eastern Europe will be meeting to discuss shared strategies
for addressing those issues. Ministry with street children, children
in orphanages, sexual abuse of children, child prostitution, and
the growing AIDS epidemic in Russia are among some of the problems
which will concern us.
During this trip I will also visit three churches, have the opportunity
to see my parents, and spend two days with our daughter Hannah
who is in her first year at Asbury College.
Following the terrorist attack on a school in Beslan the first
week of September, we thought and prayed about what we might do
to offer some kind of help to families and children suffering
in the aftermath of that awful tragedy. At that time I made contact
with Phyllis Kilbourn, about whose work in helping children through
trauma I had heard. Phyllis Kilbourn, is a published author and
the director of WEC International (Worldwide Evangelization for
Christ) program for children in crisis, “Rainbows of Hope.”
Phyllis is an experienced trainer of trainers. She is the author
and editor of numerous books about ministry to children in crisis
including Healing the Children of War, Street Children, Sexually
Exploited Children and Children in Crisis. Phyllis agreed to come
to Russia as soon as she was able.
Therefore, after returning to Russia on November 22, I will have
one week to rest and prepare for the next big event. Narnia Center,
together with Phyllis Kilbourn, will be conducting two five-day
training seminars for leaders in children’s ministry. The
first will be held outside Moscow November 29 - December 3. The
second will be held December 6-10 in the southern Caucasus city
of Nalchik in the south of Russia. The theme of these seminars
will be “Offering Healing and Hope for Children in Crisis.”
They will be conducted with support from Presbyterian Disaster
Assistance. Please pray that Phyllis will receive a visa to Russia
without incident and that the people who most need the teaching
Phyllis brings will be brought to the two seminars.
In addition to this, it is our hope at Narnia Center to translate
into Russian and publish at least two of Phyllis Kilbourn’s
books. These books are needed for training the people, who though
often poor themselves, are willing to give sacrificially of their
time and resources to address the acute needs of children on the
street and in orphanages. Many have a wonderful heart, but an
inadequate understanding of how to address the needs of those
they are trying to help. You can help us accomplish this through
donations that are sent to support the work of Narnia Center.
Finally, please pray for Laurie, Christiana, and Jeremiah as
they will be here without me in Moscow for several weeks. I also
ask for your prayers for stamina and strength during an intensive
period of travel and for readapting to life at home upon return.
Thank you for your support and prayers.
In the grace of Christ the Lord,
Donald Marsden
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
340
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