July 9, 2008
Dear Friends and Family!
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
The summer is progressing well. So far we have not been overwhelmed by the inevitable glitches. I was able to keep up with my work while in England and still had time to sit on the deck of our friend’s house and watch their resident foxes and the neighborhood flock of wild parrots. Al and the girls managed very well in my absence, and I returned to Moscow with a few days free to get ready for the next two groups. Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, was here for only a week. Their partnership is with a Moscow church, so it was relatively easy for us. Two members of the group did have a snafu with their airline tickets, but we managed to get it sorted out and the airlines even upgraded them to business class. Their visit was quite successful, as they managed to lay many plans for the coming year. They plan to start joint Bible study groups—each studying the same book and sharing their responses to questions via the Internet. What a wonderful way to benefit from one another’s different perspectives.
The tallest and the smallest at the Oryol camp: Meg Smith, at 6 feet tall, counted as tallest, and Polina, at about 9 counted as the smallest. The second group, from MacPherson Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina (our home church), spent just a day and a half in Moscow before heading out to their partner church in Oryol for the annual baptism and summer camp. As the first group was still with us in Moscow, we sent this group off in the company of Meg (our 17 year old). Meg speaks Russian fluently and has years of experience now. Getting the group and their luggage off to Oryol, however, became our first major glitch. The 11:30 p.m. train was 25 minutes late arriving in Moscow, but it left on time. The mad rush of 54 people trying to get in one car in just 15 minutes made for a significant jam, so much so that the conductor could not get on to tell everyone that the train was about to depart. Al managed to jump from the moving train, but by the time I got to the door, it was going too fast. So, I took a ride down to Tula, where the northbound version of the same train crossed paths with the southbound train I was on. At 2:30 a.m., I changed trains and returned to Moscow.
The dacha that the church purchased last year. Al and I had planned to go down to Oryol together, but difficulties arose, so I drove down by myself this past Thursday in time for the second day of camp. The Oryol camp is in a beautiful birch forest about 10 kilometers from the church. Last year, the church purchased a dacha (small house and garden) across a large field from their campsite in the forest. They have spent much of the past year fixing it up. A major part of reconstruction has been putting in a shower room (hot showers!) and a real toilet. Part of MacPherson’s team came specifically to help with ongoing renovations (the rest came to help out with campers). I was able join the work crew for my brief visit, as they worked on constructing a veranda outside the shower room (a place to take off muddy shoes and to hang towels). They have many plans for future renovations, but this was the first priority.
Over the weekend the weather turned very wet. On Saturday night, it was time to make a water run for the team from MacPherson, and several young people who had been baptized on the previous weekend needed to go in to town so that they could take their first Communion on Sunday. The roads that in dry weather are merely rutted and irregular had turned to slimy soup. By following another car, I got out all right, but it was very sloppy going. In daylight it is easy to see where to zig and zag. At night, it is a bit more challenging. I made it back to the city without incident, but when we came out of the store with water, the car started but then died and would not restart. I walked to the church (about a mile from the store) to call for help. By the time I got back, Valeri the pastor had arrived, and was already working on the problem. Another member of the Oryol church, Alexander, drove up about this time, and he joined in working on the problem too. They pulled my battery out and put Alexander’s in. The car started, but it would not stay on as they switched the batteries back again. Valeri went looking for the means to jump my battery. From his conversation with Alexander, I thought they had a set of cables back at the church. Well, not exactly. Valeri returned with a piece of heavy electrical wire. I stood a bit dumbfounded, watching them peal back the plastic coating and attach this wire to the two batteries. I was praying for their safety as I started the car. Just at that time, the camp director drove up, providing me with someone to follow back to camp. The Lord provides in amazing ways.
The car has given no further difficulties. I returned here to Moscow yesterday, so I could get work done here. Al and I will return to Oryol on Friday so that he can collect Emma and return to Moscow. Meg and I will travel with the group from Oryol to St. Petersburg for a couple days of touring there.
Exciting things are going on in many of the partner churches. The Smolensk church has recently opened a drug rehabilitation center. There was a church in the region with a large building, but only a very small congregation. They have done some renovation work to make it liveable and have brought in five clients. They are getting many calls each day from people hoping to join the program. For now, they are working at a bare bones level, but the program has begun.
The Smolensk church is also getting ready to launch a post-orphanage care model this fall. They plan to start with 10 graduates of the orphanage system, taking them into the homes of church members, sponsoring weekly meetings for the young people and the families they will be living with, as well as special seminars. It is an exciting new beginning.
We got word not long ago that we received a Thank Offering from Presbyterian Women for a seminar on early diagnosis and intervention strategies for children with autism. Two developmental pediatricians from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston will be coming to put on the seminar. We are expecting people to participate such as church workers involved with special needs children, directors and social workers from orphanages, and staff and students from a pedagogical institute in Moscow who are working in this field. The seminar is planned for mid-October.
My visa challenges continue, but we are hopeful that a solution is imminent, though probably not before the end of summer. As a result, I am making another trip out of the country in mid-July and plan to spend all of September in the United States. I had planned to return for the Russian Mission Network meeting in October anyway. This is just lengthening my stay. I already have invitations to visit California and Florida. The RMN meeting will be in Columbus, Georgia. I will probably be in Wisconsin for at least a few days. If anyone else would like a visit, I’ll see what I can do.
Please hold the summer camps in your prayers. There was an accident with a Baptist camp out in Khabarovsk (on the Pacific), and a child drowned. This is a very serious situation. Please pray also for the new projects getting off the ground. Your continued prayers for my visa would be greatly appreciated too.
Love and blessings,
Ellen and Al
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 158 |
