ains there is
and People” By Rev. Pavel Zayakin With Oksana Lapkovskaya, translator
mountains. Far later in the day, the SAR teams would return to the group once again after a fruitless day of searching only to have the lost tourist arrive at the same time. All were speechless at the meeting. Mountains don’t always give up the lost, but this weary young man was found. Two days later, the clouds lifted, and the fog disappeared. Instructors and older scouts climbed to the peak of Big Borus, 2,318 meters (7,340 feet) high.“It seemed that time had stopped,” said instructor Valeri Gilyazutdinov.“We watched the clouds floating by, birds flying below us, the city of Sayanogorsk far away. Even the wind stopped. We just wanted to stay and live there.” Beauty. Majesty. Danger. Solitude. All are inherent to mountains, and all can make individuals feel very small. One might ask in the words of Psalm 8:4,“What is man that You are mindful of him?” It was against this backdrop that pastors, seminarians, and Sunday School teachers taught classes throughout the week.“We indeed tried to see Someone who is higher than the mountains, who is above us, who has made all of this beauty. I hope we succeeded in it,” said Dimitry Dozenko, a deacon from Abakan. They did succeed, because they pointed their students to the Word, and because the Creator of all things does not remain just higher than the mountains. He has become flesh and died for the sins of the world. He is risen again, and He is
as near to His people as His Word. Mountains might belittle people, but the Lord seeks them out. Wherever His Word is preached and His Sacraments are administered according to His Word, be it in Siberia or St. Louis, the One who made the mountains is present humbly to serve, to give forgiveness and life. No matter how much they wished, the scouts couldn’t stay on top of Big Borus. At the end of the week, farewells made and tears shed, it was time to go home: separate ways, united in Christ, and perhaps a little bit more identified with the truth of the Psalm: “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1–2). (Note: We tip our hat in gratitude to the Siberian Lutheran Mission Society for passing along Pastor Zayakin’s article and giving us a window into the Church halfway around the world. Some may be surprised at the presence of Lutherans in Siberia and assume it to be something new. But through voluntary immigration and forced transportation, Lutherans—from Germany, Sweden, Poland, and Russia—have been in Siberia for quite a long time as the Lord spreads His Gospel to the ends of the earth. –Ed.)
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