BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
The Bible verse, “Blessed are the Peacemakers,” was on the minds and hearts of those attending the Ukraine-Russia Peace Dialogue in Lithuania where ten United Methodists from Ukraine and ten United Methodists from Russia gathered from May 31 to June 5, 2017. I am very grateful to the German Central Conference, the Central and Southern Europe Central Conference, the General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Women Eurasia and the General Board of Church and Society for their financial and prayer support of this dialogue. Special appreciation to Rev. Bill and Helen Lovelace of the Lithuania District and the Nordic and Baltic Episcopal Area for graciously hosting the dialogue. We give thanks to God for our friends across the United Methodist connection who have sustained us in prayer. I ask United Methodists around the world to pray for an end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, for the well-being of the people of Ukraine and Russia, and for the spiritual growth of the United Methodist Church of Eurasia.
– to build healthy relationships between our countries and peoples.
TRIBUTE TO BISHOP RUEDIGER MINOR
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Bishop Ruediger was our first bishop in post-Soviet society (1992-2005). I remember my life in Moscow in the early 1990s when I was a student. It was a very difficult time. Imagine empty stores, crazy inflation, chaos and uncertainty about your future. God was so gracious to send us Bishop Ruediger. His love, wisdom and faith in us gave us wings to fly. I was always amazed how he, as a German, could speak Russian so well and know some words in Russian so that even local people had to look them up in the dictionary to check their meaning. His language and cultural competence was amazing. And he loved to travel our vast land of Russia with its 11 time zones. He did it in such a simple and humble style that many of us in today’s Russia feel ashamed when we complain about some inconveniences of modern life. His example of simplicity and generosity contrasted so much with the growing secular trends of individualism and wanting more. Truly I can say that Bishop Ruediger was like apostle Paul who said:
“…I have learned how to be content in any circumstance. I know the experience of being in need and of having more than enough; I have learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor. I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13, CEB)
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NOVOTROITSKAYA MISSION 2017 Ministry with Roma people is a challenge and a blessing!
Irina Mitina stated, “This summer we had our second summer vacation camp for Roma children in Novotroitskaya, Stavropol Krai (region). We call it “camp” for short. The legal name was “a summer guest playground” SGP according to the legal language of the Russian Federation and because children did not stay all day long and were free to come to the playground or to stay at home.” The preparation for the camp was more complicated this year – Irina had to get permission from the parents, along with their passport data, their birth certificate and signatures. It was difficult for three reasons. First, some parents were afraid to give the official document data because somebody frightened them by saying that Irina would steal their children and sell them for organs transplantation! Second, they could not write the permission releases themselves because of illiteracy. Third, their signature often consisted of two or three initials. Another challenge was to find a place for accommodation for twelve volunteers. Last year they had only six. So she had to buy a tent for five people which ended up in Galina’s yard, the host. The men slept in the tent and one of them in the car; the women slept in the house (on the sofa and on the floor). The volunteers were passionate about this mission and children were looking forward to the SGP which consisted
of nine days. A total of 24 children participated in the SGP; all were Roma except four who were from a Russian family. … On July 4th, the Summer Guest Playground begann and every day was a gift! Motorcyclists came from Sochi for two days and so each child had an opportunity to ride the motorcycle with Dima. Irina said “I thank all volunteers who participated in this mission. They spent their own money to pay for the transportation and gave gifts to the SPG.” For the entire story, click here.
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RELIGIOUS LAW IN RUSSIA
Religious law in Russia continues to create confusion and problems for many Protestant churches. In different regions of Russia police file charges against churches for not having a proper sign on the building or not having the right kind of markings on the books in the church. These cases remind Russian Christians of bad old times when police used anything just to file charges against nontraditional Christian denominations in Russia (this does not affect Ukraine). More detailed information is provided on “Forum 18” (forum18.org) Recently, Jehovah’s Witnesses organization were banned and a summary can be found at RUSSIA: One year of “anti-missionary” punishments
In a similar way, Irina Matina, District Superintendent of the South District, stated that while leading a Roma Camp in Novotroitskaya, “The stress came from the visits of all kinds of authorities of the village (administration, police, Cossacks and Russian Orthodox Church) and the regional education department, minor children’s department and the Health epidemiology control department. Their visits happened almost every day and were aggressive. They blamed me for different law violations. In all their actions, I see a spiritual reason – we disturbed the devil! … However, God was with us! We managed to finish the program of the camp and bring glory to the Lord!”
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WHEN GOD CALLS
The annual Youth Festival brought many young people together in St. Petersburg last February and over the last few months much has happened in their lives. Yulia Minikhanova from Satka writes: “When God calls you, can you give an answer?Do you know what the mission of your life is? What is your ministry? What is your talent? I got the answers to these and many other questions during the festival in Saint Petersburg in February.”
