UMC in Latvia, Lithuania and Russia
Erbele Etchings
Term 5 - Letter 4
January 1, 2004
UMC in Latvia, Lithuania and Russia
Erbele Etchings
Term 5 - Letter 4
January 1, 2004
Dear Friends,
As we write this we are between the two Christmas Days. The Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas on January 7. The merchants, of course, are enjoying the advantages of the extended sales season. We see Christmas ornaments going up by the middle of November, but the sales promotions keep going an extra two weeks. For us Americans it does seem strange to watch Christmas trees being sold after December 25.
New
Year’s Eve we walked the streets of the city and enjoyed watching families strolling around Red Square and the Kremlin waiting for midnight to bring forth the fireworks.New
Year’s Day is the time of traditional celebration with family and giving of gifts. Atheism and Soviet rule forbade the recognition and celebration of Christ’s birth. Our friends tell us Christmas is a new holiday that they don’t quite know how to celebrate. There is a bit of social confusion behind the notion of "celebration" with parties and merriment and a religious holy day. There is confusion and a serious conflict between the arrivals of Father Winter on December 31, who brings gifts with his beautiful daughter, the Snow Princess, and the western Santa Claus with his gifts and Christmas.The Orthodox Church will celebrate Christmas or "radzhestvo" (the root word is
"birth") on January 7, 2004. It is a reverent solemn occasion and is not an event of gaiety with the giving gifts as it is in the west. In some ways the concept of reverential solemnity for Christmas and gift giving on News Year’s keeps the two events in clearer perspective.RUSSIA
In 1996 Bishop Minor shared a dream with Teri that he hoped to see the Russia United Methodist Church own 10 pieces of property within the next ten years. Last month we, Ev and Teri, took inventory and counted 44 pieces of property across the area in varying stages of purchase, construction, or negotiation. As the Area Financial Executives we continued to be awed by the enthusiasm, support and prayers of the churches across the US and Germany for the ministry in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
What’s in a name? Quite a lot! We enjoy learning the names the churches choose. Among the more popular are "Resurrection", "New Life", "Good News", "Holy Trinity", "Living Spring" and "Transfiguration". Several chose a name with the word Salvation: "Way of Salvation", "Love and Salvation", "Christ the Savior", "Faith and Salvation", and "UMC of the Salvation". Like the United States we have our share of "First" churches. We have two groups called "Singing Christians" and two "St. Luke’s". "Christ the King", "Emmanuel", "St. John" and "Grace" are not uncommon as church names in the US. We will let you choose the most unusual name from the following list:
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We are concerned about the situation of the Moscow Kwan Lim Methodist Church. In 1991 this church was founded and register
ed by the Kwan Lim Methodist Church in Seoul, Korea. In 1995 they built a 4-story building with support from the Methodists in Korea. In 1999 the church was re-registered with the Moscow Justice Department. In May of 2002 a group of people unrelated to the congregation managed to change the founding documents after holding a meeting at a nearby stadium. They registered with the Justice Department as having changed the leadership and unbeknownst to the congregation they sold the building to a third party. In September 2002 the new "owners" came to claim their building. The attempted seizure failed. The church appealed to the courts that month and the issue has not been considered. However in October 2002 a criminal investigation was launched but the persons handling the case were changed many times. In early December of 2003 the case was abandoned. On December 9, 2003 about 20 "guards" arrived and smash the door to gain access and control of the building. On December 14 and 21 the congregation was able to meet for worship. The pastor, Rev. Kim-Jun-Kyu, and about 30 members had remained in the building since December 9. On December 23 at 7:00 in the morning more "guards" arrived and physically evicted the church members without giving them time to get dressed or to put on shoes and left them standing in the snow. The police were contacted who, in turn, took the "guards" to the police station and then released them. The police have sealed off the building and no one may enter. The congregation is currently holding its meeting in front of the building, enduring the bitter cold.As many have heard, on November 26, a blaze roared through a dormitory at the Friendship University in Moscow. At the last count forty-two students died. More than 150 were seriously injured when they jumped from the fourth and fifth floor. All the students in the dormitory were from countries outside of Russia, mostly from China and Africa. The Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy, of which The United Methodist Church is a supporting partner, has been leading the relief efforts with clothing drives, collecting medications, providing food, and visiting the patients in the hospitals.
