In the country of Babylon in the 6th century before Christ, the Hebrew people, in exile and in captivity, voiced the words through the psalmist, "How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?" It was a plaintive cry of despair because they were so sad about not being in Jerusalem. I want to contrast that verse with the words of Jesus to the disciples to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." While the Hebrews couldn't understand how they could sing the Lord's song in a foreign land, Jesus tells us that we are called to sing the Lord's song in every land.

A group of nine students, two professors, and I went in May to sing the Lord's song in Russia. We went to sing the song of servanthood as we sought to work among, develop relationships with, and serve the people of the school in Elektrostral, Russia. We also sought to learn of the history and culture of the nation of Russia, and had the opportunity to tour in both Moscow and St. Petersburg and see sights related to that history and culture.

We sang the song of servanthood in several different ways while we were at the school. The school is both an orphanage and a school for learning disabled children. There are 14 orphans living there all the time and 150 students either boarding during the week and going home on weekends, or commuting to the school daily. Under the direction of the staff at the school, we painted trees, spaded ground around the trees to help aerate them, painted benches, and cleaned the grounds. The two of us who had been to the same school the year before noticed that the work we had done that year had been kept up-where we had cleaned broken glass and trash from around the school still looked clean. Apparently our work had inspired others to help keep the grounds clean.

The Wesleyan students also had the opportunity to teach lessons in the classes. Eight of the nine students were education majors and each of them had prepared a lesson to share with the students at the school. Our students taught music to some of the students, how to play whiffle ball to several, and taught other lessons through the interpreters.

But in serving we are blessed, so we sang the song of blessing, too. We were blessed verbally by a security agent in Pittsburgh airport and by one of the flight attendants on the flight to Moscow. Each one asked what we were doing-the orange sweat shirts we were all wearing gave us away-and when we told them, they said, "Bless you. How wonderful! Have a wonderful trip."

We were blessed by Nina, the headmistress of the school, who came to the airport in Moscow to greet us. We were blessed when we arrived at the school by a sign that said, "Welcome, Dear Friends" and jumping, shouting, waving children and staff members. Not one of us carried our own bags to our rooms…the children insisted on doing that. And within two hours all the orphans at the school and the students from Wesleyan were in one room, talking and sharing in some way even though there was no interpreter present. Sometimes we don't have to speak each other's language in order to communicate the basic message of love and care for one another in the name of God.

We were blessed by the hospitality of the Russian people everywhere we went. The staff at the school all wanted to make sure we were comfortable and well cared for, even though we didn't come to be cared for, but rather to help improve their lot in life.

We were blessed by each other, too. I was blessed by the students from Wesleyan. Let me share some of my thoughts from my journal of the trip. "I am so impressed with the maturity of the WVWC students and their willingness to get 'outside themselves' and focus on the needs of the orphans as soon as we arrived. They have been wonderful." I was blessed by the students who traveled in the group, and I believe they were blessed by each other and God's working through each of them.

And, finally, we were blessed by some of the experiences we had away from the orphanage and school, too. We were blessed by meeting with the people of the Russian Peace Foundation, who arranged our touring, and by the places we saw. We saw Lenin's tomb in Red Square, Christ the Savior Cathedral, which stands on the banks of the Moscow River. We visited Peterhof (the home of Peter the Great just south of St. Petersburg), and the Hermitage and Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.

At some point, though, I am sure that someone will wonder, "Why go to a foreign country?" I would respond with several verses of the Lord's song.
…because both the travelers and the hosts are blessed by the contact with each other as we heard the Lord's song sung by each other
…because becoming friends with each other leads to songs of peace and goodwill between the countries
…because God's love calls us to share the song of Jesus' love with the people of all nations
…and because we can learn new and wonderful songs from others whose life and faith experience has been different from ours. The Russian people have known suffering that most of us can only imagine, and yet there is a strong faith in God that has seen them through that and is still seeing some of them through suffering. It is inspirational.

I must add one last note. I would be remiss if I didn't share with you a reflection concerning those with whom I traveled. Dr. Richard Weeks was on the trip last year, but Dr. Carol Means had never been to Russia, although she had traveled outside the USA. The nine students all had brand new passports; four had never flown. And yet, I saw them put their own interests completely aside and focus on how they could best help the orphans and students during the entire time we were at the school. Even though the people there made our stay as comfortable as possible, some of the conditions were rather primitive, but no one complained. In fact, everyone just laughed about it. When we got in the bus to leave Elektrostal for the last time, there were no dry eyes on the bus, nor were there dry eyes among the students outside the bus. I was so proud of the Wesleyan students because they stepped outside themselves and focused on the needs of others the entire time, even though I know that they were completely outside their own comfort zone. God's Spirit of love and grace does indeed sing wonderful songs in our lives.

[More Pictures From Russia]

Class Notes: November 2005
E-mail your Class Notes to alumni@wvwc.edu

1950
MELROSE PERRY COURTNEY, Pittsburgh, PA, shared grandson, Andrew Courtney Orr, graduated magna cum laude from Colby College, Maine in May 2005.

1958
SHIRLEY MILLER GENTRY, Lee's Summit, MO, is the manager of Summit View Farm's following the passing of her husband, Richard Gentry, in March 2005. Richard had been the manager of Summit View Farm's for 55 years at the time of his death.

1962
T. MARLO MILLS, Canal Winchester, OH, and his wife, Bonnie Lupfer Mills, joined WILLIAM (BILL) PEPPER '61 and wife, NANCY JO FUNK PEPPER '59 on a tour of the South Western portion of the United States. They visited the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zeon Canyon.

