Grace Notes

The Christmas pageantry on Red Square

A happy and blessed New Year to you! I was busy getting reacquainted at the end of this past year with familiar faces, celebrating our Lord’s birth among family and friends. Before getting to St. Louis for classes in January, though, you can see in the picture above that I took in some of the Christmas pageantry on Red Square. I am truly thankful for your continued support and for God’s blessings this past year- a new Lutheran Bible school in Mongolia; continued spiritual growth and teaching with our church partners in Russia, the Ingrian Lutheran Church; the multi-faceted work in Georgia; and lastly and certainly not least, God’s protection upon me and the Kyrgyz Lutheran Church during a bloody revolution there in April. The New Year will see a continuation of the mission work that I have been called to do as well as new opportunities for teaching with our Canadian Lutheran Church partners in the Ukraine. Many thanks for your prayers to our Lord who leads and guides me every day.

Siberian mission work

Pavel Malinov (far left) with new believers after their riverside baptism

Pavel Malinov is my student at the Ingrian seminary in Koltushi and an evangelist in the remote regions of Siberia. A prison convert, Pavel has since his release been actively engaged in sharing with others the hope in Christ which has given his life new meaning. I first met Pavel and his wife Alyona six years ago in the Siberian city of Chita, just north of the Chinese border. Pavel is Russian while Alyona is a member of an ancient Siberian people group. Since LCMS World Mission has helped fund some of his mission trips, Pavel recently filled me in on his activities this past summer traveling the empty spaces of Siberia.

He and Alyona had initially planned to take a few days of swimming and relaxation after the school year, but upon arrival in the village of her birthplace that plan soon changed. The people whom Pavel had baptized in the village said to him, “Gee, we thought you might teach us some more from the Bible.” How could he refuse? Pavel told me that as he was teaching in another village this summer, a man came into the house drunk. He even wandered into the picture that you see here below, giving the victory or peace sign while in the process of feeling no pain. Pavel continued with his lesson while the drunk man settled into a comfortable position. Afterwards he came up to Pavel, sheepishly and rather soberly asking, “Um, would you mind telling me a little bit more about God?” Of course Pavel wholeheartedly agreed!

Boris Lukyanovich showing me the natural wonders of Siberia

Follow-up on an old newsletter

When I was in Chita six years ago, I mentioned that a Boris Lukyanovich had given me a tour of his hometown and the natural wonders in the surrounding countryside. When I began teaching the people there about Baptism, Boris became silent and was clearly deep in thought. He sadly told me that he would like to believe but couldn’t. I told him that what was impossible with him was not so with God, who desires that all people would come into His family. I then asked you to join me in praying for Boris while Pavel continued to witness in the following years. Well recently when I was teaching at Koltushi, I asked Pavel about Boris. He told me that Boris had become a believer and was now attending a local Orthodox church! It is timely reminder as we begin the New Year that no witness is ever useless. The Holy Spirit works through our imperfect witness and can bring people to the Lord in His own time and place.

Elvira Jaskovskaya (1935-2010)

Elvira and me about seven years ago in Moscow

Elvira Jaskovskaya was a longtime member of Lutheran congregations in Moscow who came to faith rather late in life. When I returned to Russia in November, I learned that she had passed away in August. Elvira had a fascinating life. She was born literally a few blocks from the Kremlin in central Moscow on the main street, Tverskaya. Her father was a German born in Berlin while her mother was Latvian. Both were dedicated communists who believed that they were creating a better world back in the 1930s when they lived along with many other foreign communists in the Hotel Lux in central Moscow. This hotel was famed for housing influential communists on the world scene like Walter Ulbricht, the future leader of East Germany. Others like Stalin’s nemesis, Nikolai Bukharin, were known for frequenting its quarters. Even Josef Stalin came to visit on occasion I’m told. Fortunately for Elvira, her father left for Spain soon after her birth and became part of the Russian communist troops who defended Republican Spain during the civil war with General Franco’s Fascists. I say “fortunately” because a large number of Elvira’s fellow apartment dwellers would soon be swept up in Stalin’s Great Terror, which killed not only Christian believers but die-hard communists during the years 1936-39.

When I was an LCMS volunteer in the mid 1990s I had the chance to get  to know Elvira. She always appreciated a good sermon, so upon returning to Moscow ten years ago as a vicar, I was touched when she told me that she truly enjoyed the sermons of LCMS missionaries like me and my colleagues John Mehl and Brent Smith. Because of the pain in her arthritic knees, these past few years she could no longer manage to navigate the city Metro system to get to church. I tried to bring her communion and do a short service at her apartment whenever I could (way up on the 18^th floor!). Afterwards I was always treated to a fine meal, often including her delicious “borscht.”

