To the Editor of der Bote, from Propst (District Pastor) Rudolf Blümcke of Krasnojarsk.

The time flies quickly in a time-consuming mission and so it is really two years already, that I live and work with my family in Krasnojarsk, in the heart of Siberia. On the other hand it seems to me already very long to be here, since with a delegation from Germany I first set foot on the Siberian earth. I was in Krasnojarsk for two weeks in June 1995, in order to find a place to live for our family and to make the first contacts. There were many "first experiences" in those two weeks. The first worship service in the Culture Palace, the first meeting with Superintendent Schneider (he introduced me officially into the congregation!), the first conversations with the people driven from the Volga, who told their story, but also the first hours waiting for Russian authorities, the first Banja, the first Pilmeni, ... [Note: Banja is the Russian sauna. Pilmeni are little meatballs wrapped in dough and very tasty; you can eat them in the soup. They are always served when you have special guests.] This has already become very familiar to me, and in part also quite dear. And yet after two years there is still much here in Russia which I do not understand, and which is strange to me. During my studies I have learned much about acculturation; the idea of becoming a Jew to the Jews and a Greek to the Greeks has always deeply fascinated me. In the concrete situation in Russia, where I seek to be a Russian to the Russians or also simply a German Russian to German Russians, there is much which is sobering. So in this article I would like to reflect a little, on what has happened in these two years. What has arisen? How is the congregation doing after two years? But while I formulate these questions, it occurs to me that they are again expressed in a very German way. They ask about effectiveness and the fulfillment of commission. Thus I will perhaps concentrate on what has taken place.

Since August 1995 there are regularly worship services every Sunday in Krasnojarsk. That was our first continuity in the work of the congregation, and so the worship service has also developed into the center of this work. Here one meets, here one hears God's word, sings and prays with one another, and exchanges the latest news over a cup of tea. Every Sunday we rent a hall in the culture palace of the city, since the Lutheran church in Krasnojarsk was destroyed in 1963 and we thus do not have any worship facility of our own to use. It is important to note, that about 80% of the worshipers in the city of Krasnojarsk in their previous life have never attended a Lutheran worship service, not to mention any other religious gathering. We have a group of older women, who were still born on the Volga, were baptized and sometimes confirmed, but who can hardly still remember the life of the worship service. Sometimes one of these older sisters comes to me after the worship service and asks me, "Pastor, I can remember that we had a celebration in those days, at which the thirteen year old girls and boys were nicely dressed and marched in rows and columns from the parsonage to the church, behind the pastor and the village teacher." Such pictures remain suspended from childhood. But most of the people sat at first in the worship service and were uncertain, how one should behave, though from the Russian Orthodox Church one knows that behavior in church is particularly important. So the first worship services were often a school period, in which the teacher clarifies to the new beginners, what comes now in the service and why. Most of those who attend worship services in Krasnojarsk are descendants of German Lutherans, many in search of their roots, with an interest in the German language. In Russia there is deeply imprinted in most people the conviction:

A Russian is Orthodox and a German is Lutheran.

From the beginning we have held the worship service in two languages, since most of the people no longer understand any German, especially my German, even if I speak the purest high German. And so also today in the preparations for worship services there is a constant question: How can we fashion a worship service, in which the regular participants feel good and can take care of the traditions which are still known to them, and at the same time hold open the door and be welcoming for those, who come for the first time to a worship service of this kind and who at least have a right to understand something.

For the occasion our music is always inviting, particularly through the musician we have engaged, Elena, who understands to select music for the worship service tastefully, and meanwhile within a few months has also organized a choir that enriches the worship service. Now a children's choir will begin. Since Christmas 1996 my wife Kirsten is leading a children's worship service for children every two weeks, and a Choir in parallel with it will now begin. We rejoice, with how much happiness the children participate in this work.

For the grownups meanwhile we have three times offered a course in the faith: "Become a Christian, Remain a Christian," and out of this course our first house Bible study group has begun, which meets every two weeks in order to read the Gospel of Luke. It is fascinating to reflect about the Bible with people, who bring their life experiences, but for the most part no impressions from church (as well as no mis-impressions from church). We always try to bring together the congregation outside of the worship services for congregation excursions, to eat barbecue, or see a film, or go hiking. And it is out of the group of people thrown together with the most diverse expectations at the beginning that a congregation of about fifty regular worshipers has developed, that intimately revolves around one another, and also has the attitude of heartily welcoming others.

