Missions « Grace Notes

December 5, 2011

Notes from the Edge of the World (October 2011)

Filed under: General,World Missions — arleyp @ 7:19 am

October 2011

Darkhan, Mongoli

Lutheran Bible School students and teachers-I’m in the back row

I finally had the opportunity this past month to return to Darkhan to continue my course on the Pentateuch (First five books of the Old Testament). It had been almost a year since the opening of the first Lutheran Bible School in Mongolia, but other duties had kept me from returning to finish the course. The phenomenon of a Bible school is actually a traditional means for educating laypeople in the Scandinavian countries. In Norway, students will often take one year after high school to study somewhere, at a cooking, sports or dancing school, whatever your fancy. But others will explore their faith more seriously and thus Lutheran Bible schools have become a means for strengthening the faith of young Christians. Oddly enough, out of its education budget, the state will give the taxpayer money for this! (One of the pluses of having a state church that I had never considered before).

In Mongolia, our friends from the Norwegian Lutheran Mission (NLM) and the Finnish Lutheran Overseas Mission (FLOM) have utilized this Scandinavian tradition to elevate the biblical knowledge of new believers in Mongolia. In addition, this is an excellent opportunity for Mongolians to understand a little more clearly what it is that makes Lutheran theology so special.

Buddhist shrine in the center of Darkhan

The students are primarily but not exclusively young. Some are working in the church as deacons or deaconesses. Most, though, have completed university and are now looking for work. Still, they take their Christian faith very seriously and want to learn more. It doesn’t often occur that I have a class respond negatively to my request to take a break. But they frequently asked to keep going when I was ready for a break! If I can keep myself from taking breaks J, I plan on concluding my course when I return to Darkhan in November.

A Milestone for Christianity in Mongolia

While walking to the city center in Darkhan, I noticed that a Buddhist statue was still the main attraction in the city. But even here in northern Mongolia, one couldn’t miss the fact that Mongolians were celebrating 20 years of Christianity this past month. In the capital of Ulaanbaatar, a major civic center was rented as a large number of Christians reflected with joy upon the explosive growth of the faith in this predominantly Buddhist country. When the communist system fell near the end of 1990, it was said that there were all of four Christians in the entire country. As Christian leaders came together during the weekend of September 16-18, estimates of the current number of Christians ranged anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000. All of this in just twenty years! The uncertainty surrounding the number of Christians reflects the fact that many Buddhist fathers in this patriarchal society answer census takers on behalf of the entire family. Highlighting a developing conflict between generations, a father will often claim that his whole family is Buddhist when in fact many of them are Christian, especially the young. Whatever the actual number of Christians in Mongolia today, I am reminded of Luke’s account of the Early Church in Acts 2:48 “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

At a cemetery on the outskirts of Darkhan and a Christian Gravesite

Changing of the Culture

On a free Saturday afternoon, Norwegian professor Knut Kirkholm and I wandered off to the outskirts of Darkhan. There we spied a sprawling cemetery in the distance, encompassing what my Western mind would conceive as quite a few football fields. As I inspected the tombstones, I noticed that virtually all of them seemed to have emblems of little flames. Others were wrapped with blue ribbons, symbolizing the blue sky. As I calculated the birth and death dates, I also observed that people died quite young. The life expectancy rate in Mongolia is 68 (compared to 78 in the U.S.), but it seemed that the overwhelming majority of those buried here were in their forties. Alcoholism is one of the reasons, a scourge in Mongolia that cuts short potentially productive lives and depletes the male population.

Nevertheless the culture of Mongolia is changing as this isolated country, now freed from an oppressive communist system, makes its way into the 21^st century. Most importantly, though, Mongolians are coming to faith as the Holy Spirit fills their hearts with joy to lead lives worth living and confess that Jesus is Lord. Just before we left the cemetery, I found the gravesite of one named Zh. Enkbayer. I assume from the first letter that this was most likely a woman, but whoever it was, the cross on her tombstone proclaimed a believer now resting with our Lord. Our prayer is that the Lord will use the witness of these new believers to add to the number of saints in Mongolia. Soli Deo Gloria! (Glory to God alone!).

Sunset adds color to the hills of Darkhan

Prayer Requests:
Please continue to pray for my cousin Shawn Nunnink, battling cancer.

Thank the Lord with me for safe travels and pray for continued safety and blessings in teaching as I travel to Russia (October 12), Kyrgyzstan (October 25) and Mongolia in early November.

Please pray for the students at the Mongolian Lutheran Bible School. Pray that the Lord will bless them with deeper spiritual understanding, courage to witness to their faith, and suitable employment for those seeking work.

E-mail: matveih@yahoo.com—mailing address- 26650 Woodshire, Dearborn Heights, 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!

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August 21, 2011

Matt Heise July 2011 Newsletter

Filed under: General,Missions,World Missions — arleyp @ 11:49 am

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 20^thcentury 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 28^th)
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.”

