The city of Murmansk is located about 1300 KM north of St. Petersburg, Russia. With a population of around half a million, it is the largest city in the world north of the Artic Circle. Even though so far north, Murmansk is a seaport that is kept ice free all winter by a warm ocean current all the way from the Gulf of Mexico! I visited Murmansk 10 times staying at an average of 1 month at a time, and experienced its very long winters and extremely short summers.
My very first visit to Murmansk was in July of 1995. Though it was supposed to be summer, it was cold at only 8 degrees Celsius (46F) and rained frequently. A local resident described the climate as "fit only for deer!" At the time, I couldn't imagine ever wanting to return to such a place. However, there is one thing about that city that won my heart -- all the wonderful warm hearted Russian people who live there!
Maps and pictures of Murmansk.
In March of 1996, Ukrainian Vera and I decided to pioneer a missionary outpost in Murmansk. We traveled 36 hours by train from St. Petersburg and lodged at a hotel for 3 weeks free of charge courtesy of the hotel director.
Vera and I were invited to speak in English to the pupils of one of the top high schools in the city. We were encouraged to speak on any subject we wished. Of course our main topics of discussion were based on Bible stories. In spite of the fact that we taught at a secular government school, and in spite of the fact that there is such a policy as separation of Church and State in Russia, we met absolutely no opposition to teaching the Bible the entire time. Not only was it condoned, it was even encouraged! The teachers knew that due to the sudden disappearance of Communist ideology there was a spiritual vacuum, and that God and His Son Jesus perfectly fit in its place.
I try my best to present the Bible in an interesting and informative manner, and the kids really seemed to enjoy it!
That experience in Murmansk was my début as a school teacher. It was an amazing and wonderful experience for me! When a schoolboy I never ever would have imagined myself one day leading a class.
We received no wages for our work. It
was done on an entirely volunteer basis. The school could only offer us
a meager lunch. At that time, they could hardly pay salaries to there
own teachers! Many had to wait for months before they received the
salary for a previous month's work.
I first met Alexei and his mother Irina on June 14, 1997. This was during my third visit to Murmansk, this time with Angela, a young Russian women from St. Petersburg.
A teacher at one of the schools I taught at by the name of Tatiyana called us saying that she would like us to meet her friends, and that she had a special request concerning them. It was something "serious" she said.
Tatiyana took Angela and me to the small apartment of Irina and her 15 year old son Aleksei. It was immediately apparent that Aleksei was a cripple. He could not walk in an upright position but only move around with his legs bent over like a frog.
Irina explained to us the following: In May of 1994 when Alexei was 12, he noticed that something was wrong with his left leg. He began to walk with a limp. In September of that same year after a medical examination, he received an operation on his left leg and hip. After that he was put in a cast for 8 months and told not to move but to stay in bed or in a wheel chair. In June of 1995 when the cast was removed, everyone suddenly realized that his condition was not better, but worse! He could no longer stand us straight as before the operation! He couldn't even walk distances, even with the aid of crutches! The doctor's "treatment" turned him from a boy with merely a limp into a cripple!
In 1995 yet another tragedy occurred: Irina's husband,
a seaman, was killed in an accident while at work. Yet 6 months later her
mother also died of an illness. Irina says that it was only her faith in
God that kept her from losing her mind with grief.
In April of 1996, a representative from the Netherlands branch of an organisation called the Shriners hospitals for children, a charity that raises money to sponsor needed treatment for crippled children under 18 years old, came to Murmansk looking for handicapped children. The representative felt that Alexei was qualified to receive their care and offered treatment at a Shinners' hospital in Chicago with all expenses paid -- the operation, medication, hospitalization and even the round trip air fare for both Alexei and his mother to America!
There was only major problem for them to solve before this could happen: According to U.S. immigration laws, they first needed to find a host family in Chicago that would be able to provide them lodging. Without a host family they would not be granted visas.
In May of 1996, a professional translator and interpreter, Katerina, offered her services to translate the needed documents. She became Irina's and Alexei's communication link with the Shinners.
In June of 1997 when Angela and I were introduced to Irina and Alexei, they still hadn't found a host family in Chicago. They appealed to me knowing the Chicago is my home town and that my mother lives there. They asked me the possibility of staying with her.
At first I didn't see how this could work. My mother is old, 79 at the time, and has difficulty walking. She doesn't speak Russian. They couldn't speak much English at the time. There would be a real problem of communication with my mother. They would be pretty much on their own in America, strangers in a strange land unable to communicate with others. Moreover, my mother's home is the exact opposite side of the city from the hospital they needed to go! How could they possibly get around on their own? Ideally, they needed a guide and interpreter!
I told them that I didn't think my mother could help them but that I would to help them in some way. I could try to find another host family for them.
My Christian organization, "The Family" specializes in helping and caring for others, and I felt that this was a worthy project for us. I haven't lived in Chicago for years. I had no contact with any Family representatives there. To try to establish contact, I sent e-mail messages to Family contacts in California and Maryland seeking an address of representatives in Chicago. After about a week I established contact with a representative in the Chicago area by the name of Bill.
Bill explained that the local Chicago Family consisted only of himself and his personal family, his wife and children, and that he personally didn't know any Russians in the area with whom Irina and Alexei might be able to stay with.
Bill did have one thing, however, that was really encouraging: He had spent some time in Russia as a missionary and could speak some Russian! He was willing to meet them and help at times with transportation and communication.
After a few weeks trying to contact a potential host family, it seemed improbable that I would find one. While in prayer one morning, it came to me in a flash of revelation that God would have me to take them personally! I was sure that my mother would welcome them if I accompanied them. However in order for me to take them, being a missionary on a shoe string budget, the Shriners organisation would have to be willing to finance my transportation to Chicago also. I felt that this was a good condition to meet to determine whether it was really God's will for me to go. I didn't have the finances to pay for my own ticket to Chicago and felt that it would not be an unreasonable request. I would be offering them free lodging as well as my services as Irina's and Alexei's guide during their entire stay in America.
The director of a local telecommunications firm helped by letting me use the companies phone to call my mother. She was delighted of course to hear from me, and as I had expected, welcomed us all to come. Later I signed the documents that Irina needed to give the American consulate when applying for visas.
On September 20 Irina went to St. Petersburg (a 30 hour train trip from Murmansk) to the U.S. Consulate to apply for visas. On of my Russian friends, Sergei, cautioned me saying, "It's very difficult for for Russians to get visas for America! They won't give her one immediately when she applies!" But when Irina returned to Murmansk 4 days later, she reported that the visas were granted! I considered this a miracle and a further sign that God was indeed fact leading me to take them to America.
Irina notified me that the hospital made the first appointment to see Alexei on October 8 at 10 AM, and that we needed to fly out together from Moscow October 6. My visa for Russia, however, was due to expire on October 2nd! I applied for an extension for the visa on Monday, September 29, but it still wasn't ready on Friday the 3rd of Oct. Because the immigration office would be closed for the weekend, there would be no way I would have the paperwork to leave on Monday. Without the visa extension it would mean that I had overstayed my visa and would be heavily fined at the airport when trying to leave the country! Talk about red tape! The immigration official I talked to was sympathetic to my problem but said that there was no way she could hurry the extension process. The papers had gone to another office.
I immediately sent an e-mail message to Bill in Chicago asking him to please meet Irina and Alexei at the airport. Thankfully Bill complied to that request and met them when they arrived O'Hare International airport in Chicago. He drove them all the way to my mother's house on the opposite corner of the city -- a 1 hour drive. My mother welcomed her Russian guests with open arms!
I arrived 2 days later. I an my mother hosted Irina and Alexei for the full 2 months that they needed to stay in Chicago for the operation.
Approximately the middle of their stay, I received a telephone call from a Mr. Donald West who lives in a northern suburb of Chicago. He had heard from my humanitarian aid work and wished to provide some assistance. He drove all the way from the North side of Chicago to my mother's house on the Southeast side, picked us up, and drove all all the way to the Northwest side of Chicago to the Shriner's Hospital for Children -- a distance of at least 100 Km (60 miles). Mr. West also obtained two free tickets for me and Alexei to see a Bull's basketball game! This man has some pull! This was when the Bulls were still hot and Michael Jordon was still playing!