Minute for Mission: The Outreach Foundation
Some orphaned children in Russia attend summer camp.
The Outreach Foundation connects PC(USA) congregations with partners around the world who are serving others in Jesus’ name, including an extraordinary Baptist congregation in Smolensk, Russia, southwest of Moscow.
A model of kindness, the Smolensk Baptist Church works with at least sixteen orphanages across the region. Church teams visit weekly to lead singing and Bible lessons, put on mini-Olympiads at different times of the year, support renovations at the most broken-down orphanages, host holiday parties, and make regular visits to the government-run summer camps for orphans. The quality of the congregation’s care for the children and the orphanage staff members is reflected in the unparalleled access given to the church.
Too many young people leave the orphanages without having had the emotional and practical support they need to live full, happy lives. With support from a key Presbyterian partner in the United States, the Smolensk church is also working to develop a program for post-orphanage care. Church members are already engaged in the ministry by inviting the older youth into their homes at vacation times, and they are looking at ways to expand what they are doing. Under the leadership of Pastor Victor Ignatenkov, this congregation also reaches out through a television ministry, summer camps for children and for seniors, youth concerts, and evangelism teams that visit isolated towns in the region on bicycles and in a boat!
—The Rev. Dr. Rob Weingartner, executive director, The Outreach Foundation
Lord, thank you for the example of global partners who remind us of the importance of serving others in ways that make your love concrete in their lives. May we follow you into the world, loving others as you have loved us. Bless the members of the church in Smolensk as they love kindness and reach out to bless others in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Jer. 33:14–16
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
PH 9, HB 147, WB 489
Ps. 25:1–10
Lord, to You My Soul Is Lifted
PH 178
1 Thess. 3:9–13
There’s a Spirit in the Air
PH 433
Luke 21:25–36
Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates
PH 8, HB 152, WB 454
Daily Lectionary
Ps. 24, 150 Ps. 25, 110
Amos 1:1–5, 13–2:8
1 Thess. 5:1–11; Luke 21:5–19 |
