Local minister plans trip to Russia
With the turmoil of terrorist threats in the world, anyone would be apprehensive about boarding a plane and traveling abroad today, especially to Russia. But the Rev. Terry Collins has no such worries. The Rev. Collins said the people in Russia are in such desparate need of help that he simply can’t turn them down. He plans to make his seventh trip to the troubled country today with a small group of volunteers.
The Rev. Collins said he first ventured to the Republic of Komi in May of 1995 as an evangelist to evaluate whether they could form partnerships with ministers of government departments. When the relationship with government was established, it allowed them to have a continued partnership with the Russian Peace Fund, which is the mediator between Russian government, the Russian people, and their ministry teams, known as the Russian Initiative of Western Pennsylvania.
During this next trip, the Rev. Collins along with, the Rev. Linda Porter, Richard and Mary Schall, and James Kessler, will visit their partnerships, which consist of seven orphanages.
“We are feeding 400 orphans daily,” said Collins. “Without this partnership, many would have starved to death.”
All of the funding for the effort comes from volunteer donations, which the Rev. Collins said they have gathered from all over the United States.
While the ministry team has been able to provide a lot of orphans with physical and spiritual needs during past visits, Collins said they hope to minister to another group of people on this trip as well.
“Although this is an awesome ministry, there is still some sadness in me heart,” said the Rev. Collins. “Even though we are feeding the orphans, there is another group of people we haven’t been able to help, and that is the retired, disabled people. Economically, their conditions are even worse then the orphans.”
For that reason, Collins said he hopes to visit some homes of these disabled people in order to provide them with food and clothing as well. He said that through a new partnership, they are able to take Christian hunters and fisherman to use their skills to provide food for the orphans.
“I believe that with the success of those trips, we could free up some funds to allow us to help the disabled people,” said Collins. “I am reminded of how Jesus was able to feed multitudes of people with just a few fish and a few loaves of bread. Our funds are inadequate to take care of both the orphans and the disabled. But with several deer, and a couple hundred pounds of fish, we can feed many.”
The Rev. Collins said he is joyful that now the ministry team is able to share the gospel of Christ with the people of Russia, because during his first trip, the government was reluctant to allow it.
“In 1995, we found the Russian people very receptive and hospitable to us, because they knew we were there to form these partnerships and to help them adjust to their new democratic government,” said the Rev. Collins. “But they were not at all receptive to any evangelism. As a result of our humanitarian work in the Republic of Komi, they gave us permission to start teaching Christianity and witnessing the gospel of Jesus.”
He said they are now teaching Christianity to 400 orphans yearly as well as the students at Pedagogical Institute, which is also the facility that provides the missionaries with translators.
The Rev. Collins said that they will also pick two students from the institute for the Olga Schineder Scholarship for next year. They choose two students every year to receive the scholarship to help them through university studies.
“Olga was one of the directors of the Russian Peace Fund who was very instrumental in developing our partnerships,” said the Rev. Collins. “She passed away in the year 2000, and the scholarship was set up to honor her work.”
During their visit, the Rev. Collins said that Kessler, a professional Christian artist, will be teaching his techniques at the institute, as well as explaining some of his paintings that will be on display.
“It will be a dramatic testimony of Christian faith,” said the Rev. Collins.
Porter and Mary Schall will visit orphanages in Yemva to see if there are needs that are not yet known to them. Richard Schall, who the Rev. Collins said has also been to Russia several times, will work to determine which students will receive the scholarship, and will teach Christianity at the Pedagogical Institute.
The Rev. Collins is the co-director of the initiative, and will oversee the entire mission, while also teaching a Christian ethics class. He said his topic will be “Man’s law versus God’s law.”
The Rev. Collins said he also hopes that Russian officials will allow them to minister to prisoners in the future.
“We hope that we will be safe and can continue to feed and clothe the poor of Russia, as well as find new doors open to the prisons so that we might be able to share the love of Jesus there,” said the Rev. Collins.
The missionaries will return from Russia on Nov. 29.