Covenant News - CBC Team Ministers in Russian Orphanage

Covenant News

CBC Team Ministers in Russian Orphanage

STRATHMORE, AB (July 24, 2003) - Ten students and three staff members from Covenant Bible College (CBC) traveled to Uglich, Russia, from July 1-17 to work with a state orphanage in children's ministry, said CBC president Neil Josephson.

Russian Orphanage The mission trip was a joint effort of three CBC campuses, with staff members Baxter Swenson (CBC-Ecuador), Karen Hallberg (CBC-Midwest) and Lee Johnson (CBC-Canada) involved. The group worked entrepreneur David Tagliani, a former Microsoft executive who now runs several businesses in Russia that employ orphans. Tagliani has had an ongoing relationship with Newport Covenant Church in Bellevue, Washington. Last summer, a five-member group from CBC Canada volunteer at the orphanage in Uglich.

Hallberg stated that the contingent took 11 children from the orphanage to Gorky Park, an amusement park in Moscow during their initial day in Russia. The park is four hours from the orphanage and none of the kids had ever been to Moscow. "They were pretty overwhelmed by having these foreigners with them," said Hallberg, who was making her second trip to Russia. "But their demeanor changed as the day went on. There were a lot of smiles at the end of the day."

After the trip to Moscow, the CBC team began working on various teaching activities during the next 10 days, which had many vacation Bible school components. The group ministered from a nearby camp, with eight orphanage workers and 25 area children (ages 5-16) participating. At the end of the camp, the group thanked the CBC team with a presentation that included traditional Russian dancing, singing and recitation.

"There was some sadness when we left, but the translators for the trip said they had hope because of how God had worked in the relationships we had built," Hallberg said. "A highlight for me was seeing how the CBC team functioned to build relationships across the language barriers - it was remarkable the conversations we were able to have about their faith. I've done a lot of mission trips and this was one of the best I've ever been a part of."

"The orphans really appreciated them, they soaked up the love of Christ the students gave," said Josephson, who spent three days with the group while he was visiting western Russia. "And it was really neat meeting the people and understanding the mystique about the country."

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