07042
January 19, 2007

Special needs

Russian, South Carolina congregations partner to help Down Syndrome kids

by Jerry Van Marter

LOUISVILLE — Ellen Smith calls what she and her husband, Alan, do as Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) missionaries in Russia “connecting congregation-to-congregation.”

     But in the hands and hearts of Immanuel Baptist Church in Vologda — 250 miles north of Moscow — and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charleston, SC, the meeting of congregations has reached a whole new level.

Participants in the Vologda Baptist Church summer camp for special needs kids and their partners from Westminster Presbyterian Church, Charleston, SC. Photo by Ellen Smith.

     Westminster includes a number of families with children adopted from Russia. “They have a heart for Russia and don’t want their children to forget,” Smith told the Presbyterian News Service. “So they contacted me.”

     At about the same time three years ago, Smith was asked by the Baptist Union of Russia to visit the church in Vologda, a city about the same size as Charleston. “I was deeply impressed and lifted them up to Westminster as a possible connection,” Smith said.

     In May of 2005, two Westminster women with adopted Russian children — Janet Deavor and Charlotte Walker — traveled to Vologda for what Deavor called “a ‘hi, nice to meet you’ trip.”

     The lives of both congregations will never be the same.

Charlotte Walker (left) and Janet Deavor (right) stroll with one of their Vologda charges, Nikita. Photo by Ellen Smith.

     What Deavor and Walker found in Vologda was a congregation that includes a number of children with Down Syndrome and other developmental disabilities. “In Russia, such kids are institutionalized for their entire lives,” Smith said, “ but in Vologda, the parents organized, through the church, to keep their kids at home.”

     The obstacles those parents (and their church) faced were daunting, Smith said. “It’s amazing, because there is considerable discrimination, few services are available and much of what they need is simply inaccessible.”

     Deavor and Walker returned to Charleston committed to forming a partnership with the Vologda church. “There was no question this would be an exciting adventure, with benefits for the children and for both churches.” Walker said. “It was attractive to me personally because my son has mild retardation and I quickly discovered how much I could learn and share.”

     After much deliberation the partnership took shape to fulfill a dream of the Vologda congregation — to sponsor a five-day Christian summer camp for the developmentally disabled kids in their community and their families. “There are some camps,” Smith said, “but they’re not Christian and they don’t include entire families.”

Partipants in the Vologda-Westminster summer camp share an arts and crafts project. Photo by Ellen Smith.

     Last summer, Deavor and Walker — and five other Westminster members — returned to Vologda for the first summer camp. “The task was overwhelming, but God was in it so it went great!” Deavor said. The Westminster group included two teenagers, a family physician, a non-church member who works with special needs children and was attracted to the project, a teacher and a Christian educator. Walker is a banker.

     Smith described it as “a humble little camp,” with 12-14 Down Syndrome kids and their families, plus the leaders from the Vologda and Westminster churches. Activities included arts and crafts, games, Bible study and sharing.

     “The teachers told stories that helped these kids and their families understand that they’re not alone or atypical,” Smith said. “In Russia particularly, where these kids are almost seen as disposable, it was a profound message, especially to the parents, that their kids are also in the image of God.”

     The camp experience sealed a strong bond between the two congregations. “In preparing for the camp we had a Russian team and an American team,” Deavor said, “but by the end of the week we were one team.” Smith said she “had never seen two groups work as much as one team as these two.”

     Their unity was infectious. The camp was held in a rustic hotel in a village some distance from Vologda. “The villagers, originally suspicious, were amazed,” Smith recounted. “They were drawn into this miracle and the hotel staff wants us to come back!”

     In April, the pastor of the Vologda church and one lay member of his congregation are coming to Charleston “to cement this relationship and so we can show them some program ideas that work in our community,” Walker said. “This is all just so enlightening — no matter the cultural or economic differences, we all have similar challenges.