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Chechnya: North Ossetian Mission of Christian Compassion (NOMCC)April 2004 By now it's a regular event, but no less eagerly awaited. At approximately two-month intervals between September and May, staff members from North Ossetian Mission of Christian Compassion (NOMCC) in Vladikavkaz, drive a truck loaded with gifts of clothing and groceries on the hazardous trip to the town of Gudermes in the neighboring republic of Chechnya. Their destination is a "temporary residence" set up in an old dormitory for families who have lost their homes in the war between Chechnya and the Russian Federation. The visitors from NOMCC arrive at about midday after the necessary preliminary meeting with the regional administration, but they can see from several blocks away that the street is full of children who have apparently been waiting for them since early morning. "They flew joyously to meet the guests," writes Valerii Beliaev in a description of the mission's February visit. "Then, with the cry, 'We knew they'd come!' some raced into the dormitory to call the people together and others tore over to the school. The strongest tie between the families in the dormitory and the mission in Vladikavkaz is Camp Nadezhda (Hope), where, for two years in a row, more than 100 of the children in Gudermes have been able to spend several weeks playing, singing, eating normally, and learning about the God of the Bible. Parents have been delighted with the change in their children, who now have happy memories to counteract their memories of loss and war. Many of them regularly correspond with their former counselors and with other children who attended camp. Global Family funds allow mission staff to visit Gudermes several times between camping sessions to distribute humanitarian aid (some of it from MCC), visit families, distribute the notes that children and camp counselors send to each other, pray together, and generally keep the relationship warm and alive. "These visits give our mission a chance to work spiritually with the people," comments Peter Lunichkin, the mission director. He adds, "There is a long history of conflict in the Caucasus between nationalities and between Muslims and Christians. Russians are broadly identified as Christians and are seen as the aggressors. We are trying to change the distorted image people have of Christians by serving people. We personally distribute all of the material aid we receive, and we always identify ourselves as Christians. We are seen as people who don't just talk, but who do things." There is a family at the dormitory consisting of a father, a mother and five young children, one boy and four girls. The family has lived there for six years. Their home in Gudermes--they used to live nearby--was destroyed during a battle. At first, their children did not go to school because the parents had nothing with which to buy clothes or books. The mother is legally blind and does not work; the father is a pensioner and isn't working either--jobs are very hard to find. But since humanitarian aid has started to come--clothing and MCC school kits--the children have all gone to school. "One of the girls was born with a heart defect and every year they take her for treatment to Pyatigorsk. In 2002 she went to the Christian children's camp with other kids from the dormitory. Like all the children, she was indescribably delighted. And when, in January 2003, the NOMCC staff members came to Gudermes and announced that there would be camp again 'sometime in the summer,' she got very upset. In June she was scheduled to go for her next treatment. But what if the camp should be held in June? "All the children were joyfully clustered around the visitors asking questions: How? When? Who with? And she was so worried--it was unthinkable!--that maybe she wouldn't be able to attend camp! She ran out into the street and around the corner of the dormitory, and she began to pray, sobbing, 'Oh, Lord, make it so that the camp would be in July, I beg you!' One of the NOMCC visitors noticed that she had run out of the building and that she wasn't dressed warmly enough for the cold weather. He went after her and found her praying. He couldn't help weeping too, and prayed with her. Maybe it's a miracle, but the camp was held in July for the children from Gudermes--and she was one of the ones who attended. All the children who have been to camp--some have been twice--remember what they were told there, what games they played, and the Christian songs they sang. The little girl with the defective heart sang 'This is the Day That the Lord Has Made' in Chechen for her class at school. She says that the Lord will make sure that she, her brother and her sisters will all go to camp again, and she's praying about it. "The displaced families sincerely thanked the believers in Vladikavkaz for not forgetting about them, for remembering their needs. And they don't just have big needs--they have enormous ones. After all, their homes have been destroyed; they've lost everything. Some of them have been living in the rickety old dormitory for several years on almost nothing; most of them don't have jobs. So the joy and gratitude for the long-awaited help was, as always, quite sincere. The whole dormitory turned out to see the visitors off: 'Thank you! Thanks be to God! May God keep you!' May God bless the people who keep the visitors coming." More about Global Family in Chechnya |
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