August 14, 2009
Public invited for mission trip stories and photos from Vladivostok
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
Father Myron Effing has now spent 17 years in Russia, noted Benedictine Sister Leta Zeller. “We had the opportunity to spend eight days.”
Sister Leta is the pastoral associate at St. Francis Xavier Church in Poseyville. She was one of eight people who recently returned from a eight-day visit to see the mission work and to meet the people of Vladivostok.
Father Effing is a native of southwestern Indiana who went to Russia in 1992 to help re-establish the Catholic Church. He established a new religious order, the Canons Regular of Jesus the Lord, and over the years he has established several parishes.
Stories and photos of the visit will be shared in the cafeteria of St. Joseph’s School in Vander-burgh County, on Sunday, Aug. 23, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The pilgrims included Donna Gaupel, Sam Moore, Kim Spaetti and Sharon Vogler, all from St. Joseph Church; Sister Leta, Julie Deeg from Resurrec-tion Church in Evansville, Bev. Williamson of Evansville, and Rita Diniger from Wisconsin.
Their “mission trip” was not a traditional work trip, according to Sister Leta. She said their main work “was our example of community together and our interest in Russia.”
She explained, “The people of Russia do not experience volunteering like we do, and the example of us wanting to be there and learn more about their lives and find out how to help was our mission work.”
The group of eight was divided into two groups, swapping activities each day so everyone could have all the experiences — which included celebrating the Vladivostok founding day celebration, Sunday Mass at Mary, Mother of God Parish and St. Joseph Parish, tea and cookies with parishioners after Mass, and attending a baptism. They also visited a parish family at home, an Orthodox monastery, the Orthodox cathedral, a soup kitchen, a children’s hospital and a hospice.
The group flew from Evansville to Chicago, then took a 13-hour flight from Chicago to Incheon, South Korea, and completed the journey with another one-hour flight to Vladivostok. A very memorable portion of the trip, though was the drive from the Vladivostok Airport to Father Effing’s par-ish center. “The driving in Russia is crazy,” said Sister Leta. “No road rules and so much traffic.”
Sister Leta said she hopes to be sharing many more stories and photos at the Aug. 23 event, which will be a fundraiser to help with the goup’s left over costs.