russia mission

Did you know that around the world, there are over 40,000 United Methodist congregations? Did you know that there are United Methodist churches in countries across Africa, Asia and Europe that serve over 4 million people and are growing? Did you know that when you participate in the ministries of The Gathering, you are also connected to a worldwide community of United Methodists?

This summer, I was invited by the leaders of United Methodist missions in Missouri to travel to Russia where there are several growing United Methodist churches. The purpose is to scout out possible mission relationships between churches in Missouri and churches in Russia. The United Methodist Church in Russia is a home church. Years of Soviet Rule and a state religion forced the United Methodists to meet in secret as a church. Since the fall of Communism the global church has worked with the Russian United Methodists to build much of the infrastructure that their growing ministry requires. Missionaries and volunteer teams have done this by working in orphanages, homes for the elderly, helping in the construction of new churches and camps for kids.

On September 29, I will be travelling to Voronezh (link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronezh) in southwest Russia, to meet several United Methodist pastors and hear about needs in their community as they seek to grow. The hope is that out of this trip will grow a relationship between our church and new United Methodist churches in Voronezh. I will be hearing about their ministries, seeing a camp that serves many kids in the community and meeting some of the people involved in United Methodist ministry in this part of the world.

Upon returning, part of my task will be to lead a team of people from The Gathering back to Voronezh within 18 months to participate in mission work. I am really excited about this opportunity, not only personally, but for our church. I hope you will pray for me as I prepare to leave. While there, I will be blogging here regularly, sharing what I am learning about ministry there. Upon returning I will be sharing what I learned with our community and asking you to think about whether or not you feel called to be part of a team that will return next year. It is powerful to think that our community can have an impact on the faith life of people, not only here in St. Louis, but around the world.