Peace to you, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

May we share with you the small travel-report we received from father Vitali Gavrilov of the parish of Transfiguration in Tuim.

Many of our parishioners live quite far from us. Well, what is “far”? Here in Siberia, everything is “far.”  Or… maybe not far. Just a few hundred miles — and we are already there.

So last week I needed to visit a lady who is our parishioner; her name is Maria, she lives in the village of Sukhovo. It is about 750 kilometers (465 miles) away from Tuim.  This is my responsibility!  So in the early early morning we got into a car and drove off.  The roads in our Siberia are ambiguous.  Sometimes you have to drive for a very long time.

But be that as it may, we arrived in the evening.  Before that, sister Maria, finding no place for herself, left the house many times and gazed steadily at the road, waiting for us at the gate. The meeting was with tears and joy.

And then the amazing began.  After all, we were traveling with the goal of visiting our parishioner, to give her Holy Communion and to instruct in the faith, supporting and comforting her. But there are eight people came to her house.  These were the neighbors who were also waiting for us.  Using this wonderful opportunity, I talked with them for two hours, told them about the Church and her sacraments, about our Lord Who gave His Church authority to baptize new people and to forgive sins. Then I explained why now I can’t give Holy Communion to everyone.  But I can teach them, and then, after baptism (or confirmation, if someone was already baptized), I can give them Holy Communion. All people listened attentively, asking questions, and these were really good questions.

Do you know what happiness is for a priest when people listen to him?

Well, after this long conversation, I served the Mass, with music (my wife Anna brought a small battery-powered synthesizer).

And in the morning, before we were about to leave, one woman brought us a basket of domestic eggs and asked me to come to their house and to bless her family. I went to visit this family immediately. I talked with people, encouraged them and said the blessing.

The owner of this house is 88 years old; she is very kind and wise.  She asked me to give her confirmation as soon as possible, she said that she understands how important the Eucharist is, and that she believes that it is the true Body and true Blood of Jesus Christ.  I promised her and others that I would soon come to Sukhovo again and begin to instruct them, and then later I would conduct a rite of confirmation to all diligent students.

There are some very old people in the village who are already preparing to leave this world, and I will do everything I can so that they will be saved.

And then we were still talk for a long time. Because of that, we were not able to leave in the morning, but left only in the evening, before which we ate delicious properly made donuts. 🙂

Before we left, the villagers again said that they are waiting for us. Now I worry more, and I pray for those who want to be in the Church, but live so far from us.  I ask all of you to pray for these people, and I also ask the Bishop to let me visit regularly not only Angarsk and Buryatia, but also the village of Sukhovo.

Please pray for the Lutheran mission in Siberia and for safe travels of the priests.

“Faith and hope”

Please see attached photos. 

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Peace to you, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today, in accordance with her calendar, the Church celebrates the day of Saint James the Apostle.

Of course, in some parishes, this holiday (like the others that fall on a weekday) is moved to the nearest Sunday.

But we congratulate you today, and may we bring to your attention an excerpt from the sermon by our Bishop Vsevolod, that he read in the parish of Saint James the Apostle in Novokuznetsk.

Saint James became the first martyr of the twelve apostles. But we know practically nothing from the Scriptures about his life and ministry. The Book of Acts only tells us about his death, and even so briefly, as if by chance:

At that time, King Herod raised his hands to some of the Church members to make them evil, and killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.

Acts 12:1-2

The compilers of the Church lectionaries had to add a few verses from the previous chapter [Acts 11:27-30] to this reading so that it would not look too short. Even though the history of collecting of relief during the famine under the days of Claudius Caesar has no direct connection to James the Apostle.

Although it is possible that among the priests who received this relief, there were those ordained by Saint James. After all, it was through the apostolic ordination that the Church received her first bishops and presbyters (and she is still standing in this continuous line of succession from the apostles).

Against this Church, King Herod (the grandson of the most “famous” of the Herods — one who killed the children of Bethlehem), “raised his hands”, and some Christians were arrested and Saint James was executed. Here is a description of his death: “and killed James, the brother of John, with the sword”; there are seven words in Greek and six in Russian.

