wfn.org | Residence for Russian Orphans

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3255 notes).

Note 3253 by UMNS on Oct. 24, 1996 at 16:13 Eastern (3083 characters).

SEARCH: Texas, Siberia, Russia, orphanage, residence, building,
United Methodist
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Ralph E. Baker                        539(10-71BP){3253}
          Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470            Oct. 24, 1996

EDITORS NOTE: Photos available.

Texas Conference provides residence
for orphanage in Western Siberia

by Shannon W. Martin*

     BAKCHAR, Siberia (UMNS) -- The first American the people here
met was a United Methodist minister from Houston. That was in
1994, three years after the iron curtain fell in the Soviet Union.
     "Sam's bright smile and warm spirit was a great American
first impression for us," said Valentino Khoroshilova, director of
the orphanage in this town of 8,000 people in western Siberia.
     Since that time the Rev. Sam Duree and the United Methodist
churches of the Texas Annual Conference have made another
impression on the people here, in the form of a $140,000 building.
     On Oct. 8, an 18,000 square-foot residence for the orphans of
Bakchar was dedicated by a group of Texas United Methodists and
Bishop Ruediger Minor of Moscow. The orphanage residence is funded
by the churches of the Texas conference.
     Orphanage officials said the new residence will help ease a
severe overcrowding problem.
     "Our orphanage is equipped to house 60 children, not the 129
that are presently living there," Khoroshilova said. "This
building and the Methodists are a huge blessing to us ... a
godsend."
     The new residence will house at least 15 orphans and several
house parents. It includes an indoor garden, where the 129 orphans
will grow and harvest their own food.
     "Indoor gardens are critical in western Siberia where the
temperatures fall below freezing six months of the year, said the
Rev. Chappell Temple, former chairman of the Texas Conference
Board of Global Ministries. He explained that the orphanage staff,
129 orphans and their house parents, want to be as self sufficient
as possible.
     Minor said, the Russians don't have the capital to construct
buildings right now, particularly a residence for orphans.
     "I bow down to the people that have made this new residence
possible," he said. Texas Methodists are making a real difference
in the lives of the children of Bakchar ... it is a sign of the
church's love and devotion for children all over the world."
     Texas Conference United Methodists have been doing
humanitarian work at the orphanages in Siberia for the last 2 1/2
years. Duree said, in addition to the new orphanage residence, the
Texas Conference has sent the children here (and other area
orphanages) more than 5,000 teddy bears, and hundreds of pounds of
children's vitamins, bandages, antibiotics and other medical
supplies.

                              #  #  #

     * Martin is director of communications for the United
Methodist Texas Annual Conference headquartered in Houston.

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