February 2009 , A GOOD WORD FROM CAMP

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ПРАЗДНОВАТЬ—PRAZD-nah-vat—Celebrate

Exodus 13:8 "And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.' 9 "It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD's law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.

February is birthday month in my family—my mother’s birthday is Feb 2, Karl’s is on the 7^th, and mine is on the 28^th. Dates and special occasions are important to remember, God Himself in the Old Testament establishes days and times to celebrate and remember His grace and working in the lives of His people. Often we see our birthdays and holidays as about our selves, but as believers we also see a bigger picture. God gives us holidays to celebrate His love in our lives. Birthdays especially are a time to reflect on how God has brought us into this life, led us through to this point and will continue to lead us. Since we are God’s children, He also is part of the family celebration. The years He gives us are His just as He has given us our inborn talents and abilities. When we celebrate our birthdays we should celebrate the One Who truly gave us life, and dedicate once more our lives to Him and rejoice in His fellowship.

This month besides celebrating birthdays, ministry continued to go forward. The month began with the annual winter youth camp (organized by the Ingrian Lutheran Missionary Committee—which is my official work with the Lutheran Church here), followed by two pro-life seminars (one in Viburg and the other in Nizhniy Novgorod). In between there were meetings, continued teaching at the International Christian Accademy, English service, the scouts and so forth. God has been good.

The Financial Crisis and the Church

Isaiah 40:10 Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him.

Obviously the world wide financial crisis is seriously affecting the Church. Building projects have had to be postponed, there are cuts being made, some pastors are facing the decision of “serving two masters”—finding a second job to support the family, and so forth. Church members are losing their jobs or in fear of losing their jobs, fellow missionaries are struggling as support is below expectations and expenses are exceeding expectations (although lately the dollar is rising against the ruble, so that has helped), and many people are worried especially about finances.

The financial crisis is out of our control—like flood, famine, wars and other life shaking events (being laid off, losing a loved one suddenly, being in a bad accident, etc.). At such times we begin to worry, but what we might want to do is remember. When things move in our lives that are out of our control, God’s powerful hand is moving. We are His children, so it moves for us, for our good and for our salvation. Although we do fear, we have not been given a spirit of fear. At such times we can look back on our lives, look back on other times when we have faced crisis and see how God has worked. This is one reason God gave Israel holidays—to remember His mighty hand working for their good (for instance, the Passover which not only celebrates the release from Egypt and slavery, but prophesies the coming Messiah and our releases from Sin).

During such times God is closer not farther away from us—we are often, however, too paralyzed to reach out to Him, or too blind to see Him or too mute to call out to Him. So He comes to us, calls to us, and if we allow, He heals our paralysis, opens our eyes, and we can rejoice even in the crisis for our Father is near!

Other Things to Celebrate this Month

Hebrews 3:6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

There are many other things to celebrate this month besides birthdays (the Bishop’s birthday was Feb. 14): the annual winter youth camp, and pro-life seminars in Viburg and Nizhniy Novgorod.

the Annual winter Youth Camp hosted by the Ingrian Lutheran Missionary committee was once again a success. The theme was “God’s Temple”—and the idea of being God’s temple was traced from the Tabernacle in the desert, through Solomon’s temple, Herod’s Temple, Jesus as the Temple (destroy this Temple), and finally our own bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. If one of the reasons for the Temple was to act as a reminder of God’s presence and care for His people—that God was “with them,” then Jesus as the Temple, God with us in person (Immanuel) and why we no longer need an external, physical temple is clear. Jesus came and He is now the presence of God with His people.

Then we take this one step further—our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we are to keep our bodies pure, but there is more. Since the purpose of the temple was to signify the presence of God, allow a place for the people to meet with God and pray to Him, this now becomes our purpose: to bring the presence of God to those around us, to be a person of prayer and praise, a person through whom those around us may meet Christ.

