Dear Family and Friends.
PICTURES:
Russia/St Petersburg/Hermitage Museum: https://cincopa.com/~AgDAl4NfTRpQ
Kazakstan, Junior Olympics and a Meeting in
Russia: https://cincopa.com/~AkEAC8NFnlP4
TRAVEL
REPORT: See Below
[Note re Saint Petersburg and the Hermitage Museum
from Wikipedia since most pictures are
not captioned:
The State Hermitage
is a museum of
art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the
largest[2][3]
and oldest museums in the world, it was founded in 1754 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the
public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent
display, comprise over three million items (the numismatic collection accounts
for about one third of them)[4]
including the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections
occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace
Embankment, including the Winter
Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors.
Travel Report for January 2017
Euro-Asia Division and Romania
The following is the first major trip of the year which
lasted three weeks. Many names were left out but I am indebted to so many. Once again, this trip, like many others, was
life-changing for me. I write as we are
circling and circling and circling over Tokyo due to heavy winds. This present trip will be followed another
long one (4 weeks) to Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand for LEAD Conferences, and then
finally off to India for the last two weeks where we will have an advisory for
union leaders and a training program for Gospel Outreach workers for the Deaf. I will also visit orphanages and schools for
the blind and deaf while there. That report
will be shared later.
Moscow, Russia
Moscow was the original destination of the invitation by the
Special Needs Director, Pavel Liberansky,
but it expanded from there. The advisory
(training) was held in the division office just outside Moscow. The division office was purchased when the building
was nearly completed as a children’s home or school (not clear). It is a very nice but not elaborate
facility. In addition to office space,
there are several guest rooms as well as a small cafeteria. A very nice church was built adjacent to
it.
Moscow is a city of large/huge apartment complexes. Rent, so it seems, is expensive when compared
to salaries. When converted into dollars
alone rent seems on the low side. The graciousness of those who cared for us
was very generous in every way. The food was exceptional--especially if you
like me relish potatoes and soup/borsch the way I do! The advisory was for union leaders throughout
the division. Their attention and
interest was strong. Interest in Special Needs Ministries is well established
in the leadership here though it is relatively new other that work with for the
Deaf which has been going on for some time. I presented devotionals for the
morning worships for the office as well as seminars for those who came to the
advisory. I am so encouraged as I visit
the various “corners” of the world. Just
a few years ago there was little being done in Special Needs Ministries.
However, I have yet to find a strong division program for Special Needs if it
is not supported by the union leadership.
I have seen the work for the Deaf dwindle in my own division to only one
denominationally sponsored pastor! Independence is a good thing in some areas but
it seems some divisions shy away from the resources the General Conference has
to offer. Synergy among all Special
Needs Ministries is vital.
After a Special Needs advisory in Kazakhstan, I returned to
Mosow in time to catch a city tour and a tour in St. Petersburg. It was an amazing trip as you can tell from
the pictures. We visited many palaces
and cathedrals whose beauty was breathtaking.
It was, however, sobering when we learned that the golden walls and
doors and ornaments, etc., etc. was done while the poor financed the opulence
in these places of worship and governance.
As I write, I am on a 20 hour flight to Manila, Philippines.
The division leadership there is very supportive of this ministry and have
given strong encouragement to the union for their participation.
Carrie, my wife,
was supposed to join me on this trip but about a week before we were to leave,
we learned that her 96-year old mother fell at home and broke three ribs. Other family members with whom she was
staying had to be gone. She made the
right decision to be with he mother – I have been truly blessed over the years
with an outstanding mother and father-in-law. It’s the least Carrie/we could
do. [Her mother died in February but just before her funeral Carrie’s sister, Sandi Carlson, collapsed while grocery
shopping. It was discovered that she has
Acute Myloid Leukemia and is currently in isolation at a Portland, Oregon
hospital. She has now had two rounds of
chemo therapy. We are hoping she will
soon be able to receive a bone-marrow and stem cell transplant. Cancer is
plaguing so many of our friends!
St. Petersburg, Russia
The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in
Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world,
it was founded in 1754 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the public
since 1852. The pictures depict the amazing beauty found there.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
With three days between meetings, it was suggested that we
use that time to conduct an advisory (training event) in Kazakhstan, which we
did. Though this whole trip already had
quite an intense itinerary, we are glad we made this extra stop. It was good to see the support of the
leadership of the mission. I feel
compelled to establish a firm foundation for this ministry before I retire in
2020 so anything I can do inspire, motivate and train and that is within my
budget I try to do. I see so many
evidences of the Lord’s intervention – not only in my life, my career, but also
countless others. It just seems that
this ministry has been put on “full steam ahead” by a Power that exceeds
anything we do.
