This story comes from new SGA Storyteller Polina. Polina looks forward to this new ministry of gathering stories from her homeland in Far East Russia. She writes of a woman, Elena, who had lost all meaning of life. Thankfully, a faithful SGA-supported missionary pastor continued to share the Gospel and invite her to church and to his Bible study.

Because of this, Elena has found great value and meaning for her life. “Today she praises the Lord with us and tells people about Christ.” Please pray for Elena and her daughter, and that they would both grow in their relationships with their Savior. Here is Elena’s story as shared by Pastor Ivan with Polina . . .

I would like to introduce you to a woman that I met several years ago. Her name is Elena. She used to do network marketing and had several establishments located in different regions of our district. At that time, I was working as a courier, delivering goods from one village to another, and that’s how we met. I decided to start praying for this soul. Elena often passed goods through me, and for a long time I preached the Gospel to her, invited her to church, and to my weekly Bible study at my house. It took a while, but eventually she came to visit and we began to study the Bible systematically. She began to open her heart to me. She told me that she went bankrupt, moreover, her relatives were going to take her child away from her because of her lifestyle.

Elena definitely needed help. We began to pray for her troubles, the next step was to study Scripture in depth, and eventually her life changed dramatically. She gave up alcohol and got a normal job. Elena turned over a new leaf, she moved out from relatives and now she is raising her 13-year-old daughter Masha alone. She started going to church, repented, and was baptized. “Today she praises the Lord with us and tells people about Christ.”

Please pray for her personal faith journey—that she will continue to grow in her relationship with God and remain strong in her walk with Him.