Russia – Tomsk

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Reaching out in Russia

The mission field in Russia was once seven strong. When the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) experienced financial cutbacks several years ago, missionaries were cut one by one (and one retired) leaving only Luke Wolfgramm and his family in Berdsk near Novosibirsk. Wolfgramm’s responsibility is to maintain the ministry work that was started in Russia; keeping the mission alive. Presently
there are four organized congregations: Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Akademgorodok, and Iskitim, one Christian Resource Center in Berdsk and one Seminary. Keep in mind it requires about 18 hours of drive time each week in addition to the actual time spent to help run a seminary, conduct worship services, Bible studies, confirmation classes and even a Sunday school class for the deaf and mute. The longest commute between congregations is more than a four hour drive. Although the people are kind to American missionaries, barriers still remain for an American pastor serving a Russian congregation. The need for Russian pastors to help minister to their country is great. One of the goals with the ministry work in Russia is to establish an independent Confessional Russian Lutheran Church.

    There are now three young men studying to be pastors and two deaconesses receiving instruction.”

The Seminary helps train future pastors, but unfortunately it closed down a few years back because there were no students. However, the Lord has given new life to the ministry in Russia. There are now three young men studying to be pastors and two deaconesses receiving instruction. The seminarians are already serving in the church. They conduct worship services and deliver previously written sermons, lead devotions for radio broadcasts, help with youth ministry and outreach efforts. Visiting pastors are allowed temporary visas and conduct most of the Seminary classes seven to eight months out of the year.

In 2010 another missionary was sent to Russia. Ben Foxen and his wife were specifically sent with the intent of doing outreach. Residing in Akademgorodok, an academic town with a big university, Ben currently leads English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at the four congregations, serves the various churches and he and his wife are starting a mother/child ministry, similar to a preschool, as a means to invite the public into the church.

With the Lord blessing the ministry efforts in Russia, there has been a push to expand the ministry in Tomsk. A 400-year-old city bustling with 500,000 people, Tomsk is home to numerous universities and institutes. Not having its own pastor any more, the five-person congregation is served by Luke and Ben who take turns making the long commute once a week to offer worship services in a WELS owned apartment, teach Bible study and confirmation classes. “Without being able to do full-time ministry in Tomsk we are trying to reach out to the city as best we can , but lack of man power has been making it very difficult to do outreach there,” says Wolfgramm.

WELS recently rented a Christian Information Center in Tomsk with three rooms: one used for worship, one for study, and one as a reception and office area. The Center is in a great location near the dormitories for the universities and institutes, so there is a lot of foot traffic on a daily basis. Kingdom Workers is helping to supply two sets of volunteers to serve in Tomsk for a three-month time frame (the length given for a visa) in Spring and in Fall of 2012. Ben and Luke will still visit Tomsk once a week, but since neither of the missionaries live in or near Tomsk, the volunteers will need to be energetic, outgoing self-starters and able to work independently. The goals of the project are: enlarging the prospect base in Tomsk, making the church known within the community, and sharing Christ with as many people as possible. Volunteers can accomplish these goals by teaching English classes, doing advertising (on the street and in newspapers), getting involved in the English-speaking community of Tomsk, establishing relationships with people they meet, handing out Christian literature, keeping the missionaries informed and introducing them to the new prospects.

“God is blessing us with opportunities for sharing the gospel in Tomsk,” says Wolfgramm. “The people know something about the Bible, but they don’t know the peace of forgiveness. To be able to share eternal life with these people brings unbelievable joys.” Sending volunteers to work in Russia is a new concept. Kingdom Workers is pleased to be supporting the Russian ministry efforts. We look forward to seeing how God blesses this new endeavor.