DRAFT
Summary Trip Report - RUSSIA
November 25 – December 2, 2010
Lawrence D. Jacobs
Introduction
From November 25th though December 2nd, I took a trip a trip to Russia at the invitation of Mrs. Natalia Yakunina to speak at the Sanctity of Motherhood Conference sponsored by the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation and the Center of National Glory founded by Vladimir Yakunin. While in Russia, I was able to speak about the natural family, promote the World Congress of Families, strategize with the Russian pro-life movement, and inspect the facilities and plans for the “Moscow Demographic Summit: Family and the Future of Humankind” (tentatively planned for June 28-30). The trip was a great success. I was able to speak at two major conferences, lecture to faculty and students at Moscow State Lomonosov University, meet with administration and faculty at Russia State Social University, conduct three print interviews, one tv/video interview and hold 24 different meetings around Moscow during five days. I also was able to secure commitments from three new partners (2 from Russia and 1 from Belarus).
November 26, Arrival
I arrived, Friday evening, November 26th in Moscow (My suitcase remained in Germany and did not arrive until late the next day)! Alexey Komov, my host and our WCF representative in Russia picked me up a the Domodedovo Moscow airport. Alexey lives in a house just outside the city of Moscow with his wife Irina and his son Michael (three years of age). Irina is an excellent cook and she provided wonderful hospitality as I stayed in their third floor guest suite and experienced some “real” Russian culture from this Orthodox family.
November 27, Saturday
After a brief stop at Red Square in Moscow, we participated in the Sanctity of Motherhood Conference at the Christ the Savior Cathedral. The “Sanctity of Motherhood” is a wonderful pro-life project of the Center of National Glory and the St. Andrew the First Called Foundation. These organizations were found by Vladimir Yakunin (CEO of the Russian National Railways) and strong supporter of the Orthodox Church. Mr. Yakunin also organizes the Rhodes Meeting of the World Policy Forum. Ten of our WCF colleagues were invited to Rhodes in October for the World Dialogue of Civilizations event (see my Rhodes Greece report for more details). Yakunin participated in the opening ceremony of the Sanctity of Motherhood Conference with First Lady, Svetlana Medvedeva, and Mrs. Natalia Yakunina who is the head of the Sanctity of Motherhood program and on the Board of Trustees. The event was held at Christ the Savior Cathedral, a beautiful architectural masterpiece, rebuilt after the communists demolished it in 1933. Other notable speakers in the opening session were Orthodox Bishop Panteleimon, Professor Anatoly Antonov from Moscow State Lomonosov University and Parliament member, E.B. Mizulina who is the main pro-life leader in the Russian Parliament and heads up the Duma’s Committee on Family Affairs. Ms. Mizulina has authored the first pro-life law in modern Russia and was presented with a World Congress of Families medal by Father Maxim Obukhov for her pro-life work in January 2010. Many of the speakers echoed consistent concerns about the future of the Russian people due to very low fertility and rapid depopulation.. Russian population decline is expected to continue at a 20% rate. Russia will lose another 18 million people from its population by 2030. Sadly, Russian abortions of 4 million per year are double the rate of births in Russia of 2 million babies per year. On average, a Russian woman will have six to seven abortions during her lifetime. The Russian government recognizes some of these problems. For the first time since the Communist Revolution, there is hope that abortions may be banned in Russia as secular national interests converge with pro-life Christian interests sparked by revival within the Orthodox and protestant churches in Russia.
I was the only American invited to speak and participate in the Sanctity of Motherhood event and the only one of three foreigners (outside CIS countries). After the opening plenary presentations, we were able to hold short meetings with Ewa Kowalewska (Poland HLI- Europe), Father Maxim Obukhov (Russia, Head of Pro-Life Centers, Russian Orthodox Church), Galina (Russian Catholic Pro-Life Leader), Igor Beloborodov (Demography and Pro-Life Orthodox Leader) and Professor Anatoly Antonov (MSU Lomonosov). After an afternoon presentation which featured presentations from two leaders in Father Maxim’s pro-life organizations, Sergey Chesnokov, head of regional Orthodox pregnancy resource centers throughout Russia and Igor Beloborodov, pro-life demographer and family researcher. It is important to keep in mind that culturally speaking, all Russians assume that each other are Orthodox by their traditions and customs (whether they attend Orthodox Church or not). This was not unlike my experience in Poland where culturally everyone is assumed to be Roman Catholic.