And that is all we know about Saint James from the Scriptures. The early Church writers contradictory tell us about the guard who was captured by the apostle’s preaching so much that he publicly confessed his faith in the Lord Jesus and was executed with the one he guarded. Was it happen? Maybe.

But still, it is written so little! So little we know about the apostle! And I realized that this is because the greatest saints are almost always invisible. In the same twelfth chapter of Acts, much more is written about Herod. Earthly rulers always produce much more noise than God’s saints. The people glorify these rulers, the crowds shout to them (as they shouted to King Herod): “This is the voice of God, not of a man” [Acts 12:23], they get public adoration, they are named as “fuhrers,” “lifelong leaders” and “fathers of nations.”

Around them always there are a lot of those who want, if not “to sit at their right hand and at the left” (these places have long been occupied), then at least to snatch a small piece of a celebration of life, constantly hovering around them.

In our world, the most popular persons are obvious sinners, who are demonstrating their permissiveness. But I do not envy them: celebrity and authority impose too much imprint on a person, and it is doubtful that those who are caught in such nets will be able to save their souls. King Herod could not.

Once, brothers James and John both dreamed of such human glory [see Matt. 20:20-28]. But the Lord graciously chose another way for them. Following that way, Saint James refused a human glory and obtained the glory of God. He suffered death from the earthly king and entered the eternal kingdom of the King of Kings.

Please pray for the Lutheran clergymen and laypeople in Siberia.

“Faith and hope”

Please see attached photos from the parish of Saint James in Novokuznetsk.

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Peace to you, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Our Church is very serious about her liturgy and, therefore, only ordained ministers serve the liturgy and distribute the holy sacrament.

The laymen can help at the liturgy (for example, to open the altar gate and to light the altar candles). The laymen can also read the Scriptures during matins and vespers. Such laymen are called “subdeacons” or “readers.” To become a reader, a man needs to receive a special blessing.

Last Sunday in the parish of Saint Andrew our bishop, Vsevolod, conducted the rite of blessing of subdeacon for Seminarian Yury Kulikov.

Yury Kulikov (born in 1982) is a real Siberian: he grew up in Olekminsk in Yakutia (the north-eastern part of Siberia). Yakutia is officially the coldest place on earth, with winter temperatures there reaching -80F.

Following graduation from the State Pedagogical University in Yekaterinburg in 2003, Yury worked as a schoolteacher.

Being a member of the Baptist congregation in Yekaterinburg from 1999, Yury assisted a pastor there, leading the youth ministry. Continuing his theological self-education, Yury grew increasingly dissatisfied with Baptist “theology,” a path which finally led to his confirmation in the parish of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (SELC) in 2015.

Yury entered the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Novosibirsk at 2016. So, now he is in his third year of studies.

Yury’s wife, Ekaterina, currently works as a schoolteacher at the state elementary school in Novosibirsk. Yury and Ekaterina have 3 children: David (born in 2005), Kristopher (born in 2006), and Maria (born in 2013).

During the order of blessing of subdeacon, Bishop Vsevolod said:

“Beloved brother, God the Father revealed the mystery of salvation, and completed it through His Son Jesus Christ, Who became Man and, after He told us all, has entrusted to the Church the responsibility to preach the Gospel to all creation. Becoming a reader, you will proclaim the word of God, assisting the Church in the fulfillment of this duty. You will obtain a special mission in the community of God’s people and will be assigned to service of the faith, rooted in the word of God.

“For you will proclaim the word of God in the liturgical assembly, will teach the faith among children and adults, and prepare them to receive the sacraments properly. You will also proclaim the message of salvation to people who does not already know it. Thus, with your help people will come to know God the Father and the Son, Whom He sent, Jesus Christ, and obtain the eternal life.

“Proclaiming the word of God to others, you take it in obedience to the Holy Spirit and attentively consider it every day, so that you may fully experience its living and sweet action. With your whole life imitate our Savior Jesus Christ!”

Please pray for the Siberian Lutheran clergymen and their helpers. Especially pray for subdeacon, Yury Kulikov, and his family.

“Faith and hope”

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Please see attached photos.

Download as PDF

Peace to you, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

We just celebrated one of the most significant festivals of the Church: Presentation in the Temple.

