A New Home for the Congregation in Bishkek

In the capital of Kyrgyzstan on April 8th a long-awaited event took place – the dedication of a new house of prayer – the main cathedral of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan (ELCRK). The Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kazakhstan, Yuri Novgorodov, was present at the dedication, as were all the pastors and preachers of the ELCRK and many congregational members from the local and nearby (Vinogradnoe, Tomoka, Nizhne-Chuisk, Belovodskoe, Kant, Kirovskoe) congregations, the German ambassador, as well as guests from Germany and Kazakhstan.
The previous prayer house was partially destroyed in a fire on January 27, 2015. While that day was a tragedy for church members, now the new building has opened up its doors and it a wonderful reason to celebrate. The words of greeting that could be heard all around - “Christ is risen!” took on a special meaning this year.
During the celebratory worship service ELCRK bishop Alfred Eicholtz recalled with tears in his eyes what horror he felt as he heard watched the church burn and heard the bell as it crashed to the ground together with the bell tower. He remembered the questions that were asked to which he had no answer at the time - “Why didn't your God help you?” He shared his thoughts about how it is especially important to trust God especially when you don't see how His Providence is leading, when you can't find any answers. Time has shown, said the bishop, why God allowed the fire to happen and how He has been glorified in its restoration.
All who gathered for the celebration met in the church's courtyard. In front of the entrance and then during the worship service there was music by the Chyusky chamber orchestra. The bishop greeted those who were gathered and introduced the architect Sergei Karchin and Pastor Valentin Limanovich, who was responsible for the detail work on the building. During worship the mixed choir of the ELCRK (more than 50 people!) sang.

Choir, ministers and congregation

It is worth noting that despite the fact that the congregations are spread out, people in the congregations know each other relatively well thanks to regular church-wide events; they were particularly happy to meet this time. No one was a “guest,” but felt that this building would be their common home; after all, each in his or her own way contributed – whether it was through finances, through donating food, or by working on the cleanup after the fire. Everyone was praying constantly for God to bless the Bishkek congregation and all were thankful to the Lord for His work to make the building happen.The lack of a church building didn't get in the way of congregational ministry. Even on the day of the fire, despite the tragic event, the scheduled Bible study took place all the same. People who came to Bible study that day didn’t know what to expect, and saw before them the sad picture of burnt church. That Bible study, which was held in the nearby building of the seminary, was very memorable. The ministers who smelled of burning and smoke, dejected by what had happen, called on everyone to humbly accept God's will and to trust Him in this difficult situation.


From that time until April 8th of this year, meetings of the Lutheran congregation in Bishkek took place according to their regular schedule in the building of the seminary, and congregational life didn't stop even for a minute. This confirms the Biblical teaching that the Church is not a building, but Christians gathered in the name of the Triune God.

Bishop Alfred Eicholtz thanked everyone for their contributions to the restoration of the cathedral. He spoke about the importance of the words of support he received at the time from various parts of the world. It wasn't just members of the ELCRK who gave offerings for the church, but many others who sympathized with them and gave what they had. Bishop Eicholtz spoke about the coins gathered by children in the congregation in Astana as a symbolic offering that was passed on at the time by Bishop Novgorodov.


The latter in his sermon said that all the participants of the restoration had received “a kiss from God” insofar as they became builders of His house. “You can build many houses, but building God's house comes around once in a lifetime.” He emphasized that the pain that brothers and sisters underwent in Bishkek was felt by the church in the whole post-Soviet territory. He gave them an altar Bible and passed on congratulations from all the Lutheran Churches that are part of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.
The celebratory events lasted from 9 in the morning to 6 in the evening with a lunch break. The congregation in Bishkek as the hosts invited the guests – more than 300 – to lunch. Hot pilaf, prepared outside over an open flame, and hot and sweet tea were ideal for the cold weather on this spring day. All the guests wished that sounds of praise and thankfulness to God would never go quiet in this building and that it become a real home for many who have found salvation there .
Former congregational members who have moved to Germany were also present at the event; among them were Woldemar Schal and the former president of the Synod Alexander Schantz. In their words of greeting they emphasized how important it is that the Lord's house be filled with people.
Eduard Penner led a group of guests from the German “Society of Evangelical Lutheran Germans from Russia.” He said that their society closely follows the developments of the church in Kyrgyzstan, and in their quarterly newsletter there is a block of news about their church. When Christians in Germany, especially those in “brother congregations,” heard about the 2015 fire, they were filled with sympathy and a desire to help. While they knew that God can certainly work in places without any walls, prayer houses are something that we people need, since they help us to come together around God's Word. Eduard Penner addressed the congregation with the wish that their building would become a place of meeting between God and man so that people could see Him there, hear Him and praise Him, and that through the Lord's Supper come into communion with the Church. He noted that the new church in Bishkek is one more piece of evidence of God's love which calls us to learn to trust God during all the stages of our lives.
Maria Lyanguzova