Following the afternoon presentations, Alexey Komov gave me a tour of Christ the Savior Cathedral and I was able to attend part of an Orthodox service in its awe-inspiring sanctuary with beautiful architecture and icons. Later that evening, we travelled to Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow for a private meeting with Father Dimitry Smirnov, well-known Orthodox priest, Father Maxim’s mentor, famous spiritual leader, and head of the social programs for the Orthodox Church. He expressed 100% support for our work at the World Congress of Families, the Moscow Demographic Summit, and Father Maxim’s pro-life work. In fact, I was given advance news of a new proposal approved by the Bishop that would formally establish a new family and life office as a church-wide effort to establish more family and life centers. Father Maxim and Alexey will be leaders of these new family and life centers to be established at every sizable Orthodox Church in Russia. The announcement of this new Church organizational structure will likely take place at the internal Russian Orthodox Church leadership meeting in late January. I was invited to come back and present at this Orthodox meeting. Father Dimitry then left for his weekly TV show but we stayed and toured the church life offices where Father Maxim, Alexey and Igor officially operate the pro-life movement.
November 28, Sunday
Sunday was the second day of the Sanctity of Motherhood Conference. Father Maxim Obukhov co-chaired the Sunday session as speakers presented pro-life lectures and reports from throughout Russia. Following the morning presentations, Alexey, Ewa and I were able to meet with Fedor Lukiyanov, who is organizer of the Rhodes Forum for Mr. Yakunin. Fedor was the one who worked behind the scenes to secure my invitation to speak at the Sanctity of Motherhood conference and to make the trip to Russia possible. We discussed with Fedor how to invite Mrs. Yakunina to our next WCF Leadership Meeting in Texas at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in March, hosted by Dorothy and Paige Patterson. We would like to present Mrs. Yakunina with a WCF Familias Award for her pro-life service to Russian families. Fedor also spoke with me about a very successful pro-life program that he has personally implemented at 20 abortion centers/.medical clinics around Moscow. Using his own salary, he has personally managed to buy and place key pro-life materials (and gotten the support of doctors and nurses) in the waiting rooms of these Moscow abortion clinics. If he is able to raise another $10,000, he will be able to reach the other 100 abortion clinics in Moscow and the average Russian woman who has six to seven abortions in her lifetime (You can contact me for more details about this project.) Following our productive meeting and fellowship time with Fedor, Ewa Kowalewska and I made our presentations to the Sanctity of Motherhood Conference. Mrs. Yakunina was sitting in the front row during my presentation and seemed to be very pleased with pro-life message about the natural family and introduction to the World Congress of Families. After announcing our plans to hold the Moscow Demographis Summit in 2011, we received a hearty “alleluia” from Mrs. Yakunina’s administrator and session co-chair. After my speech, I presented Mrs Yakunina with a signed Allan Carlson copy of “The Natural Family: A Manifesto.” At the next conference break, Alexey and I were surrounded by participants who wanted more information about WCF and the Demographic Summit. One gentleman, representing a pro-family organization and publishing house from Belarus pledged to be a WCF partner on the spot. He also invited us to meet with Belarus for a meeting with the President of Belarus and his administration to promote pro-family and pro-life policies. These special meetings they are proposing for April or May of 2011. Also approaching us were two professors from Russia State Social University (a university with an enrollment of over 110,000 students). They invited us to a private meeting later in the week and pledged their support of the WCF and the Demographic Summit. Later, we were approached by the video crew of Mrs. Yakunina and they conducted a 30 minute interview of me regarding my impressions of the Sanctity of Motherhood event and our WCF project. Alexey Komov translated for me and was a trusted advisor during all of these activities. Following special performances of Russian singers, musicians, and dancers at the closing ceremony, we were invited to the Gala Dinner. The was held at the special dining hall of the Lesli Dali Resort, a government-owned hotel and conference center outside Moscow. Mrs. Natalia Yakunina approached us (Ewa, Alexey, Father Maxim and I) and requested a meeting that evening after dinner. That evening we discussed the plans for the Demographic Summit with her. Mrs. Yakunina offered her help in setting up a meeting with Svetlana Medvedeva to secure the support of her pro-life foundation for the Demographic Summit. We invited Natalia to Texas for the next WCF strategic leadership meeting. She was pleased and indicated that she will consider attending. Unfortunately, she will be able to officially respond until January after she is back in her office.
