Archives of Missionary Letters:

From: Ellen and Al Smith
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 7:58 AM
Subject: September newsletter
Dear friends and family,
   Grace and peace to you in the name of our risen Lord!
   We have been enjoying the golden days of Indian Summer after a very cool August and early September. I am home for a little while, after three very full and exciting weeks of travel. I want to share it all with you, but can't do it in just one letter. Expect a second installment soon.
   Meg and I returned from Riga three days after school began. As other classmates were also late in returning, she didn't have too much work to make up. Al and Emma were already into the school schedule and Meg easily slipped into place. I spent the week left of my summer getting ready for the fall schedule.
   After our wild summer, I felt rather unprepared for a long anticipated visit from Bob Ellis, Coordinator of the International Health Office of our denomination, but many prayers were lifted for us and the Lord poured out His blessings bountifully. I met Bob in Minsk on September 4, and our incredible journey began. The goal of this trip was to share the work of the two Round Tables (Belarusian and Russian) in the area of drug rehabilitation and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Sadly, HIV and AIDS are spreading faster in these two countries than anywhere in the world. The number of people infected is not as high as in Africa, but the rate of transfer is alarming.
   Our visit in Belarus began with an overview of efforts in that country with visits to government offices on AIDS, UNAIDS, and an NGO working with those infected. Interestingly, we got three very different pictures of the situation. With this background, we set out to see projects, visiting two rehabilitation centers for ex-prisoners infected with HIV.
   Sister Pavla is an Orthodox nun who has been working with women in the prison for many years. Recently she opened a rehabilitation center in the city of Gomel. She has years of experience, having brought individual women into her monastery for rehabilitation. She knows the challenges that she faces. It is more difficult for women to break the cycle of addiction and to rebuild their lives than it is for men. Few facilities are willing to work with women. This is the only Christian rehab center for women in Belarus. Bob and I spent the afternoon with Sister Pavla and her patients, talking about the recovery process, the needs of the center, and the women's hopes and dreams. Sister Pavla uses animals in therapy, teaching the young women to train dogs. She seeks to reawaken their nurturing instincts. She has acquired a small farm in a village outside of Gomel, and hopes to expand the rehabilitation program with this property, but there are challenges to this. Neighbors don't often want former drug addicts next door. She also wants and needs to make the ministry self-supporting. We talked about a number of possible projects that could bring in income. Bob and I are both concerned for Pavla. She has too few volunteers and carries most of the load alone. She knows that she needs help, but few people will look beyond labels to individuals longing for a new life.
   Our second visit was to a project I have written about before, a rehabilitation center for men in the village of Lyubcha run by Igor Romanovski, a man who radiates warmth and joy. His boundless energy carries his vision to reality. In the two years since my first visit, Igor has added a dormitory for 7, a new barn for a dairy, and a retreat center (nearly complete). When the retreat center is done, they will finish work on a new dormitory for 15. A third dormitory is planned. Early on, we helped Igor to buy a horse for plowing. Now they have a tractor and Igor has traded the horse for a cow. With two cows, they have begun their dairy, but hope to expand so that the dairy can support the center. Igor works in partnership with the village police. They work together to choose from applicants, to develop the community, and to meet the needs of the community. Igor's wife and two small children also live at the center. Igor often has to go into Minsk overnight. They know there's a risk. Some of the men have shown aggression in prison with rough guards, but Igor and his family have never had problems. They see that warmth and love heal people.
   The Belarusian Round Table hopes to bring leaders like Sister Pavla and Igor Romanovski together in a rehabilitation network for sharing. Both of these centers are models that need to be replicated. There are so many people here broken by alcohol, drugs and despair.
   After 4 days in Belarus, Bob and I traveled by night train to Moscow and jumped right into work, meeting on Friday with Margarita Nelyubova, Director of the Russian Round Table, for an overview before setting off by car early Saturday morning for the Ivanovo Region. Our goal on Saturday was a drug rehabilitation center in a monastery on the high banks of the Volga River. Because we missed the ferry, Bob, Margarita and I drove on to a village beyond Kineshma, where we were met by Father Mefodii, abbot and director of rehabilitation. Together, we traveled 15 km upriver by motorboat to the monastery. This in itself was the adventure of a lifetime. I cannot describe the beauty or the profound sense of peace in this place. The monastery is set in an abandoned village. Four monks live here with 8 patients. (to have more than 8 throws off the balance of the community.) Each man stays at the center for 6-18 months. There are orchards and gardens, animals, work and worship. Father Mefodii uses film therapy to help the men think about life issues, studying modern films from all over the world. They look at the problems people face in films like "Kramer vs. Kramer," and discuss Christian responses to troubles. They also have self-help groups and individual counseling. Father Mefodii works to move people from nominal Christianity to real, life-giving faith. Currently, they are building a refectory for the center. The current dining hall is too small for all the visitors that come and is poorly heated. This is a serious problem for people whose health is fragile. Many are HIV-positive and 90% are infected with Hepatitis C. Once the refectory is complete, Father Mefodii hopes to begin a series of seminars for others interested in establishing rehabilitation programs.
   The three of us spent the night at the monastery and then, reluctantly, headed back down river to our car and the rest of our journey. We drove back to the city of Ivanovo, visiting two more monasteries, including a women's monastery that has begun a hotline. >From there we traveled to another village and another rehabilitation center run by Father Sergei, who is also the head of the Diocesan Desk on Drug Rehabilitation. He has also established a good model, using the 12-step program to begin men on their journey to recovery. Father Sergei asked us about models for half-way ministry. He sees that the men in his care need a transition from the tranquil village environment back to the cities they came from. Bob and I have both tasked ourselves with finding such models in the United States as a resource for Father Sergei and others involved in this ministry. If you know of any, please let us know.
   The three of us returned from the Ivanovo Region and took a day off before setting out again for the Bryansk Region. Here we visited another rehabilitation center (also set in a monastery), as well as a Christian NGO involved in developing peer mentors and caring for those infected with HIV. Father Diomede is the leader in both the rehabilitation center and the NGO. He is a man of deep caring and vision with feet firmly planted in the traditions of Orthodoxy, but open to new ideas to help a generation spinning in the face of globalization. We found hope in a group of bubbly young people who have taken a pledge against alcohol and drugs. They are one of several peer mentor groups in Bryansk schools. We spent an evening with a self-support group for HIV-positive individuals and their families. We listened to the heartbreaking stories of rejection and isolation. Most cannot find work. Many are afraid to tell their families. They seek hope. In the support group, they have found some strength to carry on. Like others involved in the ministry, Father Diomede seeks ways to support the work. We discussed possible projects to make the rehabilitation center self-supporting. Father Diomede also sees the need for half-way ministry to help people transition back home.
   I hope that Bob has had a chance to rest and recover from a very full schedule. We have felt richly blessed by the journey and now look ahead to see how best to engage. Please pray for Sister Pavla, Igor Romanovski, Father Mefodii, Father Sergei, Father Diomede, and all those engaged in rehabilitation ministry. Please pray for strength and endurance in their efforts to guide people from nominal Christianity to life-giving faith.
   May the peace and blessings of our Lord be with each of you. With love in Christ, Ellen

