During the week of VBS held here in the village we were paid a visit by a mother, Lena, of two siblings who began attending our Sunday school last summer. She was very grateful for our ministry and thanked me multiple times for teaching them the Bible and holding VBS as a way for them to have fun and learn more about God. During the summer, Lena travels back and forth from their apartment in the city to her parent's house here in the village. The children stay with their grandparents (Lena's parents) as much as possible so that they can get a break from the city and enjoy playing with their friends here in Elita.
Last summer, Lena was still working and was hardly free to come out to the village therefore we only had the opportunity to meet her this summer when she came by to see what VBS was all about.
Lena stopped by to watch the children one day and then she came again on the last day of VBS to watch her children receive their medals.
On the last day I told her about our services on Sunday and Wednesday and invited her to come. She was very interested in the fact that we had services for adults. That was a Saturday.
Then, she walked to our house with her children on Sunday morning all dressed up and asked if it was alright if she came to services! She really enjoyed the service and said she would come again. From then on, she has come to every service when she is in the village. One day, her daughter relayed a message to me from Lena that she wanted to talk with me. I told her that I could have her over the next morning and she came to visit with me as we had planned. During that time She explained to me that she had come to "make friends" with me. You see, she and her husband, who is from Tajikistan, are building a house down the street from our house. She said that she really enjoyed talking with me and wanted to make a point to be friendly so that later when we would practically be neighbors, we would already be friends.
The Lord opened the opportunity for me to learn more about Lena and her life. She is a very intelligent lady. I learned about her education. She studied to be a geneticist. She is a very well read lady. But more importantly than all this, she shared a secret with me that has been tormenting her for years.
Approximately 20 years ago, Lena had an abortion. As she shared this burden and explained how it has affected her life, I saw a broken soul who has been searching for forgiveness from God for a very long time. As she explained it she realized herself that forgiveness was exactly what she needed but she didn't know how or exactly where to find it.
She had since learned through attending our services that Christ died on the cross. However, she didn't understand that through Christ we have redemption and forgiveness of our sins.
She wondered why Christ died.
She said to me, "He must have died for himself."
Then she and I took a walk through the Roman's Road and I explained to her WHY Christ died.
He died for me. But most importantly for HER!
When I explained to her that Christ died to pay for her sins through the shedding of His blood on the cross. And that when a person accepts Christ as their personal Savior, as far as the East is from the West, he remembers our sins no more; she started sobbing.
Then she asked if she could hug me.
It was a very special moment I hope I never forget.
As we parted that day, Lena shared how she would still need to "weed" out her thoughts and think more about what all we discussed that day. I was amazed that we actually were able to go through the Roman's Road. I knew how much reading she had done. At times she also seemed so confused about spiritual matters that I felt we would have to sit down many times together before I would even be able to begin sharing the Roman's Road with her.
Since that day, Lena continued to come to services.
We were able to find her a whole Bible. Then through some difficulties with the building of her family's house, she came to my husband to ask some building questions. Long story short, she has spent a lot of time at our house and David has helped her in the redesigning of their house plans. During this time we have been able to spend more time with her mother, as well as meet her husband.
Just yesterday, as she stopped in to ask about coming back for more help she shared with me through tears that she wanted to talk to me because she was ready to accept Christ. She tried to make it back to our house yesterday evening but she was not able to get away from her family after dinner.
So, this morning I receive a phone call from Lena asking if she could come over to talk about the building and about salvation. The day was very gloomy with lots of heavy rain and fog but I was excited and looking forward to what I had prayed was about to take place. Lena came in and we sat down on the couch together. I had written down a few verses which the Lord brought to my mind this morning to share with her and we began reading those verses. She explained to me some of her thoughts and about an hour and a half later we knelt by our couch to pray together. I prayed for her and then she prayed and accepted Christ as her personal Savior! I wish you could have heard her prayer. It was beautiful. She cried as I shared some things with her as we knelt there together for a moment.
As we sat back on the couch Lena immediately began talking about a friend of hers, a Russian lady, who is also married to a Muslim man. She has already told this friend about us and about attending services. Now that she has accepted Christ Lena wants to share more with her and even try to invite the friend over so they can "attend" our services through Skype. David and I have already talked about driving to Lena's apartment to visit their family and hopefully be able to study the Bible with her and maybe even her Muslim husband. She shared with me that her husband is very interested in the Bible and that he even downloads Christian films off the internet and watches them over and over again. Thankfully, I had an audio disk of the gospel in the Tajiki language that I was able to give her to give to her husband. Please pray for his salvation as well. I will not give his name on here at this point.
This picture was taken a few minutes after Lena accepted Christ.
We had been crying and enjoying the moment together so it is maybe not the best photograph we could have taken.
But it is a picture of another soul that found forgiveness and mercy through Jesus Christ.
I love this picture and I will forever cherish these moments.
This is why we came to Siberia.
We came for Lena and the many others like her searching...
I can't wait to meet the next soul we came to share Christ with.
