CEE Story From The Mission Field
The forgotten cities
October 24, 2006
Sverdlovskaya Oblast in the Russian Ural Mountain Range is an area the size of South Dakota but with more than 4.6 million people, excluding the capital city. Despite their size, they describe themselves as the forgotten cities. As Russia’s economy surges ahead, the smaller cities of the Urals are being left behind in the race for modernization. The factories are moving to the big cities. Unemployment is high. The hospitals, schools, and orphanages don’t get priority funding. And though the people of this region are unhappy with this trend, they take it as their penance for the sins of their past. It was local people who carried out the murder of the famous Romanov family. Now they feel that they are cursed because of that event, and it marks the mentality of the region.
In addition to this, these cities are also the gateway to Siberia. They served as the processing center for all enemies of the state during the long years of repression. The area is filled with mass graves, and the blood of the innocent has stained not only the land, but also the people. In fact, most people who currently live in Sverdlovskaya Oblast are there because their families were exiled to Siberia long ago from all across the former Soviet states. When their term was over, nothing was left back home calling them back, so they stayed. This has led to a multi-cultural population, though most would now consider themselves to be Russians.
This is the situation the new strategy coordinator (SC) for the oblast, Rusty Hart, walked into last January when his new assignment began. “Out of that rubble he’s allowing me and my family to walk into situations and say ‘we can offer you hope and a future,’ ” said Rusty. The need for this hope and future was never more clearly seen when Rusty and his wife Lori recently hosted a volunteer team. They were visiting a memorial set upon the site of a mass grave holding the remains of tens of thousands of people. These numbers suddenly became real and personal when the team’s translator stopped and said, “Let me introduce you to my grandfather.”
But the hope is real, too. As a result of their “forgotten” status, many people are open to the Harts and their message of hope because they appreciate that someone has remembered them. The fact that they are sharing Christ is primary, but not singular. There are also orphans without shoes and hospitals without medicine. “As we meet needs we see doors open and relationships form,” said Lori. One new friend, Vasily, has confessed that the Harts concern for their physical needs, as well as their spiritual ones, has led him to desire to learn more about “their” kind of Christianity.
“One of our strategies is partnering cities with churches in America,” said Rusty. The church has a lot of freedom to take the lead in implementing a strategy of winning that city for Christ. They have piloted this strategy during the last six months, and it has been a huge success.
The local people have expressed their gratitude and openness. “What you have done in a week is more than anyone has ever done,” they said. “And we see such a difference in the people that come to volunteer. We want that in our lives—what they have.”
Rusty has recognized from these comments how vital it is to stress to these volunteers the impact of their presence. “We have to stress to volunteers the importance of every minute,” he said.
Rusty and Lori and their three daughters are the only official members of this team right now, but Rusty has identified six other Russian families that have the same vision. One man seems to be God’s choice for the lead when the Harts hear God calling them to move on to the next challenge. Another man wants to take over the media ministry and begin a Russian evangelical Web site. Others are answering the call to be church planters.
In an area with one church to every 60,000 people, nationals catching the vision is pivotal. The Harts have begun two small churches in the past year, but their goal is to start five a year for 10 years. “We want to see one church in each of the 47 major cities. Then we will charge those churches with reaching the people around them.” “Overall, the past year has just been phenomenal,” said Rusty and Lori. “God is laying a foundation for something great!!”
If you would like to learn more about joining the Harts in reaching the cities of the Sverdlovskaya Oblast, please contact us.