Monday, November 29
On Monday, I got to experience “real” Russian weather and traffic as temperatures dropped to -22 degrees Celsius and some light snowfall further slowed down motorists without their snow tires. I was told that it normally takes about 2 hours to travel 15 miles in the daytime traffic of Moscow. Everyone complains about the traffic. Our destination on Monday was Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius about 30 km from Moscow. It is an historically famous Orthodox monastery and the spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church. Perhaps, it is also serves as the current spiritual center of hope for all modern-day Russians as they seek to recover from Communist destruction of their culture. The communists destroyed over 2,000 monasteries in Russia, leaving only about 100 remaining today. The Trinity Lavra is located in the old city of Sergiyev Posad with a population of 113,000 people. Inside the old walled-city, there were many beautiful cathedrals and architecture so awe-inspiring that an atheist my reconsider his beliefs after touring and experiencing the Christian heritage of this magnificent monastery. Indeed, even the gift shops inside were beautiful and non-yet so commercialized unlike the many tourist shops in Moscow. Following this spiritual visit to Lavra, we met with Father Maxim and discussed our pro-life strategic plan and the details of the Russian pro-life organization and movement. We enjoyed a chicken dinner that night from Alexey’s farming-minded neighbor who raises chickens and horses despite their location in a popular Moscow suburb (a demonstration of home economy that would make Allan Carlson proud). Unfortunately most of the farming skills and entrepreneurial spirit was wiped out by communists. This 70-year persecution and attack on their culture is recognized by the Russian people. The anger, hopelessness, and sadness persists throughout the country over this destruction of Russian culture and tradition. Russians seem to believe that there is no hope to overcome this loss of old farming traditions, specific skills, and rural culture. No organizations seem to be offering any solutions outside of the Orthodox Church and some Christian leaders. Most everyone understands the severity of the problem but the conservative traditional leaders in the Russian government only offers limited programs often tainted by the liberal West and infiltrated by George Soros. Many Russian leaders are caught between the consumerism and material temptations of the west while trying to resist the liberal, anti-family, post-modern, secular influences that come with a free-market system. The forces of traditional culture and Christian heritage were so thoroughly and intentionally destroyed by 70 years of Communist rule, that they have not been able to rebuild conservative Christian institutions to catch up with these post-modern liberal forces. The Russian people are traditionally conservative like Americans but are overwhelmed by negative liberal, anti-family forces that are infiltrating their country from Western Europe and liberal American elites. Indeed, we pro-family Americans share a common opponent with the Russian people, the secular, radical feminist, pro-homosexual, anti-family liberals.
Tuesday, November 30
Tuesday’s main activities began with a presentation to students and faculty at Moscow State Lomonosov University hosted by longtime friend and WCF speaker, Professor Anatoly Antonov. I presented a lecture on Demographic Winter and the International Pro-Family Movement and then responded to questions from students about homosexuality, bio-ethics and same-sex parenting. My talk was very well received with more than 20 students signing up to volunteer at the 2011 Moscow Demographic Summit. Following my presentation, Alexey, Professor Antonov and myself met with the Dean of the Sociology Department at MSU. A very intelligent conservative man of small stature but great intellect and strong influence at MSU assured us that he was committed to the pro-family principles of the World Congress of Families and offered his full support. When I asked him how does he resist the liberal forces seen in so many American universities, he said that he has to have constant battles and internal fighting to resist these same liberal pressures that we are familiar with at American universities. At least the MSU Sociology Department has so far succeeded in this struggle. Following this warm welcome from the Dean, we were able to watch a few minutes in his office of President Medvedev’s annual address to the Russian nation. Coincidentally, he focused his speech on the family and demographic problems of Russia. He