Finding Hope After Failure

Novosibirsk graduate Pavel Shvetsov found the joy and hope Christ alone can bring.

Pavel Shvetsov
Novosibirsk Biblical Theological Seminary Graduate

To receive instruction in wise behavior . . . (Proverbs 1:3).

Pavel was a young man with a bright future. His parents expected him to do well academically at the Krasnoyarsk State Technical University. However, while attending classes there, he made friends with the wrong crowd and started listening to rock music, drinking alcohol and using drugs. The more involved he got with his friends, the more his studies started to suffer. Eventually he was expelled.

After his expulsion from the university, Pavel moved back home and found a job as a teacher in a boarding school. While working there, he met believers from the local church who came to visit the children. To his wonder, these people were joyful, committed to visiting the children regularly and had a firm foundation in their lives. Pavel relates, “I was attracted to this and started asking them questions about their faith and was interested in the Gospel. In addition, my sister Zoe recently became a Christian. She was a powerful witness to me. We talked about God a lot, but I made fun of her in front of my friends even though I knew she was right.”

Pavel started asking questions, such as: “What is the meaning of life . . . where am I going, and is there any God?.” Unable to answer these questions while a student at the university, he started to read the Bible and other Christian literature that his sister loaned him.

From an intellectual level, Pavel could agree that God exists, and that Jesus Christ died to atone for the sins of men. However, he chose not to receive the gift of salvation at that point and continued living a sinful life. Yet the Holy Spirit was at work in Pavel’s life, and one night in the privacy of his room, he repented. That week, he started attending church with his sister and eventually was baptized. In time, Pavel began to preach and teach, and later established a rehabilitation center for drug addicts. Simultaneously, he pursued a degree to become a geography teacher through Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University.

A Transition to Ministry

As a result of ministering in the church, Pavel desired to develop his gift of preaching in order to more effectively serve God’s church. After reading all the books that his pastor had, Pavel started watching video lectures by SGA professor of Bible Dr. Roman Dechtiarenko — never thinking that he would have the opportunity and privilege of going to a seminary. However, God had other plans. In 2002 while in Moscow, Pavel took and passed the entrance exams for Novosibirsk Biblical Theological Seminary. He was diligent with his studies and in 2006 obtained a Bachelor in Theology degree, followed by a Master of Theology degree in 2008. He is now an ordained pastor, as well as a teacher at his alma mater.

Pavel is married and has a young son. He asks for prayer – that he would be a faithful servant of God for the rest of his life.