In the work together I should first confirm, that I was proceeding too much from German or even American relationships, as concerns cooperative work with officials in the congregation. In Germany most of the pastors are disappointed, that the involvement of congregation members is declining. Here I must first communicate clearly to people the idea and the value of the work of the congregation, and then it is still a long way, before people really become involved. I take that as truly a pioneer task, but I must personally still learn to formulate, for what the church really exists, and cannot content myself that it is obviously a given. I think that this is a good learning process for a German pastor. Naturally in Krasnojarsk there are also great undertakings and with them gifts of God, which are related to involvement and help. Thus Tatjana Serebrova came to me after a half a year and asked whether she could help. She quickly became an indispensable pillar as my translator and right hand. For example she takes over the worship service together with a few church leaders while I am in Germany, and I know that I don't need to worry about anything. The congregation has honored her involvement by choosing her to be part of the church leadership.

Particularly at the beginning I also have also received help from a series of young women, who had some finishing education in Germany in the social sphere before my coming to Krasnojarsk. Through their knowledge of German, but particularly through their work in our Diakoniastation, that was opened in October 1995, they were a great support. In the meantime we have a certain number of patients for the Diakoniastation, who are cared for by our coworkers. And we work on the link between the Diakonia work and the church congregation. Through the Diakonia work and the provision of occasional humanitarian supplies, we have also established good connections to the social arrangements of the city. [Note: In our Diakoniastation we have four young ladies working. They were educated for two years in Germany. They visit sick, old, and handicapped people in their homes or in the hospital, to give them medical and social care. That ranges from giving shots or medication to cleaning their homes or going shopping for them.]

From the beginning of the work I have fostered friendly relations with our Catholic sister church here in Krasnojarsk. The head Priest Antoni Badura from Poland is about my age, and we have already traveled thousands of kilometers together, to find our often widely scattered congregations in the large Kray of Kasnojarsk. [Note: Kray in Russia corresponds to a state in the USA.] We also have good contacts with several charismatic and Pentecostal congregations in the city.

With the extra tasks of becoming Propst (District Pastor) (Synod Autumn 1995) and Vice Superintendent (Synod Autumn 1996), the work has just grown too much for me. If one simply sees clearly the dimensions of the Church District (it was the area of western Europe), one can see that I only manage to approximately fulfill this assignment. It is valuable to find these often widely scattered congregations, that have mostly existed secretly for decades, and to lead them out of their isolation into the fellowship of the ELKRAS congregations. Most of these congregations only have members who are over 60 years old and faithfully attend the meetings. The worship service is still exclusively in German. That means that unless new work, for example with children or youth, also begins in the Russian language, these congregations scarcely have a future. The previous strong emigration to Germany plays its part, to allow the congregation to shrivel. To work against this, the Eparchie Church Districts must be furnished with District Pastors who visit these congregations at least a few times a year and maintain contact with them. [Note: ELKRAS divided Russia into two Eparchies with their own synods: European Russia and Siberia. Each Eparchie is divided into several Church Districts or Propsteien. There is a Propst or District Pastor for each Propstei (Church District), a Superintendent for each Eparchie, and one Bishop for the entire ELKRAS. The Bishop is in St. Petersburg, and the journal der Bote is also published there.] In our Krasnojarsk Church District, we have found 31 congregations already, and I try to visit all of them at least twice a year. We urgently need help for all of these assignments, that one alone can not master. I am happy about the joint work with our bishop visitor Ernst Schlacht, who understands to organize the work in the presidium of the Synod, and to bring oversight in the assignments that lie before us. So for us in Krasnojarsk it was a particular honor in February 1997, to have the entire presidium of the Synod and also our Bishop to visit us for a first meeting. I am happy about the congregation seminars that we are now having in Omsk, to give help to the congregation leaders for their service.

By all of this work I am personally making important steps in my faith. I learn here in Russia to understand and express my faith in a very simple way. Often it has to do with the providence of God by long journeys in the jurisdiction, or also about God's guidance with unexpected situations in the congregation. In Krasnojarsk it is so comforting to experience, how conflicts drive us to prayer, and we then stand together before our Lord and ask him how it should proceed. Here I experience, that we do not live from bread alone or from the black numbers at the end of the month, but from every word of God, who speaks to us through the daily Bible reading and speaks into our action and life. It has especially gladdened me, to come home now after my sojourn in Germany. In Germany I was a guest, who lived sometimes here, sometimes there, but home for us is now here in Krasnojarsk; that is the place where God has placed us; here we want to magnify His name and be witnesses of His Gospel.