proposed three new programs. The first was a third child incentive where all Russian families would be given land to build a home following the birth of their third child. The second Presidential initiative were new tax breaks and incentives to large families with multiple children and the third project is an investment in new kindergarten facilities and schools to appease parents who are finding waiting lists to enroll their children in kindergarten. The first two ideas were from Professor Antonov, who is a member of the Russian Presidential Commission on Demography and Family. Even Professor Antonov was surprised at this announcement and he immediately received calls from Russian media wanting his reaction to these new family initiatives from President Medvedev. We walked together with Professor Antonov to the headquarters building of the MSU campus and submitted an official request to use the University’s main hall for free during the Moscow Demographic Summit. Still run by the bureaucrats left over from communist times, our official request and letter were stamped and assigned a number as it now winds its way through the bureaucratic maze of university administration. Due to a minor miracle, the administration did agree to unlock and open up the grand hall for us to take pictures inspect the facilities for usefulness for the Moscow Demographic Summit. A marble sculpture of Karl Marx and a quote regarding education reminds one of the communist history of the University building which was built by Stalin and resembles the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw where we held WCF IV. Following our tour of the facilities, we left Professor Antonov and went to visit the Russian State Social University (RSSU). On the way, we stopped at an American icon, McDonald’s to compare the Russian version versus American version (they were very similar). From the number of locations, it would appear that there are more McDonald’s per capita in Moscow than in any American city! Besides the liberal media, this is the only American culture that average Russians are exposed to. We arrived at RSSU to a very warm reception from a leading Sociology professor and her Department Chair. Following a brief tour of their 400-person auditorium and well-equipped conference rooms, we were invited to meet with the vice-Rector/acting President. She was very supportive of our plans and immediately invited us to use their facilities for the Moscow Demographic Summit. They also offered free parking for participants (very important in Moscow) and $50 rooms at the hotel next door. RSSU also invited me to speak and participate in their Family Conference in Festival (usually held in April/May). They also expressed their desire to become an official WCF partner. As further demonstration of their commitment, our hosts took us to their special hospitality family room for students and faculty. A full-time host mother recreates the scene of a large Russian family/dining room with a fireplace, piano, quiet music, tea, cookies and candies on dining room tables. We discussed further details of our collaboration over delicious homemade tea and cookies. Additional ideas regarding educational student credit for attending WCF meetings, online Russian-American classes in family and sociology for students, and a family facts database for Russia were very well received by our hosts. The University’s multiple locations throughout Russia and CIS countries and 110,000 students make it ideal for us to collaborate. We agreed to consider moving the dates of the Summit to June 28-30 since students and faculty go on summer vacation after July 1. Furthermore, MSSU offered us a larger free conference facility that holds 900 at their other Moscow location. We also will consider using their hotel-resort facilities outside Moscow which could house participants and provide meeting rooms for smaller seminars and training sessions. They have shuttles that bring people from their resort hotels to downtown Moscow for plenary and larger sessions. Following our discussion into the evening, Alexey offered to drive two of the professors home on our way to his house. Perhaps, because of the historic breakthroughs and successes of our day, we can under a series of unfortunate events on the way home. First, we ran out of gas in Moscow traffic. Next, we began pushing the Ford Explorer in the -25 degrees Celsius cold to the gas station. Nearing the gas station, the SUV started once again, but in our haste, Alexey drove into a metal barrier protecting the gas pumps severely damaging his rear bumper. After getting gas and promising to pay the gas station owner for the damage, we made it home without further incident.
