A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 24 - Tuesday, June 15th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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Our First Year as Missionaries The most recent OCMC Magazine featured stories on George and Pauline Russell’s decisions to commit to mission work in Albania. Below is an update on their first year of service, along with Melanie Linderman. The Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), St. Augustine, FL - Our first year in Albania as missionaries has certainly been a memorable one. There have been joyous times and difficult times as you might expect. We are grateful to God for our health and safety and that our children are flourishing in this missionary life. Our lives and efforts are focused on providing a good Christian witness to the Albanian people whom we now serve. In striving to become effective missionaries, we have been learning the Albanian language and culture. We are still making mistakes, but we try to learn from these mistakes and move forward. We use what we have learned to develop relationships with people here. Relationships are extremely important in this culture, and we must take the time and effort to establish these relationships. Early on in our time here, George was recruited to work on the web site of the Church in Albania. Working alongside with Albanians, a lot of progress has been made. Pauline and George have been working to outfit the building for the Soup Kitchen, and have also been soliciting donations of food and supplies from local businesses. The Church’s women’s group will help in identifying the families most in need. In March, George started teaching classes three nights a week at the Youth Center. He is training mechanical engineers in high-end engineering software. Our plan is that these classes will be the basis for a larger Technology Center in the future. With the training and tools provided through these classes, we hope to open up more employment opportunities for these young engineers. Melanie’s time has been spent teaching several English classes, both at the seminary and at the Youth Center. She recently noted, “I know I am truly blessed to be able to teach such great young men and women and children… I suspect I learn as much from them as they do from me!” We pray that God will continue to bless our efforts to be good witnesses of His Love to the Albanian people. Please keep us, George and Pauline, our children, Christopher and Madeline, along with Melanie in your prayers as we begin our second year of mission service in Albania.
To learn more
about the Russell family and Melanie Linderman,
and how to support their mission work please go to
www.ocmc.org or to
www.russellmission.org. Checks for their
support can be sent to the Orthodox Christian
Mission Center at PO Box 4319, St. Augustine, FL,
32085-4319. Please note “Russell/Linderman” in the
memo section. To contact the Mission Center call
1-877-GO-FORTH (463-6784) or (904) 829-5132 or
e-mail at
missions@ocmc.org. |
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