Sister parish needed

Nakhodka (nah-HOHD-ka) is a port city on the Pacific Ocean with a population of  70,000. Nakhodka is the shipping point from the Pacific to and from Russia. The city is 100 miles east of Vladivostok (about a four-hour drive).

The parish of Our Lady of the Pacific, patroness of all who work on the Pacific Ocean, was established on November 15, 1994. In January 1995, Fr. Myron Effing celebrated the first Mass. Advertisements were placed in newspapers, and 26 people attended, 15 of them Catholic. Bishop Werth accompanied Fr. Myron to Nakhodka for the first baptisms and confirmations in the parish on September 5, 1995.

The parish was organized under Leila Abasovna. It has been officially incorporated and has its official seal. Caritas has already completed its first project, listing children with invalid or alcoholic parents. Caritas invited the children for a day of rest on the beach and a barbecue, an innovative idea that was very successful.

There is still a need to build a church in Nakhodka. Nakhodka is Fr. Myron's oldest parish that does not yet have a chapel. At present, Mass is celebrated once a month in a hall at the House of Youth (Mass used to be celebrated at the music school, but in spring 2003, the city of Nakhodka forbad the use of school buildings for religious services). The parish owns a three-room apartment for parish meetings, children's catechism classes, and a Women's Support Center. The apartment is also used as a priests' residence when the priests are in the city.

Prayer service to Our Lady of Fatima.

·         On December 29, 2002, Fr. Myron appointed a new trustee for the parish, Vitaly Orlovsky, who is 29 years old. Vitaly came to the parish from Novosibirsk after he finished the seminary (he decided not to be ordained). He will work as full-time trustee, which is also a first for the parish, which has been without a full-time resident since Brother Paul Brooks, M.S.C., had to leave Russia because of ill health. Vitaly will work with the youth and adults alike.

The new trustee, Vitaly Orlovsky, pastor Fr. Myron, and retiring trustee Leila Abasovna Yashenko.

Retiring after serving the parish for eight years as trustee is Lelia Abasovna Yashinko. Lelia was the first and only trustee until now and saw the parish through all the growing pains of the first years. She had no training other than her baptismal lessons, but she served very well, especially when one considers that the priest visited the parish only one day per month, and that for only several hours! She worked without pay of any kind. She will continue on the parish council, and she currently heads the Nakhodka Caritas Women's Support Center.

The fourth Women's Support Center in our Territory of Primorye was opened in Nakhodka. The main purpose of the Centers is moral and material support for pregnant women who might otherwise consider abortion. The Centers also help families with many children and participate in the "Adopt-a-Birth" program, in which we help supply needed medicines and supplies for poor women who are to give birth.

	top left: the staff at the Nakhodka WSC   bottom left: helping somone up the Nakhodka WSC staircase   top right: A young mother at the Nakhodka WSC.

Parishioners of Our Lady of the Pacific.

Our Lady of the Pacific still does not have a sister parish. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has designated Oakland, California, as Nakhodka's sister city. If you live in the Oakland area and would like to be a sister parish to Our Lady of the Pacific, please approach your pastor.