Once we were enemies locked in a titanic Cold War struggle of East and West. Once we trembled in fear at the prospect of global nuclear war. Once we condemned them as "Godless communists," confident alone in our path to national salvation. Gone now is the empire that once was the USSR. In its place are 15 independent nations struggling to overcome almost 75 years of moral decay fostered by Lenin, Stalin, Brezhnev, and countless others.

Gone now is the daily confrontation between Washington and Moscow that so often filled our hearts with dread. In its place are peoples tentatively reaching out to each other, seeking to understand as never before our shared humanity as children of God. And, shattered for all time, we pray, is the place where God’s church is repressed, its servants and believers martyred or exiled, and its houses of worship converted to other uses or razed.

Over the last year, the Holy Spirit has led me on a journey of discovery. As the newly called Regional Facilitator for Russia, Belarus, and the Ukraine my journey takes many forms. First, I am led to understand more deeply the challenges faced by our Orthodox, Baptist, Lutheran, and Reformed brothers and sisters in the Slavic-speaking former Soviet Union as they rebuild their part of the Body of Christ. Second, I am led to deepen and expand the connections between congregations, presbyteries, and the General Assembly Council with our partner churches in the region. And, I am led each day to understand "servanthood" as a part of my own spiritual journey.

One decade after the collapse of the USSR, Russia, Belarus, and the Ukraine are places of challenge and hope. The challenges of poverty and crime are daunting.

In Russia

The current population of 145 million is shrinking at a rate of 1 million people per year. Alcoholism, infectious diseases, pollution, a broken health care system, and a declining birth rate all contribute to the phenomenon.

Life expectancy continues to drop. Today, men expect to live to be 59 and women to 72.

The AIDS epidemic is spreading at the highest growth rate in the world.

Forty percent of the population live at or below the poverty line. The comparable figure in the United States is 12 percent of the population.

In Belarus

The country of 10 million strains under the most authoritarian regime in Europe. Human rights and opposition political protesters are routinely beaten, detained, or disappeared.

In the Ukraine

The country of 50 million has as many as 3.5 million people affected by some illness resulting from the world’s worst nuclear disaster, at Chernobyl in 1986.

Yet in the face of these challenges, there are signs of hope across the region, signs of God’s plan unfolding with the reemergence of the Christian Church in these former communist countries.

• The Russian Orthodox Church has grown from 6,900 parishes in 1988 to over 19,000 today, and church buildings are being returned and refurbished for worship and study across the country.
• The Baptist Church has vital outreach and ministry across the region. Bible colleges, support to orphanages, and a desire to "twin" with Presbyterian congregations abound.
• The Lutheran Church across the decade has grown from 2 to 160 congregations. Churches are growing, seminaries are reestablished, and a wind of "new beginnings" blows across the land.
• The Reformed Church of Carpath-Ukraine, the ethnic Hungarian church in western Ukraine, has expanded to 100 congregations with the return of religious freedom. Diaconal centers provide outreach, church schools have reopened, and mission is a vital part of daily church life.

I write to share with you the exciting news that our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) continues to expand our engagement with partner churches in Russia, Belarus, and the Ukraine. Our story is a story of working alongside our Christian brothers and sisters as hope of the good news of Jesus Christ lights up the darkness of poverty and crime:

• In February 2001, our fifth missionary family will begin service with our partners in the region.
• Over 25 PC(USA) congregations are in a "twinning relationship" with a Russian, Belorussian, or Ukrainian congregation as they move deeper into a spiritual journey together.
• Support for the theological education of clergy and lay people grows, with lectures at seminaries and Bible colleges, curriculum development and publishing, and translation of major works from the Reformed tradition.
• Cooperative work continues with historic churches in the region as they seek to tell Christ’s story to those who have not heard the message of God’s love.
• Our Extra Commitment Opportunities, or "giving opportunities" to support our ongoing mission, have been expanded to include assistance for orphanages, legal services, drug and alcohol abuse programs, curriculum publishing, theological education, and Christian school support.

Please contact me if you want to learn more about this ministry. If you want to be added to a periodic e-mail update of Presbyterian mission activity, ask me to add you to the Russian Network. Updates are regularly posted.

Thank you for holding the Church and those who serve Christ’s Church in all its forms and places in your prayers.

May the Peace of Christ be with you,

Gary Payton

The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 91