2007 Letters from our Missionary Friends:

Jacob Goad's Peru Christmas Update

Amistad Prayer Update

November 2007 - News from Suz

July 7, 2007 - News from Suz July 2007 edition.

From Ellen and Al - July 2007
'Timing is Everything' Al's Version
and 'What's a Timing Belt' Ellen's Version

June 6, 2007 - News From Suz! (this is a pdf file, Adobe Reader is needed to view this file. You may download a free version of Reader here.

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20 January 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Greetings from Moscow, where, at long last, we are enjoying our first real snowfall since mid-November. Temperatures are still remarkably warm, hovering around freezing, but the weather service is promising that more normal temperatures are on the way. Those of you in the sunbelt may be surprised to hear that everyone here welcomes the change; a warm winter means prodigious amounts of rain and muck, and threatens widespread frost damage if there should be a sudden freeze without snow to protect the plants.

In our last newsletter about our ministry to the Roma (Gypsy) community here in Russia, we mentioned that we had a planning meeting in November at which we set up a schedule of evangelizations for Roma groups. The first of these evangelizations took place in the city of Michurinsk, about 400 kilometers south of Moscow, just after Christmas.

Pyotr, our Russian colleague, was extremely impressed with the Roma group in Michurinsk, which is quite large in comparison to most of the other groups we work with. He was equally impressed with the cooperation of the local Baptist church that is working with them. Such cooperation is not as common as we would like it to be, because of deep-seated distrust and misunderstanding between the Roma and their Russian neighbors.

The evangelization meetings were conducted by Andrei, an ordained Roma pastor from the city of Kursk, and his team. The entire team, including Andrei, serve on a voluntary basis, but desperately need help with their travel expenses. They arrived in Michurinsk by car, but when the time came to return home, one of the cars broke down. (This problem is familiar to anyone with any experience of Russian automobiles!) The obvious solution would be to travel by train, but that option was not available: some of the group did not  have proper passports and registration, and train travel involves a very high risk, for Roma, of police stops and document checks. Eventually, a solution was found, and the evangelization team was able to return home.

The attached photographs show some of the participants in the evangelization. The pictures show much that is typical of Roma gatherings in terms of dress and physical appearance of the people, the tendency to take up seats on the floor, and the importance of music to the message. It is very encouraging for us that there were so many men at the event. Many congregations here, regardless of denomination, have a critical shortage of active, involved, and able-bodied men to support the work and outreach of the church.

Ellen, Emma and I spent last weekend with Pyotr and his wife Olga in the city of Kostroma, 400 kilometers north of Moscow on the same road that goes to Archangelsk. We enjoyed worshipping with them on Sunday morning, but the highlight of the trip was a visit to a Roma family on Saturday evening. Our host was Vitya, whom Pyotr was recently able to reunite with a son he had not seen in 40 years. The son, Igor, works with Andrei in Kursk. Igor knew that he had been born in Kostroma, and asked for Pyotr's help in trying to find his father. Pyotr and Andrei were present for the reunion, which was, as you might imagine, a highly emotional affair, as well as a major celebration for all concerned. The Roma emphasis on family, combined with very expansive notions of hospitality, make for lavish celebrations. In fact, Pyotr tells us, it is not uncommon for Roma to sell a car or a house in order to pay for a wedding or a funeral for a loved one.

Our work continues on other fronts as well. We are still waiting for word from Kiev that the cassette tapes with the translation of the Gospel into one of the Roma dialects is finally ready. We had hoped to have the tapes by the first of the year, but this project has experienced repeated delays.  The next evangelization trip will be to Ryazan at the end of March; in a typical winter, road travel in February is too uncertain. Material help to offset travel costs for the evangelization team would be very gratefully received. If you are interested in contributing to this work, there is an Extra Commitment Opportunity account, number E040061, devoted to ministry to Roma in Europe.

We are expecting Jon Chapman and Gary Payton, our Area Coordinator and Regional Facilitator, respectively, early next week. They and Ellen will be very busy with meetings for the balance of the week. Later, Ellen and Jon will be visiting our colleagues in Belarus for several days.

We know that many of you are already planning for trips to Russia later this year. If you have not been in touch with Ellen to set dates for your trip, please contact her at elalsmith@eamail.net as soon as possible, as our calendar is already beginning to fill up.

Best wishes for a blessed and peaceful 2007.

Yours in Christ,

Al and Ellen Smith

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January 14, 2007 - News from Suz! (this is a pdf file, Adobe Reader is needed to view this file. You may download a free version of Reader here.

