COUPLE HELPS INSTITUTE CURRICULUM IN RUSSIA

An enamel cup, saucer and box, a hand-painted wooden egg, wooden nesting dolls and framed oil paintings were among the souvenirs the Dickeys brought back from Russia.

A Jackson couple who helped introduce a new curriculum in Russian schools last fall is considering a return to the country to help further the educational process.

Greg and Jean Dickey spent more than a week in Russia in September as members of a group exploring ways of instituting a Christian-oriented curriculum in the schools of Russia and other republics which were once states of the Soviet Union. The process was begun in 1990 at the request of Russia's ministry of education.

According to Greg Dickey, who is a retired Southeast Missouri State University counseling instructor, the Russian education ministry first became interested in introducing a Christian curriculum in its schools after the premiere of the movie "Jesus" in Russia shortly after the fall of communism in 1990.

According to Mr. Dickey, the film is a very authentic look at the life of Jesus Christ. Produced on location in Israel, it is largely based on the Gospel of Luke and has been translated into more than 200 languages.

When the movie premiered in public theatres in Russia, the nation's minister of education was so impressed that he became interested in showing the film in Russian schools in an effort to bolster a nation whose morals the official felt were lagging in the aftermath of the Soviet government's fall, Mr. Dickey said.

"The minister of education there asked if the movie could be shown in the public school and the discussion that came from this idea eventually led to the development of this curriculum, said Mr. Dickey.

The curriculum, titled "Christian Ethics and Morals: A Foundation for Society," was developed by the organization Christian Crusade at the Russian education ministry's behest. Christian Crusade, with help from Christian organizations such as the Navigators, began working with Russian leaders and educators to implement the curriculum as part of an umbrella organization known as the International School Project.

"We were generally aware of some of the things that were going on in Russia through reading but we got involved through a friend who is an assistant to the president of Navigators," explained Mrs. Dickey, who noted that they first learned of the program on July 2 of last year. "Basically, she said, 'You ought to go on this convocation to Russia, but you have to move fast; the deadline for applications is July 6.'"

Mrs. Dickey, a retired Southeast Missouri State University business communication instructor, said her first reaction was, "What's a convocation?" She soon learned that working with the Russian government the members of the International School Program were holding large seminars in major Russian population centers during which educators and school administrators were introduced to the ISP curriculum, were taught lessons from the curriculum itself and were given instruction on how to properly teach the "Christian Ethics" curriculum in their schools.

The Dickeys became so interested in the International School Program through their friend's description that they did, in fact, move fast and thanks to quick work and the help of Federal Express, the pertinent information made its way to Campus Crusade in time to meet the July 6 deadline.

"Here was the opportunity to go to Russia and have the ability to do something more than just be a tourist," Mrs. Dickey explained of her enthusiasm. "Here was a chance to have contact with the Russian people."

After the applications were reviewed by members of the Russian ministry of education, the Dickeys were selected to join about 400 American and Soviet citizens in an ISP convocation in Taganrog, a city located on the Sea of Azov in south-central Russia. The September convocation was the 40th to be held since the start of the International School Program in 1991.

The Dickeys embarked on their trip Sept. 14 with a flight from New York to Helsinki, Finland, where they visited for a day and flew on to St. Petersburg.

In St. Petersburg, the two joined other members of the convocation group for sightseeing. The four-day stop in the city was also designed to introduce members of the convocation group to the ISP'S "Co-Mission" volunteer workers.

Following a convocation in a particular city, a group of Co-Mission volunteers base themselves in the convocation host city for the next year. Their job is to help Russian educators implement the curriculum in area schools.

One of the Co-Mission workers the Dickeys met was a man from Kansas City, an engineer whose firm is one of the contracting companies selected to help build the planned Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau. The engineer, his wife, and two children had moved to St. Petersburg to spend a year reinforcing the ideas first presented at an ISP convocation there.

After a day's stop in Moscow, the Dickey's group took a chartered flight to Taganrog. On board their jet were more than five tons of literature which would be distributed to residents of the Taganrog area.

Once in Taganrog, the group spent a day preparing for the start of the convocation, which was held in the city's cultural center.

According to Mr. Dickey, cultural centers are large multi-purpose buildings constructed to provide the kinds of meeting places that would normally be offered by churches, which were for the most part, non-existent under the rule of the officially-atheist Soviet Union.

More than 400 people gathered at the Taganrog cultural center to take part in the convocation, which provided Taganrog area educators with instruction on Christian ethics, the Christian world view and the proper way to introduce the new curriculum in Russian schools.

One of the most interesting things about the convocation was that it was conducted on a voluntary basis -- no educator was required to attend or implement a Christian-oriented curriculum in his or her lesson plan.

"Under the czars in Russia, the people had to be Russian Orthodox and under the Soviet government, the people were officially atheists," Mr. Dickey said. "This program was done on a voluntary basis because the Russian minister of education did not want the curriculum forced on the teachers or the teachers to force it upon students."

Each day of the four-day convocation began with a meeting of the entire convocation during which ethics, morality and the larger issues of religion were discussed by guest lecturers.

In the afternoons, the convocation was separated into groups of elementary educators, secondary educators and school administrators with each ISP member working with a group of about 12 Russian representatives.

During these sessions, educators were given instruction on the Bible and made familiar with the lessons of the ISP curriculum.

The Dickeys were most impressed with the Russians' eagerness to learn more about Christianity.

"We were surprised at how open everyone was with us," said Mrs. Dickey. "Once the people realized that it was not going to be forced on them, it was surprising how willing communists, ex-communists and atheists were to speak about Christianity.

"In fact, the Russian interpreters would often jam the lobby of the hotel in order to ask the day's main guest speaker questions until the wee hours of the morning.

"Of course, most of this was new to them; most had never seen a Bible," she added. "But while you would have difficulty having an open conversation about these things in America, you could talk freely about them in Russia."

Russians were as open with their homes as they were in religious discussions.

"Both of our interpreters welcomed us into their homes and we understood that people would sacrifice to entertain us, to put on a big meal and give us gifts, which they did," said Mrs. Dickey.

"I quickly had to learn that you should never admire something that someone in Russia has in their home or is wearing," she added. "During a bus trip, I made the mistake once of admiring one woman's earrings and she took them off and gave them to me.

"What was I to do," she laughed. "I took my earrings off and gave them to her."

With a number of trips being planned by the ISP in coming years, the Dickeys say they are considering making a return trip to Russia to help further the implementation.