The Russian Ministry at Holy Cross

Holy Cross has had a Russian Ministry for about 14 years, though few are aware of it today – what it is, why it was created, what its goals are.

For many of us, Russia remains a country shrouded in mystery and political intrigue, a country where spies operate, people disappear, and even your hotel room is searched while you’re at breakfast. Russia is synonymous with the Cold War. Today’s headlines regarding the unrest in the Ukraine and Crimea only serve to underscore the perception that Russian leadership is not to be trusted.

Building that houses St. Mark's

Yet in these past 14 years, Holy Cross has sent two delegations to Magadan, in the Russian far east, and in return two delegations have visited here. We have lent our support to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Magadan, and more recently, changed our focus to support a Lutheran pastor serving as a missionary in Russia.

Perhaps it would be helpful to look back at when the Russian Ministry was first formed. Pastor Michael Peck had a connection with  Manfred Brockmann, provost (dean) of the ELCA Russian Far East synod, and invited him to speak at Holy Cross after learning he was in the area. Pastor Brockmann had a list of congregations that needed support, one of which was St. Mark’s in Magadan. “There was something about St. Mark’s that appealed to Holy Cross,” Pastor Mike said. “I think that part of what appealed to us is that it was a community really cut off.” 

Magadan’s history is somewhat dark and cruel. It’s a port city on the Sea of Okhotsk, and once served as a major transport center for prisoners sent to work in Stalin’s prison labor camps. Even today, memories of the GULAG times, an acronym for Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Labor Settlements, permeate the area. Archival Soviet data estimates that 1.6 million people died during the period from 1929 to 1953.

Pastor Mike and Alla at St. Mark's in Magadan

At the time Pastor Brockmann spoke at Holy Cross, there was a resurgence of religion in Russia, coming after years of oppression. Alla Vysokova, the pastoral leader of St. Mark’s, wrote in a letter to Holy Cross dated February, 2002: “Our community is only one year old and it is still small.” She went on to say, “Every Sunday we have God service and Bibll lesson. On the God service we many sing.”

Her letter marked an ongoing correspondence that continued while she was the leader at St. Mark’s. Correspondence was one of the goals, according to Linda Leffler, who came to the Russian Ministry by way of the Prayer Ministry. Linda had traveled to China and met people who couldn’t worship without fear of persecution, and so could identify with people in Russia living with the same fear. “They were afraid to have a written roster of members,” Linda said of St. Mark’s, “for fear of harassment.” Linda said that the Prayer Ministry sent a prayer book to Pastor Alla, with prayers they could pray together weekly.

Norm Smith also got involved through the Prayer Ministry, and shared his impressions during his visit to Magadan in 2001. "We found no one on the street in Magadan smiled, the kids did not talk or laugh or even look us in the eye as we walked down the street," Norm said. "We found that a lot of the attendees to the church did not become members because they were afraid that the Russian government was still spying on them and that would be held against them if they knew."

Kathie Walter’s interest in the Russian Ministry came from the synod level. She and her husband, Alan, traveled to Vladivostok, at the invitation of  Pastor Brockmann, to teach basic Bible knowledge and Lutheran doctrine as part of the companion synod effort. Kathie remarked that during the Communist regime, many churches were destroyed, and some were used as military hospitals.

Congregation of St. Mark's in Magadan

During its partnership with St. Mark’s, Holy Cross purchased a second-story flat where the congregation could worship. Kathie said it was a series of rooms that included a kitchen, bedroom and worship space. The congregation also purchased a computer to aid communication. Last fall, Holy Cross furnished a door and locks, so that part of the flat could be turned into living quarters for the new permanent pastor, Juris Simakins, who is scheduled to arrive in July or August this year.

One can only get to Magadan by plane or boat. Pastor Mike said when he traveled there in 2005, the flight path from Anchorage, Alaska to Magadan was dangerous, and planes only flew in and out of Magadan once a week, on a Friday. He said during his week in Magadan, he presided over a baptism, and visited an orphanage. “Most of the children were in the orphanage because their parents are alcoholics and can’t take care of them,” Pastor Mike said. The rampant alcoholism in Magadan is the result of a variety of factors, including poverty, lack of jobs, and the common role vodka plays in culture. But even in such a culture, Pastor Mike said, he wasn’t surprised to see a church arise. “It’s a group of people with a common bond, who come together to support each other,” he said. Norm found the same on his earlier visit. "I cannot stress enough how gracious the congregation was and how excited they were to work with us as we both moved forward," he said.  

