Letter from Garth Moller in Russia
May 13, 2005
Dear Friends,
We are finally in the new Kargel and Baedeker school building! We started the move at the end of February during the winter holiday and finished the first step by the beginning of March. The International School started classes on 7 March and the Russian School a week later. From the beginning of December, we had a work crew doing renovations, and they finished the first stage of the work near the end of March. These major steps have allowed us to run a full, if minimal school program. The appropriate Russian response is “slava bogu!” or “praise the Lord!”
Right now, we have a student body of about 70 pupils. I cannot say that all of the students are happy about school—they’re school children, after all—but they are happy about the new building. In first place for praise are the toilets. In the old facility, there was one toilet for the whole school, now we have three. After that are the classrooms. They are bigger and brighter. We are now able to offer proper physical education. At the beginning, nobody was excited about running, but now we are looking forward to organizing teams for competitions with other schools.
I think the remark that best summarizes the teachers’ reactions to the move is, “This is a miracle.” We did not seek this location, and they offered us the most elite area of the city. The idea that in Russia a Christian school would enjoy the intercession of the governor was hard enough to accept. But then to be offered a building in this area is beyond understanding.
On the whole, the parents do not see the miracle. There are exceptions—all of them believers—but most parents think we were just lucky. The main reason most parents send us their children is that they want a moral education for them, and they think that a Christian school is good for that. We want to show them that the morality flows from understanding who God is and what he wants from us. In the long run, a general understanding of morality will never trump self interest the way a solid belief that one day we will give an account for what we have done will.
Lyuda and I view this miracle differently. The God who loves us and these many children has poured out his love in ways we can’t fully understand. Against all obstacles, a wonderful facility has been made available. And from that facility children this year and into the future will receive a fine education and come to know how God loves us through his son, Jesus Christ. For that, we are immensely grateful.
Meanwhile, the renovation committee continues. We have divided the work into three stages. The first stage was to do whatever was necessary to begin to use the building. This included all classrooms, two bathrooms, and a temporary kitchen. We had to replace all of the electrical wiring in the building—it was aluminum—and nearly everything connected with that. We have replaced most of the plumbing. The kitchen plumbing is in process now. We now have offices for the whole school. Last Saturday, the International School organized a work-day for the whole school, and pupils, teachers, and parents worked on cleaning up the whole territory. The team effort was very impressive!
The second stage is bringing the building into full compliance with city health, fire, and safety codes; finishing the offices, a permanent kitchen, and dining room; and doing all basic repairs in the gymnasium. We are in this phas now. The third stage will bring the building and outside grounds into conformity with local beauty standards, develop the areas for sports, and make whatever modifications are necessary to use the building to its fullest potential.
Our most critical needs right now are bringing the building into compliance with city code, since without compliance we will not be allowed to open our doors next September, and may even be forced to close before June. In first place is the fire safety system. Apart from the fire extinguishers and hoses which we have, we need to install an alarm system that connects with the fire department, a parallel system that connects with the police department, and a system that will allow us to keep track of people entering the building people on the grounds.
A second pressing need is for a kitchen and dining room. This is required by the health department. We are about halfway through the repairs for the rooms, and we have several stoves, a dishwasher, a refrigerator, and a freezer. Everything else needs to be purchased—sinks, a ventilation system, windows, doors, garbage disposal units, floor tile, cleaning equipment, and food preparation equipment.
The other major projects in the second stage are the library and the gymnasium. Our best estimate to meet the critical needs is that $10,000 is required to complete the kitchen and dining room, and $20,000 to install the fire safety system. These are the critical needs. Part of what makes them critical is that we need to have them met by the end of the school year. So far, we have managed to push back some of the deadlines by showing what we have done and what we have to do. But there are several inspections that are coming up in the end of May that cannot be pushed back.
For all, we thank you for the help you have given up till the present. And we continue to ask for your prayers.
In Christ,
Garth I. Moller
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 187
