Heinavesi, Finland 
Plans announced for regional programmes
(Bohumil Voprsalek)

HEINAVESI, FINLAND - During the XVI SYNDESMOS General Assembly here, delegates representing SYNDESMOS member organisations in Central Europe planned a full programme of annual regional meetings for the next quadriennium.
    According to Bohumil Voprsalek, Central Europe representative, a conference on Orthodox Education and youth ministry will be held at the Orthodox Theological Faculty, Presov, Slovakia 29 August -4 September 2000. In November 2001 the region will sponsor a course on management and fund-raising in either the Czech Republic or Belarus. Vilnius, Lithuania will be the site of an ecological camp in July or August 2002, while an international Orthodox youth festival will be held at the monastery in Grabarka, Poland in May 2003.
    Plans were also discussed for gathering information on Orthodoxy in Hungary and establishing contacts with Orthodox youth groups in that country. If this is successful, they will be invited to the regional meetings and events.
    The importance of exchanging information by means of an annual calendar of events was also stressed during the meeting, and the region's member movements were encouraged to share information on gatherings, pilgrimages, and other activities within the region.
    A regional committee, which will function as a preparatory team for future regional activities, was also appointed. Members include Olga Oleinik, Belarus; Jan Krivka, Czech Republic; Dimitri Gorbacev, Lithuania; and Pawel Zelezniakowicz, Poland.
    A key issue for the region is the growing secularisation of society. Meeting participants agreed that there is a need for churches and religious youth movements to address this issue systematically. A sociological study of this issue would be highly appreciated. It was also felt that organisations and schools within the region should be more open to society and come into direct contact with the problems and conflicts within the society.
    Finances were also seen as an important issue for the region. Due to the economic situation in Central Europe it is necessary to establish a firm financial basis for the SYNDESMOS member organisations which are active, yet experience ongoing financial crises. As one delegate felt, SYNDESMOS should not become an organisation for the rich.

Moscow, Russia
Youth missionary journey results in mass baptisms

From 2 to 15 August, with the blessing of His Holiness, Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow and All Russia and Archbishop Chrysanthus of Viatka and Sloboda, parishioners from the Church of the holy Prince Dimitri here made a missionary journey to the Nagorskiy district of the Viatka Eparchy. Until 1999 this district was the only one in the eparchy in which there was no open church.
    The head of the missionary group, which included 40 young people with an average age of 22 years, was Father Arkady Chatov, rector of Saint Dimitri's Church. Also participating was Father Artemy Skripkin from the Saint Petersburg eparchy.

Young missionaries

    Both Fathers Arkady and Artemy took part in the XVI Syndesmos General Assembly in Finland.
The journey was the third for parishioners of Saint Dimitri's Church. In 1997 they made a missionary trip along the river Yug in the same eparchy of Viatka, and in 1998 they journeyed along the Tavda River in Siberia.
    The centre of the group's activities was the village Sinegorje, which has a population of some 1800 people. Sinegorje is the homeland of the poet Kostrov, a contemporary of Pushkin, who was well known for his translations of the works of Homer.
    In Sinegorje a tent church was erected in honor of All Saints Glorified in the Russian Lands, in which two Divine Liturgies were celebrated during the group's stay. At the first Liturgy more than 150 inhabitants received Holy Communion, while over 200 people received Communion at the second Liturgy.
    During the journey 400 people were baptised - 273 in Sinegorje, 80 in the village Crutoy Log; and 97 in the village Pervomaisk. The most joyful day of the pilgrimage was 7 August, when 186 people were baptised at one time in the Kobra River. During the Baptism the wind suddenly blew away the clouds and the sun began to shine. When the procession from the river returned to the tent church, it began to rain. It was the first rain after a long period of drought.
    Every day about 70 children participated in religious instruction, organised by the missionaries. Over 30 children also took part in the children's choir, and the children organised a concert which included the choir and a local folk ensemble. The children staged the fairy tale, "The Red Flower" and sang religious and folk songs.
    The missionary choir, which consisted of 17 voices, made three charity concerts during their journey in Sinegorje and the surrounding villages. At two of the concerts over 200 people were present.
    In addition to singing at the concert, the children also sang at the Divine Liturgy.
    Nearly every evening discussions about faith and Orthodox Church life were held for the adults of the area. Two camp fires were also held on the river bank in the evenings to help the missionaries get to know the local youth. About 60 young village people participated in the songs, stories, skits, and other games. The missionaries also played several volleyball and basketball games with the local youth.

Preparing  for Baptism

As a result of the visit to the village, an Orthodox community was registered in Sinegorje. Sergei Yurjevitch Kuznetsov was elected president, while Galina Michailovna Leushina was elected vice-president and director of the Sunday School. Ms. Leushina established the wonderful Museum of Regional Studies, where among other exhibits are found icons and bells of the destroyed church in Sinegorje, which had been dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul.
    Participants in the journey continually sensed the presence of God's grace, covering their shortcomings, making up for their imperfections, and entering the opened hearts of the people of Sinegorje and the neighboring villages, who received the words of Jesus Christ with joy.
    One feelsa great sense of joy feeling from the contacts with these hearty and good people, who are so different from their peers in large cities. If Russia hopes for salvation and conversion to God, it is first of all through such people who, in the midst of very difficult times, have preserved the virtue of kindness.
    If it be God's will, in the year 2000 the parishioners of Saint Dimitri's Church will make another missionary journey. This is important not only for those who have no other opportunity to learn about the Orthodox Christian faith, but also for the young people who participate in such journeys and who so willingly communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ.