Short Update from the Rossons in Rudersberg

Sorry that I haven't written much in the last 10 days. We've been very busy of late. The school in Moscow is going smoothly, but we're still in the crunch of getting the paperwork finished for the licensing process. I've been very busy negotiating with some local churches who are interested in using our facilities for their weekly worship services. And we're also looking for ways to expand space and offerings to our Eurasian church family.

In Germany, today our village holds its annual Christmas market. It's an event where the entire community comes together and shops, eats, and talks. As is our tradition, our church is represented by our Royal Rangers troupe. Colin, Kevin and Brianna are all active in the activities. Claudia, in the meantime gets to prepare the snacks for tomorrow's kids' program (at the church).

Colin the Champion

This past weekend, Colin participated in his very first skateboard competition. Both of the twins were looking forward to the event. But Kevin injured his right knee (complete with fluid build-up, xrays, and knee brace) about a week before the competition.

Colin entered into the beginners' catagory, but there were 15 years also in his group. (The twins are 11.) Round after round, Colin kept advancing towards the finals. Finally he won the first place trophy and a new deck as a prize. Way to go, Colin!

Guests from Canada

This weekend at the seminary in Moscow, we had guests from Vancouver, BC. Phil Jeske and Dave Hensman from International Christian Ministries - Canada, along with pastor Dean Richmond (and Travis the piano man0 from The Bridge Christian Fellowship in Abbotsford. The folks from ICM were passing through Moscow on their way to do some leadership / mentoring seminars in the Ural region of Russia.

Phil (whose picture is shown) is a veteran missionary to Africa and Germany. I got to know Phil through one of our pastors in East Germany, Karl Schneider. And since Phil brought a group from his local church, it was easy to see how they respect one another and work together. Phil does most of the teaching, Dave does most of the music. But in their seriousness for God, there is plenty of room for humor. (Hey, if you can't enjoy what you're doing and with whom you're doing it, then it's just that much harder.)

New Restrictions for Missionaries in Russia

On October 4, 2007, proposed changes were introduced for the procedures for obtaining and maintaining long-term visas (that go beyond the term of a tourist visa). The new regulations are not yet finalized, and the interpretation of the decree is yet to be set. But here is the summary.

The current "religious workers" visa, as well as the business multi-entry visa, is valid for one-year. However, over a period of 180 days, all visa-subject foreign nationals will be limited to stays of 90 days over a 180 day period. This means that an American missionary church planter or Bible school teacher could spend only about half of his time (90 days of 180; six months of the year) in Russia.

In my case, I've never tried to stay more than two weeks at a time in Moscow; I continuously commute in / out of Russia without trying to take up residence. But for some this regulation would apply to our former missionary teachers at the seminary who, for all intents and purposes, taken up residence in Russia.

In a more subtle change, in order to renew the visa the Westerner would have to apply for the visa in a country of his permanent residence. That is to say, a missionary in Russian cannot simply go to Finland or any neighboring country of his choice to apply for a new visa. More than likely, he'll have to go back to his home country.

In my case, I have the German "green card". I could apply for the visa in both America or Germany. But most missionaries who have been lived in Russia have not set up residence in a nearby European country.

Eastern Germany – the Most Atheistic Region in Europe

In idea Spektrum (the German equivalent of Christianity Today), there was an article about the status of evangelicalism in the former communist country of East Germany. Here is an excerpt.

Martin Luther’s homeland has turned into a pre-Christian mission field, according to the Lutheran theologian and journalist Uwe Siemon-Netto, director of the Institute on Lay Vocation at the Concordia Seminary of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in St. Louis (Missouri).

At the recent event Siemon-Netto – born in Leipzig in 1936 - gave a lecture on the religious situation in East Germany. Less than a quarter of the population in Luther’s homeland is still Christian. Luther’s town, Wittenberg, counts about 15 percent church members, Protestant or Catholic. The same is true for Eisleben, where Luther was born in 1483 and where he died in 1546.

