December 5, 2006

Dear Friend in Christ,

The snow-covered mountains that surround our home are a wonderful backdrop in these Advent and Christmas seasons. It is both a time to reflect on the year past and to consider prayerfully the year ahead. My calendar, of course, is marked with December 25 as Christmas day for ourselves and our Baptist, Lutheran, and Reformed brothers and sisters in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland. And January 7 marks the Russian Orthodox Nativity of Our Lord. Together, we share such special seasons!

The year 2006 brought many wonderful milestones as I moved into my eighth year of ministry:

• In February and March, I traveled to western Ukraine and Russia with a special focus on outreach to the Roma people though our Reformed and Baptist partners. The challenges are daunting, but with each visit I see the hand of God at work with this most marginalized ethnic group in Europe. I have quiet hope.
• Throughout the spring, I was delighted to work with our ecumenical partners in the United States, as Bob and Stacy Bronkema of Palatka, Florida, were called to serve at the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy. Years have past since Presbyterians led this extraordinary English language ministry. It is a great joy that the Bronkema family join the wonderful team of colleagues serving in partnership in Russia.


During the August peacemaking seminar in Moscow, Gary placed flowers at the site of the October 2002 Nord Ost theater hostage crisis. The memorial reads simply, "In memory of the victims of terrorism."

• August saw a challenging and critically important travel study seminar to Moscow and St. Petersburg. I led a group of Presbyterian young adults on a peacemaking seminar exploring “Terrorism in the World Today: The Response of the Church and State” with a group of Orthodox young adults. We visited tragic terrorist sites in Moscow, explored our responses to 9/11 and to wars in Chechnya and Iraq, and learned from each other during a week together in St. Petersburg.
• After months of planning, October marked the second annual Russia Mission Network meeting hosted in Charleston, South Carolina. Approximately 35 persons from across the PC(USA) representing 16 congregations gathered to share and to deepen our understanding of mission service in former communist states. Our network is off and running as a major new component of mission in our Presbyterian Church!

The year 2007 holds great promise for our ever deepening mission partnerships.

• Through the Twinning Project, over 45 PC(USA) congregations will continue their spiritual journey together with a Baptist, Lutheran, or Orthodox congregation or parish in Russia or Belarus. We pray that the management of the mission trips will be made easier with the assistance of a short-term volunteer to aid Ellen and Al Smith during the peak summer season. For information on how to volunteer, check out One Door's Web site. When you get to this page, you'll have to check these four boxes: "Middle East/Europe," "full time," "mission service (international)," and "member of PC(USA) congregation." The position in Russia is called "Program Assistant" in Middle East/Europe.
• In February, John and Deb Burgess will lead a group of 10 students from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a focus on Orthodoxy in Russia today.
• In the late winter, Donald and Laurie Marsden will be traveling again to Salekhard near the Arctic Circle, as we continue to come alongside partners working to spread the good news to native peoples in the far north, particularly the Nenets people.
• Joe and Hannah Kang and Jin Eun Kim will continue their vital teaching ministries in St. Petersburg at the Evangelical Lutheran seminary and Canaan seminary, respectively.
• Each month, Garth and Lyuda Moller guide the teaching and the refurbishment of the Kargel and Baedeker School in St. Petersburg. The challenges have been great, but we remain hopeful that this Christian school will not only survive, but flourish. We pray that the Lord lifts up a short term volunteer to teach English as a Second Language. For more information, see One Door mentioned above. You'll have to check the same four boxes that I listed above, then look for "ESL teacher" in the Middle East/Europe.
• In Perm, Jeff Koning will be fully engaged adjusting to the changing nature of ministry with orphans as children are transitioned from institutional state care to foster families.
• Throughout the year, Bob and Stacy Bronkema will seek to meet the spiritual needs of congregation members of the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy. Sunday worship, the Parish Center, soup kitchen and food bag programs, and the Racial Task Force sustain so many in the capital of Moscow.
• In late summer, Presbyterians from Salem Presbytery will explore the difficult subject of race relations and peacemaking in a multicultural society in a seminar hosted by the Interchurch Partnership in St. Petersburg.
• Our outreach to the Roma in western Ukraine continues thanks to the teaching of Young Adult Volunteer Rachel Norton. Al Smith will be reviving a much needed network of pastors who serve Roma in their communities.
• Month in and month out, it will be a joy to work with leaders of Presbyterian Women as they plan their visit to Ukraine as part of the multi-country Global Exchange 2008.
• With great joy, the third annual Russia Mission Network meeting will be hosted by First Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tennessee from November 8-10, 2007.

In these milestones and in hundreds of phone calls and emails, I served as a “bridge” between our church partners and mission personnel and all the folks engaged in mission in my region: individuals, congregations, presbyteries, synods, the staff in Louisville, and mission support groups.

To continue my service on behalf of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I ask for your continued prayers and for your financial support. The continued downsizing of the staff in Louisville and altered giving patterns within the denomination have placed renewed pressure on missionaries to raise a portion of their support both for salaries and for work abroad. If I am to continue to travel twice a year to visit our partners, our mission personnel, and to move our shared programs forward, I need your help.
A one-time or an annual gift from you or your congregation can help our relationships as brothers and sisters in Christ continue to grow. Here are some examples of what your financial support can do:

• $25 will purchase a day’s meals in Moscow or St. Petersburg as I meet with our partners, visit churches, schools, and orphanages, and connect with our mission workers.
• $50 will pay for two nights lodging at the Agora Center in St. Petersburg as I visit Orthodox and Lutheran leaders and seminaries to discuss ongoing shared projects.
• $75 buys a ticket on the “night train” between Moscow and St. Petersburg, allowing me to arrive in the new city and start work as the city awakes.
• $100 helps defray lodging and transportation costs in Moscow, named “the most expensive city in the world” in 2006.
• $250 will purchase visas from the embassies of Russia or Belarus, essential for visits to partners in these countries.
• $500 will pay for a third of an airline ticket for my twice-annual visits. Each visit is always to at least two countries (for example: Russia and Belarus or Russia and Ukraine) and always includes time with each of our missionaries in their home and at their church, school, or seminary.
• If you or your congregation can support my ministry, the addresses are listed below. Write “Regional Liaison for Russia - ECO #051663” both on the subject line of the check and on your cover letter or note.

Contributions from individuals may be sent to:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Individual Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700

Contributions from congregations may be sent to:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Church Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643678
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3678

It is my great joy to continue to serve you, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the body of Christ in the world today through mission service. I thank you for your prayers and for considering my request for support.

May your Advent and Christmas seasons be filled with great joy!

Gary Payton
Regional Liaison for Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.189