North West Russia and Belarus Annual Conference report to the Central Conference 2016

1. How have you worked with the creation of new faith communities? And what experiences and

results have you seen?

During 2012 – 2016 one faith community was opened in Saint-Petersburg. Much work has been done to recover ministry in Sovetsk, Kaliningrad region.

2. In which ways has your annual conference engaged in risk-taking mission inside and outside of the country?

AC has one missionary program in Karelia together with Finnish AC. Twice a year there are trips to Karelia, organized by Novgorod and Pskov UMC. This area is very poor and people need a lot of encouragement and hope.

In 2015, 4 people from Saint-Petersburg took part in the Missionary program of the Church of the Resurrection (Kansas City) to South Africa. The participants paid their travel costs themselves. This was our first experience of US team and Eurasian team joining together to do mission work outside our own area. We have have learned many new things about South African context and Methodist Church in South Africa, about huge disparity between rich and poor people, and continuous systemic problems of the post-apartheid reality.

You can see 6-minute video in Russian on youtube: h"ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWb1xyLRn10 . We hope that this experience would help us to mission work more effectively within our own Eurasian context.

Pastors and leaders from Saint Petersburg participated in the mission trip to Roma congregation in Novotroitskaya, Stavropol region (South Russia Annual Conference) and working camp in Voronezh in summer 2016 (see photos bellow).

These ministries have been tremendous blessings and inspiration. You can read more in English and in Russian, and see more photos on our web site: h"p://umc-­‐eurasia.ru/en/it-­‐all-­‐has-­‐just-­‐begun, and h"p://umc-­‐eurasia.ru/ru/eto-­‐bylo-­‐blagoslovennoe-­‐vremya-­‐svidetelstvo-­‐o-­‐trudovom-­‐molodezhnom-­‐lagere-­‐omc-­‐evrazii

 

3. In which ways has your annual conference strengthened its ministry among and together with

children and youth?

Since 2005 annually the Student Forum “You are the light of the world” gathers students and youth from Eurasia. Young people learn new tools for ministry and mission, build relationships and get inspiration. You can view 6 minute video in Russian and Ukrainian about Student Forum 2015: h"ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcOPyll5uCk . We will be glad to see you at our next Student Forum on January 30 - February 3, 2016 in Saint-Petersburg. We will be learning about calling and mission. Each participant will have a chance to participate in mission project in the summer 2016 in different parts of Eurasia!

Churches in Kaliningrad, Belarus, Pskov, Vologda, Saint-Petersburg and Pushkin have regular children camps led by youth. Pskov, Vologda and Novgorod are involved in orphanage ministries. A new evangelism program for kids was started in Saint-Petersburg

4. How has your annual conference focused on ’Empowering the laity’ and what has been achieved?

AC has regular training seminars for pastors and leaders. Every year we provide this educational opportunities:

2012 – Evangelism Institute in St.Petersburg for UMC in Eurasia 2013 – Evangelism Institute in connection with Annual Conference 2014 – Seminar for lay leaders and pastors in St.Petersburg for UMC in Eurasia in partnership with pastors from Seoul, Korea 2015 – Basic seminar on prevention of drug and alcohol dependency in St.Petersburg for lay leaders and pastors of UMC in Eurasia. Furthermore, lay leaders and pastors study at our Moscow Seminary. Three pastors study in the E-Academy in Europe, one pastor studies at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC for D.Min program.