January 7, 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry (Eastern) Christmas and happy New Year from the Smiths in Russia.

We are late this year sending out Western Christmas greetings, as well as New Year’s greetings, but Russian Christmas is fast upon us. We spent Western Christmas in the States with family and flew back across the Atlantic to Russia on New Year’s Day. I had hoped to get out a letter while in the States, but after six weeks apart, our family needed the Christmas holidays to rest, to celebrate, and just to be together. Know that we were thinking of you and giving thanks for your partnership and friendship. With the close of a year, we look back and remember the challenges and blessings of 2007. So often, the greatest blessings came in the midst of the challenges. Your notes and prayers in the midst of the challenges encouraged and blessed us many times. Thank you!

Throughout the year, our newsletters focus on ministry, but with our end-of-the-year letter (usually Christmas) we try to update you on the family. Many of you have asked about Allison, so let’s begin there. She is doing very well! She continues to live in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, with her cat, Lev. She spent the summer exploring the Wisconsin park system, and after working as a temporary for a little over a year, she moved into a contract position in October, which also brought a nice promotion. 

Meg, now a junior in high school, has had a very busy fall. Juniors at Hinkson Christian Academy are always the busiest students in the school. They have to do many fundraising projects to be ready to put on the senior banquet in the spring. The kids in Meg’s class are a special group. They really enjoy working together and often go the extra mile. In addition to the usual junior activities, Meg has also been on the volleyball team, is one of two student directors for the spring play, and is getting ready for a spring mission trip to Uganda. We haven’t seen a lot of her at home. Over our Christmas break in the States, Meg and I (Ellen) managed to get down to St. Louis to visit Washington University. It was a fun road trip, and she liked both the city and the school.

Emma is now in the fifth grade and is having a wonderful year. Her teacher, Mr. Hays, is a great encourager, and Emma thrives in that kind of environment. She chose to begin piano lessons again and has been practicing dutifully. Emma is a great helper, and with Meg and me gone so much, she’s had lots opportunity to be very useful at home. Over our Christmas break in the States, Emma was able to go to a YMCA winter camp in Wisconsin. It was lots of fun and she made several new friends.

Al continues to teach at Hinkson. He has Meg in his class again this year, but I haven’t heard either of them complain about it. Al’s work with the Roma Network also continues. They had their annual gathering of the network the day after Thanksgiving down in Ryazan. Fifteen people attended. They spent time evaluating what they were able to accomplish this year and worked on plans for the coming year. One of the really exciting projects this past summer was a major evangelization in Kursk, using horse-drawn wagons. It was targeted to the Roma, but also attracted many Russians. This year the network will be concentrating on places that already have active groups.

Victor and Nadya

I had a very busy fall with three wonderful groups, and then left for the United States on November 1. I traveled to the States with Victor and Nadya Ignatenkov. Victor is pastor of Smolensk Baptist Church, which is a partner of White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was my great privilege to be with them in their visit to their partner church. This is a longstanding partnership, so there are many wonderful friendships between the two churches, and we enjoyed warm fellowship throughout the visit. In addition, we were able to see together some excellent models for ministry. I can’t express how important this is.

Victor and Nadya also traveled with me to Nashville, Tennessee, for the third annual Russian Mission Network (RMN) meeting. Both of them spoke at the conference. Victor shared about all the different areas of outreach that their church is engaged in. Nadya was part of a presentation on women’s issues in Russia, focusing largely on the situation of girls in the orphanages. The RMN continues to grow. It was exciting to see many new people at the gathering and to see clear signs of the network maturing.

Orthodox delegation visits rehab centers

Left to right: Ellen Smith, Margarita Nelyubova, Father Mefodiy, Jay Davidson (Director of the Healing Place in Louisville, Kentucky), and Father Sergei, in the kitchen of the Healing Place.

I was able to spend Thanksgiving in Wisconsin with Allison and Al’s folks. At the beginning of December I set out again to visit a church in the Pittsburgh area and then to Louisville to welcome an Orthodox delegation. This was a group that was supposed to come in May, but they weren’t able to get their visas processed in time. Even this time, we didn’t know whether we would succeed. They finally received their visas five days before departure, and Abbott Mefodiy Kondratyev, Father Sergei Goncharov, and Margarita Nelyubova (director of the Russian Round Table) arrived in Louisville on December 3.

Abbott Mefodiy and Father Sergei are both directors of drug rehabilitation centers. The plan for this visit developed after a visit from Bob Ellis of the International Health Office a year and a half ago. In September 2006, Bob and I traveled to five different rehabilitation centers in Russia and Belarus. Our Russian colleagues asked for information about half-way programs to help their patients make the transition back to society more easily. Bob felt that it would be better for them to see models than to read about them.

Left to right: Father Sergei, Jim Echement (Director of Mahoning Valley Rescue Mission, Youngstown, Ohio), and Father Mefodiy.

With the help of his staff and many friends across the United States, we put together an itinerary that included rehabilitation centers in Louisville, Austin, Pittsburgh, and Youngstown, Ohio. Each center was very different. Most used 12-step programs. Several of the programs served homeless people, but we also visited a private rehabilitation facility. Some of the facilities were distinctly Christian, all the facilities acknowledged the importance of faith development in the rehabilitation process.

At one point, Father Sergei asked me about the itinerary and whether I had planned that each visit should be so different so that they could get such a varied view of rehabilitation in the United States. I could hardly find an answer for him. The itinerary had been built on the recommendations of friends. I was not nearly as skilled in my planning as it could have appeared. What came together was a God thing and we were all richly blessed by the visits. All of the centers we visited shared openly and generously. Our Russian friends were deeply touched and grateful for the fellowship and colleagiality. Many stereotypes were broken down.

It was Abbott Mefodiy’s and Father Sergei’s first visit to the United States. From the time that he landed, Abbott Mefodiy was actively engaged studying the places that we visited to understand our cities and our culture. Not one of our American guests in Russia has ever taken as many pictures as Abbot Mefodiy took in the United States. Both men delighted in the opportunity to be in peoples’ homes. I think we were all surprised at the depth of connection in each of our visits. As we sat in the airport waiting for the flight that would carry them back to Russia, we all marveled at the trip we had shared. It surpassed all of our expectations.

It has been a year of great challenge, but the challenges have been far surpassed by the blessings. As we enter a new year, let us step forward in faith, confident that our Lord is with us. The challenges will come. May we always seek to see the blessings.

We wish you all peace and joy in 2008.

With love in Christ,

Ellen & Al

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 158