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Dear Friends of Joining Hands,

It is an invaluable boost for us to know you have joined hands with us, that you pray for us, and support us as we work to create a more just and life-giving World, here in Bolivia.

As the Bolivian members of the Joining Hands network, UMAVIDA, take a deeper look at how they can further be supported, in practical ways, by our partners in the North, I would like to share with you my reflections as your Companionship Facilitator.

I am not representing the UMAVIDA network as I write, but only my own understanding of how we of wealth and privilege can best "help" Bolivia. I hope these reflections will be of use to you as you join hands to strengthen this important effort in establishing God's Kin-dom here on Earth.

In the 17 months that have passed since I arrived in Bolivia, I have experienced a revelation which is nothing unique except on the personal level: The good news Bolivia is celebrating, legislating, constituting, debating is the Good News we as followers of Jesus' teachings celebrate. I say this because the current administration of the Bolivian government has taken significant steps to give good news to the poor.

So the question is, how do those of us living in the Pax Americana, in the most wealthy two percent of the entire World (if we own a car), step down and join the dusty rowdy crowd of the poor and their advocates? It is not easy. Some of these dancing in the streets are still desperately hungry, grieving for absent family members who left home to find employment for survival, or died from preventable, water-borne diseases. One in every ten Bolivian children die before the age of five, the primary cause being bad drinking water. Some feel enslaved by powers beyond their control, beyond their borders. Some are angry. Diseased. Tired. And very, very poor. To move among such a crowd, to become so vulnerable, so helpless seems...challenging. It calls upon our faith in God.

And we already are feeling so vulnerable and threatened. The largest national budget item in the U.S.: "defense."

Those in this huge crowd outside have only their own faith and each other to keep themselves alive.

They cry out to the authorities that they need life-giving clean piped water, while currently profit-driven private corporations have been inadequately managing water systems. And the new government of Bolivia is responding, but the need for resources is gigantic, and here in Bolivia it is easy to see the original source of water, the glaciers, melting.

People ask, "What can we do?"
 
Look to the mountains and you will see that the primary sources of fresh water, the aquifers and glaciers remnant of the last Ice Age are rapidly disappearing. Most are now gone. We have learned that only another ice age could restore them. Global warming is resulting in record-breaking changes in climate which many scientists believe could lead to a collapse of life on the planet.

Bolivians need us to respond on a big scale to help them by preventing the destruction of our Mother Earth. Many of the poor depend on what the Earth itself offers them directly: drinking water, irrigation for vegetables and crops, fish, wildlife, grazing for animals. All this is disappearing! We can stop this destruction. We now have the means, the understanding, the technology.

All we need is the will, and as Al Gore is pointing out in his latest book, that is a renewable resource.

I am convinced it is God's desire that we join hands in this endeavor.

So, there it is: How we can help Bolivians by working to reverse global warming, stabilize the consumption of water, clean the Earth's rivers and lakes and oceans and eliminate toxic contamination of the Mother upon whom all of us depend. Legislation enacted in Washington can impact Bolivia's future.

Here in Bolivia the community of faith embodied in the UMAVIDA network is working urgently to show the way. There is tremendous resistance from the rich, the powerful. But they ask us to follow what they are doing and learn from them. Become inspired by their struggle, their humble successes: Bolivians have managed in the last seven months to reduce the salaries of the country's legislators and government functionaries and to raise the national minimum wage.  Some corrupt officials have been removed from government, control of some natural resources has been removed from the hands of profiteering private interests, and a Constitutional Assembly has been convened to create a more just and equitable society.  Yet the greatest challenges remain, and are rooted in realities and problems beyond Bolivia's borders.

As Christians we believe the meek shall inherit the Earth. Let us support both the meek and the Earth, that there may be something left to inherit, and people left to inherit it!

Let us celebrate with these people.

In An Inconvenient Truth, an important manual for how to go about this great undertaking, Al Gore points out that our country is responsible for contributing to more pollution that causes global warming that South America, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, Japan and Asia all put together. And he declares: "...those with the most technology have the greatest moral obligation to use it wisely. And this, too, is a political issue. Policy matters."

Let us look at an example from Mr. Gore's book, an example of what we can do:

"Japan has cars that are required by law to get more than 45 miles per gallon. Europe is not far behind and has passed new laws designed to surpass Japanese standards. Our friends in Canada and Australia are moving toward higher requirements of more than 30 miles per gallon.

"Yet the United States is dead last.

"We're told that we have to protect our automobile companies from competition in places like China where, it is said, their leaders don't care about the environment.