Wednesday, December 1
Wednesday, my final full day in Russia was again filled with significant successes, opportunities and productive networking. Thanks to the assistance from Lydia Bowen (missionary to Ukraine) and Heartbeat International staff, we were able to meet with some of the key protestant pro-life and pro-family leaders in Moscow. In the morning, we met with Ilya Okhotnikov who is head of the Church of God Seminary in Moscow. Ilya has added family ministry and education to the Seminary, one of the only protestant seminaries in Russia to provide such marriage and family training for pastors and counselors. Ilya joined Alexey and I on a tour of the Kremlin. One of the first buildings that we saw inside the Kremlin walls was the Convention Center building that is the proposed location for WCF VII in 2014. Given the bitter cold that morning, we hurried on to the many cathedrals within the Kremlin. Having Alexey (with college degrees in History and Orthodox theology) and Ilya (a Russian native with a Doctorate of Ministry degree) with me, I commented that I was blessed with two spiritual tour guides who represented the richness of the Russian Christian faith. Indeed, I felt like these Christian brothers provided me with a better sense of Russian history and Christian heritage than any of the professional Kremlin tour guides. As we visited the tombs of the various tsars in Russian history and quickly toured the museums of Christian artifacts from Russian history, I found myself agreeing with Mikhail Solzhenitsyn, who after his time spent living in the U.S. said that, “…there are perhaps no greater allies than the American people and the Russian people who share a Christian heritage.” Indeed, Solzhenitsyn points out that before the Communist destruction, Russia and America were in allies in the American Revolution, the Civil War and World War I. After our Kremlin tour, we visited an underground shopping mall to continue our meeting with Ilya. Ilya was a participant in one of the recent Russian Orthodox-Protestant where inter-faith collaboration has been discussed. Perhaps, what is needed is more of the personal and collaborative actions on social and family issues which we demonstrated throughout my visit and in only one meeting between Ilya and Alexey, two gifted and intelligent Orthodox and Protestant leaders. Ilya had made a presentation on Russian Traditional Families that was given just a few weeks ago at a Russian academic conference. This presentation may be a concrete way to begin including Protestants in the planning for the Moscow Demographic Summit. Ilya also offered his full support and help to reach out to the Protestant community to promote the Summit. Following our meeting with Ilya, we traveled to the Moscow State Lomonosov University to meet with Professor Antonov who was speaking at a special Russian sociology conference, The 8th Annual Pitrim Sorokin Conference. This conference brought together some of the best and brightest sociologists from around Russia in the newest and largest conference facility at MSU. Somehow, Professor Antonov managed to insert me into the agenda to present a lecture. After listening to 2 hours of anti-American criticism and bashing of liberal values from the West, I was very unsure how my presentation would be received. My lecture was on Demographic Winter, the natural family and the World Congress of Families. Somehow, I managed to pull-off a well-received presentation focused on "natural family" and conservative values that was interrupted 5 times by thunderous applause. They were shocked to hear that "conservative" traditional Americans still exist. The old believers (Orthodox far right-wingers) were even happy to embrace an Christian American who supported their values. Following the hearty endorsement by those at the conference, I held multiple conversations with Russian thought leaders and several interviews with media representatives. After saying goodbye to Professor Antonov, we went to meet with two more Protestant leaders in Moscow. According to estimates, 70% of Russians identify themselves as Orthodox, Protestants represent 2-3% of the Russian population with Catholics perhaps half of the Protestant numbers. Lyuba Uryutova and Alexey met us at a café near the metro stop at the university. Both Lyuba and Alexey have been involved in the leadership of various pro-life centers and Christian ministries in Moscow. After a brief introduction to the World Congress of Families, we learned about their registered charity, Elizabeth Foundation and their plans to ministry to families, women and children through pro-life family centers that provide comprehensive family programs such as pro-life crisis counseling, teen abstinence and chastity programs in schools and post-abortion counseling for women (a critical need with Russian women that have 7 abortions on average). Since April, they have begun to offer some of these programs. After Lyuba left via the metro, we took Alexey home and spent some additional time in discussion. We learned more about the challenges and discrimination facing the Protestant churches. Alexey is a board member for the Elizabeth Family Center and an ordained pastor at an independent Christian church (previously affiliated with Evangelical Free). He also went with as we toured the Salute Hotel, another possible site for our Summit and the location of the large all-Russian pro-life conference on social technologies held this past July. The facilities, though not fancy, were quite acceptable from Western standards with a nice-looking theatre style room capable of holding 320 people, and a large restaurant. Pastor Alexey continued our discussion and spoke of the difficulty in getting people to engage social ministries of the church. I referred him to a website, www.conspiracyofkindness.com and a book by Steve Sjogren, Conspiracy of Kindness. Late in the evening were returned to Alexey Komov’s home. I flew back to Rockford, early the next morning. After 24 meetings during my 5 days, I was exhausted but excited by all of the opportunities to promote the natural family and life within Russia. This was only step one in the opportunity to save more than 4 millions babies per year in Russia and encourage the pro-family ethic that is strong among the Russian people.
