I invite you to go with me on a journey through space and time. We will begin our journey in Moscow, Russia where we have a Methodist House, which includes a Seminary, several churches, The Eurasia UM Conference office and the Bishop\u2019s office. We will visit different cities and countries, view photos and get inspiration from those who have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.[1]\u00a0<\/span>So, sit comfortably, buckle up and be ready to become different. We are going on an amazing journey\u2026<\/p>\n Moscow, Khamovnicheskiy val 24, stroenie 2<\/strong><\/p>\n The unique historical document \u2013 Journal of the Finland and Saint Petersburg mission conference 1908 \u2013 is kept in the Bishop\u2019s office of the United Methodist Church in Eurasia in Moscow, Russia. You can read the report of district superintendent George Simons there. He shares the story of how God blesses the church development in Russia. From his report you may learn that Methodist people in Saint Petersburg had worship services in different languages \u2013 Russian, Finnish and Swedish and pastor Hyalmar Salmi could preach in all three languages.[2]<\/p>\n Also, you can feel the difficult atmosphere in which our mission developed. But in spite of the pressure from the local authorities, district superintendent Simons faced these challenges with faith and a sense of humor: \u201c\u2026\u044b\u0442\u043e \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0432\u0441\u0435\u0445, \u043e\u0441\u043e\u0431\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0438\u043d\u0441\u043f\u0435\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0432, \u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0440\u044b\u0435 \u043f\u0440\u0438\u043d\u043e\u0441\u044f\u0442 \u0441\u0432\u043e\u044e \u0431\u0443\u043c\u0430\u0433\u0443 \u0438 \u043a\u0430\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0434\u0430\u0448!\u201d[3]<\/p>\n The history of the Methodist church in Saint Petersburg is rich with examples of lives which deserve special attention from\u00a0modern day Methodists. One of them was Anna Eklund.<\/p>\n Moscow \u2013 Saint Petersburg<\/strong><\/p>\n In only an hour and a half, you can fly 700 kilometers (about 440 miles) northwest of Moscow and you get to the cultural capital of Russia \u2013 Saint Petersburg. I have received much grace living in this city for four years and serving in two Methodist congregations. The sincerity, intelligence and high cultural level of the Saint Petersburg people are always alive in my memory.<\/p>\n In the Russia State library on Ortrovskogo square, Saint Petersburg you can study \u201cThe Christian Advocate\u201d[4]\u00a0<\/span>magazine which has been published by the Methodist church since 1909. You can find out about everyday life, worship services, the teaching and mission of the Methodist people in Saint Petersburg at that time.<\/p>\n In 1914 Methodist people purchased a building on Bolshoi boulevard, no. \u00a058, enabled by the gift of Fanny Gamble from USA who donated generously for this purpose.[5]\u00a0This is where the Methodist people of St. Petersburg developed their ministry and mission. However, this building did not survive to modern times and you can see a big apartment building in its place today. The United Methodists of our day continue their ministry in several other places in Saint Petersburg.<\/p>\n Much from the period of the beginning of the twentieth century is described in the two works of Dr. S T Kimbrough, Jr. \u201cMethodism in Russia and the Baltic States\u201d and \u201cAnna Eklund\u201d. The second book was published in Russian in 2014 for the 125th anniversary of the United Methodist Church in Eurasia and is titled \u201cSister Anna\u201d. \u00a0Here you can find the amazing story of sister Anna Eklund.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been deeply moved by the story of sister Anna, by her faithfulness, her bravery and sacrificial heart in her ministry to God and neighbor. Deaconess Anna Eklund did not spare her energy nor her health when she ministered to people who were dying by thousands from hunger and cholera in 1920s. In winter time many people did not have shoes to keep their feet warm. Sister Anna did the impossible in order to organize help for the poor and sick people of Saint Petersburg. She gave away everything that she had in order to save lives of the people and to care for their souls. Tears come to your eyes when you read her letters because you feel in them the great power of God, hope and willingness to give one\u2019s soul for the redemption of many.<\/p>\n When you study life of an outstanding person, it is very important to see how their character and personality were formed. In order to find out that let us travel to Finland. I was not able to visit Finland in 2014, but thanks to my friends and modern means of communication I was able to learn many interesting things.<\/p>\n \u00a0Moscow \u2013 Helsinki (online)<\/strong><\/p>\n In my skype conversations with Bishop Hans Vaxby I have learned that Anna Eklund\u2019s grave is located in Turku, Finland where she was born. Bishop Hans graciously agreed to go there and make a brief video report.