"In fact, Chinese emissions standards have been raised and already far exceed our own. Ironically, we cannot sell cars made in America to China because we don't meet their environmental standards.

"In California, the state legislature has taken the initiative to require higher standards for cars sold in California. But the auto companies are suing California to prevent this state law from taking effect--because it would mean that, 10 years from now, they would have to manufacture cars for California that are almost as efficient as China is making them today."

I believe that this is the most important thing we can do for Bolivia: by working to stop global warming we can help assure Bolivia's glaciers do not disappear, that living waters flow forever from the Royal Range of the Andes, that fish and other wildlife return and thrive. We can help assure clean drinking water for all by promoting legislation proclaiming water as a basic and universal human right, for the enjoyment of our children's children to the seventh generation.

The poor and hungry of Bolivia have stopped believing that God wills they be poor. Now there is dancing in the streets as this wonderful truth becomes evident, as their new leadership enacts measures promoting prosperity and participatory governance for all Bolivians.

Surely Jesus celebrates with them.

Yes, the celebration is a desperate, terrible celebration. Life itself is at stake. And we are their hope.

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Dear friends and family!

Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It has been a wild summer, but your prayers have carried us through. We are so thankful for the fellowship we have with each of you. Some of you may be wondering why you haven't heard from us in weeks. We know you were expecting to hear when we finally landed back in Moscow, but my computer, with address book, has been seriously ill. It finally died this week. We are still working to restore all the data, but I now have a new computer.

So much has happened since I wrote in April. May was a full month, with two very successful group visits; one for a new partnership between Fair Oaks PC in California and Kostroma BC (300 km NE of Moscow) and a second out to Surgut in Siberia with a well established partner, Germantown PC from Tennessee. The focus of both trips was relationship building. The Fair Oaks group and I spent nine days in Kostroma, giving everyone the chance to get to know the pastor and members of the congregation well. It was a joy for everyone to listen and share. The group came away with a sense of the breadth and depth of the ministry in this city, as well as the challenges. Both churches now pray for one another and begin to correspond. Because of language and distance, it takes a little longer to communicate, but things have begun and that is very exciting.

I had about a week after Kostroma to get ready Surgut and to get the family ready to depart for the States as soon as I returned from there. This summer we were due for a mid-term break (two months leave in the midst of our five year term). Between Al's schedule and mine, we couldn't find two months to be gone together, so we planned only one month. Even that added challenges to the schedule. I traveled to Surgut with the group, but was not able to stay the whole time. My colleague, Jeff Koning, from Perm, joined us in Surgut and returned with the group to Moscow, making it possible for me to head back early and depart for the US. Like the trip to Kostroma, this trip to Surgut was about spending time with the congregation, listening and sharing, getting to know members and their ministry. It was good to hear all that they are doing in the middle of the taiga. Even for established partnerships, there is always something new to hear and see, and there is always a lot of catching up to do.

The highlight of our month in the States was Allison's graduation from Carleton College. It was a wonderful celebration. We spent the rest of the month on the run to visit family and to take care of dental care and physicals. The plans we had for the rest of the summer were thrown to the wind when Meg and I were prevented from returning to Russia as scheduled. For me, a simple physical at the beginning of June turned into a month of tests, and then 3 days before my departure, my doctor called to delay my return by yet another 3 weeks of test. For now, the tests show that things are not serious. There are some irregularities with my liver, but no sign of damage. We are very thankful. For Meg, the delay was a lost passport. During the three weeks of medical tests, we scurried to replace her passport, get a new Letter of Invitation and new visa. We both returned in mid-July.

Meg and I missed three camps, leaving Al and Emma to do the work of four of us, but the Lord mercifully provided the help needed through John and Deb Burgess, friends from Pittsburgh Seminary who were staying with us for the summer. Deb and their kids had already planned to join us for the camps. She went further, stepping in to take my place and did a great job. Al ended up going back and forth between camps while Emma stayed with Deb and company, helping with translation where needed.

Meg and I returned in time to head to Vologda with a group from Westminster PC in Charleston, SC. The church in Vologda is one of the very few churches we know of working with special needs children. Members of the two churches joined together in one team to put on a camp for Down's Syndrome children and their families. Most special needs children in Russia are institutionalized from birth. Those few courageous parents who have kept their children have faced huge challenges and real isolation. Hearts become hardened in such circumstances. The goal of the camp was to reach these families with the love of Christ and to give them rest and recreation. I do not know of any other church that has attempted such a camp. None of us knew what to expect, but we brought together skills, experience and love and the result still fills me with wonder. As I told our Russian-American team at the end of the camp, we had begun something new and exciting. We had created a model. We all hope that it will be possible to expand on this model in coming years. We have come away from this camp with a deeper knowledge of the needs of these families and see that seminars on a variety of topics would also be very valuable.

The last group of summer departed this past Sunday after a full week with their partner in Ryazan. A team of seven came from FPC Charlotte in North Carolina. The partners worked together on a children's day camp, but also visited needy families, and held a hen's party, gathering women from several churches for a special time of fellowship. At the end of the visit, the pastor took the entire team out to his dacha for a picnic and fellowship with his family. As important as the camps and family visits are, it is the fellowship, the time together listening and sharing, that is of the greatest importance.

The summer has at times been very stressful, but we have come through it. We rejoice that, after two months of searching, Allison found a very good job in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where she is now settled. The girls anxiously await the start of school in two weeks. Meg and I leave this evening for a trip to get her another visa. Al is busy getting ready for classes. Emma will help him while we are away.

Please pray for our family as we separate yet again for this visa trip.

Please pray for the churches in Kostroma and Ryazan, which struggle with building issues.

Please pray for the families of special needs children in the Vologda Region, especially Lyuba and her son Nikita. Lyuba grew up in an orphanage. She loves her son dearly, but she doesn't always know how handle him and has no one to turn to.

