Victory in Heaven

Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me. 

Psalm 23 

A psalm of David.

     On November 5, 2016, a desperate request began to spread among the disciples of Christ in Vladivostok through messages and calls: “We need prayer help! In the morning, our sister Vika (Viktoria) Artyukhina lost consciousness. She’s in a coma and the doctors don’t understand what happened!” This news was a complete shock for everyone, because Vika was not yet forty, her health had not inspired serious fears before, and this event was not preceded by any disease that threatened her life. Few people understood at that moment what a test this would be for Vika, her family, and the whole Vladivostok church over the next three years. This article is not about despair and fear, not about illness and grief; it is about the way God led us alongside Vika and her family, about her contribution to the Church, and about the significance of Vika for all of us. 

     In the summer of 1997, a successful law student Viktoria Kondratenko unexpectedly and unusually for herself got up early in the morning and decided to take a walk along the city quay promenade in the center of Vladivostok. Vika was always hyper-focused on her studies, so she often went to bed late, staying up for school, and preferred to sleep in on weekends. But not on this day. By an amazing coincidence(!), the embankment of the city is a favorite place of prayer for the disciples of Jesus, and Vika inevitably became the object of the sermon of two sisters who prayed together this morning. Despite her success at school and at the university, Vika often experienced mental emptiness and depression. God's word was a response to her search for the meaning of life. For a month, Vika studied the Bible, truly “tak[ing] heed into herself and the doctrine." Her desire to be baptized was negatively received by her family; a wonderful career was waiting for her, because she not only studied well, but she had to continue the legacy, the pride of her parents. In Russia most people are very distrustful of everything non-traditional. Biblical teaching is not an authority for many people, even if they are positioning themselves as Christians. And Vika began to invest all her ardor and energy into the conversion to faith of new disciples, to the family of the Church, and this, of course, took a lot of time. That caused fear and rejection not only from Vika’s family, but also from fellow students at her school.

     A month later, Vika began to lead a house church, then a group of students. In a short time, she managed to win the hearts of the disciples with her jealousy over the house of God. Bright, joyful, spiritual, and singing in a worship group—she attracted the attention of the brothers. In 1999, she began dating a brother in Christ: Denis Artyukhin. Denis says that although his attention was attracted by the bright red jacket that Vika was wearing, he was still more struck by the coincidence of aspirations—Vika, like Denis, dreamed of working for the Church, being a missionary, and devoting all her time to ministry. Soon, their dreams began to come true: they began to work for the Church, one after another. Soon the wedding took place. Now it’s almost impossible to watch the video from the wedding ceremony without a lump of tears in your throat, because the promises that Denis and Vika made at the wedding would be seriously checked in 15 years. “I will take care of you, I will always be with you, in spite of any difficulties and trials!” Denis said on April 28, 2001. He fulfilled every word from the oath made at the wedding. Denis became a real example of not only a faithful disciple, but also as a devoted husband.

         Denis and Vika kept their dream of ministry even at a time when both of them were fired from working for the Church. Vika, finally, began to realize the dream of her parents—she worked as a lawyer. Denis worked as a sales representative. They had a daughter. Although Vika was registered with a cardiologist since the age of 8, doctors did not reveal any complications during pregnancy.

     And, as soon as ministers were needed for the Church in the city of Khabarovsk, the Artyukhins again were ready to serve. In 2010, the Artyukhins returned to Vladivostok. With age and experience, Vika had time to delve into herself and her feelings a little more. She was one of the first sisters in Vladivostok to see signs of emotional co-dependence in herself. For Russia, such a deepness of awareness is not typical. Most people do not try to deal with their feelings and emotions. Vika, as a mentor to women, was always involved in the depth of relationships and often sympathized with people so much that she cried a lot during conversations, and after them. The sleep disturbances started, and her heart began to ache. She was open about this, but, as one of the sisters shared, “It's hard to believe that such a constantly joyful person has serious health problems.”

