Our story

The azure sea mesmerized us with its boundless beauty, sometimes calming, then giving awe and excitement to human feelings. The mountain ranges, clad in fluffy forests, like formidable guards, guarded the splendor of this little paradise for centuries. Alushta, pampered by the sun, irresistibly attracted the heart of a young man. The crystal-clear air and measured life of the resort town awakened forgotten feelings. And then in a small-town shop he saw her, lovely young shop-girl, his dream. The clear voice of God sounded: "Here is your wife!" – and everything inside him responded with a wonderful feeling. A lifelong romance began. ...

Yes, it's amazing, God has united us for a great purpose. Then we didn’t yet know about life’s mission, but He guided our ship to a wonderful voyage, opening up before us an endless ocean of possibilities. We built our happiness on the Black Sea coast, enjoying each other and the delightful beauty of Crimea. Life was arranged, there was no shortage of anything. Apartment with mountain views, home comfort, car. Crimea seemed to share its generosity with us. Life was beautiful and, like a blossoming almond grove, intoxicated with love and pleasure.

Repentance

Life was in full swing. And now – the wedding, sister is getting married. Fun and dancing till the morning. At the table, the conversation turned to God, I listened. Relatives were going to church, we went together. There were no usual domes, wonderful music was sounding, many people were singing like a big choir. My heart fluttered, my whole body was shivering, tears flowed from my eyes. A huge unique feeling overwhelmed all nature. No longer able to remain in place, I rushed forward with repentance.

Prayer

We returned to Crimea, everything went as usual, but love, love for God was kindled inside the young heart. I could not forget the holy touch of heaven, one prayer sounded in my heart: "God, make my husband a pastor". The Holy Spirit taught me to pray this way. There was no church and mentors, only God's Word, which became the greatest value in my life. I told my husband Bible stories, and after four months Slava repented, giving his heart to Jesus. This spring of 1997, a few days after Slava’s repentance, we went to his homeland, where we immediately began to preach the Gospel.

God answered! My husband became a pastor right after his repentance!

April was full of fragrances of blossoming gardens, tulips and daffodils. The parental home gave comfort. The border village Gradenitsy was preparing for the great holiday. Transnistria is just a stone's throw from here. The mirror-like surface of the Cuciurgan Reservoir, shrouded in blooming gardens, divides here Ukraine and Moldova. Easter. Drunken joy is everywhere. “Christ is risen!” “Truly He is Risen!” On the Transnistrian bank of the reservoir, the youth celebrated the holiday violently. In the circle of friends and acquaintances, we talked about Christ. Slava had not even read the Bible then, but his words sounded very convincing. Sasha was the first to lose his hops. “So how can I repent of my sins?!” – his question sounded like a point-blank shot. We didn’t know the prayer of repentance and gave him a little book about the Holy Spirit with a prayer. Then Sasha couldn’t even imagine that in ten years he and his wife Natasha would become pastors of a church in the very heart of Transnistria, in the city of Tiraspol. The calling was just beginning in the hearts of young people. The heaven united us into one team with an inexplicable force of attraction. We left for sunny Crimea, but inevitably returned again.

God’ potatoes

The cold autumn has begun the countdown. Post-war Transnistria greeted us gloomily with ruin, poverty and despondency. Every day, crossing two customs posts, we drove to Dnestrovsk with an irresistible desire to preach the Word of God. We were entrusted with three souls – the first sheaf after our Easter sermon. God set the town's salvation plan into action. The Central Market has become a place of spiritual revival. By the providence of heaven, we traded potatoes there. On a frosty morning, when the Ukrainian village, wrapped in snow, was still asleep, I rose from my knees after praying and collected food in a basket. At dawn we drove to Dnestrovsk, where Kolka, a former bandit, was waiting for us, hungry and embittered by life. As always, I fed him with porridge, and he, well-fed and mellowed, listened to the stories about Jesus Christ. Then there was the market again, where a sixteen-year-old girl – a retailer Nadia, rejected by everyone but not by God, with huge mental and physical pain in her heart, will become our daughter for life. Later, she will give her heart to Jesus by praying with me outside the stall. Who knew that this little girl, our potato salesgirl, would become a youth leader, missionary pastor and would serve people with love and compassion. Oh, how many people have we brought to repentance every day in the cold market square!

The house where the church began in Dnestrovsk

One evening Nadia invited us to her home to warm up. That evening became special and will be remembered by all of us for a lifetime. God came into the house. We prayed for her mother, who was weak for 32 years due to many diseases and operations, and the Lord healed her. She did not believe, but the next day she got up and walked around the village with her feet three times. That evening, God healed Nadia from a heart defect, and her sister as well, who was beaten up after another binge. After that we began to get together every evening.

Now, looking back, we understand that God's grace did all this. We were unable to live by faith, heal the sick and preach the Gospel, but God, by great mercy, chose us and assigned Himself to serve. We did not neglect His gift, but accepted it as a precious treasure, contemplating how God makes our life more and more happy through serving people. Gray clouds from the pipes of the Kuchurgan power station floated gloomily over the frozen village. The market was confusedly buzzing, people no longer recognized the former bandit Kolka. Not only did he work, he did not beat anyone, he also preached and prayed for people with the Bible in his hands. In bars, prostitutes, bandits, drug addicts listened to him in amazement. In the evenings, Nadia's apartment was filled with friends who were united by love for God and a desire to help people. Incredible miracles happened there; the sick were healed, many confessed their sins, leaving alcohol, drugs and crime. The long winter evenings were filled with the ineffable joy of communication. This is how the Word of God church was born in a small border town, burning with Christian faith and love for people.

