Memos from Moscow

Rev. Matthew Heise

August 2008

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven---Ecclesiastes 3:1

The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote these Spirit-inspired words long ago and yet they still ring true in all of our endeavors. There is a time for beginnings and endings. This will be the last "Memos from Moscow." When I write back to you in September, I will hopefully have crafted a new name for this newsletter. By that time, I will have moved to Tbilisi, Georgia.

In good Lutheran fashion it helps to ask: What does this mean? Well first, what it doesn't mean is that we are abandoning Russia. Far from it. I will continue to teach one course each semester at the Theological Institute of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia near St. Petersburg. I will also be an intermediary between Prof. William Schumacher (Concordia Seminary) and Rev. Alexander Schmidt (Ingrian pastor) as we attempt to develop conferences on Lutheranism at the former Museum of Atheism and the History of Religion. (After the fall of communism the museum dropped the word "atheism", as you can imagine). But due to increased difficulties in obtaining visas, our mission decided it would be best for me to make the move to Georgia where I can help oversee the work among my former students, Zviadi Charkviani and Zaza Kiknavelidze.

The difficulty arose in my having to leave Russia every three months, according to the new law. When I was out of the country for three months this past year, my duties increased. So I am limited to a total of six months in the country per year. In addition to the work in Georgia and Russia, I will also be providing assistance at our proposed seminary in Kyrgyzstan. Furthermore, there is a possibility to do additional teaching in Mongolia. So my travels will increase with the new move. I do covet your prayers in this transition time. In September I will need to move into a new apartment in Tbilisi and get it internet ready as well as other moving-in issues.

Any suggestions you might give me for a new title to this newsletter will be appreciated. I am thinking that it will have a name connected with Russia as my duties are still largely associated with it. So, never fear, I will continue to inform you about the mission work in Russia in future newsletters. After seven years in Moscow, though, it will be bittersweet leaving the city. It has been a joy living there but lately increasingly frustrating dealing with the bureaucracy. Nonetheless the people who serve the church in our office as well as the parishioners of the Ingrian church are wonderful saints and a true joy to work with. I will be back from time to time, but only for a short spell. Right now, I am finishing vacation time in Michigan and will be in Cambridge, England for most of August taking a course on my Ph.D. program through Concordia Seminary. I will thus be out of e-mail contact most likely until the end of August when I return to Moscow to pack and move to Georgia in September.

Until then, may the Lord keep you in His grace,
Missionary Matt

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