Somewhere between Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia – Monday, November 3, 2008 – 5:11pm local time
We’re on a flight somewhere between Minsk and Riga where we’ll overnight before heading on to Kiev, Ukraine, for the second leg of our adventure. Our team has shrunk by one as we saw Jim off at the airport in Minsk to head home. His portion of the teaching is complete.
Our time in Minsk came to a conclusion with a sobering time and then a great celebration. The plan this morning was to stop at Kurapaty forest on the way to our last meeting. I’ve written about Kurapaty before, but no simple retelling of a visit there can do it justice. Kurapaty lies now on the outer edge of Minsk, and the main ring road runs right through it. In 1937, however, the Kurapaty forest lay well outside of Minsk in the midst of a few villages. Beginning in 1937 and continuing through 1941, Stalin’s security forces used Kurapaty as a place of mass executions of the intelligentsia, upper class, and “wealthier” peasants, basically anyone who didn’t agree with forced collectivization and Communism. We had the privilege of having a trained historian with us today, and he gave us a moving recounting of what happened there. Because of the Soviet methods and years of non-acknowledgement, a true counting of victims buried there is impossible. However, estimates range from 30,000 to 250,000. In the late ‘80s, a Belarusian dissident began collecting stories of eyewitnesses and archaeologists and publicized what happened in that somber forest. Now, there are hundreds of crosses erected amongst the trees wherever bodies were found. Only two sets of remains have been positively identified. The national government of Belarus still refuses to fully acknowledge what happened there, despite the unearthing of grave after grave, and vandals continually try to ruin the site. Nonetheless, brave volunteers keep a vigil over the forest and refuse to let people forget what happened there and under Communism. The trees form a canopy overhead and a cold fog rises up amongst the crosses. Sorrow drenches the earth, and a heavy burden hits your heart as you wander and ponder man’s inhumanity to man. We stood quietly and listened to the history of the place and then prayed for the forgiveness of sins, the repentance of the nation, and that this place would be a marker in the future of how God can transform a nation that rights itself before Him. Powerful.
After such a heavy time in that place, we needed an uplifting celebration. We always spend the last morning in Minsk meeting with reformational leaders and discussing our joint plans for the future. We did just that, enjoyed a light lunch, and then we were presented with gifts from our friends. Their generosity is always so affecting. They spend hours and hours in preparation before we arrive. They run us all over the city and beyond from meeting to meeting to historical sites to the hotel and so on. They feed us so well at every meal and make sure we always have a fresh bottle of water or cup of tea at hand. Then, just before we depart to the airport, they always give us gifts. We were especially touched this year as they presented us with a special offering that was collected on Sunday night especially for our team. Wow. What a selfless act on their part to give out of their need simply to bless us. We decided that it would not be proper for us to accept the money, so we turned it right back around and gave it to their building fund for a new Christian school. It was only fitting considering that the school sprung over the last few years as a result of one of our previous trips. Seeds planted!
Those planted seeds also led to a great surprise just as we departed. On Thursday night, Bruce gave a brief message in church about planting seeds and trees that will grow many years in the future. As believers, we plant seeds in our families, our churches, and our society that we may never see fully prosper or fully grow but that will mature in future generations and bless our children’s children as we walk in the way of the Lord. To symbolize that, our Belarusian brothers had arranged for us to plant five trees outside the gates of the church just before we loaded up for the airport. What a joy that was! Each team member took a shovel and planted a pine tree in the rich Belarusian soil as a symbol of the great work that God is doing to put seed in the soil there and grow up strong trees with deep, deep roots by living waters. What a symbol. Our hearts fairly leapt with excitement and joy as we gathered together for one last time in prayer and fellowship before leaving Minsk for Riga and on to Kiev tomorrow. God is so good.
More to come.
Scott
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