wfn.org | Virginia Methodists connect with Russian deaf school

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

Feb. 2, 2004   News media contact: Linda Bloom7(646)369-37597New York7E-mail:
newsdesk@umcom.org  7ALL-YE-I{031}

NOTE: A related UMTV report is available at http://umns.umc.org and
www.umtv.org.

A UMNS Feature
By Linda Bloom*

A United Methodist pastor's reluctant trip to Russia has led to a continuing
relationship with a school for deaf children in the city of Stavropol.

"I'm passionate about this now," said the Rev. John Speight, pastor of Christ
Church, a United Methodist congregation in Fairfax Station, Va.

His church members have caught the mission fever too, and they already have
filled the work team for the 2004 renovation project at the school.

Back in 1999, Speight said, he "never wanted to go to Russia" but agreed to
accompany his wife on a mission trip the following summer to Pyatigorsk,
about 150 miles south of Stavropol. The group had fellowship with a United
Methodist congregation there and did painting and other work at an orphanage
and boarding school.

"It was one of the best experiences of my life," he recalled. "I discovered
on that trip what (Methodism founder) John Wesley meant when he said that the
world was his parish."

Speight returned to Pyatigorsk the following year. After the United Methodist
Virginia Annual (regional) Conference adopted the state of Stavropol, which
includes both cities, as a mission focus, he took seven people to the city of
Stavropol in 2002. Hosted by the Stavropol Peace Foundation, the team lived
at the state boarding school for the deaf while working at another project
site.

When the school's director asked Speight if he would consider helping at her
school the following year, he readily agreed. He took a chance and reserved
15 airline seats, which were filled by 10 Christ Church members and five
people from other churches at a cost of $2,500 apiece.

The group came bearing gifts - toys, games, hats and gloves. A private school
in Prince Edward County, Va., donated cases of toothbrushes, toothpaste,
crayons and other items. A $500 gift allowed the pastor to buy a new set of
clothes and shoes for each child in the orphanage.

A doctor belonging to the church gave Speight $10,000 worth of prescription
drugs for the hospital in Stavropol, and Crossroads International, based in
Falls Church, Va., contributed $8,000 worth of medical supplies. His
congregation also contributed several thousand dollars for the mission, he
said.

Originally built in 1860 as a girls' school, the Stavropol boarding school
for deaf children provides a general education for more than 200 children in
grades one through 11. Last July, Speight's team refurbished a classroom
still in its original state.

"The paint was peeling off the walls and the windows were rotten," he
explained. His crew took down a temporary dividing wall and restored the room
to its original size, replaced windows and doors, patched the wood floor and
laid linoleum and painted the walls.

Although the school was on summer break, some of the children who lived
nearby came and spent time with one of the team members, a college student
majoring in American Sign Language. 

"One of our main missions was to be a support and encouragement to the
Stavropol United Methodist Church," Speight added. The team shared meals and
engaged in Bible study and worship with the congregation of about 20 members.

# # #

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

 
 

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org