Letter from Garth Moller in Russia
May 7, 2009
Friends,
Since I last wrote, life at the Kargel and Baedeker School in St. Petersburg has been like a roller coaster ride.
In the spring of 2008 I was working out the possibility of opening doors in September. As many of you know, we work in the red, and thus are heavily dependent on those who feel led to support the school. We had had one proposal which involved giving the school away in return for receiving help and being allowed to run the school for the following five years. This did not seem like a good option.
I have a friend, Valery, who is a successful businessman, and I asked him to help me evaluate our financial position. We worked out a business plan that allowed us to see what needed to be done so that the school could support itself, how long it would take to reach that point, and how much support would be needed till we reached that point. I also asked if he would be willing to help with that support, and he agreed. For us, this was a serious answer to prayer. By September 2008, with his help, we had reduced our debt in almost every area; only the debt for the unfinished security system remained.
However, the ongoing financial crisis has worldwide impact. We began to feel it in November, when Valery found that he could not get paid for work he had done in the summer, and that restricted his ability to help us. Between then and the end of February, we have been able to cover the shortfall. It remains to be seen how the rest of the school year will go. For us, this is a serious matter for prayer.
We have a number of families who have had their children in our school from the beginning. One of them is the F family. They have four children, and the three older sons have graduated. All three of them have gotten into university, one of them with a full scholarship from the state. All are doing well. The last, their only daughter, will finish in two years. For them, it would be a serious matter if the school were to close. They all benefited from the quality education we provided in a loving Christian environment. And we have been richly blessed by their full participation.
I have continued to spend more time in the classroom. Sickness has taken its toll on the teachers this winter—and also on the pupils—and I pick up the classes for absent English teachers.
Enrollment continues to grow, but slowly. In the school year 2007-08, we housed another school in our building. The enrollments of both schools grew enough to make it necessary for one of the schools to find another place. At present, we have 55 pupils, with another three or four due to start at the beginning of the last quarter.
Although we have been able to meet basic needs, the building is still in need of repair. The most urgent need is the façade of the building. Already, pieces of masonry are falling, and are a danger to those who stand too close to the outside of the building, as my cracked windshield can attest. In addition, materials are needed for the development of the academic program.
The future is daunting, but the call to work in the school remains, and I intend to listen to that call. I continue to hope that the school, its students, faculty, and staff will survive this current economic crisis. I thank you for your prayers and for your support.
Garth Moller
The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 177
