Efforts of the General Board of Global Ministries, which began in the former Soviet Union in 1991, have taken on a new dimension. As a result of humanitarian work of The United Methodist Church, citizens are seeking information about the Christian faith-- and specifically asking how they can began United Methodist congregations. Most recently, such a request came from the Semipalatinsk Region of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a Central Asian nation where the GBGM has been in ministry since 1993.

Semipalatinsk, in eastern Kazakhstan, is where 40 years of secret nuclear testing inflicted health problems of catastrophic proportions on three generations of the population. The problems include damaged immune systems, leukemia, cancer, birth defects, and more. Water and food systems have also been affected, and there is a high death rate in this former republic of the Soviet Union.

Aid has been brought to the suffering population through efforts of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) of the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church.

Orphanage children in Kazakhstan whose lives have been changed by the aid of UMCOR.

So moved are beneficiaries of the humanitarian work of the church that they have requested of Bishop Minor, episcopal leader of the Eurasia Area, to assist them in establishing a congregation in Kazakhstan. The Reverend Robert Howerton, assistant general secretary for Health and Welfare Ministries of the GBGM, who recently returned from Semipalatinsk, reports that a pastor has been assigned.

The General Board of Ministries, as part of its ministry in the Commonwealth of Independent States, is responding to God's mandate that we help to bring health and wholeness throughout the world. "Our initial goal was to bring aid and give hope," Rev. Howerton said. "That there are now Kazakhstani citizens seeking to learn about the gospel is a result of people being impressed by a faith that could produce the good works they have seen. While Christ is at the center of all our efforts as a denomination, evangelization comes not just through preaching the word."

Children in an orphanage in Semipalatinsk

Through its Russia Initiative, the General Board of Global Ministries provided food, clothing, and medical supplies in the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1991-92. In an effort to respond to the church's 1992 call to address worldwide nuclear safety, GBGM representatives first visited Kazakhstan out of concern about the medical and social needs of children, youth, and older adults who were victims of nuclear testing.

The GBGM team, under the direction of Dr. Boris Gusev and Bakhyt Tumenova, visited child care centers, orphanages, schools, and nursing homes in Semipalatinsk. These visits resulted in requests from medical staff and the people of Semipalatinsk to help them find improved and additional means of serving those affected by nuclear exposure.

The GBGM has responded by sending medical teams and supplies to the region, and partnerships have been established between United Methodist-related hospitals in the U.S. and hospitals in Kazakhstan. A limited number of patients have also been brought to the United States for special medical procedures.

In June of 1998, Howerton, who served as chief administrator of Methodist Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, before joining the staff of GBGM, was part of a fact-finding team commissioned by the United Nations to go to Kazakhstan. Accompanying Howerton were Lloyd Rollins and Paul Henderson, staff members of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). The three General Board of Global Ministries representatives participated in a conference at the University of Semipalatinsk on the social and medical consequences for victims of nuclear experimentation. Howerton was part of a team that discussed health issues, Mr. Rollins addressed humanitarian concerns, and Mr. Henderson covered agriculture. At the conclusion of the three-day event, written reports of each team were given to the United Nations Commission on Kazakhstan, to be compiled for a full presentation before the General Assembly in the fall of 1998. This will be followed by a recommendation that the government assist initiatives like those started by the General Board of Global Ministries.

The GBGM visit of Howerton, Rollins, and Henderson, which lasted from June 8 through July 15, covered sites of ongoing work by the Board. The visitors report that progress is being made in the orphanages and hospitals. "I view the kind of work we are doing as the gospel in action," concludes Howerton. "It is when people see what we are about as Methodists that they believe and follow."

Work of GBGM in Kazakhstan brightens life of children like this young boy.

August 26, 1998