This festival is unusual. We are already far from Christmas, we have already heard about the Baptism of the Lord, we heard about the miracle at the wedding at Cana and about the call of the first disciples, we observed the Confession of Saint Peter and the Conversion of Saint Paul, and Feast of his followers: saint bishops Timothy and Titus.

But today we read again about Saint Mary and about the Wonderful Child, again almost there is a Christmas theme.

It looks that we are back to Christmas, but this is not by accident: thus, the Church reminds us again that the Word became Flesh, that the Light came into the world, and that this Light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.

(From the sermon by our Bishop Vsevolod).

You hold salvation in your hands. That is why the confession of Simeon — “now let Your servant, O Lord, to rest in peace, for mine eyes have seen Your salvation” — for all the time the Church recognizes this in the Eucharistic sense.

“My eyes have seen Your salvation.” One of the ancient liturgists, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem wrote: “Do not think that it is about your feelings. No, but about your unbreakable faith. Because when eating, you not eat the bread and wine, but the flesh and the blood of Christ. Come… and place the left palm under the right, and make as the throne, to obtain the King and receive… the Body of Christ and say amen. Carefully consecrate your eyes at the contemplation of this holy body and then taste of it” (end of the quote).

Have you noticed the similarity? “Make as the throne, to obtain the King … carefully consecrate your eyes…” — this is quite paraphrasing of the words of Saint Simeon. Our eyes see the King, the Lord, the salvation, too. What God has prepared before the face of all nations, now it has reached you and me.

In the holy sacrament, God comes to us so close that we can touch Him. He comes to us not in our dreams, or fantasies, or feelings, not in metaphorical sense, but objectively, really, that is: eucharisticcally.

Saint Simeon devoted to waiting to meet God through all his life. How hard it is — to wait through all your life? I do not know. Probably, it is very difficult. The Gospel does not say about it. Gospel just describes the joy that God’s promises come true. The joy that long life was lived as devoted to one purpose – to meet with the Savior. And now He came, and now we are not afraid to die. Because there is no death, if you hold in your hands your salvation.

We wish you blessed time after Epiphany.

Please pray for the Lutheran clergymen and laypeople in Siberia.

“Faith and hope”

Please see attached photos.

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Peace to you, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

May we bring to your attention the words of greetings from our Bishop Vsevolod that were read in the parishes of Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church during the Christmas liturgy.

Brothers and sisters,

The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem [Luke 2:15] to see the Saviour born.

“Bethlehem” is translated as “House of Bread”, and on Christmas night it became the real House of Bread; the Bread with a capital letter, the Bread descended from heaven [John 6:33], the Bread, of which we receive eternal life [John. 6:51].

That is why in the heaven above Bethlehem, the angels sang about “peace on earth” [Lk. 2:14] – peace with God, Who so loved us, that He sent His only begotten Son to us so that we might live through Him [1John 4: 9].

Let us hurry and go where Christ the true Bread from heaven awaits us. And let us constantly come to church in the new year to worship Christ here, not in front of His manger, like shepherds, but in front of the altar, from where the salvific Eucharist is given to us.

My beloved parishioners, I congratulate you with Christmas and I wish you a good, happy and churchly New Year!

And we wish you all God’s blessings at this Christmas time and New Year!

Your Siberian friends from “Faith and Hope”

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Peace to you, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Rejoice with us! Today in the Parish of Saint Andrew in Novosibirsk Deacon Vitaly Smirnov was ordained into the priesthood. This is a real Christmas gift from God to the Lutherans in Siberia.

“The Bishop and the assistants lay their right hands on his head, and the Bishop says: By virtue of the authority given to me, I, with my brothers in the ministry, intrust you, according to the apostolic tradition, through the laying of our hands, the sacred ministry of the Word and sacraments, and define and ordain you as a priest of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the name of God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! May the Lord bless you, and make rich fruit in the vineyard of the Lord, and let this fruit be to the everlasting life. Amen.” (Quotation from the Rite of Ordination).

Please pray for Rev. Vitaly Smirnov and for other Lutheran clergymen in Siberia.