The former East Germany is the only European territory with an overwhelming majority of atheists – 65 percent of the population. In 1950, the Protestant churches in the Soviet occupied German Democratic Republic had 16 million members. Today, there are 3.4 million left.

This decline is partly due to a Christian brain drain. The swiftest and most competent East Germans – including disproportionately many Christians – have left the East for the more prosperous West. Among the core of the Protestant establishment used to be the educated and wealthy, the landowners, industrialists and craftsmen.

But, says Siemon-Netto, there is a ray of hope: “While it is true that the Eastern German society is the most atheistic in Europe, it is also true that the tiny and courageous Christian minority in Eastern Germany also tends to be the most faithful in the nation.”

For the complete article, click here.

Drugs kill 80,000 Russians a year

It was posted by Reuters and later other news outlets that drugs kill 80,000 Russians a year. This is a significant number anytime, but especially in light of Russia's population is only 140 million. (To put this in American figures, our population is roughly 300 million and we were to lost 170,000 a year to drugs).

Thus it is not too surprising that many of our churches in throughout the former Soviet Union have started their own drug rehabilitation centers. I have had the occasion to visit some of these. Many times these centers are nothing more than a safe house led by a married couple who accompany the addicts as they go cold turkey which is followed up by weeks of biblical teaching and occupational therapy while living at the rehab center.

As is stated in the article, the Russian medical system also does have programs for drug addicts, but rates of reoccurrence are very high noting that counseling is highly ineffective while patients are sedated.

Detoxification centers are widespread, but since they don't combine with rehabilitation programs, their effectiveness is "negligible," the report said.

Russian law also bans the opiate substitute methadone from being prescribed to heroin users, despite its successful use in many countries, HRW said.

"The lack of effective drug addiction treatment in Russia means that drug users who want to break their addiction cannot, and are condemned to a life of continued drug use," said Diederik Lohman.

Many of our students and pastors were former drug addicts. And it is not surprising they they have a heart to help others were have been held in bonds of drug abuse. More than any other country in Europe that I've seen, working with drug addicts is a vital ministry of the church in its effort to reach and change society.

Life in Germany - Diesel $ 7.52 per gallon

I've just written about it last week, so I won't belabor the point. The raising oil price, the declining dollar just simply makes for some interesting prices for life in Germany.

• Diesel (which we have) costs today $7.52 per gallon
• A gallon of regular gasoline costs $8.18.
• A gallon of milk is $4.06 (generic name brand); most common name brand - $5.29
• A pound of Elstar apples costs $6.44 (but who buys them by the pound?)
• We paid $4.43 for a package of sliced ham (10.15 oz) at the discount retailer Lidl (like Aldi's)

And for us missionaries who get paid in US dollars, we can only say ouch!

Near Disaster Averted in Moscow

It is with much gratitude that I can share that a major fire at the seminary has been averted. During the past two weeks, several students had noticed an odor in one room of the seminary. Over the past weekend, a couple of girls had even noticed a discolorization (or a darkening) of the wallpaper. By Monday afternoon, we realized that a faulty electrical connection was the problem.

When we called on the electrician, we learned that the insulation around three electrical connections had melted; it was just a matter of time before the faulty connections would set the walls on fire.

Through the early spring, ETSM had a new smoke digress system installed. The firm that installed the unit had cut three wires. Not being electrical engineers, they simply re-connected the wires without giving attention to the type of wire (copper or aluminum) or the diameter size (which varies according to the electrical load). As a result of the cross matching and wrong size, the insulation surrounding the electrical connectors had melted, leaving it open to direct contact with flammable materials (wall-paper, try wall, etc.).

Our non-Christian electrician even stated, "It's a miracle that the whole building didn't burn down." Our response, "Are you saying God spared us?" Well, I guess He did."

Much Ado About Nothing

Having compassion with our American friends who now must live with reruns of Leno and Letterman, I would like to share an article that I found. I assure you that this is a legitimate news item. Perhaps you've heard, "to err is human, but to really mess things up you need a computer." Well, I'm not sure if that is always true. The article is available with the Daily Mirror and Ananova.

