20 January 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings from Moscow, where at long last we are enjoying our
first real snowfall since mid-November. Temperatures are still
remarkably warm, hovering around freezing, but the weather service
is promising that more normal temperatures are on the way. Those
of you in the sun belt may be surprised to hear that everyone
here welcomes the change; a warm winter means prodigious amounts
of rain and muck, and threatens widespread frost damage if there
should be a sudden freeze without snow to protect the plants.
Roma evangelization in Michurinsk, a city about 400 kilometers
southeast of Moscow. Photo by Pyotr Romme.
In our last newsletter about our ministry to the Roma (Gypsy)
community here in Russia, we mentioned that we had a planning
meeting in November at which we set up a schedule of evangelizations
for Roma groups. The first of these evangelizations took place
in the city of Michurinsk, about 400 kilometers south of Moscow,
just after Christmas.
Pyotr, our Russian colleague, was extremely impressed with the
Roma group in Michurinsk, which is quite large in comparison to
most of the other groups we work with. He was equally impressed
with the cooperation of the local Baptist church that is working
with them. Due to the deep-seated distrust and misunderstanding
between the Roma and their Russian neighbors, such cooperation
is not as common as we would like it to be.
Roma evangelization in Michurinsk. Photo by Pyotr Romme.
The evangelization meetings were conducted by Andrei, an ordained
Roma pastor from the city of Kursk, and his team. All members
of the team, including Andrei, serve on a voluntary basis, but
they desperately need help with their travel expenses. They arrived
in Michurinsk by car, but when the time came to return home, one
of the cars broke down. (This problem is familiar to anyone with
any experience of Russian automobiles!) The obvious solution would
be to travel by train, but that option was not available: some
of the group did not have proper passports and registration, and
train travel involves a very high risk, for Roma, of police stops
and document checks. Eventually, a solution was found, and the
evangelization team was able to return home.
The attached photographs show some of the participants in the
evangelization. The pictures show much that is typical of Roma
gatherings in terms of dress and physical appearance of the people,
the tendency to take seats on the floor, and the importance of
music to the message. It is very encouraging for us that there
were so many men at the event. Many congregations here, regardless
of denomination, have a critical shortage of active, involved,
and able-bodied men to support the work and outreach of the church.
Ellen, Emma and I spent last weekend with Pyotr and his wife
Olga in the city of Kostroma, 400 kilometers north of Moscow on
the same road that goes to Archangelsk. We enjoyed worshipping
with them on Sunday morning, but the highlight of the trip was
a visit to a Roma family on Saturday evening. Our host was Vitya,
whom Pyotr was recently able to reunite with a son he had not
seen in 40 years. The son, Igor, works with Andrei in Kursk. Igor
knew that he had been born in Kostroma, and asked for Pyotr’s
help in trying to find his father. Pyotr and Andrei were present
for the reunion, which was, as you might imagine, a highly emotional
affair, as well as a major celebration for all concerned. The
Roma emphasis on family, combined with very expansive notions
of hospitality, make for lavish celebrations. In fact, Pyotr tells
us, it is not uncommon for Roma to sell a car or a house in order
to pay for a wedding or a funeral for a loved one.
Our work continues on other fronts as well. We are still waiting
for word from Kiev that the cassette tapes with the translation
of the gospel into one of the Roma dialects is finally ready.
We had hoped to have the tapes by the first of the year, but this
project has experienced repeated delays. The next evangelization
trip will be to Ryazan at the end of March; in a typical winter,
road travel in February is too uncertain. Material help to offset
travel costs for the evangelization team would be very gratefully
received. If you are interested in contributing to this work,
there is an Extra Commitment Opportunity account, number E040061,
devoted to ministry to Roma in Europe. You can give to this online
by clicking the "give" button below our signature.
Early next week we are expecting Jon Chapman and Gary Payton,
the PC(USA)’s area coordinator for Europe and regional facilitator
for Russia. They and Ellen will be very busy with meetings for
the balance of the week. Later, Ellen and Jon will be visiting
our colleagues in Belarus for several days.
We know that many of you are already planning for trips to Russia
later this year. If you have not been in touch with Ellen to set
dates for your trip, please contact her at elalsmith
[at] eamail.net as soon as possible, as our calendar is already
beginning to fill up.
Best wishes for a blessed and peaceful 2007.
Yours in Christ,
Al and Ellen Smith
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 186
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