UMTV Web Brief 10/23/02

Welcome to UMTV’s Web Brief. I’m Reed Galin.

Half a world away, in a place where atheism was the rule for generations, one man has found what so many people search for - hope and a second chance. In this glimpse into the lives of Russian prisoners, we see how a United Methodist ministry transcends geography, language, politics and history.

THIS IS NOT THE PLACE YOU LOOK TO FIND YOUR FUTURE. NOT IN PRISON, AND CERTAINLY NOT IN RUSSIA - THE COUNTRY WITH THE LARGEST PER CAPITA PRISON POPULATION IN THE WORLD.

UNTIL JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO, ALEXEI TRETYAKOV WAS AN INMATE HERE ... PRISON NO. 2, IN THE CITY OF EKATERINBURG, A THOUSAND MILES EAST OF MOSCOW.

IT WAS IN THIS NEARLY FORGOTTEN PLACE THAT ALEXEI SAYS HIS LIFE WAS TRANSFORMED WHILE SERVING A SENTENCE FOR ROBBERY. THROUGH THE HELP OF A UNITED METHODIST PRISON MINISTRY, ALEXEI FOUND HOPE WHERE NONE EXISTED.

Alexei Tretyakov, Ekaterinburg, Russia: “I was able to find some strength in my soul and really understood, in order to have a normal life, I don’t have to commit crime anymore.”

NOW ALEXEI EAGERLY RETURNS TO A PLACE HE COULDN’T WAIT TO LEAVE … WANTING TO HELP OTHER INMATES.

Alexei Tretyakov: “If you took a week, in seven days, at least five days spent here in the prison. I come here to communicate with people. It has great meaning, because maybe now I’m an example of hope to these people who are here now. And they begin to think that they don’t have to commit crime anymore.”

ALEXEI IS SERVING A DIFFERENT KIND OF TERM NOW … AS A MESSENGER OF HOPE IN THE DARKEST OF CIRCUMSTANCES.

After World War II, President Eisenhower said we ought to send 5,000 missionaries to Russia and Europe to help restore those countries. The United Methodist Church has done a little of that.

In 1991, when we began, there were no United Methodist churches currently in Russia. The denomination was chased out in the early ‘20s by the Stalin government. At the end of the annual conference in 2002, just happening in Russia, the bishop appointed 127 pastors to 110 churches. And that is a significant growth in just a short time.

And we have several pastors in this group of 127 who were devout Communists, officers in the party, established in their traditions of communism. But in discovering the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, they were able to move from that style of thinking and that way of life and that feeling that they had, which was no feeling in many instances, into their relationship with other people in the experience of Christ.

But more important, our first visitors over there said, “We’re going to take God to Russia.” When they got to Russia, they found God.

Bill and Dirk Van Gorp decided to turn a love of cycling and passion for mission work into a ministry. Theirs has become an epic journey. The father and son have been cycling the back roads of America for more than six months now, from their home in Lake Placid, N.Y., to the West Coast and back again, traveling more than 10,000 miles and sharing their story along the way.

Home Stretch - Story:

THEIR JOURNEY BEGAN DOWN THE AISLE OF THIS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH.

Dirk Van Gorp, father: “And I know that God will bring great blessing to us on this trip.”

DIRK AND BILL VAN GORP LEFT BEHIND THEIR FAMILY - THEIR LIVES - TO CYCLE ACROSS AMERICA, HOPING TO RAISE AWARENESS OF UNITED METHODIST MISSION WORK.

Dirk Van Gorp: “Your mission field might be being a teacher or a youth leader or helping the family next door.”

MISSION WORK HAS BEEN VAN GORP’S PASSION FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS - HELPING BUILD HOUSES IN ZAIRE, REFUGEE SETTLEMENTS IN BOSNIA. HIS SON BILL WORKED WITH RELIEF VOLUNTEERS DURING THE SUMMER.

Bill Van Gorp, son: “You really get the opportunity to be in people’s lives and help them and to help change their lives.”

Dirk Van Gorp: “He has to wait at the top of the hills for me.”

FOR THIS FATHER, THE TRIP WILL ADD UP TO MORE THAN JUST MILES.

Dirk Van Gorp: “The best part is being able to take away a closer and deeper relationship with my son Bill.”

THROUGH SNOWSTORMS AND DESERT HEAT, THEIR TREK HAS BEEN GRUELING - SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE AT TIMES.

Dirk Van Gorp: “After pedaling into a 30 mph wind in west Kansas, and it’s hot, yeah, you really kind of go, ‘This is not such a good idea.’” (Laughs…)

NOW, ALL THAT’S BEHIND THEM - ALONG WITH VISITS TO MORE THAN A HUNDRED CHURCHES IN 26 STATES. THEIR ODOMETERS CLICK OVER 10,000 MILES. HOME IS WITHIN SIGHT.

Bill Van Gorp: “It was great to see all the places we’ve ridden though and be able to put a picture in your mind of a place on the map.”

Group outside church: “There they are!”

SIX MONTHS AGO, THEY SET OUT ON A MISSION OF FAITH. LIKE ANY GOOD JOURNEY, THE GREATEST LESSON CAME FROM WHAT THEY LEARNED ALONG THE WAY.

Dirk Van Gorp: “We’re really cognizant of our blessings. We’ve really come to understand how greatly blessed we are.”

After crisscrossing America, you’d think the intrepid bikers would be ready for a rest, but there’s little time for that. Dirk Van Gorp will get busy on an extended “to do” list from his wife - home improvements and necessary repairs - then he’s off to Ethiopia on a mission trip.

Son Bill goes back to college in the fall and will continue to be involved in his interests - hunting, fishing and snowboarding in the Adirondacks. We don’t know if they’ll ever get on bicycles again.

On the next UMTV Web Brief … testing drugs on the most vulnerable members of society.