Crimea or God's will

Each person will have to make a choice in life between God's calling and their own interests and plans. Having finished our business in Transnistria, we went home to Crimea. This time Alushta didn’t meet us with a gentle sun, the comfort of home didn’t please, life became insipid and bleak. Unable to cope with the spiritual emptiness, we felt the call of God to return to Dnestrovsk even more sharply. The decision was made, we didn’t want to exchange God's grace for anything. Without His grace, we suddenly lost our former meaning of life. Without wasting another day, we went to our Eden, to the most luxurious place of our vocation – Transnistria. Kolya and Nadia greeted us with tears of happiness on their faces. They prayed for our return. Obedient to the will of God, we stayed to live in the village. Now, from the windows of a small rented apartment, instead of a mountain landscape, there was a view of three smoking chimneys of the Moldavian state district power station. The beauty of the southern coast of Crimea was replaced by joy and happiness from God.

Strengthening of the church

In the spring of 1998, when March was blowing out the remnants of the snow, people flocked to the old cinema in the center of the village. There we proclaimed the opening of the church, and God confirmed His pleasure by healing the sick and freeing the possessed. The town was buzzing. Handwritten posters were pasted everywhere, inviting all the suffering, cursed, and sinful to come to the services. Former prostitutes, drug addicts and gangsters have now stormed the hospital with the desire to save people. The fire of revival burned in their hearts, they preached in the wards of the city hospital and healed the sick. Young people on the streets and in the park praised God with guitar and handed out brochures. On Sundays everyone gathered in the cinema with Bibles. Young and old, former drug addicts and possessed people came to listen to the sermons of the young girl. I had never preached or studied in Bible colleges before, but God's grace gave me the ability and strength to speak about Christ, heal the sick and drive out demons. Kolka, a former bandit, was now carrying speakers, a tape recorder and a pulpit made of two wooden boxes, washed the hall and met everyone at the entrance. Nadia was the first to give everyone her smile and blessing, accepting children from the hands of incoming parents. Over the years, these kids turned into wonderful guys and girls and picked up the baton of awakening with love for God in their hearts.

Sources of blessing in the Valley of Baka

Spring was filled with joyful events. Dozens of people were baptized in the Reservoir, the resort area has never seen such a spectacle. Songs and merriment spread far over the Reservoir. Happy people, going into the water, made a covenant with God, pledging of a clear conscience toward God. This spring, the countdown of the test of our faith also began for us: so that faith, tempered in suffering, would become more precious with the fire of baked gold. On one of the warm May evenings, along with the twilight, the pain came sneaking up. A terrible intolerable attack in the abdomen overwhelmed my husband Stanislav. Then he did not know that the next two years would be years of agonizing agony. Rolling on the floor in unbearable agony, when death expected him to break, Slava did not give up. Sleepless nights wore both out. In the early morning, leaning on my shoulders, my husband, bent over, went to the ambulance. Then there was the best clinic in Chisinau, a full examination. At the telephone booth, in a narrow booth, my legs buckled: “An extensive mass in the left iliac region on the intestines. Your husband has cancer and needs an operation. " The verdict was announced, there were no guarantees of a good outcome. We continued to fight, believed God's Word and abandoned the operation. They returned to the church, trusted only God, prayed hard, expecting a miracle. We didn't care what the doctors said. Faith that knows no defeat led us through this storm of life, discovering living springs in the valley of weeping. And death retreated, capitulated, victory came when the nerves were at their limit! God has shown that He has authority over life and death. The doctors could not believe their eyes. Their hopeless predictions melted like snow. The time when death breathed into the face was over. Faith in the Living God broke the chains and overthrew the shackles. Once again, the devil has suffered his shameful failure! Hunched shoulders straightened, it was a celebration of our transformation. We won, survived, passed everything! Now life, honoring its winners, has begun to return us a hundredfold for the days and sleepless nights that were not fully lived. With even greater strength, we continued to work and serve for the good of people and for the glory of the Lord.

Crimea

Particularly interesting and glorious during that period of our life was our participation in the opening and establishment of a church in Alushta. Crowds of people gathered in our resort apartment to listen to the Gospel. We held services in a kindergarten hall near our home. Sick people threw sticks, crutches and took off their glasses after praying for healing. Every day we preached, strengthened people in the faith, drive out demons, and baptized people in our beloved city by the sea. We could live in Crimea, life is so comfortable, the church is growing, but despite our persuasions to stay and be pastors in Alushta, we return to Transnistria. How important it is to do what God wants, to do His will.

A chance for everyone

Could we have imagined that we would become history makers? Of course not. But our life is a testament to how ordinary people, without special education, can step beyond the impossible, becoming the creators of history. Such grace is available for everyone. Maybe you are young or old and think: "What can I do?" You can sow the seed of God's Word, and God himself knows how much that soil will bear fruit. The Apostle Paul had Barnabas, a man who believed in him and supported him. Does it make sense to start making history from small things? Sure! You can go into eternity, but those people in whom you invested, sowed the seed of faith, they will continue the work you started – this is the real hisstory. If today you firmly know your purpose, you will receive the approval to go further. If you do not understand and do not see the meaning in life, you can find it. If you put your shoulders and walked alongside, but moved away and now understand the reality of heaven and hell, that you cannot live like this, there is an answer for you: how to return and become the first from the last. This book reveals the principles by which the last become the first. This is why Jesus came to earth.

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With love, Slava and Julia.

Chapter from the book "The Last Will Be the First".