Our conversations were always far-ranging, typical of an intelligent woman who relished interacting with people from different cultures. I remember once that we discussed the communism of her parents, me wondering how difficult it must have been to come to terms with the communism of her parents. Elvira answered that they thought they were creating a better way of life through communism. She herself wasn’t enamored of the high prices for goods in the new Russia and said that it was better in the old days when bread and milk were kept artificially cheaper. But, I interjected, she couldn’t worship the living God freely in the old Soviet Union and she of course agreed with that. Afterwards I felt a bit ashamed that I had tried to score a polemical point with her. After all, she was a widow who had to struggle day to day and lived more poorly than a foreigner like me. But if Elvira was offended, she never showed it. She had a heart of gold.

I tried calling her this past June when I was traveling through Moscow, to see if she needed communion. There was no answer and I just assumed that she had been at her son’s summer home (known in Russian as a “dacha”). So I was truly heartbroken to learn of her death when I got back into Russia in November. As we end the old year and begin the new, we reflect upon those who have gone home to our Lord this past year. I will especially remember Elvira and thank God for the faith that He created in her heart. We thank Him that He has created the conditions today in Russia so that young and old, like Elvira, can hear the Gospel and come to eternal life through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. May God’s peace guide you all of the days of 2011!

Prayer Requests:

Thank the Lord with me for all of His blessings and safekeeping throughout 2010. Pray with me for open doors in His mission and for His blessings and safekeeping in 2011.

Please pray for the missions in Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Mongolia, Georgia, the Ukraine and Belarus.

Please continue to pray for our Eurasian mission accountant, Karen Roemer. She had successful cancer surgery in December and we pray now needs only a follow-up surgery in February. Please pray for the Lord’s strength and healing hand upon her. Please pray also for God’s healing upon our former accountant, Larry Ogg, who is battling cancer.

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 in 2011!

Along the road to Darhan, Mongolia

Advent in Mongolia

As we enter Advent and begin to meditate upon our Lord’s First Coming at Christmas, I pause to reflect upon the spiritual darkness that has pervaded the Mongolian landscape for ages. Buddhism has kept the people in spiritual captivity to a remorseless system of perfection which no man can possibly achieve. The prophet Isaiah’s words are especially pertinent and inspiring at this time of the season: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2). The light of Jesus Christ is beginning to make inroads in the nation of Mongolia, dispelling fear and hopelessness among those who have come to faith. As I remember at Christmas God’s greatest gift to us all, His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, I rejoice in seeing the contagious joy and peace that is being reflected in the lives of these mostly young Mongolian believers. What is happening today is exciting to see and experience—a growing Pentecost in what is known as “Mongol Nation”.

Lutheran Bible School in Mongolia

The first exclusively Lutheran Bible School opened its

Bayern Medii Lutheran Church in Darhan

doors in the northern city of Darhan on November 22. This school had long been in the planning stages, a joint cooperation of the missionaries of FLOM (Finnish Lutheran Overseas Mission) and NLM (Norwegian Lutheran Mission). Now its reality dawned upon me as I touched down at Ulaanbaatar’s Genghis Khan Airport on November 20. The three hour ride north to Darhan with LCMS volunteer missionary Mikayla Stephenson and FLOM missionary Joel Norrvik was on a paved road and so thankfully, relatively uneventful. The bleak yet hauntingly beautiful landscape didn’t change too dramatically, either, when we arrived in Darhan. A planned Socialist city from the 1940s plopped down in the middle of nowhere, I soon discovered that there was both an old city and a new city, the “old city” being only two years older than the new!

The church where we gathered, Bayern Medii

The class at the Lutheran Bible School in Darhan

(News of Love), was literally a converted Russian military barracks. How ironic that a base for the old Soviet army was now being used 24/7 to proclaim the Good News! 25 students gathered from various professions—some were Ulaanbaatar Bible School students where Pastor Purevdorj serves as Director. Others were simply college students who were parishioners at various Lutheran churches throughout the country. I taught the courses along with Purevdorj (colloquially known as Puje), Bertil Andersson, a Swedish missionary from NLM, and our Sainaa (EIIT long distance student at Concordia Seminary). I was supposed to go through the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. Well, I made it through Genesis. Almost. Just through chapter 35. So many questions from the smart and inquisitive students slowed us down, which pleased me to no end. I really prefer a dialogue between student and teacher. There are four intensive sessions planned for the school year, each about two weeks in length. I hope to continue my course in the future when I can fit it into my schedule.

Graduation from FLOM’s Training Course

Thieving rice from the Khan at a real Mongolian Barbecue!

