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Missions
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Spotlight
on
World Mission
at Grace Lutheran Church
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Outreach to Russia
- Notes from the edge of the World
(Rev. Matthew Heise May 2010)
- News from The Ministry in St. Petersburg
(Rev. Leif Camp April 2010)
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Notes from the Edge of the World
Rev. Matthew Heise
May 2010
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Driving the Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert has always conjured up images in my mind of a vast, deserted
lunar landscape where nothing much grows or thrives. As I was traveling south from Ulaanbaatar with FLOM (Finnish Lutheran
Overseas Mission) worker Pentti Marttila in a sturdy Ford Jeep this past month, I was surprised to discover that while some of
my assumptions were valid, the truth was far more complicated. Yes, there were times when I was simply overwhelmed by the endless
space ranged out in front of us. In reality, though, the Gobi is not just your traditional desert but rather a vast ecosystem of
birds, plants, and animals. If we had traveled further south, I’m told we would have found lakes. So the journey alternated between
an eerie silence and periods of sound and activity. Wild horses and Bactrian camels (the kind with two humps) roamed in their
natural habitat, apparently without a care in the world. Time just seemed to stop as I spied the little white birds peculiar to
the northern Gobi who broke the silence of the desert with their weird chirping sound before flitting out of view.
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Above: Me, the road, and the Gobi
Above: Spring in the Gobi has not been kind to bus drivers or their customers this year
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Various white rodents (they looked like moles) would often scurry out of our path at the last moment into their holes as we drove
the six hours needed to arrive at the Gobi's capital city, Mandal-Gov. By the way, when I say "path" I mean just that— there is no
paved road for 90% of the ride and so those Ford Jeep commercials are accurate— they do drive through just about anything. On occasion
we also came upon wild dogs, a hybrid of dog and wolf. They are actually quite dangerous and they boldly approached the car, howling
fiercely in their energetic yet fruitless attempts to outrun the Ford. I was just praying that the engine didn’t stall out, and God
did indeed bless our vehicle and journey.
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The Gobi and Snow The Gobi has experienced an enormous amount of snow this year, and as the snow turned
to slush in late April the danger of getting stuck was quite real. We once came upon a bus where the 20 or so customers were forced
to push and pull and tug with ropes in order to get the bus out of the muck. Pentti roared the Ford Jeep through everything, reminding
me that Finns were expert Road Rally racers. No argument from me. He sure kept us out of the mud. But the excessive amounts of snow
this winter has also created a crisis among Mongolian herders. We often saw many animals lying dead along the side of the path, where
the herders had deposited them hoping to be reimbursed by the government with money that it didn't have. The animals (sheep, goats,
cows) starved to death because the snow covered what little pasture ground they had, not to mention the effects of the bitter cold
which reached minus 30 and 40 F this past winter. FLOM has been instrumental in assisting the people of the Gobi who in many cases
have lost most of their cattle. Through funds raised in the Lutheran Church of Finland, the love of Christ has been shown to Mongol
herders who have struggled to survive one of the most difficult winters on record.
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Above: A sad but not uncommon sight this Spring in the Gobi- the remains of sheep who didn’t
survive the winter
Above: Camel tethered to the area in front of his master’s ger (Mongolian tent)
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Teaching at Light of the Gobi Lutheran Church We had traveled down to Mandal-Gov in order to hold a
Bible seminar for three nights. Pentti translated my presentation on Galatians into Mongolian while he presented on the topic of
the Holy Spirit. The venue was an old dilapidated building which serves as a meeting hall for the local hospital. The 50-60
parishioners of Light of the Gobi Lutheran Church normally rent the hall themselves on Sundays, but we assisted a little bit this
time as our seminar took place during the week. I have to admit that I have rarely seen a congregation this alive (we can definitely
say "Ablaze!"). We had up to 75 attend on a given night and the range of ages was from senior citizen to high schooler. Most studiously
took notes and sang the beautiful Mongolian hymns heartily, including one of my new favorite hymns — "Agu Xhair, Aruin Xhair" ("Eternal
Love, Holy Love"). If you have access to the internet, check out my Facebook page where you can see a recording of it live. The composer,
a Lutheran theologian named Puje (most Mongolians have one name), was one of the first Christians in the country after the fall of
communism in 1990 and currently serves as director of the only Bible School in the country. Puje used to be a music teacher and now
uses his skills to inspire and lead Mongolian Christians. Stay tuned for more on Mongolia next month.
