Christians of Russia Giving Hope to the Young and Needy

by Brenda Wilkinson

Methodist church in housing development, St. Petersburg, Russia. Photo by Archie Hamilton.

   In a January newsletter to the General Board of Global Ministries, mission agency of the United Methodist Church, missionaries Teri and Ev Erbele share highlights of newly emerging United Methodist congregations in Russia and describe how they are giving priorty to the needs of children and youths. The Erbeles open with the day-to-day struggles of Andrei Pupknow , a pastor who has the tremendous task of not only leading a local church, but serving as district superintendent to 14 other churches and helping three new congregations to develop.

   As newly organized Christians acquire sufficient space and resources, they are constructing new churches. In the interim they gather in places as varied as an abandoned bomb shelter donated by the city, to a rented library, to a building previously owned by a veterinarian. According to the Erbeles, Russian Christians are looking toward the future by placing children first. Describing a visit to Pskov United Methodist Church, Teri and Ev Erbele write:

   "...There is enough land here to one day build a sanctuary. In its present state, the facility is adequate for Sunday School and youth meetings...Over dinner we learned of various activities of the church including a very successful Sunday School, youth gatherings, Bible Study, AA and Al Anon meetings, and counseling programs. We met with Irene Ivanova , the Conference Children's Ministries Coordinator. She is working on a very large resource material project. Translation of existing Sunday School material isn't as easy as one would think. Recreating the material to fit the culture in concept and graphics is important. Across Russia there is a dearth of Russian Sunday School material. Irena has created her own material for the Pskov UMC and is working with a committee to mass-produce the work. Our goal was to encourage her to sort out the budget needs and strategies for getting the production done. Pray for Irene and the committee that they may meet their goal of producing the first book of a 12 book series this year."

   The Erbeles also described a visit to Holy Trinity Church in St. Petersburg.

   "...We were taken by Pastor Oksana and her assistant to the orphanage where the local church has a youth group gathering on Monday and Bible Study on Thursday evenings. Imagine entering the home of 200 youth in the middle of January and finding them bundled in coats and hats: the orphanage has no heat. The director told us that during construction something went wrong and the government has never repaired the boiler. The meeting room is only large enough for 30 high school-age youth at a time, though there are 41 who are considered members of the group. To compensate for the lack of space, they have devised a rotation schedule for who gets to attend on a given evening. Such a delightful group! We could readily see why Oksana is so proud of them. Every church should have an orphanage ministry. You then have an automatic youth group and Sunday School.

   The future is so bleak for many of these teenagers. When they are 18 they are given a set of clothing and sent on their way. College and trade school is out of the question for 99% of them because even if they did receive admission, a benefactor is required for supplement of food, housing and incidentals. There are a multitude of reasons why these children are orphans. Less than a handful are institutionalized because they have no living relatives. The reason that most of them are here is linked to incompetence of parents disabled by drug and or alcohol addiction-- but a large percentage become orphans because of divorced parents who want to start new lives with new spouses. The director thanked us over and over that at least for these few youths, the United Methodist Church is giving hope and encouragement...

   The folk at Holy Trinity Church are a caring and compassionate group who strive to live by scriptural mandates of loving one's neighbors and caring for children and orphans."

   You can support the work of missionaries Teri and Ev Eberle through Advance #010832.

More Information:

• Partnerships Provide Key to Church's Russia Initiative, UMNS
• Russia Initiative
• Exciting Growth in Russia United Methodist Church
• From Russia with Love: Two Month's Salary for El Salvador
• Global Connections: Russia
• Global Ministries Photos: Russia