Ivan Perestov from Samara stated: “Without a doubt God is working and changing lives of young people at the festival who open their hearts in praise singing “I love you, Lord!” Once God changed my life at such event too. He change my perception and turned my life around by 180 degrees. I started following Jesus Christ. I believe that every person has a similar opportunity to change his or her life, receive the truth and meaning. This festival is a great place for it.”
Sasha Horodylovskyi is beginning the Generation 2 program in Estonia and was a part of the L’viv Ukraine university student ministry, Youth to Jesus. He attended the Youth Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia and responded during that time to a program called a “Year for God.” The mission of the program is to raise up the next generation of church leaders by providing young people with the opportunity to spend a year in full-time Christian ministry under the supervision of mentors and to receive practical theological training in cooperation with the Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary (EMKTS) in Estonia. The internship will be completed at the end of August 2018.
25th PARTNERSHIP ANNIVERSARY
On June 25th Dick Arnold, Rolf Frantz, Ellie Coutts, Jeff Markay, Leslie Raff and Glen Coutts came together with Pastor Jeff Markay at Morristown United Methodist Church, NJ to celebrate the 25th partnership anniversary between Morristown UMC in New Jersey and Kerch UMC, formerly Ukraine, but now in Russia. Congratulations! |
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ROMA CAMPS IN UKRAINE
Haley Hansen, Ruvim Vustka and others led the Roma camp in Perechyn, Ukraine with volunteers from Kamyanitsa, L’viv, Perechyn and the United States. The theme of the camp was “Чуєш?” (“Do you hear?”) Each day focused on the kids hearing the good news of God and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. The second Roma camp was held Seredne, Ukraine, and Haley writes, ” Even though the rain or heat kept us indoors most of time, the kids were still able to praise God, learn about Christ’s sacrifice and how to better love one another. Thank God for all of these sweet souls!”
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A WORLD WITHOUT BORDERS
More than 300 participants from 30 countries across the Methodist connection and educational institutions worldwide gathered for theInternational Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges, and Universities (IAMSCU) conference on the campus of Universidad Madero, a Methodist school in Puebla, Mexico. An IAMSCU conference occurs every three years and has become a major pan-Methodist event for scholars and leaders to discuss Methodist education around the world. The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) plans and provides resources for much of the IAMSCU conference, and administration for IAMSCU programming throughout the year. The theme of the conference was “Tearing Down Walls.” Bishop Kenneth Carter, Florida Annual Conference, gave the closing sermon, “What God is Tearing Down and What God is Building Up.” In his sermon, he challenged the attendees to think of a world without borders. Referencing the work of Doctors without Borders, Carter said, “What if there were a movement called Methodists without Borders. What if we believed that the salvation we offer, mind, body and spirit, is so important that it transcends the vagaries of human politics and laws, and the walls we construct to protect our power and privilege?” The conference concluded with the Episcopal leadership challenging participants to become a movement: Methodists without Borders, to express commitment to peace, healing, and humanity.
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MOSCOW SEMINARY
The Seminary celebrated the graduation of Natalia Shulgina with her PhD degree from Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Her dissertation was on clergy burnout. She will be teaching at the Moscow Seminary. Click here for more Moscow Seminary news.
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BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON/VIRGINIA UMVIM TEAM
“In early August we, a team made up of one person from the Virginia Conference and four from the Baltimore-Washington Conference, had the privilege of working with a “youth” (i.e., young adult) mission camp at Camp Kristall near Voronezh. Our portfolio of projects included interior refurbishment work on a cottage which is being refit as handicapped-accessible, tiling in the washing room of the dining hall, providing assistance for the first phase of the re-roofing of the “tourist hotel”, and constructing a new gazebo along the entrance walkway. These were the work projects.
The great joy of the camp for us, though, was the chance to fellowship, worship, and labor with friends old and new, brothers and sisters in Christ from across Eurasia and international students from Africa who are studying in Russia, as we partnered to help improve and upgrade what is already a great asset for ministry and mission – the camp. We prayed together, sang together, ate together, laughed together, worked together, got exhausted and then swam in the river or sat in the sauna together. We heard each other’s languages and each other’s stories – and though we mostly could not understand the former, somehow we started to understand the latter, and to treasure each other more than ever. We painted, scraped, plastered, hefted metal sheets, got tired and frustrated then enthused and moved to our very souls. In all of this and more, we saw the hand of God at work and the face of Christ in one another.”
Russians, Ukrainians, Africans, Americans: whatever we were, we are all Camp Kristall. We are all In Mission Together. For those few days together, we were the living expression of what John Wesley called “vital piety”. And just as much then, and now as we share about that time together, we are in some small way the fleshing out of what Jesus said when He told those first disciples, “You shall be my witnesses.”
– Dr. Charles L. Harrell leads The In Ministry Together – Eurasia Committee (IMTEC) in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference. f
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