“Faith and hope”

Please see attached photos.

P.S. And… in our “Faith and hope” archive we have a “Newsletter” from the year 2014 about the same man:

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Peace to you dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Recently our Bishop Vsevolod ordained Mr. Vitaly Smirnov as deacon for the parish of Saint Andrew in Novosibirsk. We asked several people in the parish what they think about it.

Pastor Alexey Streltsov, rector of Lutheran Theological Seminary (Novosibirsk): I remember Vitaly as a young student with acute interest in theology. He came to the Lutheran faith from Protestant background. So during his first year of study we jokingly called him among ourselves “Vitaly the Calvinist.” He knew Calvin’s Institutes quite well and wanted to compare reformed points with what he heard in our classroom. All in all it made him a very good and committed Lutheran student of theology: he got to know really well the treasures of the Gospel as they were presented in the Scripture and the Lutheran confessions. Vitaly stroke me as a man with utmost integrity. He had some difficult time with his disease, but his condition now allows him to serve in the Church. I am very glad that Vitaly has been ordained a deacon: ministry in the church is a logical result of the seminary studies. Vitaly still has a couple of courses left at the seminary, but it is a technical matter now. I am sure his work in our parish will be the real blessing for the Church.

Mrs. Nina Kasyanova, nurse: I think, Vitaly will be very good deacon, very good Church minister. I know him for long time. Not like some of former seminarians, he missed matins and vespers very rarely. He is the man of duty; he always does what he promises. He helps parishioners, cleans the church building, he does the work at the churchyard. Thus, he does the work that many people prefer to avoid. He has some health issues. Somebody else would say: “I should take care of myself, let others do the work.” But Vitaly didn’t make health the most important thing in his life. Ministry is more important for him. I saw him speaking to unbelievers. He never presses people, but at the same time he is very persuasive. I think it helps someone to come to the Church.

Ms. Natalia Sheludiakova, church organist: Deacon Vitaly has “speaking” last name, Smirnov. In Russian it is consonant with “smirny”, that is “humble” or “meek”. May it be a God’s providence? Saint Paul admonishes: “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” [Eph. 4:1-2]. All these qualities Deacon Vitaly has. Sometimes it seems to me that if he would have three or four cheeks, instead of two, he would turn all of them to those, who smite him. I hope Vitaly will serve for long time in our Church. We always need people who reveal in themselves the image of Christ, humble Lamb of God.

Mr. Ruslan Zinnurov, seminary student: I know Vitaly for some years, and it always was a pleasure to communicate with him personally and in the ministry, when we both were sub-deacons (readers) in our parish. Especially I admire his good Scripture knowledge, his willingness to help people, and that he is very good father to his children. I believe, it “guarantees” that he will be good spiritual father for our parishioners. Thanks be to God, that He raises new ministers for our Church. I pray that Vitaly will be given with the pastoral office.

Bishop Vsevolod said: I remember a long time ago my Archbishop Jaan Kiivit said once, that the biggest problem of the Church is that there are people who are serving there, although they must not serve. It sounded a bit disappointedly, but that is why it is so important for the Church to keep the tradition to ordain a candidate first into the deaconate, and after he serves for few years, then the Church decides if he is worthy to be ordained into the priesthood. Because for the Church the priesthood is very serious matter, and she should always be attentive to those who enter into the holy ministry.

For me it is a great joy that Vitaly became our deacon. Because sometimes it seems that nowadays it is not easy to find young people, who are desire faithfully to serve God and His holy Church. But Vitaly is one of most faithful and pious Christians I know. I know him for many years. So I would like to wish him to keep “the gift of God that is within him through the laying on of my hands” [see 1Tim. 2:6] and to become a priest in few years.

Please pray for our newly ordained deacon Vitaly and for all the Siberian clergy.

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Peace to you, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

Last week we travelled to the village of Beryozovka, in which ethnic Estonians live.

The first group of Estonian peasants arrived here in 1803, they were sent “to the eternal settlement in Siberia” for participating in protests against the authorities. In 1803 and 1804, the first houses of the village of Kasekula (from Estonian: “Birch”, in Russian it is: “Beryoza”) were built.

