A letter from Gary Payton in the United States (regional liaison for Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia and Poland)
November 16, 2011
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Christmas came early this year. And what a present I received! My gift came in the form of a gathering of Roma Christians in the city of Kursk near Russia’s southern border with Ukraine. For the last several years our Presbyterian World Mission has supported an annual November gathering of Roma Christians. And this year I was able to attend with my fellow mission co-worker Al Smith.
As I have often shared, Roma (commonly known as “gypsies”) are the most discriminated against, marginalized ethnic group in Central and Eastern Europe today. Their poverty enforced by systematic racism, substandard education and housing, unemployment, and lack of official documents, Roma are routinely shunned, even despised by many in the majority populations. Yet Christ’s church has disciples who are sharing God’s love with Roma in Russia and elsewhere.
Pastor Andrei, a gifted Roma leader.
With the leadership of Pastor Andrei Beskoroveyni, the Russian Baptist Union’s only ordained Roma pastor, the gathering in Kursk was filled with extraordinary joy. When we assembled each morning, Andrei offered warm greetings to all as he stood in front of a wooden cross, a classic painting of Jesus, and the Romani flag with its background of blue and green representing the heavens and earth and a spoked wheel marking the itinerant tradition of Roma.
Then talented musicians and the audience sang for almost an hour. Praise music, traditional hymns—some in Romani and some in Russian—filled the hall. Guitar, keyboard, and tambourine added an ethnic touch, making the music even more appealing. Preaching, teaching, testimonials and prayer flowed throughout the day and evening, all regularly interspersed with music—and much of it Roma music!
My days in Kursk marked a milestone. About ten years ago I traveled with a small group of Presbyterians visiting Roma camps in western Ukraine. Rev. Harold Kurtz, leader of Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship (PFF), was a key member of the group. Harold’s passion was embodied in a part of the PFF vision, “For Every People: An Indigenous Church.” As we met with church leaders and Roma congregation members, Harold’s message was strong and clear: “Let the gospel run free! Let Christ’s church rise up from within the culture. Write hymns using the instruments and musical traditions of the people. Build houses of worship reflecting the architecture of the place, not imports from Europe, North America or Korea!”
As the music, Romani words, and rhythms of “Chachimasa,”a song known by every Rom in the hall, flowed over me in Kursk tears came to my eyes. Harold, whose memorial service I was honored to attend in Portland in January 2010, must have been smiling in heaven…maybe even clapping his hands or shaking a tambourine! There is an expression in Russian, “shaag za shaagom” or “step by step.” Indeed, steps had been taken across the years building up the church among some of the Roma in Russia.
Nurturing the future generations of Russian Roma.
Beyond the Roma gathering, my days in Moscow and St. Petersburg were filled with conversations with church partners and mission colleagues as we looked forward to 2012. With Baptist leaders, we spoke of conferences on post-orphanage care, marriage and the family, ministry with migrants from Central Asia, and sermons in Russia on anti-racism. With Orthodox leaders, we spoke of domestic violence, “green theology,” and follow-up on the support shared by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance after the 2008 war with Georgia and the 2010 destructive fires in European Russia. With Lutheran leaders, we spoke of Presbyterian professors to teach short, modular courses at the seminary near St. Petersburg and assistance in developing distance learning for pastors and elders across the breadth of Russia. And, with leaders of the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy (MPC), we spoke of an expansion of the medical clinic serving refugees and migrants and of Presbyterian volunteers to assist in MPC’s social ministry programs in 2012.
This visit, as each visit is, was laced with the threads of “mission in partnership”—the manner of our Presbyterian World Mission engagement in Christ’s mission in Russia with historic churches.
All that we do is sustained by your prayers and your gifts.
May I ask for your prayers for Russia? May I ask for your prayers for our brothers and sisters in Christ in Russia?
And may I ask for your support to continue my ministry in the year ahead? My hard copy newsletter is received by over 400 folks around the United States. My e-newsletter is read online by hundreds more.
In these challenging economic times, might you assist with a gift of $25?
As you know, I am privileged to serve on your behalf with brothers and sisters in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, and Poland. I am able to do this because of your generous contributions to my sending and support. My travel expenses, lodging, meals and administrative costs are covered almost exclusively by gifts from you who receive my newsletters. Each contribution goes to purchase a part of an airline ticket, a ride on the night train from Moscow to St. Petersburg, a bus or metro ticket to visit ministries around the cities, cell phone minutes to connect with partners and colleagues, etc. So, please join me as we deepen our “mission in partnership” in the year ahead!
Contributions from congregations may be sent to their normal receiving site or to the same address above.
It is a joy to serve the Lord, our faithful partners, and all those across our churches in the United States who are called to come alongside brothers and sisters in Christ in far away lands.
Thank you for your prayers and for your steadfast support. And may the Lord richly bless you and yours in 2012!
Yours in Christ,
Gary
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 203
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 285
