Mission work gave local family a Russian flavor

Mission work gave local family a Russian flavor

12:00 AM CST on Sunday, December 30, 2007

Christmas 2007 became a highlight for Larisa Posteshnova, who came from Russia to visit her only daughter, Mosha Hankey, and Mosha's husband, Roger Hankey. Billie Hankey of Lavon, Roger's mother and a veteran of 12 mission trips to Russia, introduced him and Mosha in 2003 when he came along on one of his mother's trips.

Larisa arrived Dec. 9 and will return to her home in Mozhaysk, 65 miles southwest of Moscow, on Friday. She works at a company that makes plastic pipes, and she assisted the mission groups.

Mosha earned an agricultural engineering degree from the University of Moscow. She was 15 when Billie met her in 1996 through the combined mission work of Garland's First United Methodist Church and a church in western Ohio. Mosha translated. Later, she translated for a Texas A&M professor from College Station, who urged her to come to that school for her master's.

Mosha had worked for John Deere in Moscow, becoming acquainted with American business. And after marrying Roger in 2005, she enrolled at Aggie Land. The professor she met in Russia helped her obtain scholarships. Her majors were in agricultural engineering and agricultural education. She received her master's degree this year, with a 4.0 GPA.

Larisa found it difficult to believe all the clothing choices at Firewheel Town Center, marveling at the colors and at sizes beyond the small, medium and large available in Russia. By the day after Christmas, she was just beginning to realize she was in the United States, Billie said. The ease of transportation not tied to a train schedule amazed her.

The mission groups worked in Samara and Alexandrov, where orphanages – one housing 450 children – were woefully underfurnished and lacking in food. The children were warehoused, Billie said. The American volunteers collected money and supplies to help improve the the building conditions. Through a program called Dar Gift, aid is still going to Russia.