    As an active person, Vika began to look for answers to her questions. In Moscow and Kiev, she talked with the ministers and counselor, and, having no special expertise, at her own risk, she first gathered in Vladivostok group of sisters to study the book "Secure in Heart" by Robin Weidner. I was lucky to be part of these meetings. We progressed for a very long time, a year and a half, analyzing each chapter very carefully. Vika did not lead us as an expert, but as a pioneer, exposing her heart, rising in modesty, and sharing her fears and challenges with us. In parallel, Vika studied methods of spiritual counseling. In 2015, Denis and Vika conducted the first weekly spiritual training in Vladivostok for married couples lasting two months. My husband and I had the privilege of participating in this training and it very much improved the quality of our relationship.

     Next to her, you may see how a dreaming, thinking person can light a dream in the hearts of those around her: her husband Denis, who had no higher education, began to deeply engage in self-education; they, as a couple, acted as mentors in marriage for many families. The main thing that Vika could teach the married sisters around her was real spiritual respect for her husband, despite the initial differences in material situation and educational level. Denis always boldly says that in many things he followed his wife; she was for him "an example of behavior.” During the preachings, the church heard from Denis: “My wife shared with me her time with God, and these are the revelations I received from her Bible study.”   

     November 5, 2016, not only Denis’s life, but also the life of the whole Vladivostok church was divided into “before” and “after”. Vika with her husband and 10-year-old daughter arrived at an event dedicated to the children of disciples. Everyone had fun, were laying out refreshments on the table, and arranged chairs. Suddenly, Vika had fallen, right in front of everyone present. She lost consciousness and signs of life. Fifteen minutes before the arrival of the ambulance, Denis and another sister did artificial respiration and indirect heart massage for Vika. 

     Awareness of how serious Vika’s condition was didn’t come soon. At first everyone hoped that our prayers would work quickly. We thought the news was about to come that Vika’s health became better, or that doctors would explain to the family what was happening. The church quickly organized a chain of prayers and fasting, which was joined by the disciples of almost all Russian churches. Vika and Denis are well-known in many churches, and many disciples throughout Russia personally sympathized with them and took an active part in constant prayer. But days went by, adding in weeks, then in months, and doctors shrugged their hands—it was impossible to give forecasts, the exact diagnosis was unclear. The coma was replaced by akinetic mutism, or vegetative state. In this state, Vika lived for almost three years, until September 13, 2019.

     Prayers for Vika became part of the life of the Church. Each meeting, any meeting of disciples, whether it be the meeting of the Crown of Glory (name of group of Golden age in Russia) or the Children's Kingdom, began with a prayer for Vika, for her health, for the spiritual health of her family—Denis and Vera, their daughter. For three years we were constantly waiting for messages from Denis about Victoria's condition. One of Vika’s friends, Sergei Glushonkov, proposed creating the “100 Friends of Viktoria Artyukhina” fund to ease the financial burden of the family and the church in Vladivostok. In Russia, there is little experience in the rehabilitation of such patients. The maintenance of such patients is an unbearable burden for an ordinary family, and for three years disciples around the world, not only from Russia, had donated finances for Viktoria and her family.

     The hope of a speedy recovery for most of the disciples was melting away, and only one person never doubted for a minute that Vika, if she did not return to her previous lifestyle, would certainly sit, talk, and be able to communicate. This, of course, was Denis. And his faith sometimes gave amazing results that astounded the doctors. Denis could contact Vika even when everyone around her saw her in a “vegetable” state. From the movement of the eyelids, from the breath, he understood what she wanted. He had no doubt that Vika had not lost cognitive abilities. A year and three months after the onset of the disease, Vika recovered her speech. On Denis's birthday she was able to say a few words. For several months, Vika, from her helpless state, tried to talk and communicate. Doctors were shocked. Denis had to play a record of Vika’s answers to his questions to convince doctors that this was actually happening. Some doctors now turned to Denis as a specialist in the rehabilitation of patients of this type, even discussed the possibility of his report at a medical conference. Vika learned to eat herself again, doctors were able to restore her ability to sit. There seemed to be hope, but Vika’s condition worsened with muscle stiffness, pressure sores, and catastrophic weight loss: with a growth of almost 180, Vika began to weigh less than 40 kilograms. With such complications, Vika's condition worsened, and progress was replaced by regression.