[6]<\/p>\n Helsinki \u2013 Turku<\/strong><\/p>\n After driving a car 170 kilometers west of Helsinki, in three hours you get to one of the largest cities in Finland \u2013 Turku. Here on May 25, 1867 Anna Eklund was born. While still a teenager she felt a call from God for ministry and received education as a deaconess at Bethany Center in Hamburg. Already at 19 years old she was commissioned as deaconess at the Annual Mission Conference of Finland and Russia.[7]<\/p>\n Upon arrival to the cemetery in Turku, Turun hautausmaa, which is located in the city just 5 kilometers from the center, you can find Anna Eklund\u2019s grave. The words on her grave stone say: she served the sick and suffering people in Russia from 1907 to 1930. This was her mission and she was faithful to the very end. In fact, Anna was in Saint Petersburg even in 1931 when oppression on Christians turned from bad to worse. But Anna wrote from Saint Petersburg to her Bishop: \u201cour position remains firm \u2013 to work for Russia; therefore, in spite of everything we will be beside our people\u201d.[8]<\/p>\n Unfortunately, soon after that the local authorities threw Anna out of the country accusing her of doing harm in all the good deeds that she has done for the poor and sick, and for the children. I pray that every Methodist in Eurasia could be \u201cblamed\u201d for such ministry to people.<\/p>\n Kingdom of Heaven upon earth<\/strong><\/p>\n On the back cover of the Journal of Mission Conference of Finland and Saint Petersburg 1908 are the words of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement:<\/p>\n \u201cGive me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen\u00a0or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven upon earth.\u201d<\/p>\n I believe that Anna Eklund is one of these preachers of the gospel in Eurasia. Because of her faithfulness, brave and sacrificial heart, people of Saint Petersburg could experience Kingdom of Heaven upon earth.<\/p>\n Submitted by Fedor Kim<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n [1]\u00a0<\/span>2 Timothy 4:7, Common English Bible translation<\/p>\n [2]\u00a0<\/span>Journal of the Finland and Saint Petersburg mission conference 1908, p. 30<\/p>\n [3]\u00a0<\/span>Ibid.<\/p>\n [4]\u00a0<\/span>Khristianskiy Pobornik<\/p>\n [5]\u00a0<\/span>\u201cMethodism in Russia and the Baltic states: history and revival\u201d, S T Kimbrough, Jr., \u2026.. \u0418\u0437\u0434\u0430\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u0423\u0440\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0443\u043d\u0438\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0441\u0438\u0442\u0435\u0442\u0430, 2003 \u0433.<\/p>\n [6]\u00a0<\/span>see video film \u201cIvan. Anna. Yonghuk\u201d, The United Methodist Church in Eurasia, 2014<\/p>\n [7]\u00a0<\/span>\u0421\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430 \u0410\u043d\u043d\u0430, \u0421 \u0422 \u041a\u0438\u043c\u0431\u0440\u043e, \u041e\u0431\u044a\u0435\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0430\u044f \u041c\u0435\u0442\u043e\u0434\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f \u0426\u0435\u0440\u043a\u043e\u0432\u044c \u0415\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0437\u0438\u0438, 2014<\/p>\n [8]\u00a0<\/span>\u0421\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430 \u0410\u043d\u043d\u0430, \u0421 \u0422 \u041a\u0438\u043c\u0431\u0440\u043e, \u041e\u0431\u044a\u0435\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0430\u044f \u041c\u0435\u0442\u043e\u0434\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f \u0426\u0435\u0440\u043a\u043e\u0432\u044c \u0415\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0437\u0438\u0438, 2014<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Deaconess Who Served The Poor Of Saint Petersburg, Russia In 2014 the United Methodist Church in Eurasia has celebrated its 125th anniversary since the first Methodist congregation started in Eurasia. It was in the year 1889, when a small Methodist congregation began to meet in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. For over 125 years the Spirit has moved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16830,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/missiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/missiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/missiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/missiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16830"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/missiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5676"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/missiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6549,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/missiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676\/revisions\/6549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/missiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/missiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/missiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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