Please pray for the church in Surgut as they head into the long Siberian winter. Many members of the church family struggle with chronic health problems associated with the harsh conditions of this region.  

With love in Christ,
Ellen

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From: Bob and Julie Dunsmore
Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2006 8:00 AM
Subject: Bolivia News and Commentary March 31, 2006

Bolivia News and Commentary March 31, 2006
 
Dear Friends of Bolivia,
 
Continuing Good News from South America's Poorest Country!
 
Among the reasons for a positive outlook is an indication of the shift in government policy on gas was the arrest on March 15 of the two main executives of the Bolivian subsidiary of the Spanish-owned Repsol, one of the biggest investors in Bolivia, on charges of selling contraband petrol and involvement in the company's avoidance of payment of US $9.2 million in taxes.

Reporting the arrests, Associated Press observed: "The case is widely seen as an attempt by President Evo Morales's new leftist government to exert tighter legal control on multinationals and exact from them more proceeds from the exploitation of Bolivia's natural resources."

The government has also announced plans to take control back over 10 semi-privatised companies, initiated a land reform program, launched a literacy campaign, increased the minimum wage by 100% and insisted it will legalize coca (whose production large numbers of indigenous farmers depend on) against US opposition, among other measures

For most Bolivians, including the 88% who enthusiastically voted for Morales in El Alto, despite the hesitations of the city's social-movement leaders Morales's electoral victory represents only the beginning of a struggle to "refound" Bolivia. As Morales has pointed out, before they can nationalise the hydrocarbons, they need to "nationalise" the legislative and executive power, in other words, take it out of the hands of forces controlled by US and multinational corporate interests and put it into the hands of those who genuinely represent the interests of Bolivians.
 
Newmont Must Shape Up as its Shareholders Wake Up! From Heather Draper in the Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones News comes some good news for those of us who are working hard in Bolivia to protect the environment and the communities affected by Newmont's mining operations in the Oruro area:
 
"Environmental groups have scored two "wins" against Newmont Mining Corporation...
 
Newmont has been hit by pollution allegations from around the globe in recent months, but the most recent headlines came out of Peru and Indonesia, where Newmont has gold and copper mining operations.
 
Last week, Newmont decided not to pursue a contentious mine in Peru because of earlier protests there.
 
This week, a government panel in Indonesia issued a report indicating that Denver-based Newmont's gold mine on the island of Sulawesi polluted the island's Buyat Bay.
 
Some of the panel's conclusions: Arsenic levels in Buyat Bay sediment are 100 times higher than at control sites where no mining occurred, consumption of fish from the bay poses a risk to humans, and mercury levels in seabed-dwelling organisms in the bay are about 10 times higher than at control sites...
 
The company decided that exploration and mining at the Cerro Quilish deposit at Newmont's huge Yanacocha mine site in Peru "couldn't be done under current conditions," he said, so Newmont asked the Peruvian government last Thursday to revoke its exploration permit for the deposit.
 
Environmentalists heralded the decision.
 
School of the Americas Must be Closed!
The UMAVIDA network has been blessed and privileged to support the visit to Bolivia of church worker Lisa Sullivan, torture survivor Carlos Mauricio and School of the Americas Watch founder, Maryknoll priest Reverend Roy Bourgeois.
 
Here is word from Lisa Sullivan before leaving Bolivia for Uruguay: "Roy, Carlos and I had a wonderful and hopeful meeting with the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales. Evo listened intensely as we explained the the history of this school, its role in Bolivia, along with Roy's personal history here in Bolivia during the Banzer dictatorship when he was tortured, imprisoned, and expelled. We formally requested that Bolivia remove its troops from the SOA. His interest, his questions, and his own requests give us great hope as we prepare to journey to Uruguay this morning."
 
Here, from U.S. Newswire, March 28, 2006 ( http://www.usnewswire.com) is the wonderful news:
 
This week two South American countries sent a strong message of support for human rights and military accountability by ceasing all military training of their troops at the controversial U.S. Army's School of the Americas. Nilda Garre, the Defense Minister of Argentina, and Azucena Berrutti, Uruguay's Minister of Defense, decided this week to stop sending soldiers from their countries to train at the military school based at Fort Benning, Georgia and now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/ WHINSEC).
 
The critical decisions by the two countries followed meetings with Uruguayan & Argentinean human rights groups and the SOA Watch
activists church worker Lisa Sullivan, torture survivor Carlos Mauricio and Maryknoll priest Reverend Roy Bourgeois.
 
"Everywhere we've traveled this month in South America, we've been amazed to realize that people are fully aware of the reality of the
School of the Americas," said Sullivan. "They have experienced firsthand the horrors of the tortures, detentions, imprisonments and 'disappearances' caused by its graduates."
 
Argentina and Uruguay become the second and third countries to announce a cessation of training at the SOA. In January of 2004, Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela would no longer send troops to train at the school.

March, rally and lobby to close the SOA! A Call from SOA Watch:
April 23-25 in Washington, DC We are riding a tide of momentum as we prepare for our Spring Lobby Days! From Argentina and Uruguay to the incredible movement we've seen in support of immigrant rights, now is the time to take our message to Capitol Hill. Join us in DC from April 23-25 as we tell Congress to close the School of the Americas once and for all! Let's ride this tide and flood the halls of Congress with justice. On Sunday, April 23, we'll gather for a day of legislative trainings, workshops and a talk from Father Roy. On Monday, April 24, we'll process to Capitol Hill, hold a brief rally and meet with Members of Congress. We'll continue to hold Congressional meetings on Tuesday, April 25.
 
More soon to follow,
with hope,
Julie and Bob

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From: Ellen & Alan Smith
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 6:16 AM
Subject: Greetings from Al & Ellen Smith in Moscow

Dear friends and family,
 
We greet you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
 
Our winter has been very long and dogged, but we begin to see signs of spring. The temperatures have been above freezing the last few days, the dvorniki (courtyard sweepers) are knocking down the snow drifts so they will melt faster, and everything is thoroughly grimy. We await the return of color to Russia.
 
