wfn.org | Mississippians send coats to Russian children for Christmas

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

Dec. 22, 2003	News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
7 E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org 7 ALL-YE-I{600}

By Woody Woodrick*

JACKSON, Miss. (UMNS) - Nearly 500 Russian children will have a special
Christmas thanks to Mississippi United Methodists.

About 20 people from Mississippi will travel to Russia in late December, in
time for the Russian Orthodox Christmas season, to deliver coats to the
children, who live in five orphanages in the Penza region of Russia.

The project is a cooperative venture between church members in the Senatobia,
New Albany and Tupelo districts of the denomination's Mississippi Annual
(regional) Conference, who provided funds, and members of Penza's New Life
United Methodist Church, who determined coat sizes and made the purchases. 

The Rev. Danny Dabbs, pastor of First United Methodist Church, Hernando,
Miss., developed the plan and organized the trip, building on the North
Mississippi Penza Russia Initiative.

"We've been working since 1995 to start a church in the Penza region of
Russia," said Dabbs. The effort culminated in September 2002 with the
establishment of New Life church. "The congregation was registered with the
city in April," Dabbs added. 

Dabbs and the other members of the team - all from the three districts -
leave Mississippi Dec. 30. They'll spend New Year's Eve at a hotel on Red
Square in Moscow, and then travel to the Penza region. 

"We're going to an orphanage each day and have a Christmas party. We'll be
singing, and the local folks will dance wearing traditional Russian
costumes," Dabbs said.

"I'm looking forward to getting in there and spending five or six hours with
the kids. We'll meet administrators and the kids," he added. "We hope that,
in some way, the Lord will open a door for us to share Christ from our
perspective."

The idea for the coat purchases came from Tom Clark of the West Virginia
Volunteers in Mission, he said. Dabbs traveled to Russia in August to get the
ball rolling. Fund-raising efforts began in October, when he asked each
Sunday school class in the three districts to contribute $25, the cost of one
coat. 

"Our goal was to raise $12,000," said Dabbs, who has made 11 trips to Russia.

He received little response at first, he said. "I was sweating until about
the first week in November."

Then donations began to pour in - nearly $20,000. Dabbs said churches of all
sizes have joined the effort. "One of the little churches I first served in
Pittsboro sent $25. Some churches sent $4,000 or $5,000."

Coffeeville United Methodist Church contributed $500. "Our people wanted to
support this particular mission project because of the work already done in
Russia by the team," said the Rev. Billy McCord, pastor. "Coats for Kids' was
attractive to us because of our desire to serve kids around the world in
every way we can."

With more money than needed for coats, Dabbs is considering how to use the
extra funds. His initial plan is to explore and attempt to meet additional
needs of the orphanages, or to save any additional funds as a start toward
buying coats next year. Team members will make that decision, he said.

"It's amazing the number of checks people sent," Dabbs said. "There's no
telling how many different people have bought a coat. My hope is that it
turns out to be such a good project that we can do it next year."

He added, "This is really a story about the United Methodist connection.
United Methodists put out the call and folks said, 'Let's go.'"

McCord agreed. "It says to us that, through the connectional efforts of the
United Methodist Church, we can be in mission in Russia, even if we cannot
personally go there ourselves. Together we can serve Christ better than if we
try to act alone."

# # #

*Woodrick is editor of the Mississippi United Methodist Advocate, the
newspaper of the United Methodist Church's Mississippi Annual Conference.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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