wfn.org | Children of Chernobyl get coats, health care in North Alabama

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 28, 1998        Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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NOTE:  A photograph is available with this story.

By Ron Council*

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (UMNS) -- Fifteen "children of Chernobyl" are visiting
the United Methodist Church's North Alabama Annual Conference in the
latest chapter of an ongoing story: the conference's adoption of the
people of Belarus in ministry and mission.

Bishop Robert Fannin, then-conference lay leader Frances Moore and
Birmingham-Southern College President Neal Berte traveled to Belarus in
1993. They met church and civic officials and local people, and explored
opportunities for Christ's church there.

A year later, Fannin returned to Belarus with his wife, Faye, to
distribute health-care and hygiene items to hospitals and clinics. The
conference had raised money to pay for shipping the goods.

This year has seen more bonding between Belarus and North Alabama.
Fannin appointed the Rev. Patrick Friday a missionary, to preach the
Gospel and help start a United Methodist church there. Friday had
studied and taught in the Baltic region and was enthusiastic about its
potential. 

That would be enough to describe the Genesis of the mission, but there
is more.

Earlier this year, Fannin urged members of the conference's 878 United
Methodist churches to collect new or like-new coats for the children of
Belarus. The appeal was so successful that more than 15,000 coats were
brought to the June 7-10 annual conference meeting, causing storage and
handling problems for the volunteers. The Rev. Mike Harper, associate
director in the Council on Ministries, coordinated volunteers who bagged
the coats for shipment later this summer.

Some of the Belarus children have received their coats already. Fifteen
of them, ages 9 to 11, from the Druzney region, arrived in Birmingham
through the annual conference's Children of Chernobyl project on July
12. The trip was funded by donations from conference members, with help
from a local health care executive. Host families took the children in.

The region in which the children live is still plagued by radiation in
the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. Although the
accident happened before they were born, the food and water they consume
is contaminated, and will be for generations, by the fallout. The
children's five-week stay in Alabama will help build their immune
systems, specialists have said.

While in Birmingham, they visited the warehouse full of donated coats
and chose some for themselves, their parents and siblings.

The children also received eye examinations from two doctors, and some
were fitted with free glasses from LensCrafters. They underwent physical
examinations at Children's Hospital and visited the University of
Alabama at Birmingham Dental School, where 90 percent of them needed
care. The Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Service also provided
hearing tests.

They are visiting regional attractions, such as the Huntsville Space and
Rocket Center, and spending time at local churches too.

The Fannins welcomed the children during a July 22 visit to St. Mark
United Methodist Church in Vestavia, where the group participates in a
daily enrichment class.

"I have been to your country, and you have a special place in our hearts
and prayers," the bishop said, "and I welcome you."

Led by their interpreter, the children responded in English: "Thank
you."

A tour of the St. Mark sanctuary followed, and Fannin explained the
United Methodist worship style. As he began to tell the Bible stories
depicted in the church's rose windows, a soft voice interrupted, and
9-year-old Viktoryia Kavetskaya began telling the stories to the other
children. 

Few children attend church in Belarus, but their grandparents have told
them the Bible stories in the oral tradition that helped establish the
early church, Fannin said.

The children will depart for home Aug. 16, with Friday and the coats
following close behind. 
# # #
*Council is director of communications for the United Methodist Church's
North Alabama Annual (regional) Conference.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/