Here is a letter we received from Kari Lehelma, the director of the Australian/Finnish mission Love for Kids, a mission that has sent many teams to summer camps in Russia. Tamara will be missed.
We received extremely sad news from Russia Sunday afternoon, Tamara Alievna Trushkovskaya passed away on Saturday night. She was the president of the Parents and Children Association, as well as the Managing Director of the “Green Town” children’s camp.
Tamara’s heart and life were dedicated to children, especially over the past few years as she fought with all her might against the Russian Government as they tried to cut funding and close down children’s camps. She was greatly respected and had influence that often resulted in a positive outcome for a camp that was under threat of being closed down.
Tamara was also our good friend and a greatest supporter of our work in the camps. She continuously told us how important it is that the children know that there is a living God and Jesus.
She told Marja-Leena and myself, few years ago that due to the lives and example of Love for Kids teams she now believes in God also!
She was well known and very influential among the camp movement across Russia, as well as being a member of the worldwide international camping association. She once told us of how she could help us in getting our Christian teams to camps all over the world. However, we felt that God had called us to Russia and we wanted to concentrate on what we were called to do with all our strength and wisdom.
Tamara is going to be greatly missed, not only by her own family but by thousands of Russian children that were impacted by her life, as well as through her support of LFK. She also impacted a large number of other camp director friends across Russia.
We will also greatly miss her strong support, valuable assistance and friendly personality. Every summer the first thing I would do when I arrived in Russia was to go and see her for advice and get an update on what is happening in the camps, as well as obtaining information on any new laws and regulations that would affect our work.
I think it was remarkable that one of the first people Tamara’s son Vladislav informed on Sunday morning of his mother’s passing away was our Russian office staff. He knew that the message would be passed around the world to those Christian people that knew her. Please remember Vladislav in your prayers as well.
Please pray with us that God would raise up another person like her in Russia, who would stand with us in taking the message of Jesus to the children of Russia.
Blessings,
Kari
