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Volume 23 No. 3 | Spring 2013
Aboriginal wisdom helps
Fr Eddie settle into mission
life in Blagoveshchensk, Russia
The Central Australian desert country could not be further
from the extreme force of a far-eastern Russian winter, but
Fr Eddie Lering SVD says that some wise advice from the
indigenous people of Santa Teresa, near Alice Springs
helped him embrace his new mission life in Russia ... even
as the temperature plunged to minus 35 degrees.
By Fr Eddie Lering SVD
“Doing what you like is freedom, and liking what you do is
happiness”
My friend and I arrived in Moscow, on April 18, 2012. After
six days in Moscow, we flew to Blagoveshchensk, Far East
Russia (eight hours flight from Moscow, close to China’s
border). In Blagoveshchensk, there is one SVD parish. It is
served by a brother from Poland, and a priest from India.
This is the place where I have lived and studied the Russian
language for 14 months.
During my first year in Russia, I became aware of the
question – ‘why am I here?’ I made an attempt to re-
examine what is mission itself for me at the moment.
There are three first experiences that shaped me into the
way I think about people and the place I am in now.
First
,
before I came to Russia, I heard that many foreigners
were not really welcome here. But my experience when I
first arrived at the airport was different. I was thinking the
security would be super tight, but it was not. The person on
the immigration office was nice and people at the airport
were really good too. I am happy to say that people are
very welcoming and nice. There are not many foreigners in
Blagoveshchensk, but people are still friendly to you, and
want to talk with you.
Second
, my first winter. I remember
last winter, it was minus 35. On the bus one day, a lady
asked me, ‘where are you from?’, and I replied ‘Indonesia’,
then she said ‘we are Russian and we want to get out of
this cold winter, and yet you want to stay here!’ And she
said, ‘How do you feel?’ I said it’s ok. And she smiled and
said ‘good, you are alive’. I remember when I was serving
in Santa Teresa, Alice Springs, the indigenous people told
me that if you accept and respect the land you are in, the
land will look after you, and you will feel at home. It helps
me to have a different view about this new country, with
new weather. I have a feeling that my body adjusted to the
cold winter, because mentally and spiritually I accepted the
place I live in now.
Third
, the language. I have to say that
the Russian Language is the most difficult language I ever
learnt, with lots of rules and different endings in each word.
Honestly, this time I feel like I am a slow learner. If I give
a rating betwen1-10, I should say I am on level 5. I know
my weakness and I face this challenge - the language is
difficult but I won’t give up on this. Luckily, I was able to say
mass in Russian four months after I arrived. I can also read
the gospel in every mass, but am not yet able to deliver a
homily or engage in fluent speech or deep talk, and I am
not yet able to hear confession.
At the moment I have a student visa, and am a full time
student. I cannot serve as a priest. As a student, I can
practice my faith, but not do my priesthood ministry.
Therefore, I cannot give a homily or give a speech during
the mass. I can concelebrate the mass but cannot be the
main celebrant. It does not mean that the government
does not allow us to practice our faith, but simply that we
must stick to the purpose of the student visa. Nevertheless,
the relationship between the Catholic Church, the local
government, and the Orthodox Church is very well
maintained here in Blagoveshchensk.
Besides that, I am not alone because there is huge support
from the SVD URAL Region, our small SVD community here
in Blagoveshchensk, and our lovely Catholic community
here. We have a small catholic community. They have
strong faith from generation to generation, even without
priests. (The SVD started again here in 1992. Before that,
the people were alone). This is a new beginning when the
Catholic Church is re-born in Russia.
Lastly, I would like to say that I am happy and love being
here in Russia. I try my best to use this opportunity to keep
learning and watching, in this “come and see” program
in the mission field. I want to learn more and more
Russian culture which is very rich, to build relationships
with the Russian people in general and our Russian
Catholic community specifically, through learning the
language. I believe that God is always in every situation
that I am in. For me, the mission will start when I learn the
language, and keep watching and learning from everyday
experiences with the people here in Russia.
Fr Eddie Lering, left, with young parishioners
celebrating first communion
