Russia Missions

So yesterday we had a class about FOCUS conferences and missions. I have experienced first-hand the transformative power of the conferences, in fact one of those conferences turned my faith life around and brought me into a relationship with Jesus Christ. One thing I haven't done is mission. I've been to homeless retreats and raised money for the Souper Bowl, I was blessed to go on pilgrimage to Lourdes and World Youth Day. However, I have not had the opportunity to go on mission. Steve Pries, an amazing man of God, shared with us that mission trips are game-changers. The personal testimonies I heard at this session prompted me to start turning my dream of going on mission into a reality.

So where to go? I can't quite explain it, so if you ask, I won't have a satisfying answer for you, but I have a fascination with Russia: the country, the culture, the art and beauty of the people. So when I saw that FOCUS has a Russian mission trip, I immediately investigated. 

The website only had the information from the 2011 trip, but it says 

"Under communist rule, the practice of Christianity was illegal in Russia. Now, in the post-Cold War era, the people of Russia are still recovering from oppression. Come bring the hope of Christ to them on this summer Mission! 

On this mission you will catechize the youth of Russia who are longing for a Christ like example of love and mercy. We will be working with Fr. Myron Effing, an American priest who has been in Russia for an extended period of time. He has helped found an order of priests to minister in Russia and played a key effort in re-evangelizing the post-communist community in Vladivostok. Fr. Myron’s parish feeds meals to 40-50 children from single-family homes each week. Most of these children reside in Soviet-style single room apartments with their parents.

The mission is to put on a summer youth camp for the children in the wilderness of Lesovovodsk, showing them what it truly means to live a life for Christ. Come impact the future of Russia by ministering to the youth!"

Now doesn't that just sound amazing? Russia is experiencing the degradation of the family. In this article it claims that 60 out of every 100 marriages in Russia ends in divorce. That's over half of families split. The orphanages are full of unwanted children. I heard stories from this mission trip that when you hold a baby they grab onto you tightly because they are so starved for love and attention that they do not want to let you go. Oh, to hold all the babies. 

Moral of the story: immediately added to the prayer list is that it is in God's plan that I have the opportunity to head to Russia; and that you, my readers pray if God is asking you to sacrifice by partaking in foreign or domestic mission (check out the FOCUS missions page for information on our missions).