We also celebrate this month two Pro-life seminars—one in Viburg and one in Nizhniy Novgorod. The Viburg seminar was on male roles in the family. Often men do not take their role seriously—their responsibility seriously. In short, being head of the family is a matter of taking responsibility rather than being boss. In Nizhniy since we have been dealing with pre-marital relationships, the topic has shifted away from a direct “pro-life” theme—the question was raised, “what does the Bible say about how to pick an appropriate husband or wife?” Interestingly enough, the Bible has little to say about pre-marital love and romance and how to pick a partner (besides not being unevenly yoked with an unbeliever). The Bible talks more about once we are married. Adam was given Eve, he had no choice. Isaac’s marriage was arranged, Jacob marries his first wife by “mistake”—and has to keep her, David wins one of His wives, and the list could go on. The point is that no matter what reason a person gets married or how that marriage was decided on, once we are married we do not ever need to doubt that this is the partner God has given me—what God has put together, let no man put asunder. We may look at this as some sort of prison, or we can see it as God’s grace and love, and live with no doubt that our marriage is His plan for us and trust in His love to work through it and us.

Prayer Requests

Offer prayers of thanks for doors opening with the scout leaders and continue to pray for my work with them (post-modern youth), for the seeds planted at the Youth winter camp, for the continued work in Volkov, Nizhniy and Turyo. Pray Karl and Nastya as they study, and especially pray for us as we need to decide where Nastya will go to school next year. Pray also for Zhanya’s studies and as she prepares to take the US citizenship test (we are waiting to get the letter as to when that will be). Pray for English service, we have a chance to change our place of meeting to a place that is more accessible but would be a bit more expensive to rent. Pray for all those suffering as a result of this financial crisis, that those who believe may be strengthened and grow in faith, sensing in all things their Father’s loving hand, and for those who do not believe that they be drawn to seek God. Pray for International Christian Academy as they seek a more suitable and permanent building. Pray for the future work listed below. Pray for my family and for me that God guide me as father, husband, pastor and His child.

Volkov and future work

This month we had planned to return to Volkov, but I caught a cold and was too ill to travel. God knows. So we plan to return next month. The next planned seminar in Nizhniy will be in April, and we are beginning to plan for an English language camp at the beginning of June—this requires not only planning the program, but organizing logistics, visas, etc.

A Russian Joke

At the end of the first act of a new play the director quickly catches one of the leads who has played his part very poorly. He tactfully says, “We have made some last minute changes in the play—you will die at the beginning of the second act rather than the end of the third. Better for you to die according to my script than at the hands of the audience.”

Oh for a faith that will not shrink tho’ pressed by many a foe;

That will not tremble on the brink of poverty or woe.

A faith that shines more bright and clear when tempests rage without;

That when in danger knows no fear, in darkness feels no doubt

Lord, give us such a faith as this; and then whate’er may come,

We’ll tast e’en now the hallowed bliss of an eternal home.

TLH hymn # 396 verse 1,3,6

In Christ,

Leif & Zhanya Camp

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Click on http://www.flickr.com/photos/stpaulmp/ to see photos of the Camp’s work and life. This month’s are here and descriptions are with them. These photos will not remain here indefinitely as Flickr is no longer a free service for me. The most recent 200 St. Paul photos will be displayed. -LW.

CONTACT ADDRESSES Feedback, questions, whatever are most welcome.

Our Russian home address:

Leif and Zhanya Camp

18 line V. O. dom 43 Kv. 7

St. Petersburg, Russia, 199178

Stateside contact address:

Leif and Zhanya Camp,

C/O Marli Camp

902 N. 12^th

Melrose Park, IL, 60160

Russian Lutheran Church Address:

Ev. Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia

Bolshaya Konyushennaya dom 8

St. Peterburg, Russia, 191186

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(at symbol)mail.ru & leif.camp(at symbol)elci.ru. Prolife web site with Russian materials you can down load: prolife.elci.ru. Other websites: Lisa Stapp has set up a website which has some of our last newsletters (with their cover letters and pictures): http://www.worthywomanpage.com/camp/index.html. Also my mother's home congregation has our newsletters--the latest can be downloaded from: http://www.stpaulmp.org/camp/ a second site archives our past newsletters since 2002 http://www.stpaulmp.org/archives/ . Please feel free to share this newsletter with your Church, friends, or enemies if it might help (just please do not quote things out of context or edit my words in such a way as to change their intent). If you would like to receive a copy via e-mail, simply email me directly and ask!

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