Things were in a state of flux that first day of December last year as we gathered in the Yubileynaya Hotel dining area in Yaroslavl, Russia. This was to be our final meal together. The first group, who had been carrying on the work since the September Crusade, were about to embark for Moscow and then home. Many of their Russian friends, newborn believers, had come to say their tearful goodbyes to them. We, the new team, sat there watching and wondering how we would fit in and carry on what they had started.
Into the middle of this scene of smiles and sorrow stepped Oksana and Natasha. A momentary hush spread over the room. These two Russian girls had been hired in September to act as interpreters for Milk and Honey Ministries1. At that time neither of them were Christians. However, we had all been thrilled to learn that very morning that Natasha had come to put her trust in Christ the previous evening while talking to Bill Horn. Each of us thought what a blessed send-off for Bill. He had been witnessing to the girls all fall as they had interpreted for him. Now, he and Natasha were all smiles as they greeted each other–excited at what had transpired the night before.
Oksana, however, just stood there without having any part in their joy. She was a beautiful girl, tall and erect, with a serious unsmiling face. This created a sense of aloofness about her which seemed to say, “I’m not going to let you get too close to me.”
I thought as I looked at her, “How will God ever reach and save her? She will be a hard one to win.”
When this fourth-year language student agreed to be an interpreter, she only looked at the job as a source of income and an opportunity to improve her English. Oksana knew nothing about the Bible, God, or salvation. Neither her home background nor her schooling had taught her anything about the Saviour and His love.
Some Americans had once spoken to Oksana about Christ, which prompted her to reply, “Do you really believe that Christ was a man and came to earth in the flesh to be crucified?” She felt that it was a preposterous tale which she could never possibly believe. She really did not want to believe it either, for Oksana was enjoying her life in the fast lane. She was later to call it a “terrible life filled with awful and dangerous things.”
What we could not see, however, was that God was at work in Oksana’s life. His Word which is “living and active” was bringing about conviction of sin in her heart. The very Word that she was translating was beginning to seep into her soul. As she related afterwards, “I had a terrible November and December. The devil fought inside me. It was a great struggle between good and evil. I didn’t want to communicate with anyone. I couldn’t find a place for myself.”
About this time someone said, “Oksana, you ought to read the Bible. You can find all the answers to your questions there.”
Oksana stated, “I started to read the Gospel of John every night before I went to bed. At first it was difficult for me, but I got used to reading the Bible. I got to know a lot of things about peace, joy, and hope in your heart, and I realized that I was a sinner. It was such a great revelation in my life. I remember that once I even cried because I realized that I was a sinner. I wanted to get something special in my life. Someone special in my life that I could really trust. I found this person. It is Jesus Christ.”
When exactly this life-changing event took place in Oksana’s heart is not certain. As she later recalled, “It started in my head and spread down inside my whole body.” She did, however, confess her newfound faith in Christ publicly at our Christmas Eve dinner at a local restaurant. One of our team-members, Arnold Spears, who had been talking to Natasha about her conversion, turned to Oksana and asked if she too had believed. For the first time in her life, she openly declared, “I do believe.” The struggle was over. The battle had ended in victory. “Thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph in Christ” (2 Cor. 2:14).
In the days that followed, Oksana came to revel in the realization that her sins had been forgiven. One day she asked, “Where are my sins now?” When she learned that God had removed them as far as the east is from the west, and had buried them in the deepest sea, behind His back, never to be remembered again, it was more than she could quietly retain. She flung her arms up in the air and cried, “I’m free, I’m free!” Her face was radiant in its reflection of the joy of the Lord that filled her heart.
Her life changed. Christian friends replaced her old companions. Some weeks afterwards, we asked Oksana what her new life in Christ meant to her. She replied, “It was as if I was walking in a dark garden and found a gate which I opened and stepped through into a light place which was pure and white. Nevertheless, I’m a dark spot in that white place because I realize that I am a sinner. But I feel stronger with the certain belief that the Holy Spirit dwells inside me. I ask Him to give me strength. I also feel that I am not alone. Christ has become my Helper, my Saviour, my best Friend, my Love. I really love Him and want Him to guide me in this hectic life. He will not leave me. I’m ready for all suffering. In Romans (5:3-5) I found that “suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope, and hope doesn’t disappoint me, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”
Oksana, since becoming a Christian, has boldly testified to her family and friends as well as publicly in the women’s meetings while interpreting. It is one thing for the Russian people to hear North Americans tell of their faith in Christ, but when they hear one of their own young people tell how the Lord has changed her life, they perk up and listen more closely.
Her father, largely because of seeing Oksana’s new life in Christ, invited us to come to one of his factories (he is the director of 6 of them in the Yaroslavl region) to give out Bibles, New Testaments, and to share the Good News with his employees. When we arrived, he personally introduced us to his workers and directors, and told them that he hoped that each of them would become believers in Christ. Then he stood there among his employees listening to his daughter, Oksana, translate the message of saving grace into Russian. There were tears in Yuri’s eyes–but he is still “a stranger to grace and to God.”
Pray for Oksana, her family and the many more like her who are still entangled in the chains of darkness in Russia, that they too might be set free in Christ.