For the past two years, I have traveled to Mongolia to assist FLOM as my good friends, missionaries Pentti and Marja Marttila, trained leaders from their churches before heading back to Finland. I have taught various subjects like Law and Gospel, the Life of Martin Luther, Romans, Galatians, 2 Timothy and Hebrews over the course of the two years. Now after the completion of the first classes at the Lutheran Bible School in Darhan, I decided to stick around for a few more days in order to give a talk on Missions as the students returned to finish their final courses. I was also eager to celebrate the completion of this two-year course with the participants—especially at a real Mongolian Barbecue! It was a joyous event full of laughter and song as the students received diplomas for their studies. I have come to know and truly respect my fellow Mongolian Lutheran believers and was happy that I could be a part of this celebration.

Sheep’s head for dinner? Um, no thank you.

Now while it was fun to gather with everyone around traditional Mongolian food, I realized how very American I am and will most likely remain. After seeing what you see in the picture below on one plate at my table, the fake Mongolian Barbecues in America will never be entirely authentic to me. But to be honest, my stomach will be more relieved with fewer surprises on the menu than it would be at a “real” Mongolian Barbecue. Just a traditional hamburger, please, for this Yankee.

Prayer requests:

Thank the Lord with me for safe flights and pray for safe flights this month (Dec. 8th) to Tbilisi, Georgia and Detroit (Dec. 22nd).

Thank the Lord that His Word is growing in Mongolia and pray for a unity in truth among the Mongolian Lutherans and Christians in general.

Thank the Lord for a successful course at the Ingrian Lutheran Seminary in Koltushi.

Please pray for God’s grace and successful surgery for our LCMS Eurasia accountant, Karen Roemer on December 14.

Please pray for God’s peace and comfort for Dr. Henry Rowold, my old Missions Professor, and his family as they mourn the death of Henry’s wife, Phyllis. The Rowolds had been in Koltushi two years ago teaching a course on Missions. One of my students, Eduard Juronen, was kind enough to find a wheelchair for Phyllis and drive all of us to St. Petersburg’s world famous Hermitage. Phyllis still remembered that trip fondly when I and classmate Olav Panchu had dinner with her and Henry this past summer in St. Louis. She will be dearly missed by all of us who loved her. But as we mourn, we also rejoice that her faith in Jesus Christ has allowed her to hear those comforting words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Good and faithful indeed! R.I.P. in Jesus, Phyllis!

Let me take a moment to wish you all a very blessed and merry Christmas! I am grateful for your support, whether it be prayerful or financial or both. You help me serve the Lord on your behalf in the former Communist world. God’s peace be with you at Christmas! I will write my January newsletter to you just before the New Year as I have to travel to St. Louis on January 2 for classes from January 3-21.

E-mail: matveih@yahoo.com—new 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!

Rev. Matthew Heise  “Lutheranism comes to Mongolia” July 2010

The Khan always looms large in Mongolia

I have often written how Mikhail Gorbachev’s “glasnost” program in the late1980s, whatever his intentions, opened up the former Soviet Union to the Gospel. That new “openness”, though, also had an effect upon other communist countries that were not directly controlled by the USSR. In 1990, inspired by the changes taking place in the Soviet Union, young Mongolians pushed for a democratic revolution of their own. Step by step political reforms began to strip away the detritus of the old hated system. The Communist Party was now forced to compete in elections, the title People’s Republic was dropped in 1992, and eventually the Party itself lost power in 1996.

Those heady days saw missionaries like Pentti and Marja Marttila from Finland come to Mongolia with hopes of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Mongolia had experienced a Christian presence in its past, but it was so long ago in history (7^th century) that no one could recall it.

(On page 64 in his book The Lost History of Christianity, Philip Jenkins writes about a Nestorian Christian cemetery in Kyrgyzstan and the gravesite of a Christian known as Tatt the Mongol- I’ve not yet seen this although I am now aware that I was only eight kilometers away while I was visiting another historical site. Definitely next time!).

In 1997 Nerguisaikhan Myadagmaa (hereafter, “Sainaa”, for obvious reasons!)

Sainaa (37 years old) often leads worship on his guitar

first heard the Gospel through his wife Hishigjargal (“Hishgee) who worked as a nanny for the children of the Marttilas. Hishgee and Sainaa began to discuss what itmeant to believe in Jesus Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they became believers and in late 1999 asked the Marttilas: “Could we start church meetings close to our home?” This request was prayed over with the missionaries and literally at the dawn of a new century, January 2000, Sunday services were started at Sain Medee (Good News) Church in western Ulaanbaatar.

Since that time, Sainaa has been looking for opportunities to learn more about that Faith. He first received some structured education from LCMS missionaries Leif Camp and Douglas Reinders in 2002 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. After this initial exposure to Christian doctrine, Sainaa studied independently with LCMS Pastor Armand Boehme and Pastor Gennady Khonin of the Kazak Lutheran Church in Alma-Ata. Now through an agreement with Rev. John Loum, director of EIIT (Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology) based at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Sainaa is a long-distance internet student.

