I promised a few stories from my time in Russia, so here’s one.

We stepped off the train in the city of Pechora just before 7am to temperatures of -20 (Celsius) and was greeted by the pastoral team there. The cold crisp air freezes the moisture in your nose almost immediately upon breathing it in. Unfortunately for us, the walk to the pastors’ cars was long and to top it off one person traveling with me, Cheryl Jones, was dealing with physical illness.

We went directly to our hotel to get some rest. Cheryl skipped breakfast, but her husband KC & I enjoyed some food before getting some sleep after a full day of ministry and a train ride that started at 1 in the morning the day before.

At 2pm, KC, Elijah (our interpretor) & I went to have some lunch and fellowship with the sr. pastor. We decided Cheryl should rest as much as she could before the meeting that night. After we ate we were guided around the city. We saw many landmarks and monuments to the World War II victory over Nazi Germany. At the river Pechora, we could look east and see the start of the Ural mountains on the horizon. The Urals mark the division of 2 continents: Europe and Asia. Besides being beautiful to see – it was significant to be at one of the global gateways of east & west. That day we also learned that many people (especially women & children) had been buried en masse close to the town center during the Soviet persecutions of the 50’s & 60’s.

Cheryl went to the evening meeting despite still feeling ill (I heard her vomiting just before we left the hotel), and she would not be disappointed. All three of us shared some Scriptures and encouraged the people. Cheryl was sure to remind everyone that Jesus is the healer, which was a remarkable statement in her condition and considering the fact that none of the people attending even knew she wasn’t well. At one point during the meeting she had to sneak out and find the bathroom for more “detoxing” we’ll say.

God is faithful and many people were touched by His love that night. Three young boys ages 9,11,& 12 came forward for prayer. They admitted that they were addicted to inhaling toxic gases in order to get a cheap “high”. If you don’t know this is very dangerous and a school-mate of my brother’s died from years ago at the age of 16.

But these boys were so young that I was actually shocked at their prayer request. I have been in ministry long enough that not much surprises me anymore, but innocence lost so early in life was appalling to me in that moment.

We led all three in a prayer of salvation, prayed for deliverance from addiction, and finally that they would follow Jesus all their lives. After we prayed KC & Cheryl hugged & loved on them for a few moments in a way that left the boys faces beaming with smiles.

In the end, Cheryl recovered to better than full form, many people experienced God in an awesome way, and the course of three young lives were impacted at a critical juncture in their journey. 1 Corinthians 13 says it best: love wins!

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