We are slowly (very slowly) making progress with the building for The Russia United Methodist Seminary. The initial contractor we had employed did not submit all the necessary
paper work
to the various governmental offices, which caused all construction to come to a halt. Though the actual construction work could be completed in a couple months, we have no idea how long it will take to navigate the bureaucratic jungle caused by this firm.On a more cheery note, we have completed the first semester of the Bible College. Several of alumni came to the closing worship on December 23 and had a wonderful time of reunion and encouraged the students to learn all they could. This year two seminary students, Dima and Suzanna Isakovskii have been helping Ev with translation. Their commitment to the work of Christ’s kingdom has been a boon to all the students.
Potlucks are not commonly practiced here in Russia. Lidia Mikhailova, District Superintendent of the South Moscow District, had encountered a few while visiting partner churches in Oklahoma. She decided to try it here. So all the churches from the North Moscow District and the South Moscow District were invited to come to the recently purchased building for the Perovo UMC for a Christmas potluck. It took a lot of explaining but all in all it was a success and time of encouragement.
LITHUANIA
Recently the a reporter from the Kaunas Newspaper came the Sanciai UMC and asked to interview some of the members because he had heard about the wonderful ministry of the church to the needy. The resulting article ended up being extremely unfavorable, disparaging the United Methodists as a sect and criticizing every attempt as humanitarian assistance as a scam. Every option of retaliation was considered. After discussing the issue with other churches, including the Catholic Church, which is the State Church, and consulting our lawyer we were advised to not respond at all. In Lithuania, letters to the editor are not published so the option of using this venue was dropped. But the slanderous tongue or pen in this case
did not succeed with its intended mischief because the following week a person came to the office and talked to the Lionis, the District Business manager and to Egle, our assistant. She wanted to know what the United Methodists were doing for poor people. Egle was just finishing a brochure so she gave the woman a copy. The woman, who we had never seen before nor since, said, "I read about you in the newspaper and I want to help poor people, here is 100 Litas." (100 Litas is about $35.) Contrary to the fears of the missionaries, the article did not affect church attendance and the ministries have continued as strong as ever.In Lithuania we have now four ordained missionary clergy serving 10 churches and two groups scattered over enormous distances. Fledgling churches and ministries do need a more constant pastoral presence
, and in recognition of this need we have started using the three seminary students to assume the responsibility for three of the churches. After three months we are getting positive reports from all three churches. The students, too, admit to their own growth through the experience. Girdrius said, "It is hard thinking of a new sermon every week. It is hard knowing that what you say may make some people mad and that you have to face them again the next week." We find this to be one small encouraging step as we look for the day when the Lithuania United Methodist Church will be completely led by Lithuanians.In September the Lithuania United Methodist Church sent their first Volunteer in Mission team to the Russian region of Kaliningard. Six medical persons and the group leader traveled to the cities of Sovietsk and Melnikovo to hold medical clinics for the locals of these very poor communities. Seventy-nine patients were seen. Some asked for a Bible. Some individuals from the communities visited the churches for the first time and found them "not as scary as they had expected." The Lithuanians came home blessed and eager for their next trip to share their faith in this way.
LATVIA
We have completed one more phase in the renovation of the building for Riga First United Methodist Church. The sanctuary and the classrooms are beautiful. This has made a noticeable difference in the morale of the congregation.
The youth ministry in Cesis has been growing significantly. Every week as many as nineteen will crowd into a 10’ by 12’ room for the Bible Study. They are also learning to reach out into the community. Recently the General Board of Global Ministries purchased a building. Kevin and Carol Seckel are looking for Volunteers in Mission groups to come help with the substantial necessary renovation. If you or you church are interested in a VIM work team to Cesis let us or the Seckels know. Our email address is included at the bottom of this letter.
PERSONAL
Our advance special numbers are:
Ev Erbele 010832Z
Teri Erbele 010831Z
These numbers should be used when your local church treasurer sends in any salary support.
If you want to make special gifts for Bibles, socks for orphans, soup kitchens, refugees, etc. you may use the following advance special numbers:
Russia 011510A
Lithuania 012168A
Latvia 012010A
Church treasurers should make sure that the purpose for all gifts is CLEARLY stated when sent to the conference treasurer.
Teri and Ev Erbele
Snail Mail:
Erbele/Global Ministries - Box 257
c/o IPS
666 Fifth Avenue - PMB 572
New York, NY 10103-0001