Pandemic Blessings: Overcoming Distance, Disease, Disinformation

-Elizaveta Marakhovets, Novosibirsk

          This is an inspiring story of the faithful use of technology and blessings gained despite heartache and hardships during the Covid-19 pandemic. From Krasnoyarsk to Krasnodar to Novosibirsk to Moscow, across the vast distances of the Russian Federation, clearly “…God’s word is not chained” (2 Timothy 2:9). This pandemic miracle began with a young woman who walked away from church.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, a woman named Olga Zemtsova from Krasnodar, in the south of Russia, wrote a message to Aksana Polovnikova, a women’s ministry leader in the (ICOC) Novosibirsk Christian Church, Russia, 4000 kilometers away.  Olga’s question was, "when are you planning to start a church in Krasnodar?" From that moment Olga and Aksana began to communicate on the Internet.

It turned out that Olga had been baptized in 2005 in the church in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, when she was 21 years old – nearly 5000 kilometers away from where she was living in Krasnodar, and nearly 1000 kilometers east of Novosibirsk, where Aksana lives. Shortly after her baptism in Krasnoyarsk, Olga had left the fellowship; this is now fifteen years ago. After a while, she moved to the South of Russia where her mother was living, and in the course of time, Olga got married.

In the following years, Olga immersed herself in mysticism and esoteric beliefs, devoting much of her time to these pursuits. At the same time, she never stopped believing in God; she continued to pray. When her mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness, Olga realized that her mother needed hope, needed salvation, needed a clear path forward; she realized that she had time to save her mother, and began to dream and plan about bringing her to Christ.

Olga began to connect over Skype with disciples from Siberia. She herself began to study the Bible, and in time she was ready to return to Christ and accept Him as the only way to salvation. She actively preached the gospel to her mother, read the Bible to her, and shared her faith with friends in other cities and countries.

As a result, her mother believed. She studied the Bible with sisters and decided to be baptized into Christ. Students from the nearest church (Rostov-on-the-Don), which is three hours’ drive from Krasnodar, came to visit Olga and participated in the baptism of Olga's mother, Svetlana (she remains faithful to this day).

After her mother’s baptism, Olga continued to share her faith with her friends. She was able to successfully influence one of her friends, Alexander, who shared her esoteric views, to think about the true path. He began to join the meetings of the Novosibirsk church online, and after a while he asked Olga to introduce him to someone from the Moscow church. He was introduced to Sasha Bazashvili and other brothers. Alexander accepted the Word of God, actively studied the Bible, and was baptized just a couple of months later. Now he is our servant and faithful brother in Christ in the Moscow church.

Thanks to the pandemic forcing us to worship and connect online, and to Olga’s pivotal decision to reach out after many years, these three wonderful souls were added to our big family and reconciled to God. Over many years and many miles the power of God’s love and His word have proven themselves victorious once again!

Glory to our Lord!

About the author :

Elizaveta Marakhovets, Novosibirsk

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