Pastor Bradn Buerkle preaching in Tomsk

Holy Cross continued its relationship with St. Mark’s even after Alla left, though she provided the sole means of communication. Others who were involved through the years are Tricia Hinton, Kristina Arteaga, Norm and Carol Barney, and Julie Brainard. Eventually, the Russian Ministry knew it would need to change its focus, and has since formed a missionary sponsorship covenant to support ELCA pastor and missionary Bradn Buerkle.

Pastor Buerkle writes a blog as he can, and recently addressed the situation in Russia and Ukraine. You can read it at russiancorrespondent.blogspot.com. He and his wife recently welcomed the birth of their third child, and all are well and home in St. Petersburg.

The goals of the Russian Ministry are to invite the congregation to learn about the Russian history and culture, to keep Pastor Buerkle and his family in prayer as they spread the Gospel in Russia, and to offer financial support as necessary. Freedom of worship remains a real challenge in Russia, considering that President Putin named the Russian Orthodox Church as the de facto official religion. Congregations still run the risk of being visited by agents of the F.S.B., a successor of the K.G.B., and labeled a “sect” and shut down.

Next time you’re at Holy Cross, check out the Russian Ministry display inside the front doors. You’ll see a traditional Russian samovar, Christmas card, collection of rocks, photos, and other artifacts of our relationship with St. Mark’s in Magadan.

Val Dolan - an eye for used treasures

One can find all sorts of treasures at garage sales. Val Dolan can attest to that, as she finds a variety of vintage and unusual items she can resell.

Val operates a booth that is open the first Friday and Saturday of each month in the West Bottoms business district. Her space, called Bottoms Up, sells a variety of collectibles. She also has a space in the Lone Elm Antique Mall in Olathe, which is open daily.

Val Dolan at Bottoms Up

“I call myself eclectic,” Val said. “I sell vintage clothes, some jewelry, lots of men’s items, pictures, lamps.” Some of her items are classified as antiques, meaning they’re more than 100 years old, but mostly the items are considered collectibles. “The whole antique business has changed, and I had to change with it,” she said.

Val was an avid garage sale shopper when her two daughters were young. “I used to go to garage sales every Saturday,” she said. “I’d buy clothes for the girls and stuff for the house.”

When the family moved to Virginia, Val’s interest branched out. “My mother had some crystal and asked me if I wanted it,” she said, “but I didn’t. It was too fragile for me.” So Val’s mom advertised the crystal, which caught the notice of a company called Replacements. Soon, her mom was regularly buying items that she resold to Replacements, and Val picked up on that. “I started going to auctions and garage sales, finding pieces that I could sell to Replacements,” she said. “I’ve been told I have a good eye. I could see something, and I just knew.”

Val also starting placing goods in a consignment shop. When the shop’s owner got sick, she asked Val if she would like to work there. “I said yes,” Val said. “I learned from her. For example, I learned what a good piece of glass was.”

When Val’s family moved to the Kansas City area, she started selling in monthly shows. But she said that was a lot of work, packing up everything to take, setting it out, then packing it back up. So several years ago she opened her space with her daughter Kelly in the West Bottoms, and found her niche.

Val said the business has changed primarily in the reasons people buy and what they buy. Val used to sell lots of china, glassware and decorations that people wanted to take home and display. “Now, you get young people who are buying something they can use,” she said. “So now it’s how are you going to recycle it, how can you use it to do something else. So a bucket now becomes a magazine holder. You get a mason jar and fill it with something.”

One of the more unusual items Val found was a diver’s helmet ice bucket from the 1950s. But that didn’t touch the monkey coat, which Val spotted at an estate sale. She said as she walked by a rack of coats, she noticed one coat was made with really long hair. “I thought oh my gosh, that’s an ugly coat,” she said. She walked on, but the strangeness of the coat drew her back, and she decided to buy it, noting it wasn’t an endangered species or anything like that. She displayed the coat for a while, until finally a lady came in her shop and bought it for $400.

Val doesn’t do this to get rich. “My philosophy is that I know what I paid for it,” she said, “and as long as I make what I want, I’m happy.” Nor does she hang on to what she buys. “I’m not attached to things,” Val said. “If I buy something really cool, I’ll put it on the shelf for a while to enjoy it, but then I sell it. But artwork, I go crazy for that. And I like some types of pottery.”

Val’s business has led her into opportunities to share her knowledge. When Blessings Abound thrift store in Overland Park was in the conception stage, Val was invited to come to a meeting. “I helped with the location, setting it up, pricing and marketing,” she said. She now donates her time two days a week at the thrift shop, and is the go-to person when a vintage-type donation needs to be assessed and priced. Val also helps find donations for the Metro Lutheran Ministry Spring Fling fundraiser, as well as gathering and delivering gifts for the MLM Christmas Store.

