Manfred Brockmann

Pastor of St Paul’s Lutheran Church Wladiwostok

To Pilgrim Lutheran Church Benefaction Fund, Carmel Indiana

Care of David Hunden
Wladiwostok, Febr. 9.2020.


BENEFACTION GRANT REQUEST

Dear Benefaction Grant Review Committee of Pilgrim Lutheran Church
Encouraged by our friend David Hunden I address to you on behalf of our work with children ad parents.

Work with children and their parents, especially their mothers, is so important in our wild society in Russia . Here I can only repeat the words of our last requests;” This wild society, that is not only the administration, but people themselves, very little trusting each other, which is not only the consequence of the soviet times, but even more of the wild capitalism after it combined
with the Slavic character of more feeling than reason, discipline and organization.
In this difficult public society St Paul’s Church is an ISLE OF HUMANITY. Our church in the center of town is always open , full of beauty and music, it is a place of silence and communication,people come to us, they consider St Paul’s as “their” church, even if they have no relation to church….


It is a Folk’s church; for this public acceptance we are very thankful , and we meet this acceptance….” You can get a note and picture about the widespread role we have already many years in our town Vladivostok, not only as a normal church, but as a house and place of cultural and social life, where even political and those of actual the whole world threatening problems are discussed as that of the climate catastrophes ( www.luthvostok.com 21.09.2019
“23rd Annual Culture Days in Vladivostok 27.09.-6.l10.2019 “: Where is our world going to?”) or the world-wide problem of these “:refugees” ( www.luthvostok.com 18.12.2006 “People leave their countries. Why do they do that?”).


Or see the seminar with our new dean Bradn Buerkle, American, “”Our people – Other people” (www.luthvostok 8.10.2019)

And now the social-work of our Swetlana Waschanowa: St Paul’s work with children and their parents 2020 I think, you already got an idea, what she has already arrived last year and even this year by having a look on our website ( www.luthvostok.com 6.12.2019 “Children’s camp before St Paul’s even in winter” and www.luthvostok.com 3.2.2020. “So we received at Christmas “a not expected present”), and you can even get an idea of her work and place before
our church by looking on the last two photos of our Easter-Message 2019, which I attach, but only in German.

I demonstrate our/her work for 2020 now in 3 chapters

I) OUR CHURCH GARDEN. That’s continuing our work

II) OUR SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL CENTER . That’s quite a new thing !

III) OUR “CHILDRENS’ CAMP” DURING THE SCHOOL HOLYDAYS

I) OUR CHURCH GARDEN. Here we continue to gather families in creative work for the embellishment of our children’s place before our church. Building further on after the winter- cleaning an attractive landscape before and around our church . For this we need little containers for garbage , instruments for garden-work. We have to lighten some zones, where children and
parents can read, near to the bookcases, which we have already built.

For this we have to acquaint some outside-lamps. Some garlands in little lamps.. We want Ecological-art feeding places for birds, for this we need material and instruments to construct them. We want to plant a
living Eco-wall with layers and slips.

We have to take care of these layers. We want to buy an artificial grass-lawn for the interior of our great tent ( so called “winter-house”) ! We want to make posters for information about our different places ( place of meditation, where to read, - place of creative work and production of
things, - place, where to play)

II.)
OUR SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL CENTER . This is quite a new thing! We call it
“Danke-shop” that’s “Thank-you- shop”. Here ecological activities “to save our
planet” and to free it of garbage, which is only burdening and spoiling our world, the good creation of God. People look for things at home, which are no longer necessary,bring them to a little place or “market” of exchange in our “winter house”. This can happen every Sunday after Divine Service or during the pauses and intervals of our concerts. In great form it shall begin at Easter, 12.4.20.
Our people shall have the possibility to prepare ( may be to wash or to restore) the things for an exchange or even for selling or as a donation to poor people. We can also make evenings of so called “dress-crossing”. It is evident, that this all this can have besides the “ecological effect” also a great social effect: it brings people together and gives them a conscience.
Therefore the beginning at Easter is a good date, this must be well
prepared !

Ø) OUR “CHILDRENS’ CAMP” DURING THE SCHOOL HOLYDAYS.
This will take place two times
1)
20.07.2020 – 02.08.2020 (14 days) 10-12 people
2)
10.08.2020 – 23.08.2020 (14 days) 10-12 people
a)
Program “biblical education” on our children’s- place or in our “winter-house”
before church , for this we need paper and crayons.
b)
Singing
c) Production of things Sewing, Work in crochet, Drawing .For this we need
material.
d) Motion-Plays , Puppet-theater, Folk-dances (costumes we have.)
e) Sport and health , at the sea in the morning, afterwards before church
f) excursions
g) Children’s café
At the end I again want to stress the importance of this work with children and mothers and
families in our Russian Far East. Life here grows harder and harder. Therefore quite a lot of
people leave us . For instance: Magadan, though the capital of a country here, is a dying city, so also our 2 congregations there are nearly dying, and we recently were forced to sell our wonderful church center in Magadan. Many people leave us to the west, and that is Moscow and St Petersburg and then Germany or the USA. But we are staying. Have a look on our website
www.luthvostok.com 24.8.2016. “Don’t run away! Stay!”.

By giving people, children and mothers a home in and before our church we create a community and the perspective to stay.
And this is worth while, for here you can make some experience with people and God! Our most beloved passage of the bible are the words in 2 Corinthians 6, 9+10 “ as unknown and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet
possessing all things”

So far

Manfred Brockmann, pastor of St Paul’s Lutheran Church Wladiwostok 10.2.2020.