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February
2003—Novosibirsk, Russia A GOOD
WORD FROM CAMP from Leif & Zhanya Camp
ÃÎÑÒÈ—go-stee—guest.
1 Peter 4:9 Be hospitable to one another
without grumbling.
Russia used to be known for its
hospitality—if you forget about the recent visa law which makes being a long
term guest here very difficult (and makes it clear we are not so welcome). Being and receiving guests is still a big
part of the culture, even with all the changes that happened in Russia these
last 13 years.
This month we had several guests in
Novosibirsk and we were also invited to be guests. A small group of Russian Christians came up from the Kazakstan
boarder, visitors from LCMS World Relief came, and we were able to meet with
some of the Russian leaders of Lutheran Hour Ministries. This made for a lot of travel, a lot of
hospitality, a lot of good conversation, and something to write about in this
newsletter.
Guests from
Kazakstan
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in
the heavenly places.
On Saturday, January 11, 4 Russian
Christians from Northern Kazakstan—from the border village of Shamenaika—braved
a snow storm and bad Russian roads to travel to our mission in Novosibirsk, one
for baptism, two for confirmation, and one for consecration as a missionary
(for the expressed purpose of growing this small group into a congregation). Several other people wanted to make the
trip, but old age, health, or work obligations prevented them from doing
so.
So why did the group travel to us
and not the LCMS mission in Almaty, Kazakstan?
Couldn’t our mission in Kazakstan have sent some one to baptize and confirm
the group and install the missionary?
The village of Shamenaika—located in
a border province of Northern Kazakstan— is much closer to Novosibirsk than
Almaty. When the leader of the group,
Yuri Ivanov, first became known to both our missions (about two years ago), we
decided it would be easier and more economical if the Novo mission worked with
the group—especially since we had someone who we could send on a regular basis
to catechize the group.
Last
Spring his group finished confirmation— 5 people wanted to be confirmed and one
baptized, and Yuri wanted official installation as missionary, since he had
planted the group and was functioning as missionary. At first, Missionary Larry Steckling of our mission in Almaty
thought he could send someone in March.
Due to illness, some protests from ELKRAS (the German Lutheran Church)
which claims Northern Kazakstan as its exclusive fishing pond, and timing
problems, no one was able to get to the group in Shameniaka. This was the situation when I returned from
furlough in July. Larry and Yuri than
asked if we might send someone—but Jeff was leaving on his furlough, and I did
not have a visa for Kazakstan. I
immediately began talks with the Church of Ingria about the possibility of
their sending an ordained Russian pastor (since Russians do not need visas to
Kazakstan).
In September Yuri met with the Ingrian Siberian
probst, Daniil Sobelev. We then
contacted the Ingrian Mission committee—who asked the Bishop for permission (it
was a big step for Ingria to consider opening its first “foreign”
mission). This took several months of
consideration—all the while Yuri an his group patiently waited. In late November Ingria decided that it
could offer spiritual support and leadership to Yuri and the Kazakstan group,
and agreed to send to Kazakstan a pastor from the Mission committee, Alexander
Schmidt, to examine the group perform the necessary rites.
After
talking with Yuri, the earliest dates that everyone could come together was
January 9-12. We all were rejoicing
that this patient group, who wished to do everything in good order, finally
would have their patience
rewarded. On the 8th of
January, however, I received a call from Pastor Alexander that his wife and
children were very ill, so we would have to again postpone if no one else could
be found to take his place.
I immediately called Daniil in Krasnayarsk, who
was suffering from a cold and did not think he could travel to Kazakstan. I asked if he could maybe come as far as
Novo—at least for a day. He agreed (if
he hadn’t, I would have had to step in and do the ceremonies, but better a
Russian, especially an official from our partner church). I called Yuri and asked if he could arrange
to bring his group to Novo—usually about a 9 hour drive. He said he could. So Probst Daniil arrived on the 10th, and Yuri’s group
arrived on the afternoon of the 11th—after a 15 hour drive
complicated by a severe snow storm. As
soon as they arrived, one of the Kazakstan people suffered a severe asthmatic
reaction, and we had to wait another 2 hours while the ambulance arrived and
the paramedics did their work. During
this time, Daniil examined the catecumens.
Finally, at 6 pm, Pastor Daniil presided over one baptism, 2 
confirmations and installation—followed by a communion
service. In all this, I was the
assisting minister. After the service, we all enjoyed a time of tea and
celebration—hosted by ladies from our Novo congregation (who had come at the
last minute to participate and witness the events).