Things are getting busy again. Two colleagues arrived at the beginning of last week: Gary Payton, our Regional Liaison, and Burkhard Paetzold, Regional Liaison for Central Europe and Roma Ministries Consultant. This was one of Gary's bi-annual visits to Russia. Burkhard came at our invitation to help evaluate a ministry to the Roma that we encountered in Kostroma last July. There were plenty of meetings to attend, but the three of us also took two trips out of Moscow to visit partner churches. Of course, one of those trips was to Kostroma. The other was a daytrip to Klin, 80 km northwest of Moscow.
 
The partner church in Klin is Russian Orthodox. Father Boris cares for this parish, but also has responsibility for the region. What is accomplished through this parish is amazing. They are training priests, publishing a wide variety of Christian books for both clergy and laity, implementing an extensive Bible Study program for adults, as well as a Sunday school program for children, ministering in hospitals, orphanages and pensioners homes, putting on a summer camp, and supporting an Orthodox grade school established in the last 5 years. This church is partnered with Gary's home congregation, First Presbyterian Church in Sandpoint, ID, so he traveled to Klin as a partner rather than as Liaison. Gary had asked to include time at the grade school in this visit, and we spent much of the day there.
 
There had been a recent tragedy in the church/school family. The mother of a fourth grade student had been murdered 10 days before. In talking about this tragedy and its affect on the school community, we moved into a new depth of relationship. The director shared about what they try to accomplish in this school. They seek to provide the children with an atmosphere that builds a strong spiritual foundation for life. When the child's mother died, they did not know how the school community would react. They saw all of their efforts come together, though, as the child's classmates surrounded her with love and care. They were present at the funeral, supporting her and grieving with her. Father Boris and the school director both noted that non-believers attending the funeral drew back to the edges of the worship, afraid of death and not knowing how to react. Our conversation moved on to other subjects: schools in the US and the difference between public, private and church schools and ways for the grade school and FPC's Sunday school to connect.
 
Burkhard traveled with us to Klin to see a piece of Twinning. He traveled with us to Kostroma as an expert on Roma ministry. When Al and I visited Kostroma last July, we knew only vaguely about the Roma ministry there. Our purpose in going was to talk about Twinning. The senior pastor was out of town, but it was the only free time we had all summer. As it was not our first contact, and as the senior pastor was glad for us to come ahead, we went and connected with Piotr Anatolevich, one of the other pastors.  Piotr and his wife, Olga, are also missionaries to the Roma. We did find time to talk about twinning with the Kostroma church, but we also talked deeply about their Roma ministry and visited several Roma families. Our instincts told us this was a very good model, but we needed Burkhard to come evaluate it. Burkhard was also impressed, as was Gary.
 
Al and I stand with churches engaged in very challenging ministries, but ministry to the Roma is the most difficult we have seen. They are a completely alienated people with a terribly low self image. They participate in their own alienation in the ways that they support themselves, but they have also been pushed aside and abused by dominant cultures throughout their history. During Soviet times, Stalin forced the Roma to settle and take on steady jobs. Their culture was all but lost during these years. The majority of Roma in Russia are illiterate. Of course there are Roma engaged in honest work, but many are fortune-tellers, pick pockets, beggars and drug dealers. Many struggle with drug addiction and alcoholism as well. Many have no documents, adding to the challenges that they already face.
 
Piotr and Olga know something about alienation, being Baptist and of German and Finnish ancestry. Their families have been in Russia for hundreds of years, but they have never been assimilated. Their families were deported to Central Asia and Siberia during World War II. Piotr grew up being called a fascist in school and was repeatedly told that Baptists were the most dangerous people. They both have a profound sense of call to the Roma. It is demanding and exhausting ministry, but they are faithful. Piotr and Olga visit Roma families three to four times a week, leading worship and Bible lessons in homes and seeking ways to help them find their place in the community. They also serve as a resource for others engaged in Roma ministry. There was a network of Roma missionaries and churches, but the network lost its coordinator a couple of years ago. They now look to Piotr. He stays in touch with everyone, encouraging them and sharing strategies and ideas with them, but they have not been able to gather in two years.
 
Burkhard, Gary, Al and I have much to discuss in the days and weeks ahead, but we already agree that this is a place where we need to engage. We are very grateful to Burkhard for making this trip.
 
Please pray for the Orthodox grade school in Klin, as they seek to give children a strong Christian foundation. Please pray for Piotr and Olga as they continue to serve in this challenging ministry. Please pray for the Roma in Russia and across Europe. Please pray for us as we seek ways to engage in this ministry.
 
With love in Christ,
Ellen & Al

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From: Bob and Julie Dunsmore
Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2006 10:57 AM
Subject: Bolivia News March 17, 2006

Dear Friends of Bolivia:

Here are some short but very important news items:

1) Bolivia is experiencing tremendous pressure from the U.S. to sign a "Free" Trade Agreement, including the threat of the cancellation of current U.S. preferential treatment status in trade for Bolivia at the end of 2006. There have been actions by Marcus Iberkleid (clothing manufacturer, exporter for Ralph Lauren) to show worker support for a Free Trade Agreement. One point to be made in discussions regarding trade agreements --protectionism is not a bad thing for Bolivian industries, markets.  Also, trade agreements such as this could seriously limit the impact of the Constitutional Assembly. Regarding a campaign around preferential trade treatment, WOLA and Public Citizen are watching the issue closely and will be in touch with us. A focussed campaign will likely begin after Sacha Llorenti arrives in D.C. to serve as ambassador.

2) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bolivia will this month likely become the latest Latin American country to end formal financing ties with the International Monetary Fund, officials and experts said on Tuesday.
The country's current three-year IMF stand-by facility, a lending plan linked to structural and economic performance criteria, expires on March 31.
Some economists said if Bolivia allows the agreement to lapse, it will mark a further sidelining of the IMF in Latin America. Brazil and Argentina cleared debts to the fund in December, putting a further squeeze on the IMF's finances.
Unlike Brazil and Argentina, Bolivia was freed of its IMF obligations under last year's global agreement to cancel the world's 19 poorest countries' debts to the fund.
Bolivia's relative poverty would make a decision to end ties with the fund more significant, leading to questions over the IMF's role in low-income countries as well as highlighting a growing desire in the region for development independence.
Even before Brazil and Argentina paid their debts to the IMF, middle-income countries across Asia had been building international reserves to avoid having to turn to the lender, a result of widespread regional mistrust over the fund's handling of the crises that swept over Asia in 1997-98.
Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director at the Center for Economic Policy Research in Washington, said Bolivia's long experience under IMF programs has not always been a happy one, adding that key sticking points remain with the new government.
The IMF opposes a hydrocarbons law, passed by Bolivia last year, which boosted royalty payments by foreign gas companies to the government and provided for renegotiation of some contracts and which Weisbrot said might be critical to government finances.
A longer-running issue has been the IMF-backed social security privatization in 1998, which still weighs heavily on the government's budget deficit.
"The need for new economic policies can be seen from the severe economic failure over the last quarter of a century," Weisbrot said in a report this week, adding Bolivia's per capita income is lower now than it was in 1978.
"It would not be surprising if the new government of Bolivia were to allow the current agreement with the IMF to expire at the end of March and not seek any renewal," he said. (Reuters News Service, Mike Dolan, Economics Correspondent)

3)Amy Goodman, News Director and Morning Show Host at Pacifica station WBAI in New York City, and host of a daily radio and TV news program reaching over 400 stations, recently interviewed John Perkins, the author of The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
Check this out below. We know this will make you want to help change how our government does business abroad!

Here's an excerpt:
JOHN PERKINS: The other thing we do, Amy, and what's going on right now in Latin America is that as soon as one of these anti-American presidents is elected, such as Evo Morales, who you mentioned, in Bolivia, one of us goes in and says, "Hey, congratulations, Mr. President. Now that you're president, I just want to tell you that I can make you very, very rich, you and your family. We have several hundred million dollars in this pocket if you play the game our way. If you decide not to, over in this pocket, I've got a gun with a bullet with your name on it, in case you decide to keep your campaign promises and throw us out."
AMY GOODMAN: Well, explain actually how that plays out, because it's not really in this pocket and that.
JOHN PERKINS: No, what I'm saying is that, you know, I can make sure that this man makes a great deal of money, he and his family, through contracts, through various quasi-legal means, and I can also, if he doesn't accept this, you know, the same thing is going to happen to him that happened to Jaime Roldos in Ecuador and Omar Torrijos in Panama and Allende in Chile, and we tried to do it to Chavez in Venezuela and are still trying, that we will send in the people to try to overthrow him, as, in fact, we recently did with the President of Ecuador, or if we don't overthrow him, we'll assassinate him. And these people all know the history. They know that this has happened many, many, many times in the past.
AMY GOODMAN: And you know someone who has talked to him in this way?
JOHN PERKINS: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: And what was -- according to you, what was President Morales's response?
JOHN PERKINS: Morales was very diplomatic about the whole thing, but absolutely stood firm and said, "You know, my people have elected me for a reason, and I intend to honor that." This is what his initial response was. But what I will say is we can't imagine the pressure now that's being exerted on a man like Morales, as is true with all these other presidents. They know what's happened before their time. And they, you know, the pressure will be put on them tighter and tighter and tighter.

To see the entire fascinating interview go to: http://www.boliviasolidarity.org/index_html/news/bolivianews/perkins-threat2evo
at the Bolivian Solidarity Network's webpage at: http://www.boliviasolidarity.org/
 

----------------------------------------------------

From: "Bob and Julie Dunsmore"
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 6:51 PM
Subject: Thank you from Presbyterian missionaries in Bolivia


Dear Rev. Vickery,

We are writing to thank First Presbyterian of Lexington for the generous gift you have made in 2005 to support our work as missionaries here in  Bolivia. We are part of the Joining Hands Against Hunger Program of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and are privileged to be working here in Bolivia, today, to address the root causes of hunger. The work is fascinating. We have been here almost one year, so are still "newbies."

We realize you may be accessing our Updates from the PC(USA) website, but we would be more than happy to send the updates directly to you (about once a month), or to your Mission Chair or others.

We feel the new Joining Hands model represents the cutting edge of mission work for the 21st century, and it is our job as Companionship Facilitators to tell Presbyterians about it.

It is just possible that when we do our next Mission Interpretation assignment in the States that we could come visit your church. We lived for years in southern Colorado, in Alamosa, so at least know where NEBRASKA is, but not exactly where Lexington is.

Again, our heartfelt thanks to the church, and we would love to strengthen our connection to you. We always need encouragement down here.

Sincerely,

Julie and Bob Dunsmore
La Paz, Bolivia

---------------------------------------------
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 5:16 AM
Subject: Summary of News from Bolivia


Dear friends,

We hope you will find this overview of recent events in Bolivia to be informative and useful. It was compiled by our friend, Nick Buxon, of the Bolivian Solidarity Network. Significant events are unfolding at such a rapid rate that it is a real challenge to keep up on things! Please keep Bolivians and us in your prayers.

Stay tuned!

Sincerely,
Bob and Julie
La Paz, Bolivia


27.02.05
 
Evo Morales marked his first month in power which he said felt more like a week. Doctors said his rigorous schedule (he gets up at 5am and works into the night) had led to health problems and that he should take things a little easier after Morales suffered a number of dizziness attacks.
 