One of the greatest enjoyments of her business is the social aspect. “I like it because I like to work with people,” Val said. “And I like watching all those people walk by as they’re shopping.”

Val advises anyone interested in getting into the business of buying and selling used merchandise to start small. “It’s a lot of work,” she said, “and it takes a lot of time.” On the plus side, it gives her a great excuse to skip the housework.

Dawn Kernen - coping with depression

An estimated one in 10 adults in the United States reports some sort of depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and statistics show that depression is increasing at an alarming rate. Depression can be in part genetic, biological, situational, hormonal, or environmental, and is more prevalent in women than men.

Dawn Kernen

Dawn Kernen can put a face to some of those statistics, detailing a family and personal history with the complex disease. “In high school,” she said, “I started noticing I had a hard time in winter. I was more withdrawn, had less energy.” Dawn eventually realized she suffered from SAD, seasonal affective disorder. But her experiences actually started long before that.

“My dad suffered through depression,” Dawn said, though as a child she didn’t understand what that meant. “I only knew he wasn’t very social. He liked to stay home. But there’s really nothing wrong with that.” Dawn’s brother also has depression.

When Dawn was 24, she was in a difficult job situation, overcome with feelings of guilt because in her position in banking she felt she was negatively contributing to people who were already in debt. “I hated my job,” she said. “I was crying. I told Phil (her husband) I can’t go to work. I was so miserable in my job.” 

During that time, she also started having back trouble, so she went to a physical therapist. The therapist took her through a series of movements, including raising her arms. Dawn matter-of-factly told the therapist she can’t lift her arms like that because it makes her dizzy. As the therapist continued to ask her questions, Dawn said, “Would it interest you to know I had brain damage as a child?” Upon hearing that, the therapist made an appointment for Dawn to see a neurologist.

The brain damage Dawn suffered had been caused by a common cold that became toxic in her system. “I had to learn how to walk again, how to talk. A young child in my hometown had the same issue at the time and he died.” Taking into account her medical history, and her emotional issues, the neurologist diagnosed Dawn with anxiety and depression and started her on anti-depressants. “I was on the meds for a year or two, and I just didn’t’ want to be on them,” Dawn said. “I thought it was a weakness. And my SAD was getting worse and worse every year.”

For Dawn, the stigma associated with being labeled with depression was more traumatic than life without medication, so she quit taking the pills. Life continued, and soon she was a mother of three, including four-month-old twins, working full-time, and nursing both babies. She and Phil decided to attend a game night at Holy Cross, a much needed chance to get out and enjoy themselves. That evening, Dawn said, friends at the event took over the care of her children, giving her some free time to relax. “Then someone asked me how I was doing, and I just lost it,” Dawn said. “I was completely exhausted.”

Not long after that, Dawn found herself in another difficult job situation, but this one was because she had an unkind supervisor. “My boss was basically telling me I was worthless,” Dawn said. “She accused me of lying, stealing. None of it was true.” She would berate Dawn over the speaker phone, so that colleagues could hear what was happening. That sort of abuse is demoralizing and dehumanizing. Dawn tried to put up with it because the job was close to home, she got off at 3 p.m., and could be there for her kids after school. She finally went back on medication, hoping that would help her feel better. “But the harassment didn’t stop. It was exhausting. I was crying every day.”

As part of her coping strategy with depression, she and her husband take a trip to somewhere warm and sunny each January. Dawn sent out two resumes before they left that year, and returned home to find a phone message asking her to come in for an interview. She received the job offer the day after she and Phil had discussed a deadline of quitting her current job, and she happily works for that company today.

She has learned a lot about depression along the way. “Depression is no different than diabetes,” Dawn said, noting that both are diseases that require treatment to get through each day. “I finally came to terms with who I am.”

Dawn takes medication regularly, seeks counseling whenever she feels it’s necessary, bought what she calls a ‘happy light’ to help mitigate her SAD, plans fun things to do, doesn’t overschedule her time, talks to friends who keep her in check, and exercises.

Kernen Family

She has advice for others who are struggling with depression. “I encourage people, it’s okay to ask for help,” she said. “You’re not alone. You don’t have to put up with bad situations.” Dawn said it’s important for people to feel empowered, to find what works best for them, whether it means finding a different counselor, changing jobs, or educating family and friends about depression. “I’ve heard depression described in very negative terms, derogatory remarks,” she said. “There’s fear and a complete lack of understanding.” She hopes that by sharing her story, people will become more knowledgeable and accepting about depression, and mental illness in general.