VZCZCXRO4533
RR RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #3344 3240838
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 190838Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0794
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS MOSCOW 003344 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/ECA AND EUR/RUS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.  12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF KIRF EAID RS
SUBJECT: TAFT GRANT RECIPIENT MARKS PROJECT COMPLETION 
 
REF:  (A) STATE 6779, (B) STATE 35430, (C) MOSCOW 1540 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy (MPC) held a 
ribbon-cutting ceremony November 17 to celebrate successful 
renovations on its new Parish Center, a social services office and 
refuge for mainly African refugees and vulnerable migrants in 
Russia's capital.  Approximately 35 attendees, including religious 
leaders and Russian and African supporters of the Center's 
nonsectarian humanitarian mission, heard the USG's generosity and 
community spirit extolled by MPC's pastor.  End Summary. 
 
PRM (through Embassy Moscow) the lead project donor 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (U) In the Ambassador's absence on official travel, Refcoord 
represented the Embassy at a celebration held to mark the official 
opening three weeks earlier of newly renovated quarters for MPC's 
Parish Center.  In September, State/PRM had awarded MPC $20,000 from 
the Julia V. Taft Fund for Refugees (refs) in order to outfit what 
is now named the "Ambassador's Room," a library and computer center 
for beneficiaries of the Parish Center's services to displaced and 
isolated Africans.  Other donors to the project were: 
 
-- Evangelical Lutheran Church of America ($15,000); 
-- Peter Gerwe, President of MPC ($10,000); 
-- American Baptist Church ($5,000); and 
-- MPC parishioners ($2,000). 
 
Though far from the city center, the new Parish Center location is 
convenient to public transportation.  Only the rumble of passing 
trolleys disturbs the peace of its suite of freshly painted rooms in 
church basement space made available by the Ingrian Lutheran Church. 
 
 
¶3. (U) The Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy is an interdenominational 
Christian ministry established in 1962 to serve the English-speaking 
community of Moscow.  Because its services are in English, MPC has 
attracted a corps of parishioners from Anglophone Africa (and later 
their friends from Francophone Africa) - many who came to Russia as 
students and then sought refugee status when changed regimes in 
their home countries made them afraid to return.  Today, MPC serves 
refugees based on need and regardless of religious affiliation. 
 
¶4. (U) In addition to referring carefully selected individuals to 
the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, MPC maintains a Task Force on 
Racial Attacks that catalogs refugees' reports of harassment and 
racist violence.   Earlier this month it opened a medical clinic to 
serve the African refugee and student population in Moscow.  Embassy 
Moscow's RMO is volunteering at the clinic, providing patient care 
and working to ensure adequate medical supplies and pharmaceuticals 
through a network of physicians in the U.S. 
 
A Tribute to Partnership 
------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (U) MPC Pastor Robert Bronkema introduced the Center's ribbon 
cutting by noting the presence of interested dignitaries, including 
the provost of the Russian American Christian University.  "The 
Parish Center provides a much needed refuge for people who today 
call Moscow their home, while their real homes are much farther 
away," Bronkema observed, adding:  "With a partner such as the U.S. 
Embassy, who also considers this very vital work, we are able to 
provide relief, education, and safety to those who otherwise would 
be adrift and in danger in Moscow.  Without the aid of the U.S. 
Embassy this center would not have been possible." 
 
¶6.  (U) In her own remarks to the assembled clergy, volunteers, and 
beneficiaries, Refcoord praised the reinforced, cleaned, and 
comfortably furnished space.  She cited the words of Julia Taft 
herself from a 2005 speech to the Women in International Security 
Summer Symposium:  "I encourage each of you to engage - assert 
yourselves and use your talents to empower the institutions and 
peoples in countries emerging from conflict.  Remember, the 
countries may be broken - but the people are not.  They need the 
resources and opportunities you can provide them to craft their own 
destiny." 
 
BEYRLE