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A Good Word from CAMP |
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Jan 2010—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
ЮБИЛЕЙ—you-bi-LAY—Anniversary
(Jubilee)
Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall
be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He
has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself
with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
This Year we get to celebrate several
“Jubilee’s”—this month and next month especially. Next month Karl becomes a teenager (he turns
13) and I become a middle ager (I turn 50), but I will save all that for next
month. This year the Lutheran Church of Ingria in
Celebrating Anniversaries is a good
Biblical practice—if we do so keeping Christ in the center. The Old Testament weekly observance of the
Sabbath was a remembrance and celebration of Creation; the New Testament weekly
observance of the Lord’s Day is a remembrance and celebration of our New
Creation in Christ through His death and Resurrection. The Old Testament Passover was a yearly
celebration of
Celebrating anniversaries gives us a chance to recount
God’s blessings over the years, to recount how He has “turned all things for
good,” and to reflect on the tests of faith we have faced—passed or
fallen. Anniversaries, then, give us a
chance to not only praise God for His care and blessings, but also a chance to
renew and strengthen our own faith, to recommit to His guidance and care, to
grow in confidence in His provision—strengthening us for the future tests we
will certainly face.
Nizhniy
Novgorod 15 years later
Romans 1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you
some spiritual gift, so that you may be established -- 12 that is,
that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and
me.
In
the fall of 1995 I met a young deacon who had traveled to
8 months after they were founded, an American volunteer Lutheran lay missionary and his young pregnant wife along with a newly married Russian couple and their newborn son were sent to Nizhniy Novgorod to plant a mission station to help grow that parish. The team had one instruction—plant a mission. When the young missionary asked “how?” The reply was the same, “just go and plant a mission.” So with Bible and prayer as the daily tools in their tool bag, the team set out. That team was me, Zhanya my wife, Alexander Schmidt and his wife Olga.
No one but God knows the work, the doubts overcome, the multitude of miracles, blessings and grace that went into planting that mission, but 15 years later, the first person discipled by the mission has been pastoring that congregation for the last 8 years, the congregation has grown from the beginning average of 7 people on worship on a Sunday to 35 people average on a Sunday and official communicant membership of about 60. Over 75 came for the celebration—some guests had to sit in the hallway. The congregation has managed receive back from the city a small piece of land—the corner of the old historic Lutheran cemetery—on the promise that they would build a church there (which is part of the city development plan). The parish has managed to build the first half of a building project—a parish hall—and is praying for the funds to build an actual Church building so as to keep it promise.
Although I get to the Nizhniy parish a few times a year to
present seminars, this last Sunday was a special trip— I was privileged to be
invited to participate in the 15th year anniversary services on
January 31st.
Starting a Zhiguli
2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say,
and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.
I drive two old beaters—a 1996 Ford Escort and a 1996 Russian Lada “Zhiguli.” Since one or the other is always in the repair shop, it is good that we have both cars (I bought the Zhiguli first since it was very cheap to test drive the Russian roads). After the big snow fall over the New Year’s holidays—about two feet—with no snow removal and the resulting mound of ice in the middle of the road which caused my Ford to bottom out, I have been driving the Zhiguli while the Ford gets fixed. The Zhiguli also rides higher. With the recent cold snap—two weeks running of 20 or more below Zero—I have had to run the car every 4 hours to make sure it starts in the morning (this means getting up in the middle of the night).
For those of you with life experience of about 60 years or more, you will better understand this, but for those of my life experience (I’ll be 50 next month), I will need to explain. A 1996 Zhiguli (and even later models) are equipped with a manual choke. In order to start the car, especially in cold weather, one needs to know how to use the choke properly—pulling it out, and then slowly pushing it back in as the engine warms. Push in the clutch, pull out the choke, turn on the ignition, pray the engine hasn’t frozen too much, and apply the gas. In extreme cold weather, the choke gets pulled all the way out, but if it sticks the engine races something fierce.
Funny how God uses everything—I remember when I was a child
visiting some relatives on their farm and learning how to start a tractor. The tractor also had a choke—I never forgot
the experience, and now it has come in handy.
This is not the first time some little episode from my past has proven
to be something useful in my present situation.
God does use all things…
Prayer Requests
Please pray for Karl and Nastya as
they continue to grow in faith while studying at International Christian
Academy; for the Ingrian Lutheran Theological
Institute which has been tangling with the Russian bureaucracy trying to get
re-licensed; for the work in Turyo, for guidance and
open doors; for English service as we have been serving in the new space since
November and are looking for ways to attract more English speakers and
Russians; for the pro-life ministry as we are in the last year of a three year
project; for Zhanya as she takes over a more official
role as administrative assistant for that project (pray that God strengthen her
faith and give her wisdom and strength); for our two old cars—the uncleared snow which then turned to ice leaving an ice
mound between two tire ruts has damaged the undercarriage of both (so both need
repairs); for Andrei Savelainen and the Ingrian Chaplaincy initiative, for the Schmidt family; and
for the Parish in Nizhniy Novgorod as they seek to build and grow. Pray also that God continue to guide me and
that He grant me a renewed vision and strength for my ministry here (the winter
darkness I think is getting to me).
News
from Turyo
God willing and if my beaters hold up on the roads, I will
be increasing my work at Turyo—driving there two
Saturdays a month. I am still planning things
with the youth worker and the pastor, but the basic idea is to plan some sort
of evangelism activity—a seminar, concert, and etc. during those times. We are hoping to put the Good News Journals
we have to good use. This is another
thing to keep in prayer.
Another Russian Joke:
The director and producer of a play on its opening night are running back and forth in the auditorium, very nervous. Suddenly a man gets up and starts to leave rather quickly. Both the director and producer quickly accost the man and fire at him a bunch of questions: “what, the plot isn’t interesting?” “well, no, the plot is fine, I suppose…” “what, the acting is bad?” “well, no, I wouldn’t say that, they have talent enough.” Maybe you don’t like the costumes and scenery?” “no, no, all that is fine—actually well done.” “then why are you leaving?” You know, it’s just that it is scary being the only person in the theatre.”
For many years, O
God of grace, this church has been Thy dwelling place and we Thy congregation.
Upon the precious
Cornerstone our faith is built, and Christ alone is still our one foundation.
Today we pray: let
us greet Thee, Lord, and meet Thee here with singing
All our praises to
Thee bringing
TLH 639 verse 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.
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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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