November 17, 2006
Dear Friends and Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
I write to you this time from the United States. I am on a plane
bound for Salt Lake City, en route to California to visit Fair
Oaks Presbyterian Church, one of the newest partners. I have spent
the last week in Wisconsin, visiting our eldest, Allison, and
Al’s dad. It has been good to spend time with both of them,
and I now have a picture of where Allison is settled. She now
has furniture, most of what we had in storage in North Carolina.
I arrived in the States at the end of October for the second
annual meeting of the Russian Mission Network, held this year
in Charleston, South Carolina. The Network began last year at
a gathering in Atlanta. The first meeting was organizational.
I was the one person that knew everyone, and none of us knew what
lay before us. It was exciting to see the clear vision forming
in this second gathering. Most of the initial group returned this
year, as well as a good group of new participants. As with last
year’s meeting, this was a time for sharing, for deepening
friendships, and for mutual encouragement.
Rob challenged us to think about mission in
new ways: thinking about mission not just as an activity of
the church, but as our very purpose for being; mission was not
created to give the church something to do, God created the
church to fulfill his mission.
Jon Chapman, the new area coodinator for Europe, Rob Weingartner,
director of the Outreach Foundation, and Gary Payton, regional
facilitator for Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland were all
present, each sharing in valuable ways with the conference. Jon
updated us on the situation in Louisville and challenged the gathering
to extend the Network in new and exciting ways. Rob challenged
us to think about mission in new ways: thinking about mission
not just as an activity of the church, but as our very purpose
for being; mission was not created to give the church something
to do, God created the church to fulfill his mission. Gary gave
a broad update on all the new directions mission work in Russia
has moved this year. In addition, we had a presentation by Tom
English about the New Wilmington Missionary Conference youth trip
to Siberia and Central Russia this past summer, as well as a presentation
by our host church on their recent mission trip and the camp they
helped put on for Down’s Syndrome children and their families.
This is an exciting new direction for our work, one that I have
watched for since my first visit to Russia seven and a half years
ago.
Ii has been inspiring to be together. We have set some important
tasks for ourselves over the coming months. Judy Connor of MacPherson
Presbyterian in Fayetteville, North Carolina has agreed to develop
and host a Web site for the Russia Network. We will all be working
together to provide her with the material she needs. We are also
looking at developing a video about the practice of “twinning”
that could be distributed through presbyteries for those that
might be interested in a congregational partnership. Understanding
how stretched we are in the summer, members of the Network are
helping us in the search for a summer intern. Pam Moye of First
Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Georgia, one of the leaders of
the Network, challenged everyone present to share the story of
twinning with other churches to help some of the partners that
are struggling with their connections and to get new churches
involved in the program.
For those of you that couldn’t make it to the Network meeting
this year, we missed you. We hope that it will fit into your schedule
for next year. We lift it up to you as an exciting time for fellowship,
sharing vision, and hearing about the life of Christ’s church
in the world. Next year, the Russia Network will gather in Nashville,
Tennessee. The meeting will probably be the weekend of November
7-9. I have already committed to being there. Whether you are
actively engaged in a partnership or some other endeavor in Russia
or just interested in Presbyterian engagement in that country,
you will be most welcome.
Our heartfelt thanks to Westminster Presbyterian Church for their
warm hospitality and for sharing the story of their exciting new
endeavor with special needs children in Russia.
Peace and blessings,
Ellen
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 188
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