October 20, 2008

Dear Friends in Christ,

The book of James puts it bluntly, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (NIV, James 1:27)

I recently returned from a visit to partner churches in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Hungary. I was in Russia only days after the “August War” between Georgia and Russia. In the twin capitals of Moscow and St. Petersburg, every conversation with Baptist, Orthodox, and Lutheran leaders was dominated by discussion of “looking after orphans and widows” and others in distress following the violence in the Caucasus.

The elderly, the infirm, and the children suffered the most from the August War between Russia and Georgia.

Political tensions had simmered for years. Then, early in the month, skirmishes between Georgian military forces and militias in the semi-autonomous republic of South Ossetia erupted. On August 7, the Georgian military launched coordinated attacks against civilian and para-military targets in South Ossetia. With “peacekeeping” forces long in place in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, on August 8 Russian ground forces moved into South Ossetia en masse while the air force attacked targets across Georgia. By the 12th, Russia had occupied both semi-autonomous republics and pushed into other regions of the mountainous nation when French President Sarkozy negotiated a ceasefire. On August 26, the Russia parliament recognized the independence of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The crisis pushed U.S.-Russian relations to its lowest point since the end of the Cold War.

Baptists brothers and sisters gathered relief supplies in St. Petersburg to be driven to assist Ossetian refugees who fled north into Russia.

Hundreds of Ossetians and Georgians were killed by military forces on both sides, by militias, and by thugs encouraged in the chaos. Thousands of Ossetians fled north into Russia. Thousands of Georgians fled elsewhere in Georgia. Villages were bombed. Houses were destroyed. An assessment team of Action by Churches Together (ACT), the crisis response arm of the World Council of Churches, reported most of the schools, kindergartens, hospitals, the university, parliament, and theater in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali had been bombed or destroyed by artillery shelling or tank fire. The elderly, the infirm, and the children suffered the most. And now more “widows and orphans” are living in distress.

One result of the violence is clear. Sergei Ryahovski, a Moscow-based church leader, said, “The people are full of hate. I saw hate in the eyes of our evangelical believers. There is hate in their souls and that is truly horrible to see.”

In sharp contrast is the outpouring of Christ’s love shown by so many to relieve the suffering for ethnic Ossetians and for ethnic Georgians.

The Reverend Yuri Sipko, president of the Baptist Union, stated simply, “Our goal is to help the victims in the Caucasus.” Baptists received families in their homes and churches across the region. From as far away as St. Petersburg, congregations took up collections of food, clothing, diapers, and other supplies for southern churches. The Baptists committed to connecting weekly with 200 of the hardest hit families for six months and to reach an additional 500 families in South Ossetia with sustained rehabilitating support.

Through the Russian Round Table, the disaster response organization of the Russian Orthodox Church, support for refugees flowed to parishes in the Caucasus. Margarita Nelyubova, head of the Round Table, used her experience responding to the 1990s wars in Chechnya and the terrorist tragedy in Beslan in 2004. Short-term assistance was critical in addressing immediate needs, and then the Round Table shifted its focus longer term psycho-social counseling for adults and children most affected by the violence.

The Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy, pastored by the Reverends Bob and Stacy Bronkema, received a special offering to provide vitamins to nursing mothers displaced by the violence.

Soon after the war broke out, our Stated Clerk, Rev. Gradye Parson joined with the Reformed Church in America to communicate our prayers and our commitment to the leaders of seven different denominations in Georgia and Russia.

Our Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has been stretched thin this year by hurricanes in Texas, floods in Iowa, wildfires in California, cyclones in Burma, earthquakes in China, and more. The crisis in Georgia also came at a time of our own worsening economic condition and a tightened focus on the U.S. presidential campaign. 

Our brothers and sisters in Christ in former communist countries, however, showed the way. They found ways to share their meager resources with “the orphans and the widows in their distress.” They found their path of faith and avoided “being polluted by the world.” Their ministries of compassion shone amidst their modest worldly wealth.

Can we in our congregations and as individuals find ways to assist the “orphans and the widows” of the Caucasus? Click on the "give" button below to participate directly in our Presbyterian response.

Our support is for the victims, be they Ossetian or Georgian, whether they are in Georgia, the semi-autonomous states of South Ossestia or Abkhazia, or in southern Russia. We choose to hear the call of Christ and come to those “in their distress.” My sincere thanks!

Your brother in Christ,

Gary Payton

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