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August 4, 2011

Meet Pastor Matthew Heise

Filed under: General,Missions,World Missions — arleyp @ 8:41 pm

Pastor Matthew Heise

Grace Lutheran Church helps support Pastor Heise, one of two LCMS missionaries serving in Russia. Pastor Heise assists Russian churches with church planting and mission outreach programs. He also assists Jonathan Muhly, the area facilitator of LCMS work in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia who resides in Warsaw, Poland with his wife Julie.

Rev. Matthew Heise also serves as a theological educator to Russia and other former Soviet republics, such as Georgia, where he resides. Matthew teaches seminary students in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria. He also conducts theological seminars throughout Russia, identifying future students for the ministry. In Georgia, he supports the work of Georgian evangelists as they reach out with the Gospel to others around them, leads Bible studies, and works toward planting churches. He has long had a fascination with Russia, being the grandson of Russian-German immigrants. Before studying for the pastoral ministry, Matthew served as a missionary in Moscow from 1994 to 1996, where he taught English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes and was the ESL coordinator.

Born in Dearborn, Mich., he is a lifelong member of Guardian Lutheran Church in Dearborn, MI. Matthew holds a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, a masters degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI., and a masters degree in divinity from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO. His hobbies include sports, traveling, and reading.

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June 17, 2011

A Good Word from Camp, May 2011

Filed under: General,Missions — arleyp @ 8:26 pm

OK, May has come to a close and I worked all day to get this done on time–before the last Sunday of the month. Funny how I put this deadline on myself–no one is hanging over me. First, I do covet your prayers–read the commandment, coveting prayers is not on the sin list! Second, this is my way of keeping in touch and sort of holding myself accountable. Third, this is also my record of what I have been up to so I can review it occasionally.

Church of Ingria 400 years

Busy as usual, and my big concern this month is my car-it broke down a couple times, nothing with God’s help I could not handle, but as I do need it this next month for a lot of trips to the villages, I am facing another test of faith… So, attached are the usual–the prayer letter and some photos. There were a lot of meetings this month, several I did not photograph, but several I did. This is to keep you all posted and also reminds me what to pray for. We have several events coming up–if I remember my camera, I will pass on photos of those things attend or be part of.

Birthday–the banner simply says Church of Ingria 400 years. I thought I was through with such stuff, but they needed someone to run sound at the International Christian Academy’s graduation.

Leif the soundman at International Christian Academy's graduation

Leif and Andrei Savilainen, the Ingrian pastor

Andrei-Again, Andrei Savilainen, the Ingrian pastor heading up the Ingrian Lutheran Chaplaincy initiative came for a pep-talk and some help. He has invited me up to Karelia to lead some seminars at the three congregations he serves, and he requested that I might try to invite some Lutheran American police officers to come visit him and some of the police he is trying to serve–in sort of a cross cultural info and experience swap

Pastor Bill Moberly of the AALC, head of the Eastern European Mission

Network, has partnered up with Ingria to organize 3 English language evangelism camps this year. One in Petrozavodsk, one in Koltushe, and one in Gubanitza (Zhanya) 0r helps organize transportation, busses and so forth, at one of the camps, Karl and Nastya will help translate–as I am responsible for coordinating the camp in Gubanitza).

Leif with Pekka

Leif with Pekka–the good news is that in the Finnish parliamentary elections, enough conservatives were voted in to stop a move to change the Finnish constitution’s definition of marriage. It will remain the union of a man and a woman (rather than the proposed “two individuals”). Pekka is working with conservatives as this all plays itself out. I will not be able to visit Finland for the next 6 months while I await receiving Russian citizenship.

Lyle Thomas teaching seminary students

Lyle Thomas teaching seminary students an overview of healing prayer in counseling.

The Bishop gave a pointed sermon.

The Bishop gave a pointed sermon on Ingria’s up to date confessional theology in the face of modern day liberalism.

NO, we are not forming our own praise band, but possibly some evangelistic concerts… Here we are playing “Go down Moses” which is continually played on Russian radio in English. We have, of course, translated

Leif, Nastya, and Karl

into Russian, added some of the more Christian verses, and it always goes over well (since this is often the first time people hear the song in a form they can understand the words).

Blessings,

Leif

Prayer Requests

Pray for upcoming English language evangelism camps in June—being held in Petrozavodsk, Koltushe, and Gubanitza, pray also for the scout camp that I will be attending with Karl and Nastya, that God open some doors for the Gospel there. Pray for our car/transportation situation—I will need our car a lot next month running between camps, Church, St. Petersburg and the villages, and it has been breaking down a lot (it does have a holy radiator!—OK holey is more grammatically correct). Pray that I do find some rest and renewal this summer. Pray for English language worship services, and for Kostya Subotin who may be sent as a field worker to help out. Pray for the upcoming seminar in Yoshcar-ola—I leave shortly for a four day trip. Also pray for a seminar that will be held at our dacha (someone has asked to use it—this is the first time). Pray for the Chaplancy program—doors are opening in Karelia, pray also that God help me to be more faithful and more energetic in pursuing the opportunities He opens up for me.