Our visit to Kazakhstan was in the southern part, the
mountainous region where the city of Almaty lies. The union mission office is located here—a
beautiful recently constructed building. On Sabbath, we spoke in two
churches. We were impressed by both the
friendliness of the members and by the quality of music—not just the special
music presentations, which were spectacular, but also the people in the pews. The response to our emphasis on “Special Needs
Ministries” was encouraging.
The city is also the home of the 2017 World Winter Student
Games (Olympics). A small group of us
took the gondola to the very top (3rd level) where it is much colder
than at the base) the day before the “junior Olympics” were to begin. It was quite amazing to see all the
preparation that goes into such events. We saw skiers, snowboarders
practicing. We looked down and saw the
skating rink for the competitions – uncovered (no roof) and we understand it is
the highest skating rink as far as elevation is concerned. We saw the large
security force and we even saw the emergency team practicing taking individuals
down the hill on the well-crafted stretcher. Quite spectacular is the Russian
Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension. It
is a beautiful brightly-colored building and was constructed in the late 1800’s
and was made entirely without nails. It
is one of the landmarks of Almaty. It is
one of only a few structures that survived the devastating earthquake of 1910. The Rakhat chocolate factory is a well-known
tourist attraction though we never went there (but that doesn’t mean I didn’t
get my share of chocolate while there!).
Apples, it is widely believed,
originated in Almaty! They are delicious.
Leaving the dedicated believers and workers was difficult
yet I’m confident we will meet again someday. Of special note were two
interpreters for the deaf from Kyrgyzstan.
What a Christian spirit. One is
sponsored by Gospel Outreach. We pray
that the seeds planted regarding work for the Deaf and those with Special Needs
will develop into a strong ministry for those are often overlooked.
Kiev, Ukraine
This was my second visit to Kiev. Soon after my first visit, Dr. Jay Sloop, a
physician from the northwest who had gone to Kiev to begin a health center,
went missing and wasn’t found until about two years later. He had gone to a park where I had gone with a
friend. He went alone and never returned.
Such memories flooded my mind.
Life is indeed fragile.
The occasion to go to Ukraine was the annual GC Leadership
Summit. All speakers were given 20
minutes to speak and, of course, I was asked to speak about Special Needs
Ministries. Once again, the response was
very encouraging! It is so important to
get the buy-in of leaders if this ministry is to become more than a “program”. It is becoming a movement as leaders and
laypersons grasp the heart of this work.
It is happening!! We can settle
for nothing less. We often hear
protestors within the church (outside the church too, of course) but I wonder
why aren’t we protesting about the marginalization of those with Special
Needs? Some are never even given a
chance to live. I am reminded of the 56
million aborted lives between 1973 and 2014.
If we believe that we (everyone) is created in the image of God, then
who are we to decide their fate. It’s
about giving them a choice too! How can we be silent? Far too often when this issue is raised in
the United States it is confused with a political party. We must not let
politics confuse the issue.
Bucharest, Romania
I’ve given up trying to make this a short report – believe
me, however, it has been shortened. Recently,
I reluctantly accepted the invitation to add Romania to an already intense trip. The union president and Duane McKey strongly urged me to go for at least one weekend to
hold some evangelistic meetings for a special gathering of those with special
needs. I knew the group having spent
four days with them last year. Pastor George Uba and Daniel Constine lead out
in what I hope to make into a global strategy for those who are disabled. About 50 attended the meetings of which 90%
(or more) were not members of our church.
The response was absolutely worth the extended trip. What precious people. Many were in wheelchairs. I was never so proud to see an
Adventist Church crowded with wheelchairs and canes. Some,
only a few, were mentally challenged but I’m proud to call them some of “my
own.” Surely they also have a need to
feel like they belong somewhere. Don’t
they! Some were bent and twisted from
cerebral palsy. To think that dictators
in the past would have had them executed (in a variety of ways) because they
were not “right” in their “form.”
Looking at them and their open hearts I saw the image of God. Dignity is a gift from God but sometimes we
are the “blind” ones. It is an inherent
quality that is not given because of what we can do or not do. The dignity is inherently
there but some of us need to learn to see it and treat it as such. My first first “evangelistic” sermon for this
group was entitled, “Celebrate What’s Right!” It was the first time I ever
began evangelistic meeting with this topic but such is the impact this ministry
has had on me. It only makes sense to start
with what’s right and see where things went wrong rather than the other way
around. Mine was a call to come back to
the relationship with God that we had at the very beginning. The response was very positive. I was not expecting any decisions for baptism
after only four presentations but four made the decision to be baptized. Because
of the accepting church of Pastor Uba
they already felt loved and God’s Word had already spoken to them. I am deeply
moved as I see God work. The world is in
a mess but we have a hope that is greater than any problem Satan can throw at
us. Keep looking up! -- Larry Evans