'We are coming to you'. With those words, we announced in Mission News a series of regional evenings for mission committees and pastors. Miranda from Harderwijk was one of the visitors and we asked her to give an impression of the evening. Read her story here:
'On 11 June, a regional evening was held at CGK de Zaaier in Harderwijk about the missionary work in Tajmyr, specially arranged for missionary committees and pastors of the churches supporting this project. Committees and pastors from different places attended. It was a wonderful evening, in which we were able to learn a lot from the speakers and each other.
The evening began, of course, with an opening, during which we even sang together in Dutch and Russian. Then there was a short introduction about the work in Tajmyr. In it, it became clear that the missionary work takes place in a vast expanse, with distances of up to 2,500 km across frozen landscapes and rivers.
After the introduction, there was an interactive part, where we were divided into four groups. Each group took turns thinking about what we can do together to involve the congregation in mission work. Large sheets of paper were laid out, and we thought about which tasks belonged to which category. The categories were the mission committees, pastors, church councils and the congregation itself, in which we also thought specifically about involving children/young people in mission work. We were instructed not to raise problems, but to see everything as opportunities. We were able to learn a lot from each other and get ideas to make the church even more enthusiastic about our beautiful missionary goal. We were also given tips on how to communicate with the congregation.
After a food break, during which we could meet, we had a presentation by Rev Van der Toorn. He told us about life in Siberia, which highlighted the need for missionary work.
The bleak, individualistic life that many in Siberia live awaits the light of God's word. The polar night and animism (ancestor worship), among other things, make for a dark life. In fact, we heard that the suicide rate in this area is the highest in the world.
In addition, the challenge for missionary workers became clear again. The harsh snow conditions and vast areas, do not make it easy to communicate the gospel. Missionary families sacrifice much/everything to share this beautiful news. And this while many of these missionaries are not used to the cold climate. The great thing is that these families show themselves to be exceptions in that they have large families and do not drink alcohol, for example, unlike most of the inhabitants of the area.
For them, living in Norilsk also means a health risk, because of the high level of pollution in that city and the absence of proper health care. The cost of living for these families and the travel expenses to reach a congregation cannot be met by the mission workers themselves. For us as committees, this was good to hear again, as missionary work in Siberia is often somewhat less well known. And that while it is of course very important for the mission committee to see the necessity of the work and of course of our support and prayers. As a committee, we experienced this evening as very positive and are going back into the coming period with extra energy, in the hope that we can continue to support the missionary work in Tajmyr.'
Besides the evening in Harderwijk that Miranda wrote about, there were evenings in Assen, Zaanstad, Apeldoorn and Dordrecht.
