Desperate for a Russian Bible

Pavel was a sailor who lived near the south central Russian city of Novosibirsk (New Siberia). He doesn’t remember when or why he began to think of the Bible, he only knows that reading one became almost an obsession. Even after the fall of Communism, Russian Bibles were a scarce commodity in his community.

There were none in his home… and there were no Christians in his family.

Desperate for a Russian Bible

He decided to look to the local Orthodox Russsian Church but was turned away empty handed. The Priest there had one, but he wasn’t sharing it with Pavel, a big, burley non-Orthodox sailor.

Still determined, he decided to try the town library. To his delight, they did have a Bible there, but it wasn’t allowed to be checked out. But people could take it to the reading room to read it for one hour.  

Excited to finally open a Bible for himself, Pavel asked the librarian for permission to take the Bible. They needed to take some information from him, and when they found out he was a sailor, they refused to let him read it.

Deeply discouraged, Pavel returned home, feeling as if he might never get to read the Bible. Then one day, he heard someone mention a Baptist church that had been established in the community, and he thought perhaps they might have a Bible they could give him. He got directions and hurried to the church where he met the Bible League trained pastor. The pastor did have a small supply of Bibles, but not enough for Pavel to have one for himself.

A copy of the Bible

The Pastor, seeing how desperately Pavel wanted to read one, decided to loan him a Bible for three months. Pavel happily provided his contact information and promised to return the Bible to the church at the end of three months.

Elated with the opportunity to read God’s Word for the very first time, he hurried home and began to read it. He decided to copy down every thing he read, verse by verse, for he didn’t know if he would get another chance to read it.

For three months, Pavel hand copied the Bible as he read it, and ultimately met Jesus in the pages. He testifies that he came to faith in Christ through the hand copying of this Bible, which he still owns and treasures to this day. God’s Word is making a difference in Russia, yet there are still thousands more like Pavel who are searching desperately for a Bible.

God is working throughout Russia! Watch a powerful flashback video on You Tube of a baptism following weeks of Russian Bible study!