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Prayer Requests:Thank the Lord with me for safe travels and teaching in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. Pray that I will soon be reunited with my passport (which is in America getting a Russian visa). Meanwhile, I am staying at my boss' home (Brent Smith) in Oberursel, Germany while I wait. (It is easier and quicker to send and receive things from Germany, and it also happened to be one of my airport stops on the way back to Georgia).
Please continue to pray for peace and democracy in Kyrgyzstan.
Do remember in prayer those who suffered from the recent revolution, including students Kaiapek and Gulya who were shot by government troops with rubber bullets as they were making their way home from class.
Please remember our Christian sister Aima, a member of the Lutheran Church in Kyrgyzstan, who has recently come out of a coma and is recovering.
Please continue to keep in prayer our Eurasian business manager, Karen Roemer, fighting cancer; also Boris Chuprov, a Russian seminary student fighting HIV/AIDS.
Please pray for a safe journey to Georgia upon receipt of my passport and safe travel to Russia later this month for a class on Romans at the Ingrian Lutheran seminary.
Mail Issues---
A few notes about the mailing address--- It appears that my mailing address in Russia is no longer accessible. Since I only get
to Moscow three times a year now, it is probably best for anyone wanting to mail anything to use my parents' address in Michigan.
I get there twice a year and it is more reliable than the Moscow address. Since I am in a different country every month, I hope
you understand that I simply cannot regularly access "snail-mail". Thanks!
E-mail: matveih@yahoo.com
Mailing address: Evangelical Lutheran Ministries;
Attn: Matthew Heise, International Post Office,
New Mailing address- 26650 Woodshire, Dearborn Hgts., MI., 48127. To support my work financially, you can send a tax-deductible
gift to: LCMS World Mission, 1333 S. Kirkwood Rd., St. Louis, MO 63122-7295. Make checks payable to LCMS World Mission. Mark
checks "Support of Matthew Heise." If you would like to partner with me in my ministry with ongoing support as an individual
or congregation, please contact Debra Feenstra for information on Together in Mission or Mission Senders at 1-800-248-1930
Ext. 1651 or Debra.Feenstra@lcms.org Thank you and may the risen Christ bless you!
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News from Leif Camp Ministry in St. Petersburg of the World
Rev. Leif Camp
Aprin 2010
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Grace has helped to support the ministry of Rev. Leif Camp who serves as Pastor and Missionary at the Church of Ingria
in St. Petersburg. His activities include distributing Bibles.
He writes:
Although The Ingrian Church is officially a member of LWF, her bishop and pastors have continually taken a position of protest-standing on Scripture-against many of the positions that body has put forth concerning sexuality, marriage and family and so forth. Recent decisions in the ELCA, the Church of Finland and other European Lutheran bodies which have opened the doors to blessing same sex marriage, ordaining practicing homosexual clergy (with a case even of a pastor remaining in position after a sex change operation), has put the little Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria on the battle front. Recently, a conservative block from the other main Lutheran body in Russia, the Evangelical Lutheran Kirche in Russia and Other States, which has both leadership and theological ties to the German State Church, has made overtures to Ingria in hopes of merging. Ingria's position on such an event is as it has always been a merger can only take place if those in ELKROS accept Scripture as the inerrant Word of God and put an end to certain teachings and practices that vary from Scripture—in other words, there would have to be full confessional agreement. So far what exists is simply an announcement by those in ELKROS that they are interested in talking--no official talks have taken place. Still, pray that on one hand, the hurdles and barriers that are between the Churches may stay doctrinal so that they may be overcome through prayer and sound Biblical teaching, and that false barriers of politics and so forth not muddy up the relationship.
Grace has helped to support the ministry of Rev. Eric Camp who serves as Pastor and Missionary at the Church of Ingria in St. Petersburg. |
Distributing Bibles.
Conducting worship services in English and Russian.
Teaching confirmation and adult Bible Classes
and traveling to other congregations to meet with their church councils and train workers in neighboring (a night train ride away) church workers. |
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Our Russian home address:
Leif and Zhanya Camp
18 line V. O. dom 43 Kv. 7
St. Petersburg, Russia, 199178
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Stateside contact address:
Leif and Zhanya Camp,
C/O Marli Camp
902 N. 12th
Melrose Park, IL, 60160
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Russian Lutheran Church Address:
Ev. Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia
Bolshaya Konyushennaya dom 8a
St. Peterburg, Russia, 191186
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Telephone: after getting an international line by dialing 011, dial 7- 812 (our area code) 321-1508(our phone number)
Note—Between St. Petersburg and central US time, the difference is 9 hours. Stateside contact telephone: 708-344-4472
E-MAIL: lzkcamp@mail.ru & leif.camp@elci.ru
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