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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 1984)
S IX The Mrppnrr Gaiette Time* ‘Can You Top This ?’ Hrppnrr Oregon. Wednesday. N o t r m b r r » ISM Dave and Margo Sinkevitch "Can you top this’ " Remember in grade school when each fall the teacher would assign a composition with the inevitable title What I did last summer " With a different twist, teacher Dave Sinkevitch of lieppner High School and his wife. Margo, have been making speeches, showing slides, even using the hulle tin board in the high school class room with a map of the trip, to help relate their summer vacation The adventure began last spring when Sinkevitch receiver! a tele phone call at the school from Jim Schmidt. director of one of 14 groups of singers for Continental Ministries Having made up his mind that whatever Schmidt wanted, he would probably agree to. Sinkevitch an swered the call which was to take him and Margo across the United States and the Atlantic ocean, through the L’ S S K , Bulgaria, and Rumania, and back again Continental Ministries began a bout 17 years ago when a man named Cam Fiona had a dream to send young people all over the world to sing and share the Gospel through music Schmidt had met the Smke vitches on a 1981 lour to Great Britain Dave and Margo also met on the 1981 tour What they knew when they left rehearsal camp in I»s Angeles last June was that they would spend five weeks on a bus with 23 other musicians, including a 1012 piece band, their personal items, luggage, sound equipment, risers, and every thing they needed for the concerts which were scheduled on their tour across the country Since the Sinkevilches had Joint'd the group rather late, the group visa did not include them, and so they expected to leave the tour in New York However, their plans for late summer fell through and the group visa somehow wasn't registered and had to tie reapplied for When they reached New York, they continued on into the iron curtain countries with the rest of the group and the inspirational words of St Paul found ir I im o t h y 4 I 5 What we knew. says Margo, is that although we were a Christian sing ing group, during our tour behind the iron curtain, we had no scheduled perfomancet, no itinerary, or no idea even where the Churches were Our mission was simply to learn what we could about the Churches and the people without endangering anyone We could have been "walk ing on a chocolate coated bomb and nev er even have known It ' We were registered as "C M Student Tours." and in each country, we had a tour guide w ho was w ith us all of the time we were in that country Annivers ary Tours arranged the trip through Russia where the government does allow some churches to operate Churches must he "registered'' with the government which means that they are permitted to hold worship services openly Margo explains Following each service, the pastor, who is also licensed by the govern ment, must file a report w ith the city listing worshipers who were in atten dance and the Biblical reference for the sermon topic No Sunday school or "in home Bible studies” are permitted The Bihle is permitted as a history text only "Evangelical preaching" which the Sinkevilches say is defin rd as using the 'Bible as a guide to daily life” is illegal in Russia and therefore not permitted in register ed churches They say also that a member of the KGB. the Soviet secret police, is on the staff of each registered church sometimes his identity is known to parishoners. sometimes not In Moscow, their first stop, they were invited to the Moscow Baptist Church, the only registered church in the city of eight million people It looked more like an apartment building from the outside than like a church, but they noted that it had a "fine choir," and a nice organ Their group was ushered into the balcony and told to "Smile Don't move Do as our choir does " Following the regular service, they were asked to sing, so they did perform a couple of num tiers Although people are allowed to attend the Churches, few men and few young people were at the Church It's probably a matter of economics, they surmised, because people usually forgo promotions and give up better paying jobs if they attend church regularly At first, we were surprised to discover that the government is sponsoring the renovation of several of the older style churches Mainly. Dave explained, the restoration was designed to unveil somethings which were needed in the ancient days of the country when people needed God Now, Marx. Stalin, and lamin are god* for the Russian people they no longer need Christ Their tour group was kepi busy sightseeing throughout Russia At one point, when they arrived in a city, a church member happened to find their group and asked if they would come to their church to perform When Srhmidt asked the guide if they couldn't go there to sing for the people, they were told, "no. Just that there were other plans for the group at that time, a tour of a space museum and a park From Moscow, they traveled to Kiev, then, by train across the border into Rumania 'Once we were in Rumania it was easier to move around than in Russia, but getting in " David has a story which he says, sitting here, sounds funny, but over there at midnight, after having been on the train since It a m . in an eastern block country, it wasn't funny At the border between Russia and Rumania, they had to go through customs Margo followed the luggage through with very little trouble, even the Bible she earned, which had been given to her by her father, was not questioned after she told the official that her father work«) in Michigan Some of the members of their group, Dave re late*, had the film in their cameras exposed and had to explain differ ent items in their luggage, but Margo said that she was just open and friendly " She considered her self lucky, because the officials couldn't possibly check everyone And. while she was waiting. Dave was exchanging his Russian money because tourists are not allowed to take Russian currency from the country We were waiting in line he says, and when the first of our group reached the w tndow, they closed it saying We are now out of Ameri can money Now. I was at the back of the line, so I didn t have any trouble believing that The people at the front of the line however had a little difficulty since they could see stacks of American bills on the counter But we were in a foreign country We didn't argue We wailed " After he finally had exchanged all of his Russian money (or American and was ready to go through cus toms, he was separated from the group and asked to go into a room which he describes as about ft' wide x 20' long x .10' high, furnished with three chairs, a bookcase with a mirror behind the shelves and about four book* After he was searched, and he reassured the guard that although Sinkevitch is a Lithuanian name, he did not know of any of his family that remained there, ana tnai the "American Baptist Credit t'n ion which issued his VISA card was a bank the border guard told him, "O K You sit and wait and when I come back, you will tell me what you need to tell me." By this lime, he and the other members of the group had become accustomed to two way mirrors in hotel rooms and to having people in elevators who simply rode up and down all day long to