At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, many voluntary settlers arrived in Siberia from the north-western parts of the Russian Empire. The government supported people to move to Siberia to colonize it. Peasants could get free land.

From 1906 to 1914, more than 9,000 Estonians moved to Siberia, creating new villages. To Beryozovka peasants came from the Viljandimaa district of the Tartu province.

Life was difficult, and especially — later during the Josef Stalin time, when almost 15% of the inhabitants of Estonian villages in Siberia were persecuted and most men of 20-40 years old were shot as “enemies of the state.”

At the beginning of the 20th century there were many Lutherans among those who moved, thanks to them our faith spread in Siberia. Often the “new Siberians” settled into such hard-to-reach places, so the pastors had to spend weeks to get to their parishioners. After a hundred years, there are still challenging roads in Siberia, and it is still not easy to travel. But we are accustomed to overcome long distances and deep snow.

The locals, mainly babushkas and middle-aged women, came to the meeting with Pastor Daniel Burlakov and Deacon Oleg Epp (they were also accompanied by the organizer of the trip Mr. Igor Makarenko).

About 300 people live in Beryozovka, of which 70 speak Estonian. Some of them still read old prayer books with gothic type. They asked a lot of questions, mostly practical, related to the Christian life and death. They talked about Christmas, prayers, icons, funerals.

Our clergymen brought “Luther’s Small Catechisms” and Christian books for the local library. And they agreed on the next visit in December.

At the end of the 19th century in the Tomsk province (to which then, besides Tomsk and the area, the settlements of the future Novosibirsk and Kemerovo regions belonged) most of the Lutherans were of Estonian origin. Our duty is to remember those who came to Siberia and brought here the Lutheran faith.

We are Christians because of efforts of those who brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ into our cold land.

Please pray for the Lutherans with Estonian background in Siberia and for the travels of the priests to be fruitful and safe.

“Faith and hope”

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Peace to you, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Last Saturday, the theological seminars for lay people were held in the Lutheran parish of the Holy Trinity in Chita. We usually organize such seminars in our various parishes during summer time, but this year (due to financial reasons) we decided to hold the seminars in Chita in October.

(Of course, we should confess that October in Siberia is not quite summer). 🙂

Rector of our seminary Alexey Streltsov and instructor Pavel Khramov arrived to Chita. They lectured on: “Love of God in the Gospel of John” and “Lutheran doctrine of Christ.”

Our Bishop Vsevolod also arrived to Chita, he served the Sunday liturgy and then spoke with the parishioners and answered their questions.

Our parish in Chita is special. You have probably heard that one third of our parishioners in Chita are deaf. Therefore, all lectures and Divine services are always translated into sign language. [See Newsletters #146 and #213]

In our country it is not easy to be deaf, but the Church is surrounding her parishioners with love and care, and she helps them in everything.

In the parish of the Holy Trinity, there are two clergymen: Rev. Igor Kizyaev (senior priest) and Deacon Roman Kislov (who became the first deaf clergyman in Russian Lutheran Church in her entire history).

The Deacon takes great care of the parishioners, always helps them, listens to them and hears their confessions. Everyone knows him as a worthy and trustful clergyman and opens most personal secrets before him.

Our deaf parishioners are very missionary oriented people. They constantly talk about Jesus Christ to their neighbors and invite them to the church.

Alas, our parish in Chita does not have its own church building. We have to rent a facility. Currently, the parish rents a small house in the suburbs. This house is really small, and often people who come to the liturgy can hardly fit into it. Especially during Church festivals, many people do not have place to seat, and have to stand, even in the corridor.

During last Sunday liturgy, everyone (someone with a voice, and others in sign language) sang a new anthem, the text of which was written by Tatyana Sokolova, and the music written by Alexandra Kantorovich (both are from Novosibirsk):

… By the greater grace we are still alive,
revealed to mortals in the Son of God,
in the sacrificial Lamb sent down from above,
in the God crucified, Who loved our world.
Christ is my joy.

Come to visit us in eastern Siberia, to pray and to sing with us to our Lord. We will be glad to see you!

Please pray for the Lutheran clergymen and lay people who live in eastern Siberia.

“Faith and hope”

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