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CBC Team Ministers in Russian Orphanage
STRATHMORE, AB (July 24, 2003) - Ten students and three staff members from
Covenant Bible College (CBC) traveled to Uglich, Russia, from July 1-17
to work with a state orphanage in children's ministry, said CBC
president Neil Josephson.
The mission trip was a joint effort of three CBC campuses, with staff
members Baxter Swenson (CBC-Ecuador), Karen Hallberg (CBC-Midwest) and
Lee Johnson (CBC-Canada) involved. The group worked entrepreneur David
Tagliani, a former Microsoft executive who now runs several businesses
in Russia that employ orphans. Tagliani has had an ongoing relationship
with Newport Covenant Church in Bellevue, Washington. Last summer, a
five-member group from CBC Canada volunteer at the orphanage in Uglich.
Hallberg stated that the contingent took 11 children from the orphanage
to Gorky Park, an amusement park in Moscow during their initial day in
Russia. The park is four hours from the orphanage and none of the kids
had ever been to Moscow. "They were pretty overwhelmed by having these
foreigners with them," said Hallberg, who was making her second trip to
Russia. "But their demeanor changed as the day went on. There were a lot
of smiles at the end of the day."
After the trip to Moscow, the CBC team began working on various teaching
activities during the next 10 days, which had many vacation Bible school
components. The group ministered from a nearby camp, with eight
orphanage workers and 25 area children (ages 5-16) participating. At the
end of the camp, the group thanked the CBC team with a presentation that
included traditional Russian dancing, singing and recitation.
"There was some sadness when we left, but the translators for the trip
said they had hope because of how God had worked in the relationships we
had built," Hallberg said. "A highlight for me was seeing how the CBC
team functioned to build relationships across the language barriers - it
was remarkable the conversations we were able to have about their faith.
I've done a lot of mission trips and this was one of the best I've ever
been a part of."
"The orphans really appreciated them, they soaked up the love of Christ
the students gave," said Josephson, who spent three days with the group
while he was visiting western Russia. "And it was really neat meeting
the people and understanding the mystique about the country."
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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