Still recovering, Niki wants to serve Christ wherever He leads her. “I’m not going tomorrow. But if God said, ‘I want you to go back,’ I’m not going to tell Him no.” She points to her scarred body. “Not because of this.”
I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans
8:38-39
)
WEEK EIGHT JOURNAL
• Besides Jesus, whom do you depend on most to fill your loneliness?
• What would your life look like if you could depend on Jesus for your “living water”?
• How do you see God using you in the lives of others?
• What people has God placed in your life? Are any of them lonely or outcasts or from foreign countries and need your ministry?
• What Bible verse or passage of Scripture has been most meaningful to you this week? Why?
yelena pytkina
God Can Meet My Needs
Y
elena agreed to go to the new church only because she wanted to learn English. Born in the Russian city of Ulan-Ude in eastern Siberia, eighteen-year-old Yelena dreamed of attending a Russian university, where students must all pass a written and oral English exam. Quite a few Americans were in the church, Yelena knew, and she thought she could practice her English with them.
“I never thought that I [would] start going to that church and become a Christian,” Yelena remembers. “But God knew how to draw me to Him.”
This small, missionary-staffed church was nothing like the traditional Russian Orthodox Churches Yelena had attended in the past. A budding musician, Yelena was most affected by the music. She had never heard praise and worship music and was both shocked and excited when the English-speaking church used a guitar and backup instruments to praise God.
Yelena became friends with the American missionaries, who not only shared their music and taught her English but also introduced her to new ideas about God. Yelena learned how God loved her so much that he sent His own Son as a personal sacrifice just for her. She discovered she could have a personal relationship with God, and that He wanted to have a personal relationship with her. Yelena had never felt the presence of God as clearly as she did in that church.
When her new friends invited her to a home group to learn more about the Bible, Yelena accepted eagerly. That night, she says, “The Holy Spirit touched me in such a way that I felt Him. I felt as if I was held by someone, but there was no one hugging or even touching me. I was wrapped in God’s love and warmth.”
At first, Yelena’s parents were opposed to their daughter’s new passion for Jesus Christ. They were concerned that the foreign church Yelena had joined was a cult, and they prevented her from attending more home groups. Although she struggled with their decision, Yelena obeyed her parents’ wishes. She continued to grow as a Christian by attending the Sunday services, and burdened by the knowledge that her parents did not share her faith in Christ, Yelena prayed every night that her mother would become a Christian.
Although she knew that she should pray for her father’s salvation as well, Yelena couldn’t at first. Like many men in that region, Yelena’s father suffered from alcoholism. He had been cold, distant, and sometimes violent throughout Yelena’s childhood. “I was scared of my dad,” she says. “I couldn’t talk to him. I couldn’t trust him. There were sad moments in my life when I would cry, and there was no one in my family to support me.”
But as Yelena continued to grow as a Christian, God continued to move her toward forgiveness. Reading her Bible one day, Yelena came to Matthew 5:44, where Jesus instructed His followers to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Who are my enemies?
Yelena asked herself. She knew the answer: Jesus was telling her to forgive her father.
It took time and a lot of prayer, but eventually Yelena was able to let go of the pain of her childhood, and she began praying for her father. Two years later, Yelena’s father and mother began attending her church.
With her family’s blessing, Yelena answered God’s call to full-time ministry. When she was twenty-four, she packed her belongings and made the four-day train journey from Siberia to Moscow, Russia’s capital city, to join the Youth With A Mission team. Today, she leads worship, serves as a translator and secretary, and disciples new Christians from around the world.
Being a Russian missionary is not easy. Yelena does not receive a salary for the work she does with YWAM; like most others, she relies on private support. But the Russian economy is struggling, and many people have a hard time feeding their families, much less supporting missionaries. With most of the Christians in Russia being new believers (the former communist regime did not allow Christian churches to evangelize for many years), Russian families do not have a history or real understanding of tithing or giving. They assume that someone else—the government or foreign supporters—will pay to build back the Russian church that was neglected for so long.
But this is often not the case. Many pastors work full-time jobs in addition to their ministries, and most Russian missionaries do not receive support from overseas sponsors. Yelena knows that she could make a salary elsewhere, but she also knows that she is where God wants her to be. She is content to depend entirely on God to meet her needs. “God never lets me down in terms of provision of food and clothes. He is always faithful in these little things,” she says with confidence.
God has been faithful not only to meet Yelena’s financial needs, but He also protects her physically. The city of Moscow can be dangerous. Because of the economic instability and a growing drug problem, violent crime is common; Moscow streets are not considered safe after dark. Yet Yelena and her fellow missionaries often must walk home late at night after evening church services or meetings.
One night, as Yelena walked home with five other women, a group of six drunk Russian men armed with knives stopped the group and demanded money. Three of the girls ran, and Yelena started to follow them. But the Holy Spirit stopped her, and she realized that two of her friends—international missionaries who did not speak Russian—were still trapped by the men. Knowing that the girls were in much more danger if they did not understand their assailants, Yelena returned to the situation and acted as a translator. After giving up their money, the girls eventually fled together. The men chased them all the way to the place where they were living, but all six missionaries escaped unharmed.
Yelena is now entering her fourth year as a pioneer missionary in a country rediscovering Christianity, and she continues to seek the Lord’s guidance for what He wants her to do. Her family situation is still not perfect—Yelena’s father has not yet made a profession of faith in Christ, and he still drinks and is sometimes violent—but Yelena sees the difference her prayers have made.
Her work with YWAM continues to blossom, and Yelena has seen many new Christians in Russia grow in their faith because of her efforts. Her parents are the primary financial supporters of her ministry, and Yelena’s mother is now a passionate Christian and a strong prayer warrior. With their help and the support of a growing Russian Christian population, Yelena will continue to be obedient to her call to spread the gospel all over the world, while letting God meet her every need.
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
(1 Peter
3:18
)
virginia
Hearing the Voice of God
F
or Virginia, the hardest moments came when she believed she couldn’t hear the voice of God.
During her first overseas missions trip—two weeks in Brazil with a church group her parents led—fourteen-year-old Virginia discovered a passion for ministry. “It was the first time I saw broken people weep in their need for Christ or [with their] arms lifted in worship,” she remembers. “I saw the poor and made friends who speak a language I do not know. Nothing could have prepared me for the lives I saw there, and something changed inside me, flaming my desire to do the ministry of Jesus.”
But Virginia faced a special challenge in serving God on the mission field. She was born deaf and has lived her entire life in silence. Her speech is often unintelligible to those who do not know her. Therefore, from the moment she felt the call to missions, she doubted it. How could God use her to preach His message of salvation?
Satan attacked Virginia with her physical weaknesses, filling her with feelings of loneliness and helplessness. “I felt as if I was rejected by life,” Virginia explains. “I was in tears, battling strong lies and thoughts tormenting me from the evil one. I believed that I needed ears to hear the voice of God.”
Virginia spent two long, difficult years struggling with her disability, feeling worthless. She resented the hardships of being deaf; like most girls, she wanted to fit in with her friends and classmates. Even more, she wanted to be a missionary, and she couldn’t see how that was possible.
Finally, one night as she lay in bed feeling torn apart and broken, she saw a vision of the Lord. She fell to her knees as Jesus stood before her, and an amazing thing happened: she heard Him speak. “Virginia,” He said, “I am willing to be yours.”
Her depression lifted instantly. She could hear Jesus! She might not be able to use her physical ears to hear the sounds of the world around her, but her spirit could still hear. God spoke directly to Virginia’s heart, intimately connecting her to Himself.
A few months after her encounter with God, Virginia left for her second summer missions trip, this time to Mexico with her youth group. Again her heart was drawn to the people she met, those who suffered so much and were so eager to experience the love of Christ. On that trip Virginia began to understand God’s calling for her life. In an evening church service, the pastor announced that instead of preaching, he wanted to give each member of the congregation time to spend alone with God. Virginia went outside and sat in the soft summer grass. She waited, and in time she felt God again speaking to her spirit. “Virginia, you are My chosen servant. I call you. I will go before you. Come with Me to the corners of the earth.”
It was unmistakable. God wanted her, Virginia, to be a missionary, to travel the globe for the rest of her life to share the good news and saving message of Jesus Christ.
Yet again, Virginia wrestled with her calling. She doubted her abilities and asked herself over and over,
Am I willing to go into a world where I cannot hear the languages? To be a light in the darkness, a sheep among wolves? Do I believe that the Holy Spirit will overcome my deafness, my speech . . . to let me preach?
She found her answer in the Bible. In Matthew 10:19-20, Jesus told His disciples, “Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
Comforted by Jesus’ promise, Virginia accepted God’s call. After high school, she enrolled in Adventure In Missions’ First Year Missionary Program. She moved to the bleak inner city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she ministered to her neighbors in a crime-filled, drug-infested area. Although she could not listen for signs of the often-present danger, Virginia spent hours on street corners. Although the people she served could not understand what she said, Virginia connected powerfully with everyone she met. Heroin addicts and homeless people found unconditional love in Virginia’s eyes and hands. They found comfort as Virginia prayed for them.
From Philadelphia, Virginia continued to travel the globe to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. After short-term projects in Panama and West Virginia, she felt God call her to a new mission. When she was only twenty-two, Virginia began to lead groups of Christian high school students to England, Ireland, and the Dominican Republic. The teenagers in her charge did not understand sign language, yet God worked in their relationships, and while sometimes Virginia struggled to understand what was being said, she mentored, taught, and cared for the girls in ways that changed their lives and hers.
Wherever she went, Virginia’s passion for Christ touched not only the people she served, but also her fellow missionaries. One friend explains, “Her presence has never ceased to change lives. As others see her stepping out in faith and living her faith regardless of her deafness, they are encouraged and challenged to step out as well.”
During her year of service in Philadelphia, Virginia had met a fellow missionary with a passion for the poor and the unreached. They fell in love and were married shortly after.
God began to show the couple new ways to reach out to people who did not know the gospel. During a two-week trip to China, Virginia and her new husband met students who had to study the Bible in secret because the government prohibits practicing Christianity. Virginia’s heart, always so in tune with God, felt His call to China to minister to the persecuted church there. Once again, she took a leap of faith and followed. After months of prayer, Virginia and her husband left for China.
Today, they are missionaries in a country that does not allow missionaries, sharing the gospel despite the physical risks.
Virginia continues to see her deafness as something that God uses to change lives, including hers, rather than something that separates her from God or the people around her. She clings to the words of the apostle Paul in Acts 20:24: “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”
Virginia can hear the one voice that matters, and she is following it.
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.