wfn.org | United Methodist Women begin Russian-American unit

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Oct. 31, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-71B{497}

By Yvonne J. Medley*

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - The first Russian-American United Methodist Women's
(UMW) unit, chartered Oct. 22 in Washington, never set out to be a women's
group.
 
But a ministry to Russian immigrants, begun two years ago by the United
Methodist Church's Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, found itself
consistently attracting women to its programs.

"We started with 100 percent women, so it became a women's organization,"
explained Vicky Karakcheyev, a student at Wesley Theological Seminary. She
serves as staff for the ministry, along with her husband, Alex, also a
Wesley student.

The new UMW unit was chartered with 12 members, all women in their 40s and
50s from the former Soviet Union, according to Karakcheyev. "They're
starting their lives from the very beginning, so you know that's tough to
start your life again in your late 40s, 50s. They have a lot of problems,
and we're trying to help them solve those problems and find hope in Christ."

About 25 or 30 women and an equal number of children participate in the
Russian-American ministry's Bible studies, support groups and children's
play group, she said. Some are single mothers. Others came to the United
States without their spouses because of the difficulty for a husband and
wife to both obtain a visa.
 
"Some are here with their kids because they want to save them from the
army," Karakcheyev said. "They don't want their children to be killed."
Others left their children behind in Russia, the Ukraine or other republics
of the former Soviet Union and are working to send money home so their
families might join them, she added.

Many of these women have difficulty adjusting, and some fall victim to
depression and even thoughts of suicide, according to Karakcheyev, who was a
psychiatrist before she emigrated from the Ukraine with her husband in 1997.

Some of the women have no church connections, while others have an Orthodox
background. "We attend services at Foundry (United Methodist Church), and
our people really like it," she said. "They like the idea of Methodism, so
this is our way of conversion."

Patsy Barton, president of the Baltimore-Washington Conference UMW, led the
Russian women in a pledge of commitment during the chartering service at
Foundry. She welcomed the Russian women to the conference and said that the
Russian-American unit is in keeping with the organization's longstanding
commitment to serve God in missions and outreach.

The Baltimore-Washington Conference ministry to Russian immigrants was begun
in 1998 by the Rev. Kathy Harris, a pastor with a degree in Russian who was
serving a church in rural West Virginia. She was appointed by Bishop Felton
May after demographics showed a significant Russian-speaking population in
the area.

The Karakcheyevs, who had never heard of the United Methodist Church before
meeting Harris, became active in her ministry and later enrolled at Wesley.
When Harris moved to Florida a year later, the couple became the ministry's
staff.

The unit's first mission effort will be collecting winter clothing for needy
Russians in the Washington area and shipping any extra clothing back to
Russia.  

# # #

*Medley is a correspondent for UMConnection, the newspaper of the
Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.  

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