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Mission Connections Newsletter of  November 2006
La Paz, Bolivia

Dear friends,

As we approach the Christmas season, we are called to reflect on the place of Jesus' birth in the middle of nowhere, a podunk backwater, Bethlehem, Judea, which did not even have its own zip code.  It was very removed from the seat of power of His world. The birth occurred far from the bright lights, the media, unnoticed by the middle-class citizens of Jerusalem as they went about their business.  Hmmm. Good news, powerful news, but coming from 'way out there, on the margins of society.

And we see good news, powerful events, signs of hope coming from out here on the margins of the world in Bolivia, too!

We usually tend to think that important events are occurring in the world capitals, in the so-called "developed" countries, where politics, money and power are concentrated, and where media coverage spotlights major happenings.

And have you ever noticed how often we, Bob and Julie, feel compelled to share so much GOOD NEWS from Bolivia with you? Perhaps you wonder at times whether we are really out of touch with reality?? 

The way we often write, perhaps Bolivia seems almost too good to be true!

Surely, you're thinking, there must be problems in Bolivia just like everywhere else.  Aren't there a lot of poor people there, and political unrest, just like most of the world? Why are Julie and Bob presenting such a rosy picture?

Well, we have been debating together about this. And the answer is, YES, there are HUGE problems here.

But throughout our weeks and months here, we've come to figure ourselves out, and to realize that we  feel compelled to tell you all the positive stuff, the signs of hope, to offer encouragement to you U.S. folks, Presbyterians, Christians, because we all need to hear good news.   Just as Paul wrote to communities of Christians throughout his world, to offer encouragement in their endeavors, so we are writing you from a far corner to encourage you in your endeavors.

And we know that you do get plenty of  very discouraging information about events around the world, just by watching the evening news.

So we have reached the conclusion that at this point in time, people in information-flooded countries can use more encouragement rather than more news about war and conflict and overwhelming world problems. And ideas about how to help.

Experiencing Life at the Margins

In a provocative recent interview published in Christianity Today, an African bishop tells North American Christians the following:

"God very often is working most powerfully far from the center.  Jesus is crucified outside Jerusalem....In Acts, we read that the cross-cultural missionary thrust did not begin in Jerusalem.  It began in Antioch, on the periphery, the margins......I have come to the conclusion that the powerful, those at the center, must begin to realize that the future shape of things does not belong to them. The future shape of things is on the periphery.  The future shape of things is not in Jerusalem, but outside. It is Nazareth.  It is Antioch."

He goes on to question:

"How can [North] American pastors be leaders if they haven't seen what God is doing elsewhere?  Every search process for a senior pastor should ask, "Do you have experience in marginal places, economically deprived places, places with HIV/AIDS? Have you gone to be among them?"

So we extend a warm invitation for you in 2007 to come and be among us and see what God is doing here in Bolivia.

And for those of you who can't make it 'way down here, here is another bit of good news from Bolivia:

As a result of government steps to firmly renegotiate  more favorable oil and gas contracts with transnational corporations, the projected increase in revenue for the government has allowed a new program for health care coverage to take effect starting next year:  health care for all Bolivian citizens up to age 25, in addition to high-risk populations currently covered.  Also, a new small stipend in the amount of $25 is being given to each child enrolled in public schools, to help cover the cost of schoolbooks, supplies and uniforms, items never before provided by the government.

Improved roads, employment opportunities, increased tourism, more drinking water----all these other potential effects of increased revenue from sales of gas and oil, are GOOD NEWS for someone like the taxi driver we wrote about recently.  And even though he had declared he wasn't really interested in politics because his immediate needs were so demanding,  we feel sure that he welcomes the good news that beginning in 2007 his child will be able to receive health care and help for school needs.

Singer James Taylor so eloquently captured the vision of Martin Luther King:
 

"There are ties between us, all men and women living on the earth,
Ties of hope and love, sister and brotherhood;
That we are bound together with a desire to see the world become
A place in which our children can grow free and strong.
We are bound together by the task that stands before us,
And the road that lies ahead,
We are bound, and we are bound"

------to work together to build the kingdom of God on earth, we would add.

So may our Christmas prayer echo this vision, this prayer of Dr. King, that all men and women living on the earth today, recognize and honor our ties of hope and love, sister and brotherhood.

Good News.
Julie and Bob
La Paz, Bolivia

We welcome contributions to our ministry, and are encouraged by the commitment of the Presbyterian Church, in the providence of God, to finding the needed funds so that all mission workers who wish to continue after 2008 and whose positions are still desired by partners overseas may continue to serve. We hope we fit in that category!

Individuals may send checks to:
 
PC(USA)
Individual Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700
 
Churches send checks to their normal receiving site or:
 
PC(USA)
Church Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643678
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3789
 
Contributors should take care to put our name and DMS number --" Project D506248" on the subject line of the check.

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