By Sara Wade, Ukraine
Shortly after the former USSR fell, people were so desperate for information that we couldn’t give the Gospel fast enough. I was just a teenager when I first experienced this. After ministry in a Ukrainian village where we gave a presentation of the Gospel we were mobbed by the people who wanted the literature that we had. Today that’s not the way it works. Today God is working softly, slowly, and deeply in the hearts of Slavic people. Yan is a good example of this.
Yan quietly slipped into our small group about two and a half years ago. He never said much, but just listened. Week after week, Yan came in late after work, put some cookies on the table and sat down to listen to our conversations about God and watch our interactions with each other.
This past summer he came to our special needs camp to help. All week long he helped wherever needed, and participated wherever he could. The last day of the camp was a Sunday. Our church congregation came to join the families who were attending for a Sunday morning service and a huge outdoor banquet afterwards. This is so that the families can meet our church members and see what it’s like to go to a regular church service. With the two groups combined we held a church service of about 400 people. We sang hymns and modern worship songs, had communion with a full explanation, sermons, and gave an altar call. Many with special needs came forward, many who'd been holding back for several years. My heart leapt for joy when I saw Yan quietly and confidently make his way to the front with a big grin on his face. Yan stood among the twenty+ others, just shining as he gave his life to the Lord.
This is the way the Lord is bringing the Slavic people to Himself today, especially young adults. They are inviting friends to into small groups, and then watching the Holy Spirit work. The most beautiful thing about this kind of evangelism is that it truly and deeply changes hearts and minds with the power of God’s grace. They know that they are not just performing another ritual by saying the sinner’s prayer. They’ve seen and tasted that the Lord is good through The Word, and what it means to be a believer with all it’s struggles of real life. When they finally give their lives to the Lord they know that it is entering into a new life, with a new purpose, and a new Master.