After discussions with Daniil, Yuri was given
permission to baptize one person on his return who could not make the trip due
to health reasons, and to commune the second who could not come for
confirmation—under Ingrian church order, only pastors can confirm. We also decided, since there will be no
ordained clergy for the Shamenaika group for at least a year, communion for the
group would be handled according to "deaconal practice."
Thusly--Daniil consecrated a bottle of wine and a box of communion wafers and
sent them with Yuri. When more
consecrated elements are needed, Yuri will get them either from here in Novo or
Krasnayarsk.
The group arrived home safely, praising God!
Please pray for Yuri and his
small group, that it grow.. We have just learned that his wife, Rita, is being
tested for breast cancer. Pray also for
the Lydia, the wife of our church president—she suffered a stroke January 25th. Pray for the congregation outside of
Minuisinsk, in the village of Suatuk, who are struggling to remodel and repair
their small church building. Pray for
our mission as we continue to struggle with the budget cuts—we are meeting on
February 5th to consider re-prioritizing our work due to the lack of
available funds. Pray for LCMS World
Relief as they continue to look for ways to 
work with us as partners in spreading the
Gospel. Pray for the visa situation in
Russia as the laws are getting more and more oppressive, specifically designed
to hamper foreign missionaries working here.
Pray for all the various Lutheran Organizations working here in Russia,
especially those affiliated with the LCMS (Lutheran Hour, Lutheran Heritage
Foundation, World Mission, and Fort Wayne) that we can coordinate our efforts
for the good of our mutual desire to spread the Gospel in Russia. Say a prayer of thanksgiving—for the
baptisms and confirmations, for the seminary in Krasnayarsk, for all the work
that continues here!
We also received visitors this month from LCMS
World Relief—Pastor Jerry and camera man Troy were here to shoot footage of
successful LCMS World Relief projects to show donors the fruits of their
donations. LCMS World Relief and our
Russian Mission have a great working relationship. They depend on the LCMS Missionaries to assess and locate local
needs and then propose possible humanitarian aid projects—for the expressed
purpose of filling a need in the Name of Jesus so that the Gospel gets spread
through helping our neighbor. LCMS
World relief then considers the proposed projects, and underwrites those that
it can based on resources and necessity.
We missionaries, then, are responsible for follow-up reports and tying
those projects into the ministries of the local congregations. For instance, here in Novo, our congregation
and volunteer missionaries do weekly Bible school at a children’s shelter
remodeled with LCMS World Relief funds.
Such close working relationships are very beneficial to the overall work
of spreading the Gospel—as each can be incorporated into a unified
strategy. The hymn verse below reminds
me of their work.
A Russian Cocktail Recipe:
I am always looking for
interesting recipes, so this—sent to a local Russian paper—caught my eye: How to make a Russian Cocktail by the name
of “Three Little Pigs”: take one case
of Vodka—any brand, and two Russian friends….
.
Jesus hears His children
crying, sees them hungry, lost and dying;
Who will comfort all their
sorrows? Who will brighten their tomorrows?
Jesus pleads with us to
reach them with our gifts of love, and teach them
That the kindness we are
giving is the Christian’s way of living
When we aid the poor and
lonely, we’re not caring for them only;
When our love some suff’ring
eases, we have done the same for Jesus.
Hymn verse: A Time to
Serve—All God’s People Sing, #53
In
Christ,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
NEW ADDRESSES--Feedback, questions, whatever are most welcome.
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Home Address: Leif & Zhanya Camp Ulitza Lenina 13 Kv 1 Novosibirsk, Russia, 630099
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Leif & Zhanya Camp LCMS World Mission/Russia 1333 S. Kirkwood Rd. St. Louis, MO 63122 |
Mission Address for packages: Evangelical Lutheran Mission Leif R. Camp Ulitsa Novogodniya 20/2 Novosibirsk, Russia, 630064 |
The first address is our home address—for letters and packages we understand that for regular ground mail it takes about 2 months, the second letters are sent via courier through the State side mission office (airmail takes less time but is more expensive). The third address in the mission address here in Novosibirsk. If and when we are ever in the States, our stateside address is 902 N. 12th, Melrose Park, IL, 60160 (my mother’s address).
Telephone: after getting an international line by dialing 011-7 then 3832 (our area code) 17-92-55 (our phone number)
Note—Between Novosibirsk and central US time, the difference is 12 hours.
E-MAIL: lzkcamp@online.nsk.su Please feel free to share this
newsletter with your Church, friends, or enemies if it might help! If you would like to receive a copy via
e-mail, simply email me directly and ask!
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