     Despite the deterioration, Denis continued the struggle for the life of Vika. Every day he spent several hours in prayer to God, to strengthen his trust in God, cried almost every day during these prayers. He was helped by words of comfort from the Bible: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13. “ For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. ” Hebrews 2:18. He studied the book of Job. Denis kept a “Diary of Awareness,” writing down his thoughts, feelings, and decisions every day in order to have a clear plan of action. Seeing how desperately Vika was fighting for her life against all the predictions of the doctors, Denis felt supported by this incredible power. At some point, he realized that he himself needed rest and care, and began to take time to relax with disciples and friends, to prevent emotional and physical burnout. At such joint events, Denis charged people around with his faith in the goodness of God—he was invariably a servant, attentive to the joys and sorrows of others, did not close himself in his ordeal, did not sink into unbelief and despondency. He began to lead a group of senior disciples of the “Crown of Glory” (Golden age) church.

     September 13, 2019 Vika died. Her heart stopped a second time, and now forever. The news of her death was no less a shock to the Church than the news of a sudden illness. Denis’s messages about Vika’s health for those who didn’t see her personally in these three years evoked a feeling of optimism, giving hope, if not soon, but for recovery. As I already wrote, Denis has always believed in the healing of his wife for all three years. His sermon on June 9, 2019, “Time of Trials,” became a true hymn of trust in God, like the psalms of David. The departure of his wife to heaven did not make Denis's trust in God less, although her death was a real shock to him. 

    The daughter of Viktoria and Denis—Vera (her name means “faith” in Russian)—is now a teenager, and she is studying the Bible. She shared that the support of her father, Denis, helped her survive the time of her mother’s illness. If at the beginning Vera felt loneliness: “I came home from school, but nobody was at home. Mom was in the hospital, dad was next to her,” a little later Denis began to devote a lot of time to Vera. Vera felt that the surrounding people were embarrassing. Many wanted to support Vika’s daughter, but did not know how to do it. And Vera herself learned to support others, tried to smile. In a summer Christian children camp, Vera heard the Bible lesson made by the counselor about how Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son for God, and for her this lesson became a great consolation in her woe. Vera’s advice: share your grief with friends and relatives, do not get locked in grief, and reflect a lot.

     For three years, Vika’s illness affected the spiritual condition of the entire Vladivostok church. The disciples share that the lessons they learned over these three years are very different: this is the idea that if you need to talk with someone, maybe solve the conflict—do not put this off, because there may not be such an opportunity. This is the ability to value those who are close, to be more tender to each other, even if your relationship resembles Proverbs 27:17. This is the desire to fill a gap in the breach of the wall (Ezek. 22:30), fulfilling the duties that Vika carried in the Church.

     For many disciples, these three years have become a time of serious Bible study about the grace of God, because the usual worldly reaction to such a situation is the loss of faith and hope, and immersion in grief. The most common question that the disciples asked these three years to God and each other was: “Why didn’t the Lord take Vika to himself right away?” The answer to this question is not open to everyone even now (even Denis says it), when Vika is already with the Lord. But the impact of this test on the Vladivostok Church is obvious: we became more mature in our trust in God, not only during joy. We learned to pray through tears, rely on His mercy even when from a worldly point of view one should lose all hope. We spent a lot of time in prayers to God on our knees, in search of real humility before His will. We learned to rejoice during the trials, got a stunning example of Denis’s faith.

     When I come to the next meeting of the disciples, where Vika will not be, I will already be accustomed to missing her. And again, I will imagine how in Heaven we will be greeted with glee, into which Vika's voice is now entangled with a loud laugh (1 Chronicles 16:31). See you, dear!