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BY ROD MILLER
SPECIAL TO THE UMCONECTION

The Baltimore-Washington Conference is unique in that we have three covenant partnerships around the world -- the Zimbabwe Annual conferences, the South Conference in Korea, and our newest, the Black Soil District of the South Russia Provisional Annual Conference.

These partnerships invite congregations and individuals in the Baltimore-Washington Conference to share in ministry and discipleship where there are a variety of needs and opportunities.

Linking with churches and individuals around the world offers participants the experience of knowing each other heart to heart, to be in ongoing prayer for one another and to offer financial, personal and spiritual support where the needs are great.

The Black Soil District is one of two large districts in the South Russia conference. There are 20 churches in the conference and 13 churches in the district. Located south of Moscow, the district is the size of France and includes major cities, such as Voronezh (1.2 million people) and Volgagrad, formerly Stalingrad.

The conference owns a camp, about 30 minutes outside of Voronezh, which had been the property of a local company that had gone out of business. The church acquired the camp a few years ago, with the intention of using it immediately to host camps, meetings and retreats. Local church members, camp employees, and volunteers from the United States have been in the process of rebuilding the current structures on the site so that it is more accessible and usable.

Bishop Hans Växby invited a small group from our conference, including me, Bishop John Schol, Ianther Mills, Carol Miller and Charles Harrell, to Russia in May to see and participate in the South Russia Annual Conference, which was held at Camp Veronezh.

Our host was Igor Volovodov, a district superintendent, who also serves Peter and Paul UMC in Veronezh and has been waiting for 15 years for a partnership with the West.

We participated in singing and worship, the business of the conference, sharing meals together, and staying overnight at the camp.

There were some very moving times at the conference.

One was when Bishop Schol shared a Bible study on the Gospel of John, in which he invited the 60 people present to go deeper in discipleship. Another was when Bishop Växby invited each pastor and their lay delegates to stand and to share their vision, mission and their SMART goals for the coming year. We heard from:

~ Tatiana and Vladmir – a clergy couple who are working with the local school and are building a worship center.

~ Alexander is a physician, mayor of the town and pastor of First UMC.

~ Galeena – at Revival UMC, who has a prison ministry and is building a church.

~ Lev and Nadia –a clergy couple at Millennium UMC who have a music ministry.

~ Giorgy – at Living Spring UMC, who is facing resistance from the authorities, so the church is meeting in homes. He is also a former military officer, who served in Vietnam and Afghanistan.

~ Vladmir – at New Commandment UMC. He is one of the first United Methodist pastors in this part of Russia. He talked about his youth ministry. Many of the pastors in the district have come from this ministry.

~ Lydia, serving one of the daughter churches of New Commandment.

~ Yuri, serving Good News UMC and ministering to the addicted and co-dependent.

~ Sergei, of Church of Hope UMC in Volgagrad, which has ministries with the homeless.

~ Valeri of Transfiguration UMC in Volgagrad, who leads numerous Bible studies that are reaching new believers.

~ Irena – of Resurrection UMC in Veronezh with Oleg, who serves as deacon. Theirs is the largest church in the district. It ministers to students and children with cerebral palsy.

~ Igor – district superintendent and pastor of Peter and Paul UMC in Veronezh, which has recently constructed a large open space for young adults and contemporary worship.

Hearing the personal witness of some of these people was incredible. They grew up in a society that was primarily atheist and did not have any personal knowledge of God until recently. Their passion is strong, their hearts are large and their compassion for people is great. They have something to say to us and to people who would be new disciples.

The first goal of our partnership in Russia is for each of the churches on the Black Soil district to have one or more partner churches from the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

For more information, contact the Rev. Charles Harrell at