1963
LEROY (LEE) LOGAN JR., Hobe Sound, FL and W. TERRANCE (TERRY) MOORE '63 have both retired as teachers/coaches from the Stuart, FL school system. Both still enjoy their friendship established at Wesleyan.

1967
TERRY M. MARKINS, Ocala, FL, has retired from the Florida United Methodist Conference after 37 years of service. He is now working part-time as director of resource ark, North Central District, Florida Conference.

1971
CAROLYN V. SAXTON, Portage, IN, has accepted a position with the Lubeznik Center of the Arts in Michigan City, IN. Carolyn and her husband, Harlow (Bill) Gregory, moved to Ogden Dunes, IN located on the Lake Michigan shore three years ago. She is a certified fund raising executive through the Association of Fundraising Professionals and recently completed her term as president of the Oak Park-River Forest Rotary Club.

1974
BENNEDICT (BEN) TANTILLO III, Bernardsville, NJ, has been named Superintendent of the Year for the State of New Jersey. He was chosen by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators and received his award during the annual New Jersey School Boards Convention.

1976
JOHN PATRICK COLATCH, Easton, PA, recently presented his doctoral thesis at the Helen Barrett Montgomery Conference at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, NY. He serves as director of religious life and chaplain at Lafayette College, PA. His son, Zachary, is a sophomore at West Virginia Wesleyan.

1977
SHELLEY HERMAN MEYER, Arnold, MD, was united in marriage to Kenneth Musselman Jr. on August 27, 2005 at Harbor Court Hotel in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

1978
JO ELLA BUNNER WILLS, French Creek, WV, was recently honored as Upshur County Teacher of the Year. French Creek Elementary School hosted a reception in her honor on November 3, 2005.

1982
PAMELA ARTHUR STUART, San Martin, CA, was recently named one of Silicon Valley's "Top Docs" for year 2005.

1986
CHRIS A. WOOD, Hurricane, WV, and his wife, LISA MESSINGER WOOD '87, visited LISA WAREHAM POPOVICH '87 and her family in Export, PA the summer of 2005. The two families have maintained a close relationship ever since their student days at Wesleyan.

1989
JOHN A. MELE, Slingerlands, NY, and his wife, Anna, announce the birth of their daughter, Arianna, on October 5, 2005. Arianna joins her big brother, Gianluca, at home.

1992
JAMES L. CHIANG, Leesburg, VA, was united in marriage to Eve Chu on July 24, 2005 at the Chesterbrook Taiwanese Presbyerian Church in Falls Church, VA. An alumnus in attendance was DR. WINSTON CHOW '70.

1994
MELISSA LAZZARI MCDONALD, Morgantown, WV, and her husband, STEPHEN M. MCDONALD '89, announce the birth of their son, Mason Michael, on October 3, 2005. Mason joins his big sister, Madison, at home. * SCOTT HOWAT, Mesa, AZ, and wife, CARRIE WALKER HOWAT, recently moved to Arizona and Scott is employed with General Dynamics in Mesa.

1995
MEGHAN MAHONEY WHITLER, Winston Salem, NC, and her husband, Matthew Whitler, announce the birth of their son, Henry Kerns, on October 26, 2005. Henry joins his big brothers, Aidan and Alex, at home.

1997
JASON M. DEPOY, Amherst, NY, recently completed ministry training and received his ministry license in November 2005. He has accepted the position of youth minister at Faith Word Fellowship in Buffalo, NY and is also the director of enrollment research at Daemen College in Amherst. Jason and his wife, Pam, reside in St. Catharines, Ontario Canada.

1998
JULIE BRAMER THOMPSON, Charleston, WV, and her husband, CHARLES B. THOMPSON, announce the birth of their son, Mark Edward, on September 6, 2005. Mark joins his big brother, Luke, at home.

2000
DEANA M. SHIRLEY, Somerset, PA, has graduated with a juris doctorate from Duquesne University School of Law. She is currently serving as a judicial clerk for the Honorable John M. Cascio in Somerset.

2002
ABIGAIL D. WOODS, Wilmington, NC, completed her doctorate of musical arts at the University of Michigan on October 13, 2005. On October 31, she began her tenure as director of music at St. Andrew's-Covenant Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, NC. Abby has the primary responsibility for traditional worship music, including supervising part-time music staff, adult vocal, handbell choirs, and a youth choir. She also serves as the artistic director of music on the Market Fine Arts Series, Inc. and the Wilmington Masterworks Chorale.

2004
ALLISON E. ANDERSON, Calabasas, CA, is currently completing her masters in public policy from Pepperdine University School of Public Policy. * KASEY L. EMERICK, Parkersburg, WV, was united in marriage to DEREK T. SNYDER, on September 10, 2005 at Stout Memorial United Methodist Church in Parkersburg by Kasey's grandfather, Glenn Cottrill. Alumni in the wedding party were KATE TRIMBATH, KAMA STORAGE, JESSICA NIGH, MATTHEW HIPPS, ANGELA BURDETTE, JOHN CHAYKOWSKY, WEHRLE (CLARK) CAMPBELL, NATHAN KISTER, BRENT SALSGIVER '03, and DAVID CONLEY '03. Other alumni in attendance were LAUREN MICHELLE SMITH, LISA GERNER, CHAD WINGROVE, SUSAN MALFREGEOT, AARON LASTORIA, CEASON RANSON, CATHERINE SMITH, JEFF ISNER '05, KAMI BAKER '05, SANDRA ISNER JOHNSON '82 and JAMES STEALEY '77.

2005
MITCH STOCKING, Buckhannon, WV, was united in marriage to Meg Frey on June 18, 2005. Mitch is the son of LISA D. PHILLIPS and Rob Phillips of Buckhannon and Rick and Margie Stocking of Prospect, Ky.