Buddhism still matters

center of Mongolia's Capital, Ulaanbaatar

While teaching in Mongolia this past April, Sainaa explained to me how Buddhism still casts a heavy shadow over Mongolia. Look at the building in the picture to the left, right in the center of Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. Seems normal, doesn’t it? It is, but somehow a rumor was started that the building was inhabited by evil spirits. To this day, this perfectly normal building stands abandoned, already fifteen years! Such is the fear engendered by the spiritual world in Mongolia.

On the one hand, at least people there take the spiritual world seriously. But on the other hand, this inordinate fear causes problems for Christians. For instance, when a Christian dies, naturally the desire of the church is to have a Christian funeral. But it’s not that easy in a culture where Buddhism dominates. The relatives usually demand a Buddhist funeral whether they themselves are faithful practitioners or not. They fear the consequences towards themselves if they don’t hold a Buddhist funeral. There is no real concern for the wishes of the recently deceased, whether he or she happens to be a Christian or not. Held captive by their fears, they are more frightened of offending evil spirits.

So what can Christians do in such circumstances? Well it turns out to be a great opportunity for

Boris Chuprov, Ingrian Lutheran seminary student

witness. After all, we serve a God who has conquered death. As St. Paul reminds us in Romans 8, if God is for us, who can be against us? Sainaa tells me that in practice he has agreed with Buddhist priests that they can both hold the funeral at the same time. In a situation strangely akin to Elijah’s battle with the priests of Baal in the Old Testament, during a funeral Sainaa has a captive audience in which he can proclaim the certainty of Christ’s victory over death to those of a Buddhist background. He and the priests basically flip a coin as to who goes first.

Sainaa’s service to the Gospel is on the front lines in a spiritual battle with the forces of darknesswhich Buddhism represents. I remember Mende, the leader of a congregation in Zuunmod, telling me last year that his father had come to faith before his death. Although Mende hadn’t been certain as to whether his father had become a believer, he related that as he lay on his death bed with Buddhist relatives surrounding him, his face began to shine. Mende’s father said that he saw Jesus coming for him. Then he died. Naturally the Buddhist relatives were stunned and wanted to know more about this Jesus! So in parts of the world where there has been little Christian witness over many centuries, the Holy Spirit is now working overtime to penetrate hearts with the knowledge of Christ!

Update: Please pray for Sainaa. He has had a mild heart attack recently and is experiencing enough problems that he will need surgery. Please pray for his health and the doctors and nurses ministering to him. Also pray for his wife Hishgee who is expecting their fourth child in September.

are overwhelmed with grateful thanks to the Lord for his healing hand on our LCMS Eurasia accountant, Karen Roemer in Germany, and seminary student Boris Chuprov in St. Petersburg. Karen is now back to work and more importantly, completely cancer free! Boris, who suffers from HIV/AIDS, is now sufficiently healthy to return for classes at the seminary in the Fall. Thanks be to God!

Notes from the Edge of the World
Rev. Matthew Heise
June 2010
Waiting for Godot? No, Just a Visa

Above: The land of Bach has slowly been losing its Christian faith

I have been cooling my heels in Germany for the past month at the apartment of my colleagues, Brent
and Jennie Smith. I am very grateful to them for putting me up while I sent my passport to the States and waited for a Russian visa. I am especially grateful to their nine year old son, Zachary, who gave up his room for me. Thanks, Zach! I also had the chance to visit my classmate in the Eurasian Ph.D. program, Rev. Markus Fischer, of our partner church SELK (Independent Lutheran Church in Germany). Markus serves Trinity Lutheran congregation in Leipzig. I was able to assist him in his Sunday service, lending my American-accented German to the readings for the day. In light of my stay in Germany, I’m going to put off the second part of my Mongolian (more…)

As summer draws to a close, we turn our mission focus from projects in Rochester to global outreach with the Ablaze program and the special visit of Matt Heise, missionary to Russia.  Matt will be in Rochester on Wednesday, September 23.  There will be a special program and of course as is typical of Grace Hospitality, a special meal, “Grace will go Blini for Heise”.  The menu will include Russian vegetable pie, salad, bread and Blini’s for desert. What is a blini?  Why, it is a thin crepe filled with treats!  Yum!  Monies collected at the meal will go to support Matt’s ministry to areas of Georgia and Mongolia.  Matt develops programs to train local ministers especially those of Muslim ethnicity. Many of these men identify themselves as Muslim but have no faith.  They learn of Jesus and become his ministers.  Their faith is contagious and their numbers are growing.  Learn more of this ministry by planning to attend the program and dinner.

Dinner 5:30-6:30pm

Presentation and Q&A 6:30pm

Free-will offering will be received.