Questions for Russians

[valerie]

I have some questions maybe Russians can answer them for me.
1-Is Russia safe to go to?
2-how much does it cost to stay in Russia for about a week, room and board, food, etc.?
3-Would Russians like it if some missionaries came to help out with things(food, clothing) and spread the gospel of God and Jesus?
4-What kinds of foods are popular in Russia?

Thanks!!!

[Dr_Woland]

Hi

I am not Russian, but I live and work in Moscow, and I can offer you at least some kind of answer from that viewpoint, until some real-life Russians contribute!

1) Russia is statistically safer than New York was say 4-5 years ago. I don't recall people not visiting New York on that account! By the way, you ought to distinguish where you mean by "Russia". The situation in Moscow is different to St Petersburg is different to Novokuznetsk, etc etc. There is certainly organised crime in Russia, but - rather like the mafia in other countries - it is on a business-to-business basis, and the individual in the street is not affected by it. You are simply not worth their attention, they have bigger deals to do!

2) What kind of accommodation do you have in mind? You can pay anything for $10 for a bed in a hostel, through to $300 for a room at the 5* Baltchug-Kempinski hotel.

3) Economic aid would probably be very welcome, but you should refine your research a little to direct it to where it is needed. The big cities have some small problems. The small places have some big problems. Orphanages have serious problems - I know one in Ryazan which is in desperate need of assistance.

I would strongly suggest that you bring the actual items yourself and give them to the recipients. I hate to say this, but sending the goods might result in them being stolen by others, and sending the money will almost certainly have that same result.

I should not really comment about your desire to do religious work, since I am not Russian and cannot speak legitimately on their behalf. However, if you would permit one comment which is made with the intention of helping, not hindering....

... I am afraid that I have seen rather too many foreign missionaries in Russia who did not know the slightest thing about the people to whom they claimed to minister. Very often they were insensitive, and sometimes offensive, to the beliefs already held by those in Russia. Russia is not - as you might believe from the right-wing media in the West - a country of unbelief. On the contrary, many people believe quite strongly, and membership of churches is rising. I am saddened to say that I have seen western churches try to rubbish, attack or smear the Russian Orthodox Church and its members (and ditto the Russian Catholic Church, the Old Believers, Protestants, and other groups native to this country). There are also considerable groupings of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and others whose traditions in Russia extend back over many hundreds of years, and who would not take well to being told "what to believe" by newcomers with little or no knowledge of the country.

If your mission in Russia can bring belief to those who seek it, without seeking to attack or rubbish the beliefs already existing in Russia, then you may consider it worthwhile to investigate the idea further. You would most certainly need the help and assistance of local people on the ground in Russia, and I would make this my first priority before you even consider arriving in person. Without that help, you are not going to get far, believe me!

Dr W.

[ILay]

To answer your questions in brief i would like to say the following:

1. Russia is quite safe to visit. Still, you should not have the wrong perceptio of Russia being too safe. If you visit night-clubs or pubs too often you can have problems just due to your wrong behavior. Still Russia is more safe than Germany or Italy.

2. The best solution to find a place to stay is to rent an appartment. Depending on the city you are going to visit it will cost you from USD 100 in Novgorod to 400 in Moscow for a double-room appartment per month (equiped with furniture, tv, frige etc.)
Food will cost not more than USD 200 per month.

3. Not really. There were too much of western (and eastern) sects in recent time so Russians have a big prejudice for foreign missionaries. And don't forget that Russian church has a history of more than 1000 years.

4. There is a lot of different cousins in Russia (we have more than 150 peoples living here).
But be prepared to eat a lot of meat and drink a lot of cognac and vodka.

[valerie]

Thank you for your help. All I know about religion in Russia in the Eastern Orthodox Church. I have taken anthropolgy classes, so I know about learning the way other groups think and remember that they may not understand the way I think and not to expect them to. I just know that Russia is having economic troubles, from all I have seen on TV and in the newspapers and I thought it would be a good idea to send missionaries.
Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want missionaries to go there and slander Russians or whatever the previous ones did to get the prejudice. I just think that having faith in God is awesome and would want to spread happiness, faith, etc to all the Russians that would want it. I am not biased against Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic, or am in favor of any particular sect. I am Christian and believe that deep down, all Christians believe the same and are good people and we are all brothers/sisters in Christ. I am just sad that Russians have had problems with previous missionaries. The missionaries had good intentions, but they just didn't understand how to deal with such different cultures and made the wrong impressions. I think missionaries need to take Anthropology classes to learn about different cultures and that would enable them to go into different cultures, countries, customs, and not make unintentional bad impressions. It is universal for people to think, "my culture is the right way", "everybody should do it like me", etc. but Anthropologists are trained NOT to think like this, but instead to understand. I just want to help Russia by maybe in the future organizing a missionary trip. I do not want to make Russians mad or uncomfortable. I just have this awesome feeling dealing with faith and want to spread it. Anyways, you can never have to much faith, so maybe Church attendance is up, but that doesn't mean that missionaries are not needed. Missionaries are only there to help spread faith, belief, and values, happiness, knowledge and God's word. I want to change the impression that former missionaries have made. God's word needs to be spread and spread and learned about more.
I see TERRIBLE pictures on TV about the poor orphanages. It is so sad the way those kids are treated. I just want to take them all home with me. I would LOVE to adopt a Russian orphan. But the only problem is, it costs THOUSANDS of USD. That is SO SAD. A lot more kids could get good homes, but only wealthy people can afford that. Thousands of USD in fees to a Russian agency, lawyers fees, homestudy fees, roundtrip plane tickets, etc. I would adopt a Russian child in a heartbeat if I could afford it.
Is there any way to adopt a Russian orphan wihout it costing that much??
Also, would anyone know how to contact an old Russian friend? I mailed letters and none got to her. I called the number I had for her and it does not work
Well thanks for your help. Sorry this is so long. Once again, I just want to spread Gods word, help save Russian souls, and spread the good feeling of faith. Just want to help, that's all.

[Daria]

Valerie --

Thank you for your desire to help Russia and Russians. You definitely sound like a very religious person to me.

You wrote that you would like to adopt a child from Russia. I strongly recommend you to get more information about this procedure before you make your final decision. I know a family here in the USA that adopted a Russian girl three years ago. They told me just a few days ago that international adoption has been prohibited by Russian Duma (Parliament) for 2,5 years. That's what they heard, it means it could be wrong.

Anyway, good luck!

[Dr_Woland]

Hi Valerie

>> But the only problem is, it costs THOUSANDS of USD. That is SO SAD <<

I can appreciate you wanting to reach out to these kids, but adoption in the USA is not going to be answer for many, and although it might help one... all the others will stay there. Instead... you don't have to spend thousands of dollars. A few HUNDRED dollars would go a helluva long way in Russia, spent the right way.

Our company visits an orphanage in Ryazan. The kids told me they didn't go outside - some had not been outside for 3 months!! Why not? "no shoes" they said, pointing to bare feet - and outside there was 6 inches of snow. We found chinese-made boots for just $6 per pair in Moscow markets, so we filled the car with boots, and...

Even a few bucks can go a long way to help. Please don't spend a thousand on adopting one child... that same thousand would clothe 50 kids for a year.

"Dr W"

[valerie]

Thank you Dr. W. That is a good point. I didn't really think much of it like that. I would be interested in doing something like that and will look into it.