Reformation and Social Service Seminar in Bishkek

Bishkek

In early October I had the pleasure and the privilege of traveling to Bishkek in order to spend a week with brothers and sisters in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kyrgyzstan. While I had made a brief visit to the country almost 10 years earlier – when as a seminary teacher I visited an intern who was my student – this was my first real chance to get acquainted with church life in Kyrgyzstan today. While I admit that my impression is based on limited experience, it certainly seems to me that the Holy Spirit is working through the church's ministers in order to bring help and hope to people in physical and spiritual need.
While I have frequently encountered Lutheran churches which have highly educated ministers but relatively low energy for practical service, what I saw in Bishkek was close to the opposite. This church has a number of very dedicated men and women, some of whom are only beginning their path of deeper theological education. That said, they are not afraid to actually do the work of living the Christian life – sincerely praying, passionately studying the Scriptures, actively finding ways to meet the practical needs of their congregations and of wider society.
My task during this seminar was to focus on the theological underpinnings of our church life in the year of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. I explored foundational principles of the Lutheran movement; we began by looking through the lens of Luther's life and moved on into more in-depth discussions of those issues that participants found particularly relevant for their ministry. One area that we focused on was the question of a Lutheran approach to ethics. I noted that the idea that our motivation for doing good is a reaction to God's grace was not something new for them; on the other hand, many found that approaching ethics primarily from the point of view of meeting other's needs – as opposed to pure living through subordination to the commandments – to be rather unfamiliar. Among other things we spoke about Luther's understanding of Law and Gospel, what it means to be simultaneously saint and sinner and how Lutherans have both failed miserably and been faithful disciples when faced with such extremely challenging situations as the period of the Second World War.
During this seminar my colleague was Pastor Tatyana Wagner, whom I knew from my days as a teacher at the Novosaratovka Theological Seminary. After serving as a pastor in Russia, Tatyana continued her education in Germany, where she is currently serving. She was able to speak so that all the participants were able to understand, both in terms of language and in regards to her ability to apply the theology and practice of diaconia to the post-Soviet context. This, I believe, was incredibly helpful for the church as it seeks to apply theoretical and practical aspects of this work to Kyrgyz society. That said, the Church there faces challenges that exceed those in most other countries – the exodus of Russian speakers, the Muslim majority, and the restrictive religious laws might lead others to simply to “keep their heads down” and serve only their own, internal needs. Tatyana and I were continually impressed, however, with the variety of small-but-significant initiatives carried out by pastors and their congregations; we heard from them about their desire to share Christ's love with people, yet this is done without a “hidden agenda,” and their willingness to help does not depend on another's openness to our faith.
I am very thankful to those who helped support this seminar through their financial gifts. I believe that the chance given to the seminar's participants for intellectual stimulation, for encouragement, for fellowship and for listening to the ways the Spirit might be moving among them will be of benefit for the participants, will give additional motivation and order to their efforts to meet their neighbor's needs, and will bear good fruit for the church in the future.
Bradn Buerkle

Meeting of Youth Coordinators of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches

Bishkek

The annual meeting of Youth Ministry Coordinators of the members of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches was held this year in the capital of Kyrgyzstan from November 12 to 16. The meeting was attended by Vladimir Vinogradov and Anastasia Razinkova (Urals, Siberia and Far East), Vera Tkach (European Russia), Vladimir Lizunov (Georgia) and the local hosts Nikolai and Maria Vorobyov.

At the beginning of the meeting the youth coordinators summarized what had happened since their last meeting, with each person sharing their own stories of challenges and joys of doing youth work. Many of the problems were shared by all, despite the differences in culture and many miles between them. Already early in their meeting they began to discuss their most successful region-wide projects. For example in Kyrgyzstan they have the "alarm clock" program, which sends out daily Bible verses to the telephones of congregational members, friends and acquaintances using the "WhatsApp" program. Or the "School of Leaders" training program in ELCSUFE, which has young people training up the next generation of youth leaders. And, of course, they spoke about a large number of summer camps, day camps, conferences and trips. 

The coordinators also spoke over Skype with Caroline Bader, the Youth Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, about the possibilities of working with young Christians from other countries. She told them about the possibilities for developing cooperation. She also suggested that they join the Young Reformers Network. Not long ago, in August-September of this year, they met in Wittenberg as part of the preparations for the 500 anniversary of the Reformation. The idea is that young people unite others in a project in one of three areas - people, creation, or salvation. Caroline noted that Vera Tkach has already taken the first step in that direction; she visited the conference in Wittenberg, and now is leading a project of cleaning up historic Lutheran sites in Russia. For Lutheran youth in the CIS this might be a first sign of development in international relations. 

At their previous meeting in Georgia the youth leaders decided to form a "Evangelical Youth" movement, uniting the staff of youth work throughout the CIS. They spoke about how the first year of this project went and noted that it is very important for motivation and for unity. Over the past year 3 youth worship service have been planned and held in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. They will continue and in 2017 a big youth conference dedicated to the anniversary of the Reformation is planned. 

The schedule of the meeting was planned in such a way as to maximize the amount of time the coordinators could spend with congregational members from Bishkek and the surrounding areas. They took part in a youth group meeting with the theme "The Kingdom of God" in Bishkek, visited the congregation in the village of Ananevo and Sunday services in the villages of Vinogradnoe and Tokmak. On the 14th of November there was a youth gathering in Vinogradnoe with more than 70 young Christians from around the country in attendance together in order to learn about following Christ at the "Iron Man" seminar, led by Vladimir Vinogradov. 

Thanks to the warm hospitality of the Church of Kyrgyzstan, the Vorobev family, Bishop Alfred Eicholtz and many others the time spent together in Bishkek was not only comfortable, it was unforgettable. 

Vera Tkach

Church Building Burns

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
  The troubling news came on January 27th in the form of a letter sent by Alfred Eicholtz, Bishop of the ELCK. “This morning at around 11 in the morning there was a fire in the central congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bishkek. Preliminary investigations show that there was an electrical short in the roof. It is clear that no arson was involved. Unfortunately, fire fighters were not able to put out the blaze and almost the entire roof of all the buildings was burnt. The attic was destroyed and everything in the sanctuary (with the exception of a few benches) was rendered unusable. The same goes for the church's office equipment – most of it is now unusable. We are thankful to God that no one was a victim of the fire. At the time in the building there were two young members of our staff, but they were able to escape without harm. That evening we met with the congregation for prayer. There was much silence and many tears. We ask for your prayer support!”