May 29, 2007

The best laid plans of mice and men

I spent most of the last month in the United States. We began to plan the trip in December when we found out that Al’s father was getting remarried in May. Al and the girls planned only 10 days, as they would have to hurry back for the end of the school year. I saw the trip as an opportunity to add on a bit of work and planned an extra two weeks.

When Bob Ellis, coordinator of International Health Ministries for the PC(USA), visited last September, two of the drug rehabilitation centers asked for information about halfway ministry. They identified this as the next step in the ongoing development of rehabilitation programs here in Russia. We all saw a visit as the best way to share. The May visit seemed an ideal opportunity to schedule this. With the help of Bob’s office and friends in Pennsylvania and Ohio, we spent the next three months planning a full itinerary. Funding was found. Letters of invitation were delivered in good time. But complications arose.

Some members of the delegation needed permission to travel from their superiors. Since it was Easter season, their superiors were not readily available. When permission was finally secured, the visa service that the U.S. embassy uses presented new obstacles. We saw time slipping through our fingers with no way to hold on to it. I spent the week before the wedding scrambling to find solutions, but it isn’t easy from an ocean away. Ultimately we ran out of time, and our “best laid plans” collapsed, or at least had to be postponed. The group was unable to get their visas in time for the visit. For those of you frustrated with the process of acquiring a Russian visa, it is far more difficult to get a visa to the United States.

It was a lovely wedding, and we all enjoyed the time with family. Al and the girls departed as scheduled, and I caught a flight to New Hampshire to visit my eldest brother (the only part of the original plan that held). As I flew east I still held hope for the delegation’s visit, but even as I watched the one plan crumbling, I clearly saw another plan emerging. I received word from Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charleston that they were having some difficulties with translation during a visit from the pastor of their partner church. I could tell that there was a major breakdown in communication. I could hear the frustration from all sides, as each person heard something different in the conversations. None of what they heard made sense to me from what I know about this pastor and his congregation. I saw that if I could possibly get to Charleston, I should. The cancellation of the delegation created that opportunity.

It did not take long to sort out the communication glitches, and we all learned a lot about interpretation from this visit. The folks at Westminster did a great job of lining up interpreters for the 10-day visit. They could not find one interpreter that could serve the whole time, but they found enough to cover the visit. So how did communications break down? Interpreters need to be Christian. That common foundation is essential for clear and effective interpretation. Language can often be translated with many different nuances. A non-Christian would miss some important ones. Only one of the interpreters was a Christian, and she did the best job. Interpreters must also be native speakers either of English or of Russian. The interpreters were all from the former Soviet Union, but only one was Russian. Though the others were fluent in both, neither English nor Russian was their first language. The opportunities for miscommunication in such circumstances are multiplied.

The folks at Westminster have become my dear friends, as so many of you have. It is always wonderful to be with them. The visit had unexpected blessings that I am still mulling over. Westminster sent a team last year that included a family physician. I arrived in time for a visit he had scheduled with a developmental pediatrician from the Medical University of South Carolina. In all honesty, I didn’t have high expectations for the visit. I didn’t have a clue how it could translate to what we are doing in Russia. The meeting was profoundly important. The pastor and I shared about the educational system in orphanages and what we know about evaluation of the children. The two doctors shared what they have observed in the Russian orphans that have come to Charleston. The conversation led to discussions about autism, about assisting special needs children gain more independence, about physical therapy and occupational therapy and how the visit of such therapists could be well implemented. The Russian pastor turned to me and said, “I need to know about these things.” I have been looking for “the next step” in ministry to special needs children. Several of our partners are developing such ministry. The pastor and I could see important doors opening for this ministry.

Westminster participated last summer in a camp for children with Down’s syndrome that was profoundly important, but another camp based on that model is probably not the next step. I came away from this visit to Charleston with two books to read (I’m a very slow reader, so this may take me a little while), and much to think about. Last night, I had a conversation with a young man involved in orphanage ministry nearby. He was deeply interested in what I shared and also asked about special education practices—more to think about and explore.

I ended up with several days of free time in the States that I did not know what to do with. We have no home in the United States, so such free time is a challenge. Our daughter Allison took me in, and I introduced her to the state park system of Wisconsin. She also joined me for a visit to First Presbyterian in Creston, Iowa, before I returned to Russia. That too was a rich blessing.

I have returned to unusually hot weather in Moscow. We hope that it will moderate a little, but not so much that the summer camp season is cold and rainy.

Please pray for our ongoing efforts to support our partners in their efforts to reach out to special needs children and their families. We also ask for your prayers for ongoing efforts to build a model in post-orphanage ministry.

Peace and blessings,

Ellen and Al

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 186