COCA
US for the first time said it would be willing to discuss expansion of coca production based on a study by the EU on the "legal market" of coca in Bolivia.
Morales was re-elected as leader of the six federations of coca-growers in Chapare despite attempts to resign after more than 20 years as its leader. At the meeting, the Federation issued a resolution to expel all US agencies from Chapare which led to the suspension of a US-Bolivia bilateral meeting. Morales later stated that they could stay if they "observed Bolivian laws." The Federation also approved a limit of one cato (1,600 sq metres) of coca per member of the union, which Morales argued proved the "maturity of the union."
Minister of the Presidency, Juan Ramon de la Quintana  proposed changes to law 1008 passed in 1988 for its repressive character in order to decriminalise coca, redirect energies against drugs, reassert the presumption of innocence (which has led to 70% of people imprisoned without adequate trial), investigation of corruption and the assertion of an indigenous strategy to fight drug-trafficking.
 
HYDROCARBONS
Soliz Rada, Bolivia's hydrocarbons minister said that all multinational energy companies had expressed willingness to negotiate and expected to sign new contracts by 30 June
Jorge Alvorado, head of state hydrocarbons firm YPFB said the Government aimed to build a continent-wide energy alliance, PetroAmerica made up of State firms such as Petrobras, YPFB and PDVSA to guarantee energy security for the Continent and to compete with major multinationals.
Ricardo Alba, president of Bolivian customs said he will refer Andina SA, a subsidiary of the Spanish-Argentine energy company Repsol YPF SA, Bolivia for smuggling 230,400 barrels of crude petroleum worth $9.2 million. Royalties and taxes on the petroleum would have totaled $215,000. An arrest warrant was issued for Julio Gavito, head of Repsol. Repsol denied the allegations saying it was based on misunderstanding. Repsol said accusations would put in doubt there proposed intentions to explore joint contracts with the Bolivian state company, YPFB. The Spanish Government announced it would help defend YPFB and intervened diplomatically at the announce of the arrest, with Prime Minister Zapatero saying it would do "nothing to improve Bolivia-Spanish relations"
Government announced investigations into environmental damage in the Chaco region caused by Repsol and British Gas following a meeting between Morales and the Assembly of Guarani people. The Government said the investigation didn't threaten companies' investments but that energy companies had to respect the law.
 
CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY/AUTONOMY
The Mixed Constitutional Commission met to study eleven different proposals for elections for the Constituent Assembly amidst concerns that time was running out to meet deadlines for elections on the 2nd of July. Vice-President Garcia Linera stressed need for social movements to mobilize to guarantee constitution and not to give the oligarchy space. The main divisions remained on how the assembly should be elected with MAS and others arguing based on constituency and Podemos and other regional groups arguing based on department.  Indigenous groups protested that the MAS proposal did not include a special allocation for indigenous peoples.(Bob and Julie's update: Congress has approved 255 delegates be elected July 2nd. Indigenous groups will be able to register candidates.)
Conflict grew between the Bolivian executive and a large number of Santa Cruz deputies who said that the referendum on autonomy had to be legally binding on the Constituent Assembly. Bolivian officials and social movements stressed that the Constituent Assembly had to have the power to overwrite everything and not be bound by previous decisions and also raised concerns about Santa Cruz's proposed question for the referendum which talks about departments "administering their natural resources". The conflict was exacerbated when Ruben Costas, Prefect for Santa Cruz issued a decree for the management of Rio Grande water reserves which representatives of various parties said was "illegal and unconstitutional."
Many social movements met in Santa Cruz to discuss Constituent Assembly and to reiterate their demands for: a true nationalization (State involved in whole production chain with social participation), rights and self-determination for indigenous peoples, land redistribution, equal participation by men and women, rights for people with disabilities, primacy of Constituent Assembly over autonomy, unitary State which recognizes plurality, social and collective rights having primacy over individual rights, opposition to any Free Trade Treaty and any treaty that doesn't fully involve Bolivian people, plurality in education and health policies, state recovery and development of national policies on mining and initiation of legal proceedings against Goni. It concluded: "It is not difficult to understand what we want. But we will make it clear. This country is ours and we want it for ourselves, for all men and women who live in Bolivia."
 
 
TRADE & DEBT
World Bank hosted trade arbitration panel, ICSID announced that it had accepted a legal claim by Chilean company Quiborax for the withdrawal of its mining concessions in Salar de Uyuni in June 2004
The Inter-American Development Bank (IBD) said it would consider debt cancellation for Bolivia at its meeting in April. Bolivia owes $1.6 billion to BID, 30% of its debt prior to IMF cancellation in December.
Japan announced the cancellation of the remaining $63 million debt owed by Bolivia, joining the US, Belgium, Spain and the UK who had previously announced cancellation of bilateral debt. Bolivia's largest bilateral creditors are currently Brazil, China and Germany.
Juan Morales, head of Bolivia Central Bank announced that Bolivian exports had risen by 53% in January 2006 compared with the previous year but said changes were needed to ensure it helped reduce unemployment and poverty
The Foreign Ministry held a seminar with visiting US trade academics and activists in which Vice-President Garcia Linera said the country had to make the most of opportunities for trade but that too often policy had been based on the interests of a few exporters and not the majority of the country. He said there would be an end to "knee-jerk globalisation"
 
