Where it all began - ministry in the
Soviet Union
If we were going to undertake effective work in the
Soviet Union , why not parlay our initial ‘government invitation’ into an open door throughout the region? An advanced trip was planned to take a team of four of us to meet with the Ministers of Education and Culture in Kiev, Ukraine, Minsk, Belarus, Riga Latvia, and Moscow, Russia. The chief of staff at the time for North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms was John Mashburn, a friend from Raleigh, who graciously agreed to approach the senator about penning a letter of introduction for us to each of the ministers wanted to establish contact with in the
USSR . As the ranking republican on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Helms’ letter would carry conceivable weight, and opened doors we could not ourselves. Here is a copy of one of those letters:
In the end, we received an audience with each Minister of Culture and Education in Ukraine, Belarus and Latvia, and the Assistant Ministers of Culture and Education in
Russia . We walked away from each meeting marveling at the good reception, and with letters applauding our work and inviting us to perform in any of the schools and theaters throughout the entire region. It was quite a miracle, and an opportunity historic in hindsight and gigantic in proportion. Below is the letter from E. B. Courkin, Assistant Minister of Education in
Russia :
We received letters from other government officials as well: Andris Piebags, Minister of Education of Latvia; Raimond Pauls, Minister of Culture of Latvia; and letters from the Ministers of Culture from Russia, Ukraine and
Belarus . The doors swung wide and we were humbled but ready to enter in not knowing what would lie ahead.