observe what went on in the elevator, so he surmised that he was probably being watched through the mirror behind the tookcase When the guard returned. Dave assured him that he had nothing to hide and emptied his pockets to show a suitcase key. a ENERGY ANSWERS i comb and the one thing they might object to- a one ruble coin But. the guard wasn't bothered by that l> K you go In Rumania their tour guide was an engineer who worked with the Rumanian version of the KGB since he was only a part time tour guide. Margo explained, while we were in Rumania, we sang in more church es than in Russia of Bulgaria "maybe just because he wasn't as aw are of the tourist places to visit We were all tired of sightseeing by now. anyway." As they entered Rumania, direc tor Schmidt was answering ques lions about the purpose of the group * visit to the country Hr rrassured the guards that they had left all of their sound equipment in the United Stales and had brought only the instruments which even if there were no performances, the musician* needed to practice daily to tie able to play the return tour across the United States He also told them that they had no contacts or lists of churches in Rumania, but if the opportunity should arise, if the group were asked, they would const der giving a performance He then asked the tour guide. "Do you think such an opportunity will arise"" The tour guide replied simply, "No. I do not think so ” Most of the music which they performed behind the eastern block countries was traditional and formal including hymns and Christmas selections from their program Throughout Rumania and Bulgaria, people would request that they sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic " In the United States, their program varies greatly from anthems, to some African, to popular rock Chris tian music Dave and Margo emphasize, that the Continental Singers concern was not "our courage" entering a coun try w here w estern style Christians are rare, but our concern was for Christians there who might be en dangered by contact with us People were generally "warm hearted and giving " Our group had taken along small gifts-scarves, teddy bears, and gum. hut no religous articles to give as tokens of our good will We have learned since we've been home that a church where we sang in Arad in Rumania has been closed by the state When we came out of Bulgaria and were able to pray again in a restaurant before a meal, Margo said we realized "how lucky we are here and that we must take advan lage of our freedom All govern ments are ordained by God. so our freedom is also God's grace " ROM THE OSU EXTENSION SERVICE y I want to add a sunspace to my home How important is it for the addition to face south" B S . Eugene A It's best but no< absolutely necessary for the sunspace to face true south If you shift the sunspace glazing 10 degrees east or west of true south you’ll lose about 20 per cent of possible solar gain It s also important to consider how much the nearby buildings or trees will shade your addition You may think you have a sunny location, but you need to measure when shading will occur by using a sunchart to learn exactly how sunny it is Another good reason to make a sunchart is that one is required for you to claim a solar income tax credit from the State of Oregon Oregon State University Exten sion energy agents have information to help you make a sunchart. or you can contact a local solar equipment dealer To obtain the name, address and phone number of the Extension energy agent nearest you. call the Morrow County office of the OSU Extension Service. #76 9M2 or write to Energy Answers. OSU. Corvallis. I IR '*7111 y When I leave a room for a short time should I switch off fluorescent lights’ Doe* the power surge to switch the lights bark on use more electricity than I've saved’ G B. Corvallis A There is common misconcep tion that leaving fluorescent lights on uses less electricity than turning them off and on again It is not true The surge of power w hen fluorescent lights are switched on equals just seconds of lighting Frequent switching in old fluores cent systems would shorten the life of the starter and ballasts But in new rapid start fluorescent systems, switching on and off has little effect on the life of the system y I'm getting ready to insulate my attic Is there anything I should do to the attic first’ S V . Portland A Glad you're planning ahead It s a good idea to inspect the attic first, looking for moisture damage Repair any leaks you find Also plug areas where air can leak from inside the living space into the attic Inspect the electrical system, too Re sure the wiring is in good condition and that fuses aren't over loaded Insulating over substandard wiring can be a fire hazard y What can I do during the really cold weather to keep comfortable and at the same time keep my home heating costs from going clear out of tight? D B . Portland A If you can, concentrate all your household activities except sleeping in the kitchen and perhaps one other room Heal only those rooms If there are open doorways between these rooms and the rest of the house hang blankets or quilts over the doorways Hang Blankets or quilts over the windows too OSU Extension energy agents and specialists will answer energv ques tions of interest to readers in this weekly column Send your questions to Energy Answers. OSU Corvallis OR t r i l l Include \our name, address and phone number The OSU Ex lens Kin Energy program is conducted in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Energy with funding from Bonneville Power Ad ministration and the U S Depart ment of Energy New DMV laws may help police Oregon drivers who are able In gel occupational permits after their driver licenses have been suspended willnow have more trouble violating the occupational limits without gel ting caught Tony DeEorenzo. assistant admin istrator of the Motor Vehicles liiv i sion's Driver Services Branch says in a recent DMV news release that the possibility of getting caught has increased because of one little known part of the stale s new get tough legislation that took effi t July 1 That section of the law allows DMV to provide police agencies with information about occupational per mils issued to people in their ( ■ m munities To date. 13 city police departments and Oregon State Po lice offices in 32 cities have asked to get the once a month listing of o< ■ u palional permits issued to drivers in their cities The listing. DeEorenzo says, in eludes the driver's name, address driver license number, and the exact mutes, times of day and day of week a driver has been authoi ized to drive in order to keep a job D rivin g ourside those lim its means the driver may be cited by police for driving while suspended and DMV will take away tin ........i| - lional permit through a specific record check for individual drivers but they had no way to know in advance the drivers issued ..< . upa tional permits in their com munities DMV received com plaints from police and other safety groups that people with occupational perm its often continued to drive on an aln.ost unlimited basis because police did not know without a specific record check who in their area had been issued occupational perm its Brighten Your Week With The Gazette-Times ('all 676-9228 to Start Weekly Delivery The H e p p n e r GAZETTE-TIMES
