I got baptized in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 1996. Nine years ago, I was forced to move to Kaliningrad for family reasons, where there is no church. That was a very difficult period for me. I parted from my home church, went through a painful divorce, and rebuilt my entire life. I was left alone to raise my two beautiful daughters.
Back then I found myself in an unfamiliar situation that I would have never dreamed. It seemed to me that God had thrown me away. It took me four years to restore peace and harmony with him. During those times, and to this day, I have been learning the same lesson: God is in control of everything happening in my life, and he can turn any situation for good.
Going through various circumstances where I needed someone’s help and encouragement, no one was there for me. I cried out to God “if only I had a husband” and the answer followed, “I am your husband”. Or “if only there were disciples here, they would have helped me”. God whispered “I will help you”.
Although we all know this truth, not everyone experiences it.
It took me several years to learn how to rely on God in every little thing – from flat renovations and income to my kid’s baptism. God has never left me. One day I started looking for a church to reconnect, and I found out that the church in St. Petersburg was the one closest to me. Thank you to the disciples, my brothers and sisters, from the St. Petersburg Church of Christ. They picked me up, supported and took care of me. Close to a year ago, I was restored to the church!
Despite the long distance, I feel close and connected to the church. I do not have to be alone anymore. When my eldest daughter was almost 15, she said to me, “to get to know each other better before the wedding, you should live together for about 18 months”. My answer was, “this is sinful before God” but she replied, “I don’t care”.
Obviously I was shocked, but realized one thing – I cannot make her to love God. So I begged God from inside my heart, “Lord God, this is your child, your creature. You know her paths and only you know how long it will take her to start loving you and admit Jesus as Lord”. I prepared myself mentally for anything.
In the spring of 2019, there was a conference for the young people in Moscow entitled ‘The Catchers’. The church helped my eldest daughter to be able to participate. She was touched. Later in August when she went to teen camp, she began her Bible study. She studied during autumn with the sisters online. And on January 5, 2020, my Sasha got baptized! Praise God!
Going through the pandemic and self-isolation with the whole world, my daughters and I feel close as ever with God and our brothers and sisters in Christ! As for now, there are four disciples in Kaliningrad. We often meet guests from different cities and we welcome them with all our hearts. We are certainly praying for more disciples to relocate here so that the Kaliningrad church will grow and prosper.
Shared from icocnews.ru
