The opening night of the Pittsylvania Baptist Association’s World Mission Conference (hosted by Mount Hermon Baptist Church) featured guest speakers John & Jane Doe (not their real names, obviously). The Does are career International Mission Board missionaries serving in Central and Eastern Europe. We were all inspired as they shared about their mission experiences in Russia, particularly in the seemingly mysterious region of Siberia. Their stories brought back a lot of memories for me. I had visited Russia on a mission trip back in 1994, just three years after the collapse and disintegration of the old Soviet Union. Those were the very early days of missionary work in that long-time Communist country. At dinner on Saturday night, the Does and I talked about some of the people that we both knew in Russia, and I shared with them a few of my memories from that trip of thirteen years ago. John Doe said, “I’m sure you were never the same after your visit to Russia.” He’s right. I never was.
One of my strongest memories of that trip was when our plane finally touched down at the Moscow airport. It was late at night. As I stepped off the plane and descended onto the tarmac, I paused, took a deep breath, and slowly looked around, trying to take it all in. It was a surreal moment. I could not believe I was in the former Soviet Union, our nation’s nemesis throughout the decades-long Cold War. As we made our way off the plane and into the terminal to retrieve our checked baggage, I was walking through the airport when it suddenly dawned on me that I was carrying my Bible in my hand, out in plain view for all to see. I did not even realize that I was holding it. Suddenly I thought, “Wow! Here I am freely carrying a copy of the Word of God in the capital of this formerly-avowed atheistic empire. Not too long ago this would have been absolutely unheard of."
One of my strongest memories of that trip was when our plane finally touched down at the Moscow airport. It was late at night. As I stepped off the plane and descended onto the tarmac, I paused, took a deep breath, and slowly looked around, trying to take it all in. It was a surreal moment. I could not believe I was in the former Soviet Union, our nation’s nemesis throughout the decades-long Cold War. As we made our way off the plane and into the terminal to retrieve our checked baggage, I was walking through the airport when it suddenly dawned on me that I was carrying my Bible in my hand, out in plain view for all to see. I did not even realize that I was holding it. Suddenly I thought, “Wow! Here I am freely carrying a copy of the Word of God in the capital of this formerly-avowed atheistic empire. Not too long ago this would have been absolutely unheard of."
Another powerful moment for me was when I stepped onto Red Square in Moscow. There before my eyes, I could see the familiar onion-shaped domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral…the imposing walls of the Kremlin…the edifice containing the Tomb of Lenin…and the tall review stand where generations of Soviet leaders—Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, and others—had once stood to observe the vast, intimidating parades of troops, tanks, and missiles, a very public flexing of the nation’s military muscles. And now here I was, standing in the midst of it all. (By the way, later on, I actually got to enter the Kremlin itself! Not even James Bond or Forrest Gump ever did that!)
As I recall quite vividly, there was an incredible openness and spiritual hunger among the Russian people at that time. Evangelical Christianity was so new to them. And the freedom to openly share the Gospel was new to the Russian Christians themselves.
I remember standing on a sidewalk in front of a store in the city of Ryazan, freely passing out Russian language Gospel tracts on the street. Among the few Russian words I knew (and the only ones I still remember) were the words “Bess Plotna!,” meaning “It’s free!”—a necessary response to inquisitive Russians who thought you were trying to sell them something. The reason I remember “Bess Plotna” so well is because (a) I always thought it sounded like a woman’s name and (b) the Russian people always laughed at the strange way I pronounced it with my Kentucky accent. (And it’s extremely hard to get the stoic and somber Russian people to laugh...especially in public. So I know that my feeble efforts at Russian must have been flat out awful.)
I remember our team doing street preaching and seeing people saved. I can still see the faces of some of those who came to Christ in those public settings. I can remember witnessing to patients in their hospital rooms and to schoolchildren in their classrooms, leading them through the sinner’s prayer. (Things you can’t get by with in America today!) I also can remember leading a young couple to Christ as they sat on a bench in a city park, speaking to them through an interpreter, and using the colored beads on my Gospel wristband to illustrate to them God’s plan of salvation.
I can still see the faces and remember the names of Russian Christians that I met and knew for only a couple of weeks. But I look forward to seeing them all again someday in Heaven. Most notably, I remember their warm hospitality. I remember staying in the home of a Russian family, sleeping on a tiny crowded bed that I awkwardly shared with my interpreter Sasha. And eating lots of borscht (a translucent-red beet-based Russian soup), cooked cabbage, hard dry bread, strong cheese, and other delicacies prepared by our Russian hosts. (Yum!) I also remember the traditional older Russian ladies, who wore babushkas (scarves) on their heads, never shaved their legs, and generally looked a lot like the late Mrs. Khrushchev (if you’ve ever seen any old news photos of her from the late 1950s & early 60s.) (HINT: She was no Marilyn Monroe.)
One thing I poignantly remember is a Russian Christian lady who played the piano for us one day after dinner. She played several traditional Russian and Ukrainian tunes. Noting the haunting melodies typical of so many of the songs, I asked “Why are so many your songs written in a minor key?” To which she replied, “Because the history of our people is so sad.”
The Russian people have indeed had a tragic history. A history filled with oppression, corruption, tyranny, and darkness. But in recent years, the light of Christ has made significant inroads there. And those Russians that have found the True and Living Way have a joyous and beautiful spirit that transcends their circumstances and sets them apart from their fellow countryman.
Why not pause right now and breathe a prayer for the people of Russia? Pray for strength for the Christians. Pray for salvation for the lost. And pray for John & Jane Doe and other missionaries like them who lovingly labor among the Russian people.
Pastor Danny
