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A Good Word from CAMP |
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Sept 2009—St.
(Click on http://www.flickr.com/photos/stpaulmp/
to see photos of the Camp’s work and
life. These photos will not remain here
indefinitely as Flickr is no longer a free service
for me. The most recent 200
НАЧАЛО--Na-CHA-la—Beginning
John 1:1 In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
So now what?
September is always an interesting month as far as ministry goes—it is
the “beginning” of the ministry year.
Summer is a time for groups, language camps, retreats and preparation
for September. Every year, with the changing
of the leaves, brings changes in my ministry here. This year I am no longer regularly teaching
at
English Language Worship Services
Psalm 19:3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.
At the request of a local Russian pastor, I began leading English language worship services with the help of Pastor Alexander Schmidt back in the Fall of 2004. At that time we met at St. Michael’s church. As they were remodeling, we had to move in the Fall of 2006—we moved to the conference room at the Ingrian Lutheran central offices located in the courtyard behind St. Mary’s Church. The space was not very “church” like, but we built and consecrated an altar and services went forward. As one Russian parishioner put it, “I was concerned that the place did not look like or feel a church, but once the liturgy started, and we began to sing, I knew this was also a “church.”
Such sentiments reflect a truth—it is not the building, but where ever two or three are truly gathered in His Name. We are now moving again—the Fall of 2009. Last week the congregation voted to take a risk and move from our present location to a chapel located half a block away. Our present location has served us very well, it is inexpensive, and we were able to hold services and have tea without bothering anyone—the space is ours to use all day Sunday (and on occasion for evening services and so forth). Last Winter, however, the apartment dwellers put up a security gate with a code lock, limiting access to the courtyard behind St. Mary’s. This effectively limited our attendance to those who knew the secret code and their especially invited guests. This not only makes for close Communion (which is the Ingrian Lutheran policy), but closed prayer, praise and so forth. Since that time I have been in negotiation with St. Mary’s about the possibility of using their small chapel which is also used by the Sunday school. Last year there were scheduling conflicts, and the using the space was a bit more than our English service offerings could afford. This year, however, some doors have opened—the cost of using the space came down, Sunday school is meeting a half-hour later, so we can now use the chapel which has an entrance to the street. The down side is that we now have a time limit, the up side is that there is now the opportunity for walk-in traffic—the opportunity to reach those who do not yet know “the secret code.”
Who attends English worship? At present we have two mixed families (Russian/American and Russian/Canadian), one American family, two Russian families, and then several Russian retirees. What began as an outreach to foreigners has turned into more of an outreach to Russians.
Contemporary Youth Service
Psalm 149:1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, And
His praise in the assembly of saints.
Last Spring Bishop Arri Kuggapi took over as head pastor of St. Mary’s—soon after he asked if I might help out with youth work the next Fall. St. Mary’s also called a young deacon Michail Ivanov to work with youth. So now we are working together on this project. For now services are scheduled for 6 pm on the last Saturday each month (they began already on the 26th of this month), and we have decided to schedule an evangelistic type seminar at 4 pm beginning next month (not only hoping people will stay after for the service, but also seminars are a good form of outreach). The seminars we are planning will focus on various questions of faith following Luther’s Small Catechism (next month we are planning one on marriage and life which will touch on several of the 10 Commandments). This will allow us not only to tie into Catechism classes that are going on in the church, but also to make good use of our limited supply of Russian “Good News” journals (which are also Catechetical in structure and intent).
Coming up in October
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.
This October two major events I am involved in are coming together. First, the second annual Police Chaplaincy seminar is scheduled. Pastor/Chaplain Anton Lagoutin who is affiliated with LCMS Peace Officer Ministries is flying in to help lead a seminar as part of the Ingrian Lutheran chaplaincy initiative. I have been helping Deacon Andrei Savilinen (the head of the Ingrian side of the project) get things organized. Seminars begin October 2-3 and 10-11.
Pastor Don Richman is making his semi-annual visit, and we
are planning a pro-life seminar in
Prayer Requests
Pray for all those
who have been supporting not only us, but the Ingrian
Lutheran Church, and Lutheran Mission work in Russia, that God bless those who
have chosen to continue to make financial sacrifices for the sake of the Gospel
especially during these hard times—it is easy to give during times of
abundance, but in lean times, the truly faithful rise (we have been most
blessed and are thankful to God and all of you). Pray for our Karl and Nastya
as they attend
A bit of Russian Humor: At the end of the first act of a new play, the author quickly runs back stage to talk to one of the leads. He says, “I have made some last minute changes in the play—you will die at the beginning of the second act, not the end of the third.” The actor asked, “why?” The author replied, “better you die at the hands of my imagination than at the hands of the audience!”
With the Lord
begin thy task, Jesus will direct it;
For His aid and
counsel ask, Jesus will perfect it.
Ev’ry
morn with Jesus rise, and when day is ended,
In His name then
close thine eyes; be to Him commended.
TLH 540 vrs 1
In Christ,
Leif & Zhanya Camp
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Click on http://www.flickr.com/photos/stpaulmp/
to see photos of the Camp’s work and
life. These photos will not remain here
indefinitely as Flickr is no longer a free service
for me. The most recent 200
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, |
Stateside contact address: Leif and Zhanya Camp, C/O Marli Camp 902 N. 12th |
Ev. Bolshaya Konyushennaya dom 8 St. Peterburg, |
Telephone: after getting an international line by dialing 011, dial 7- 812 (our area code) 321-1508(our phone number)
Note—Between St.
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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