February 2003

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been a busy time since our return from Finland last week. We traveled there for new visas and have been busy since then trying to get them registered. After a week, we are getting close. We are also getting back to work with the partners and that is very good.

On Friday, I met with Vladimir Podbolotov. He's pastor of the Baptist church in Orechovo-Zuyevo, a city on the eastern edge of the Moscovskaya oblast (the Moscow region). I'm always glad to get a chance to visit with him, because we talk at length and through him I learn so much about life in Russia. This past week I learned some facts about his city. Orechovo-Zuyevo is a milk-producing area. When Vladimir was young there was never milk in the stores because it was all sent to Moscow. It is not a large city, but Vladimir tells me that it has the second highest crime rate for cities in the former Soviet Union. Only Odessa is higher. Apparently, the mafia from the next region over is trying to get a little closer to Moscow. I'm beginning to develop a distaste for certain aspects of the city I live in. Moscow tends to be a drain on the rest of Russia.

What I really want to share with you is the work that the church is doing in Orechovo-Zuyevo. They have been working with five different orphanages in their region. We were able to provide them with funds to help with their Christmas outreach and he was full of joy as he shared what they were able to accomplish. With three of the orphanages, they are very limited in what they can do because the directors are suspicious of Baptists and say they can leave any gifts at the door and go. They struggle to get some time with the children. This is frustrating because they know that the children need personal contact and a long-term relationship with people who clearly care about them. With two of the orphanages, the doors have opened wide. They are able to invite the children to the church for lessons and activities and they can spend time with the children at the orphanage as well. For children who have lost a sense of family, this is so important. And how much more valuable are gifts when they know the people who have given them and they know that those people love and care for them and will continue loving and caring for them.

When I saw her next, several hours later, she popped in to tell us what a wonderful morning she had had and then asked if she had to stay with me. She wanted to go back with Olga. In the evening, Emma became Olga's helper in the kitchen (something I never get to do) and as Al and I worked, taking notes on the day, Emma chattered away with Olga and brought things out to set the table. As she popped in and out of the room, she would relate how helpful she was being with such joy and pride. She was a part of something and it meant the world to her. Olga is the director of the theater ministry and also works in the church's outreach to a children's shelter and to a women's prison. She has a presence that makes people feel loved and valued, and she has an extraordinary gift for getting people involved. Watching her effect on Emma, I had a sense of what she must mean to those she serves in Ryazan.

On Sunday, we worshipped with Hope Baptist Church in Ryazan. We have been very impressed with the energy and enthusiasm of this church. Their resources are meager, but they stretch them to amazing limits through prayer and hard work. The pastor, Pavel Pavelich, inspires people and is a great delegator. He has an incredible knack for challenging everyone to new limits. We gathered for community prayer before the service. Pavel began by acknowledging all the problems they face. A flu epidemic is raging and most of the children in the congregation were home sick. The rented hall they use for worship is barely heated on Sunday mornings. They all wear coats. Last week one of the grandmothers got so cold that she came down with pneumonia. The organization they rent from is beginning to limit their use of the space. The church desperately needs a building. There are so many problems. They are stretching to reach out to orphanages, prisons and hospitals and they are tired and don't know how they can do anything more. Having acknowledged all of this, Pavel paused a moment and asked, "Okay, what do we have to give thanks for to our Lord?" And hands went up. The list for thanksgiving wasn't all that different from the list of problems. They do not feel alone. In the midst of troubles, they know that the Lord is with them. Praise God.

We were in Ryazan this weekend to talk more about the Twinning Program. As we explained it to the group of pastors and to Hope Church, we sensed again and again that these people understand partnership and the kind of relationship we hope to see established, as well as or better than we do. By connecting through Christ we grow to new bounds. In their ministries to children and prisoners and those in the hospital, they seek to connect in a long-term relationship through Christ. Having struggled all their lives and most having come to Christ only recently, they know the needs of those they serve, the need for Christ and connectedness with a Christian community. By expanding our understanding of the body of Christ and our sense of whom we are connected with, we are enriched and we are strengthened through that broader connectedness. The churches in this oblast would be very thankful for a partner and for that broader connectedness. There is no question that they need material support, but they seek the relationship first and foremost.

We would ask for your prayers for Hope Baptist Church, for their health in these cold months, for renewed energy, for their ministries to children, the sick and the incarcerated, for a church building that would allow them to expand their ministry. We would ask for your prayers for the young missionaries and pastors in other parts of the oblast, who seek to establish and strengthen the church throughout the region. We would ask for your prayers for the church in Orechovo-Zuyevo and their ministry to the orphanages. We would ask for your prayers for us and our Presbyterian colleagues in Russia as we try to find ways to cope with a new visa law that will be very time consuming. We give thanks that we know we are not alone. The Lord is with us.

Peace and blessings,

Ellen & Al

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, page 94