Resources

Vol. 3, No. 4, Fall 1995, Covering the Former Soviet Union and East Central Europe

Resources

OMS International has compiled Magyar Mission Link, a directory of Protestant organizations serving in Hungary. It provides addresses and telephone numbers for 72 organizations and 126 individuals. OMS plans to update the list twice a year. Ministries working in Hungary which are not listed may mail or fax their contact information to OMS-Budapest. OMS will supply the list free of charge inside Hungary. Magyar Mission Link is available outside Hungary from Wheaton College's Institute for East-West Christian Studies for the cost of photocopy, postage, and handling: $4.00 (U.S. and Canada, 1st class) or $6.00 (Europe, printed-matter airmail). Contact:

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, a new four-volume work edited by John Esposito, includes substantial entries on Albania, the Balkan states, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. This collection of 750 articles covers religious thought, political practice, social developments, and literary trends. The encyclopedia may be ordered for $395 from:

Barbara von der Heydt's report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "Corruption in Russia: No Democracy Without Morality," is available from:

Harvard University's Ukrainian Research Institute publishes Perspectives on Contemporary Ukraine, a bimonthly newsletter which analyzes political, cultural, and economic issues. Annual subscriptions are $25.00. Perspectives 2 (July-August 1995) featured an article on the Peresopnytsia Gospel, one of the most beautiful surviving East Slavic manuscripts.
Contact:

The U.S. Department of State issues travel warnings and consular information sheets on all nations via the Internet. Sheets provide details on entry requirements, medical facilities, crime, and locations of embassies and consulates. Readers may find many of the suggestions to be overly cautious. However, the sheets often provide useful advice, such as emergency telephone numbers and warnings against specific criminal activities. These postings are available at the URL: "http://www.stolaf.edu/network/travel-advisories.html" or by dialing 202-647-9225 with a modem.

"How To Work With Russian Customs at St. Petersburg Pulkovo Airport," a practical guide for travelers, can be read at the URL "http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/friends/economics/nis.fis.bus.docs/russian.customs.airport.html."

The Society for Romanian Studies Newsletter is available free of charge via e-mail. Contact Paul Michelson at pmichelson@huntcol.edu.

The Central European Foundation (SEN) recently published "The Situation of Abandoned Children in Slovakia," a paper by Marek Rohacek and Vladislav Matej. This study advocates alternative family care (AFC), either foster care or adoption, for institutionalized orphans as a more humane means of meeting the needs of children lacking parents or lacking caring parents. It also favors a redress in the legal balance of parents' rights (seen as overemphasized) versus children's rights (seen as too limited). In Slovakia 9,700 institutionalized children reside in 21 Ministry of Health Care (MHC) facilities with 1,100 children ages 0-3 years old, 73 Ministry of Education and Science (MES) facilities with 4,500 children ages 2-18, MES dormitory schools with 2,000 children, 40 Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family (MLSF) facilities with approximately 2,000 children under the age of 18.

The report states:

Only an insignificant number of children are placed in alternative families. Almost all abandoned children stay in an institution until they are "legally" adult. Even the relatively better chance in the case of very small children is lost after they are more than three years old. It is a well-known paradox in Slovakia that children's homes are full and at the same time hundreds of applicants for alternative family care have to wait several years (four or more) to adopt a child or to have him/her in their foster care. Why is that so? The legislation about the Alternative Family Care needs to be amended and made up-to-date. The "Law Concerning the Family" dates from 1963 and its renewal is not projected in the near future (p. 28).

This paper is available for $15.00 from SEN:

NGO Law in Brief explains legislation relevant to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Central Asia. This 28-page document includes discussions of tax and employment regulations and extensive coverage of the May 1995 Russian Republic law "On Public Associations." To request a gratis copy, contact:

Resources, East-West Church & Ministry Report, 3 (Fall 1995), 13-14.

Written permission is required for reprinting or electronic distribution of any portion of the East-West Church & Ministry Report.

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