First Lutheran’s Mission Partnerships with the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia
The communist era is over and the people of Russia want to worship and learn more about God. First Lutheran church members have been responding to this need by helping to resurrect the church in Russia through Friendship English Language Camps, youth ministry support and companion congregation relalationship.
Learn more about this global ministry and how you can also respond by using the following links ...
First Lutheran's "Friendship Congregation" Relationship with the
Petrozavodsk Lutheran Church
A "Sister Congregation" or "Friendship Congregation" relationship was established with the Ingrian Lutheran Church in Petrozavodsk in 1992 as a result of contact made with the church by members Paul and Carol Anderson in 1991. Members Pastor Antti Lepisto and his wife Nancy and Paul and Carol represented First Lutheran in the dedication of a lot for a new building for the Petrozavodsk church in 1996. Pledges of support for our “Time to Build” new addition included $50,000 to help build this church. With additional support from many Scandinavian churches, construction began in the fall of 2004. Dedication is pl
anned for September 9, 2009. The new building will also be an Education Center for church leadership development in northern Karelia in the rapidly re-emerging and growing Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR). Learn More about the history of the ELCIR.
Our historical relationship has been broadened by the involvement of many in our church in related ecumenical ministries, for example:
The work of Duluth Sister City Ministry, Inc.responding to the request from the Petrozavodsk City Council and the Karelian Ministry of Education to provide Bibles to all 160,000 school children in Karelia. Pastor Peter Strommen and members Paul and Carol Anderson served on the Board with Paul as Chairperson in the early 1990s. Two members from First Lutheran, Lois Berg and Elizabeth Larson, participated with 34 other Duluthians in the distributions in 2003 and the Petrozavodsk Lutheran Church helped in receiving and storing Bibles). This ministry also promotes exchanges, including the visits to Duluth and First Lutheran by Father Tihkon from the Orthodox Church and Marie Luisitina and Pastor Victor Grenovitsch of the Petrozavodsk Lutheran Church.
First Lutheran members also participate in the yearly "Friendship English Language Bible Camps" for youth in Petrozavodsk and, more recently, Kondopoga; members have participated in 1999, 2000 and each year since 2004.
Pastor Peter Strommen and Paul Anderson visited Petrozavodsk and the Lutheran Church in the summer of 1991 under the auspices of Sister City Ministry and by invitation of the Petrozavodsk Lutheran Church. They witnessed the installation of Victor Grenovitsch, the church's first full time minister after being the first church in the entire Soviet Union to be officially registered in 1971. They visited the villages of Pyanitsy and Shunga at the invitation of a friend of Paul's at the University. A result was the baptism of many children and adults and an invitation to return to help understand the faith. Paul and Carol returned in the summer of 1992 for this purpose with supplies and equipment purchased by funds from First Lutheran Foundation and member donations. Church services are now held periodically in Shunga by a team from the Lutheran church in Kondapoga, and Alex and Nadia Krongolm visit periodically for youth camps.
In the mid-nineties Pastor Lepisto, as President of the Suomi Conference of the ELCA, became involved with the ELCIR. First Lutheran's "sister" relationship with the Petrozavodsk church has served as a model for similar relationships between new ELCIR churches in Russia and Lutheran churches in the U.S. and was helpful for establishingthe Companion Synod relationship between the ELCIR and our Northeastern Minnesota ELCA Synod established at the Synod Assembly in 2002. Members Paul Anderson (Chairperson) and Pastor Antti Lepisto serve on the Synod Task Force, which works to facilitate this relationship
Our "Friendship Congregation" relationship has been renewed with the building of the new church, our current help in supporting Nadia and Alex Krongolm's youth ministry work in the Petrozavodsk church and Karelia Krongolm and participation in the Friendship English Language Camps, providing new faith-expanding opportunities.
Nadia and Pastor Alex Krongolm in Youth Ministry
The youth ministry work of Nadia and Alex Krongolm is currently supported by a partnership of three Lutheran churches -First Lutheran in Duluth, St. James Lutheran in W. St. Paul, and Trinity Lutheran in Columbus, NE. This work is coordinated through the Northeastern Minnesota Synod ELCA/ELCIR Companion Synod Task Force. Learn more about Alex and Nadia's ministry and how you can support them.
Nadia Krongolm had an interest and curiosity about God as a young teenager in Petrozavodsk, Russia, in the early 1990s. She accepted an invitation from a friend to attend a weekly Bible study at the Lutheran Church in Petrozavodsk, but discontinued a year later when the young missionary pastor from Finland moved away. Later she learned about a weekend Camp retreat to be held at the new seminary and church for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia in Koltishei near St. Petersburg, Russia. Despite having to pay her own way, she went and it was during this time that she came to a full faith in God and committed her life to being a Disciple of Jesus. At a later similar gathering she became friends with a young man, Alex, and together they have been on a journey of faith growth leading to full time youth ministry ...and marriage.