An energy company threatened to take a Manchester man to court - over an "unpaid" bill for £0.00p.Dave Abrams, of Wythenshawe, was astonished when he received the letter from Powergen, reports The Daily Mirror.

Mr Abrams, who is in his 50s and lives alone, switched energy providers from Powergen to npower several months ago.He heard nothing from Powergen until the legal warning notice came through the door.

The letter, dated October 19, warned Mr Abrams he owed the company £0.00 for gas and electricity and said if he did not pay up he would be visited by a debt collection agency.It added that he could also be taken to court and, as a result, may find it difficult to obtain credit in future.

Mr Abrams said: "I was a bit nonplussed when I received the letter. I couldn't understand why they'd sent it, as I was on a pre-pay meter."

Powergen later confirmed the letter was sent in error. But it then told Dave, in his 50s, he owed £502 after paying too little when prices went up. Dave protested he was on prepay and Powergen admitted his meter should have been recalibrated. To reflect the blunder, his bill was cut to £300 to be paid within two years. But furious Dave had had enough.

Dave said: "I couldn't believe it when they phoned to apologise for the original bill, then told me I owed £500. I said I'd see them in court. I'm astonished they're so hopeless."

Great Book to Promote Missions in Your Church

Recently I got an offer from Church of God missiologists, Dr. Grant McClung on his mission book "Globalbeliever.com". He has asked me if I could pass this offer along to Church of God pastors, mission leaders, and our supporters. So, here is the offer from Dr. McClung:

Seminaries, Bible colleges, and especially local pastors and local church missions leaders have made use of this as an easy-to-read training text on world missions. Some are using it as a Sunday School or Family Training Hour elective course textbook. Some pastors and leaders have also used the book as an appreciation gift for missions giving.

For a limited time, the publishers have arranged with me a special author discount of $1.50 per book (on orders of 25 or more). It is my hope that we can finish up the remaining stock of the recent edition and work toward another printing in 2008.

In the meantime, please let me know if you would like to place an order with me. An order of 50 books, for example, at $1.50 each would cost $75 plus some basic shipping costs within the U.S.A. (approximately $25 average). For an investment of $100, you can have a basic missions training resource to put into the hands of 50 trainistudents, members, and ministry colleagues.

I have known Dr. McClung for over 20 years. (And my wife has known them for almost 30 years due to their missionary service in Germany. I have several of his books in my library. If you are interested in making an order. Please contact Dr. McClung at gmeuro@earthlink.net and tell him you heard of the offer from me.

Dollar Slides and Its Impact in Europe and Russia

In the U.S. the American economy is showing rapid growth. According to The Townhall, America's GDP came in at a "breathtaking 3.9 percent annual rate for the third quarter."

At the same time the dollar is taking a nosedive after a cut by the Federal Reserve in the leading interest rates. Currency buyers are dumping their dollars and it is causing the value of the U.S. dollar to decline. Perhaps that is not felt by the average consumer back in the States but we're feeling the crunch here in Germany and Russia. We get our income from our partnering church in the US. That means we're paid in dollars.

The Euro is up to $1.4503 against the dollar. Combine the low dollar with the high price of oil, and you can imagine what it means for missionaries in Europe. Monday we drove to the German national assembly (for our denomination), that morning I filled up our VW with diesel (which is much cheaper than gasoline) and paid just over $100. When I filled up again yesterday, my tank wasn't quite as empty, but we still paid $87.

Simultaneously, the Russian Ruble is down to 24.6918 to the dollar. Consider the prices in Moscow (with its 9% inflation rate last year) and it is an uncomfortable combination. According to an article in the Moscow Times recently, gas prices in Moscow have surged past U.S. averages. It's not usual to see gas sold for $4 per gallon. On my last trip to Moscow, I paid over a dollar (28 rubles) for a liter of milk.

Will the dollar rebound? Well...my experience says, "Only time will tell." Talk about Russian roulette.....