July 2011
This 18th century cross is all that remains from the first Ingrian Lutheran church in Lembolovo, Russia
Russia’s Time of Troubles
Reflecting the changing times and ever-fluctuating interpretations of history in modern Russia, the internationally recognized celebration of the Bolshevik Revolution (November 7) was officially replaced a few years ago by the remembrance of an even more distant historical event. Now on November 4 Russians get a day off and memorialize the defeat of the Polish forces who invaded their country in the early 1600s. The so-called “Smutnoye Vremya” (Time of Troubles) was a catastrophic time in Russia’s past. Not only were the Poles invading the country from the west, the Swedes were also launching their own attacks upon Russia’s northern frontier. Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, Russia had been undergoing a succession crisis ever since the death of Czar Ivan the Terrible’s son Fyodor in 1598.
In that year an influential yet controversial figure in the Kremlin by name of Boris Godunov took the reigns of power and was declared czar. His short rule, while not popular with Russians, actually proved to be quite hospitable to Lutherans. Some historians even claim that he allowed the construction of a Lutheran church inside the Kremlin! Unfortunately for Lutherans, Godunov was perceived as being far too chummy with foreigners, a veritable no-no in Orthodox Russia. So after Boris’ death in 1605, followed by a protracted civil war and several imposter czars (known as False Dmitrys I and II), Russia and the Orthodox Church finally regained control of the land in 1613 with Mikhail Romanov being crowned czar. (See the book “O Luteranakh v Rossii”- “About Lutherans in Russia” by Pastor Slava Boychenko).
A New Lutheran Church is Born in Russia- 1611
As you can imagine, these troubles forced a religious people to wonder whether God was punishing the nation because of its sins. Amidst all this turmoil, in the northwestern border village of Lembolovo, a Finnish-speaking people known as the Ingrians founded a small Lutheran congregation in 1611. Before that time, the message of the Reformation had minimal influence on Russia even though Ivan the Terrible had invited German and Scandinavian Lutherans into the land. He allowed them to form Lutheran congregations but sternly forbade Russians from joining what he considered a “heretical” church. (He soon reneged even on this permission, calling for the destruction of all Lutheran cathedrals. Alas, he didn’t earn that moniker “The Terrible” for kindness to strangers).
St. George’s Lutheran Church in the Ingrian region of Russia
A peace treaty with Sweden in 1617, though, gave new life
My visit with longtime Ingrian Lutheran and Gulag survivor, Lena Saakonen
to the Lutheran Church as the Ingrian region came under Swedish sovereignty. By the time Russia regained this territory one century later, the Lutheran heritage of the Ingrians had been firmly established. Today that Reformation proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues through the bold witness of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia, church partners of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod since 1998. I continue to teach a course every semester at the Ingrian Lutheran Seminary in Koltushi, about 10 kilometers east of St. Petersburg. This year as the Ingrians reflect upon and celebrate 400 years of God’s faithfulness, Russia’s Time of Troubles and Communist experiment in the 20thcentury are reminders that trials and tribulations do not negate but rather accentuate God’s sure promise of eternal life through the death and resurrection of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. His church continues to witness to that certainty amid all of life’s difficulties in Russia today.
Future Travel
Confirmed upcoming visits: After classes in Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in July, I will be at…
July 26-August 3: Bethel Bible Course Training in Madison, WI
July 31: Living Christ Lutheran in Madison, WI
August 6-7: Grace Lutheran in Rochester, MN
August 9: Trinity Lutheran in Shenandoah, IA (7 PM)
August 10- Mission Central, Mapleton, IA (at 1 and 7 PM)
August 11- Peace Lutheran in Grand Island, NE
August 12: Beautiful Savior Lutheran in North Platte, NE
August 14, 10 A.M.- Trinity Lutheran in Des Moines, IA
August 14, 5 P.M.- Grace Lutheran Mission Festival in Le Mars, IA
August 21: St. John’s Lutheran in Midland, MI
August 27-28: St. Lorenz Lutheran in Frankenmuth, MI (Mission Festival on the 28th)
Then in late August/early September, I will be meeting Pastor Sainaa from Mongolia and getting him set up for classes in St. Louis at Concordia Seminary- then, I head off to Mongolia to teach at the Lutheran Bible School in Darhan, Mongolia.
DUE TO THE AFOREMENTIONED TRAVEL, THERE WILL BE NO NEWSLETTER FOR AUGUST- I WILL WRITE TO YOU AGAIN IN SEPTEMBER.
Prayer Requests:
Please continue to pray for our Eurasian mission accountant, Karen Roemer, and my cousin Shawn Nunnink, battling cancer.
Please pray for safe travel in the States and then on to Mongolia in September.
E-mail: matveih@yahoo.com—mailing address- 26650 Woodshire, Dearborn Hgts., MI., 48127.
To support my work financially, you can send a tax-deductible gift to:
LCMS World Mission; Missionary Support; PO Box 790089; St. Louis, MO 63179-0089 —–Make checks payable to LCMS World Mission. Mark checks “Support of Matthew Heise.”
If you would like to partner with me in my ministry with ongoing support as an individual or congregation, please contact Debra Feenstra for information on Together in Mission or Mission Senders at 1-800-248-1930 Ext. 1651 or Debra.Feenstra@lcms.org Thank you, and may God bless you!