Another Call for Volunteers

The Chaplansy initiative is looking for a couple or more Lutheran police officers who would like to come visit Karelia and meet with local police in sort of a cross cultural exchange. We are also open to short term groups working directly with Ingrian parishes, camps, repair, good-will. Also, if any one is interested in short-term English evangelism, next year I want to plan some in coordination with English services so we can more effectively reach out to students.

Draw us to Thee, for then shall we

Walk in Thy steps forever

And hasten on where Thou art gone

To be with Thee forever

TLH #215 verse 1

CONTACT ADDRESSES Feedback, questions, whatever are most welcome.

Our Russian home address:

Leif and Zhanya Camp

18 line V. O. dom 43 Kv. 7

St. Petersburg, Russia, 199178

Stateside contact address:

Leif and Zhanya Camp,

C/O Marli Camp

902 N. 12^th

Melrose Park, IL, 60160

Russian Lutheran Church Address:

Ev. Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia

Bolshaya Konyushennaya dom 8a

St. Peterburg, Russia, 191186

Telephone: after getting an international line by dialing 011, dial 7- 812 (our area code) 321-1508(our phone number)

Note—Between St. Petersburg and central US time, the difference is 9 hours. Stateside contact telephone: 708-344-4472

E-MAIL: lzkcamp@mail.ru & leif.camp@elci.ru. Please feel free to share this prayerletter with your Church, friends, or enemies if it might help (just please do not quote things out of context or edit my words in such a way as to change their intent). If you would like to receive a copy via e-mail, simply email me directly and ask!

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Notes from the Edge of the World, June 2011

Filed under: Missions — arleyp @ 8:25 pm

The Replacement Apostle

Reputed burial site of the “13th apostle”, my namesake of sorts, St. Matthias- Gonio, Georgia.)

Acts 1:26- And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

The storied land of Sakhartvelo, known to most of us as Georgia, has legendary connections to some of Jesus’ original disciples. (Note: Our word “Georgia” comes not from St. George but rather from the Persian or Arabic word for the people of this area- “gurg”). According to tradition, the apostles Andrew, Simon the Zealot and Matthias came to this land on one of their mission trips after the Day of Pentecost. Simon the Zealot moved on to the disputed territory of Abkhazia, where his gravesite is located at the site of an ancient monastery. Supposedly Andrew journeyed further to Scythia (located in modern day Russia) while the so-called 13^th apostle, St. Matthias, remained in Georgia. There he is said to have died and been buried on the site of a Roman fortress in the town of Gonio, just a few kilometers north of Turkey. The Western Latin Church has always claimed that his remains are in Trier, Germany, moved there after his death in Jerusalem. But the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church holds to the Georgian site, and there seems to be good reason to believe that Georgia’s proximity to the Holy Land made it a fit place for mission work in the days of the Early Church. All of Georgia was finally converted to the Christian faith by 337 A.D. through the witness of St. Nino to the king of Georgia.

The Witness Continues in the 21^st Century

Deacon Zviadi Charkviani communes a member of a house church in the village of Tsvermagala

If you fast forward, oh, I don’t know, perhaps a few millennia to the 21^st century, it is a blessing to know that Matthias’ witness to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ continues in this land. We read earlier in Acts 1 that Matthias was divinely chosen as Judas’ replacement, being one of the men who had followed Jesus from the time of His Baptism to the Ascension. I was reflecting upon this text in Gonio a few weeks ago, having accompanied our LCMS World Mission trained evangelists on their weekly excursion to the Black Sea coast. On Sunday we had worshiped in the mission center in Kutaisi, with me preaching at the service of this growing congregation. The following day found us driving from Kutaisi to Tsvermagala, a village just a short ten-minute walk from the Black Sea. There we gathered the faithful of a house church, afterwards traveling south toward the Turkish border in order to do a Bible study for a family in an apartment in Batumi. When our work was finished, Gonio was just a mere fifteen kilometers away from Batumi and a fitting end to a wonderfully busy day. So despite a spiritual detour during the years of communism, St. Matthias’ witness continues through our Lutheran evangelists. Once again the Holy Spirit is empowering believers in modern day Georgia through the Word of God.

Deacons Zviadi Charkviani (in black clerical garb) and Zaza Kiknavelidze (kneeling behind him) along with many from their congregation in Kutaisi)

Where am I now?

I am officially on vacation in Michigan at the moment, but have scheduled visits to St. Paul’s in Niles, MI (June 19) and Immanuel Lutheran in Leland, MI (June 26). I will also make a quick trip to Austin, TX to speak at the annual meeting of the Jesus is Lord Mission Society on June 23.

Prayer Requests:

Please continue to pray for our Eurasian mission accountant, Karen Roemer, recovering from cancer surgery.

Please pray also for my cousin Shawn Nunnink, undergoing chemotherapy. Another cousin has informed me that although medically Shawn’s chances are poor, doctors are amazed at how she is responding to chemo. Her prognosis is looking better and better. Shawn does not fear death, but this mother of four (her youngest is 15 months old) is asking that God will say “yes” to our prayers for her. She is praying that five acquaintances will come to the Lord through her witness. Please continue to pray for God’s mercy and healing upon her.

Thank the Lord with me for safe, uneventful travel home.

Rev. Matthew Heise

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.”

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