OTHER NEWS
Bolivia continued to suffer from heavy rains which has affected 33,856 families, 12,742 of whom are in need of humanitarian aid.
Marking one month, the new government's commitment to education and health were highlighted in several papers including the creation of a vice-ministry for traditional medicine and the initiation of a literacy programme led by 24 Cuban advisors.
Bolivia suspended the auction of a $500 million "El Mutun" iron mine project for 90 days, saying it will seek to produce steel or iron inside the country rather than export its ore to steelmakers abroad. Amongst the bidders for the project were the world's biggest steelmaker, Mittal Steel Co as well as firms from China, India, Brazil and Argentina. The suspension triggered a day-long shutdown of the country's eastern border by protesters demanding the project, which is expected to create 2,000 jobs and produce 1.5 million tons of iron ore a year.
In a meeting with the Confederation of Private Businessmen, Morales promised to follow policies of macro-economic stability and change to neo-liberal model whilst businessmen promised to support efforts to create jobs and to tackle corruption.
Morales appointed three new leaders, including two women, of three notoriously corrupt state institutions: taxes, customs and roads; where he said "corruption is most concentrated."  In a 2005 survey by global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, Bolivia was ranked the 118th most-corrupt country out of 159.
Morales caused controversy when he said some banana exporters were involved in drugs-smuggling. Miguel Zambrana, head of one of the largest banana export firms said he would sue Morales for damage. Morales said he would inaugurate commission which would examine the situation.
Bolivian Senator Leonilda Zurita was barred from entering the United States over unfounded suspicions of terrorism. Morales criticized the move, whilst the US refused to comment on the case saying that the Senator was free to re-apply.
Morales called for a trial to be initiated against former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (Goni) for his responsibility for 32 deaths during February 2003. Goni is currently in the US and is already wanted for trial for more than 60 deaths in October 2003. He called on the US to extradite Goni.
NICK BUXTON, La Paz, Bolivia

----------------------------------

From: Ellen & Alan Smith
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 11:02 PM
Subject: greetings from Ellen & Al Smith in Moscow

Dear friends and family,

Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Temperatures have now abated in European Russia. It is still winter, but much milder than it was. We thank you for your prayers during the hard cold. The aged heating systems for communities around Moscow were not prepared for the arctic temperatures and many outlying communities lost power. Our apartment was fine, but it was a dangerous time for many.

St. Andrew's Anglican Church, our church home in Moscow, launched a six week Lenten Renewal program this past week. The idea began out of conversations about how to grow the church. The initial thought was that we needed a special outreach to the expat community (the community served by this church), but then members realized that unless we looked at our own house first, and strengthened the community within, our efforts to reach out would not bear fruit.

St. Andrew's became our church home five years ago when they welcomed us to Moscow and brought us into the family. When Meg got lost in the metro that first year, one member waited at our apartment, while others searched the streets and Father Simon prayed. All these acts affirmed what I felt throughout that long evening, we were not alone. Christ was with us in our search, and our church family was with us too. That night, they were a manifestation of Christ's love and presence in our lives. Since that time, many of those friends have moved on, and our own lives have grown very busy. I don't know what happened, exactly, but the community we found in those first years weakened.

I have listened to the preparations and announcements for this program, but I think it didn't click until this week that we are stepping out into something exciting and vital. Wednesday night we gathered for a mid-week worship, followed by a dinner and the launch of fellowship groups. Part of the Lenten Renewal-Mission program is a series of Bible studies, bringing people together in small groups to deepen connections between congregation members and nurture faith.

On Thursday, I attended a women's Bible study that I have been a part of for some months. It has been a consistently small group, but good fellowship and study. From its beginning, the group has struggled to find the right balance. We enjoy the fellowship so much that we run out of time in our study, even though the study is very important to us. We are hungry for both. The women's Bible study has been active for many months, but on Thursday the membership swelled threefold. I am convinced that this was a direct result of the Lenten Renewal Program.  The small group that has consistently gathered made an intentional effort to invite and encourage others to join us. It is such a simple thing to reach out with an invitation, but we so often forget to do that. We forget that people can be shy to join, lest they intrude or fail to fit in. If we are the church, though, how can they possibly intrude? There is room at the table for many more. I know others also wait to be invited in. An exciting journey lies before our congregation.

Watching the Lenten Renewal Project get off the ground, I have thought a lot about models of evangelism. Other Americans within our congregation remind me in their comments that we as Americans often have very negative associations with the word 'evangelism.' We think of TV evangelists and Jehovah's Witnesses, and consider evangelism aggressive and intrusive. The most effective evangelism, though, is a ministry of presence and outreach with personal invitations to come see. Still, there are some special activities planned in our Lenten Renewal Program, concerts and dinners to reach different groups of expats. We hope that such initial contacts will encourage them to return.

Our Russian partners are using similar models in their own communities, an effort to reach intellectuals and business people. I was in Chelyabinsk recently (a region in the Urals). A Christian choir/orchestra from Kiev is planning two concerts there in May. The goal of the choir is evangelism through music. For the churches, it is also a chance to invite people in. The choir has planned the program. The churches in Chelyabinsk will be responsible for filling the auditorium. More and more, their ministry in this city has brought them into contact with city and oblast administrations, doctors and administrators in hospitals, directors and teachers in schools and orphanages, and others. Concerts like this present an opportunity to connect in a new way with these groups, groups that they had no contact with in the past. During Soviet times, Christians were cut off from educational opportunities and prestigious jobs. They were forbidden to minister anywhere beyond their church walls and only in recent years have gained access to schools, orphanages and hospitals. The relationships they are developing are extraordinary, but there are still problems. Not long ago, someone appeared on television in the region repeating the old and ugly propaganda about Baptists. Many parents, whose children were involved in various programs of the churches, panicked. This time, though, a member of city administration appeared on television to counter what had been said. This is the result of the churches' presence in the community. They have been a manifestation of the love of Christ for many who would not have sought out the church on their own. Many still watch from a distance, warmed by the light, but knowing how or whether to enter in.. The invitation to the concert will be a new, personal point of connection in these developing relationships.

February has been a quiet month for us. It has been good to have time to be involved with St. Andrew's. Now we are beginning to look ahead to the summer with earnest. If your church is planning to send a group this summer and you have not let us know, please do so as soon as possible. We are looking forward to an exciting summer season.

Peace and blessings,
Ellen & Al

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