Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2000-01-11

Samford University Global Center director Dr. Mark Elliott will lead a three-week trip to Russia this summer to work with orphan children. Participants are welcome to sign on for the trip.

The group of volunteers will lead sports, drama and craft activities in a summer camp for orphans located near Vladimir, Russia during June 21-July 11. They will be friends and spiritual mentors to orphans ages six to nine. The schedule will include several days of orientation and post-camp debriefing in Moscow, the Russian capital.

Dr. Elliott, a specialist in Russian church history, has made over 20 trips to Russia in the past 25 years, and consults with many Christian organizations working there. He will be assisted on the trip by Sharyl Corrado, who spent three years in Russia in student ministry before returning for graduate study in the U.S.

According to Dr. Elliott, the number of Russian children in orphanages has tripled in the 1990s, as the Russian economy and the country's social safety net collapsed.

Camp sponsors are the Samford Global Center and the Children's HopeChest, based in Colorado Springs, Colo. The HopeChest was formed in 1994 to bring practical help and godly hope to Russian orphans in need.

The traveling group will include Beeson Divinity School students, Samford undergraduates and members of area churches. The trip cost of $2,600 includes all expenses from Birmingham. For information, call Dr. Elliott at (205) 726-2170.

 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.