After graduating from the University, Nadia became a High School English teacher in Petrozavodsk, but found herself volunteering more and more in youth ministry work at the Petrozaovdk Lutheran Church and being encouraged in this work; in 2003 she was called by the church as their youth director but, without pay! In 2004 she was asked by Pastor Don Richman from East European Mission Network (EEMN) if she would organize one week of the Friendship English Language Camps offered by EEMN in a couple of Public Schools in June of each year as a Camp for area Lutheran youth, and she agreed. Two members of First Lutheran Church in Duluth, MN, Paul and Carol Anderson, served as co-Directors of this Camp with Nadia and were very impressed with Nadia’s skills and strong faith when they met in 2004; they inquired if Nadia might be interested in full time youth ministry if funding was available. Although this was all new to her, both she and Alex felt the call to full time 
ministry; Alex, after completing vocational schooling for carpentry and working briefly as a carpenter, had entered the seminary the year before. Today they both serve as a team in full time youth ministry with the ELCIR, Alex as Youth Pastor for the province of Karelia (size of Minnesota) and Nadia in youth ministry at the Petrozavodsk church. For updates from Nadia and Alex, click here Learn more about contributing to First Lutheran’s support of their ministry.
April 2009 Newsletter
September 2009 Newsletter
October 2009 Newsletter
November 2009 Newsletter
Nadia and Alex Krongolm's Visit, April 13-May 6, 2008
Alex and Nadia visited the U.S. in April/May, 2008, invited by the Northeastern Minnesota Synod ELCA/Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR) Companion Synod Task
Force and East European Missions Network The purposes of the visit included helping us learn about the ministries of the ELCIR and the ministries of Nadia and Alex and to discuss how we can best strengthen our mutual ministry partnerships. They visited Lutheran Churches and Lutheran Mission groups, including speaking at a mission conference at Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbus, Nebraska, April 17-19, the EEMN Annual Mission Banquet in Minneapolis April 26, St. James Lutheran Church in West St. Paul April 27, the ELCA Synod Assembly in Duluth May 2/3, and First Lutheran Church in Duluth May 4. Review Nadia and Alex's 2008 itinerary and photos from their trip.
Short-Term Mission Trips: Friendship English Language Camps
One activity of our Friendship Congregation relationship with the Petrozavosk Lutheran Church in Russia has been support of and participation by our members in the East European Mission Network (EEMN)-sponsored Friendship English Language Camps (FELC), especially the Lutheran FELC. As noted in the report from the 2008 FELC , members of our church have helped establish a new FELC program in Kondopoga, a paper-mill town 30 miles north of Petrozavdsk. And, as note above, members have participated every year since 2004 and a team is being organized for 2010. Learn more about the upcoming FELC trips planned. 
The spiritual devastation of the communist era in the Soviet Union will take years to overcome. The Friendship English Language Camps sponsored by EEMN as a short-term mission opportunity is one means of accomplishing this: by teaching a biblically-based curriculum using conversational English to youth ages . Volunteer mission team members participate in two week-long Camps with Russian youth (e.g., primary grades, 5th-8th grade, or 9-11th grade). This is a relational outreach, where you are the "teacher" with a Russian translator; living with a host family adds to the value of the experience. EEMN provides the Camps by invitation of the schools.
EEMN has partnered with our sister Lutheran congregation in Petrozavodsk to offer a week of Camp for kids from area Ingrian Lutheran Churches. This is organized by Nadia and Alex Krongolm, whose Lutheran youth ministries in Karelia and the Petrozavodsk church are supported by our church. Read Nadia Krongolm's article written in 2007 that reflects the value of the FELCs for bringing youth into her Lutheran church’s ministry programs and kindling the beginning of faith in their lives.
One Sunday each winter over the past 5 years our Board of Global Ministry has provided members a special opportunity to provide one or more $40 scholarships for youth to attend the Camps. This has resulted in sufficient funding to fully support 50 youth who have attended the "Lutheran Camp" each year. Checks made out to First Lutheran or cash in an envelope designated for "EEMN Language Camp" can be sent to the church or placed in the offering.
Rationale for Support
Young gifted youth workers like Nadia and Alex of deep faith with vision and a heart for young people represent the future for growth of the ELCIR. The ELCIR was decimated under communism, church property was confiscated and/or destroyed, half the members liquidated in the 1930s, many of the remainder sent to Siberia or elsewhere. As we know, the good news is that the communist era is over and many Russian people want to worship and learn about God. But, as you can imagine, this has been difficult with few remaining church buildings and few people with training in the faith. But, the ELCIR is now being "reborn," from 10 congregations in 1993 to over 80 today, with a seminary near St. Petersburg.
The reality behind this encouraging picture is that much of the funding is supported by churches and organizations outside of Russia. The income of most Russian members is simply not yet sufficient to provide the needed support; for example, teachers earn about $300/month, yet the cost of living is similar to ours. There is expectation for an improved economy and the ELCIR is emphasizing 
stewardship and self-support, but this will take time and outside support is needed to bridge the gap—this is where support like that for Nadia and Alex is so important and so beneficial. There is a need to identify additional sources of ongoing support as well as for increased budgetary support (both salary and ministry expenses) for Nadia and Alex—and for the Petrozavodsk church as the new church building is completed and it begins to reach out to the people of Petrozaovodsk, a city of 300,000, and to Karelia.