Reflections on life in Russia (from Will)

I love Russia. I love living in Russia. I believe God has given me this love. However, sometimes I realize that I have become ‘too Russian’ in my thinking or outlook. Life can be hard here. Russian history has hardened the people of Russia. I myself, I shouldn’t be hardened, though. God has given me a love for these people, to the extent that I would rather live here than in the country I was born in. And I need HIM to constantly renew, to deepen that love, to RE-sensitize my heart to those who are literally dying in their sin, without hope, without a future, without God.


I want to introduce you to friend of mine, Kolya. Nikolai Sergeyevich, to be proper. Kolya lives in our apartment building, the next entrance over from us. Almost a next-door neighbor, you could say.
Kolya is a character, but a classic, modern Russian character. He is definitely one of a kind, but he also embodies many common characteristics of the men of his generation. He’s his mid fifties, but could pass for 65 or so. A hard life and hard living have had their toll on him.

Kolya is a true ‘Kovrovan.’ He was born in somebody’s vegetable garden right here in Kovrov, on the way to the hospital. His mother was fairly poor and later gave her son into the tender arms of a state institution. Kolya grew up in one of Kovrov’s Orphanage/Boarding schools, and matured into a tough, rough, self-made man. The army was where he really ‘became a man,’ like so many others. He served his time and then some, as a sergeant, and a good one, to hear him tell.
After retiring from the army, Kolya went to work for the city, maintaining and repairing electrical systems all over the city. (Much of that including residential work, here.) He’s still working, and is a hard worker.

It’s good he’s still working. He’s also a hard drinker, and more than likely, work keeps him from drinking himself to death. Not too long ago, coming home after a long time of ‘counseling’ a buddy on woman troubles over a few drinks, Kolya tripped, fell... and fractured three ribs. Maybe more than a few drinks, come to think of it. Kolya did a ‘watch this’ kind of trick in front of me once. He showed me a little bottle of ‘red pepper extract,’ sold at the pharmacies for heart problems. ‘See this, Will? This here is 90% alcohol!’ he says, as he pours it into a small glass half full of water. He was already a little under the influence, but as he downed his cocktail at one gulp and walked away, he wasn’t staggering any more than usual. Impressive? I don’t quite know.
He recently said he’d just come back from the hospital, and the doctor had given him orders to drink at least every day. He said that his blood pressure was so bad when he didn’t have any alcohol in him that the doctor had actually said it would be better for him to stay a little drunk at all times! I think I miiiiiight believe that. I do know that there are various medicinal ‘extracts’ sold in little bottles at the pharmacies for only 6-9 rubles, and they’re quite popular with all the neighborhood drunks. Doctor’s orders! It’s good for the heart! Hey, and it’s 40-90% straight ethanol, too... will wonders never cease!


My friend Kolya is one of the building’s ‘official’ electricians, and is called on to fix things fairly regularly, so we see him around a lot. As I’ve spent time outside cleaning up, working on things around the building, I’ve gotten to know Kolya better. He loves to walk up and just talk for a while, educating me on everything from politics to history to child raising.

When we had some fairly serious electrical problems recently, we had the whole building up in arms because we called in an ‘outsider.’ We had checked and none of ‘our guys’ were home, so we got a newspaper and called the first ad that looked promising. Oh, and what widespread admonishment, reproof and scorn there was!!
The ‘outsider’ came and went, promised to return another day...and never returned, wouldn’t answer phone calls, wasn’t available, etc. for days. Finally we tired of the glares from Kolya and all the other old men, repented of our foolishness, and asked him to help! Having come to our senses, we were given the ‘neighbors know best’ lecture, along with many others aimed to strengthen our communal spirit.

Kolya then spent several days trying to set things straight, figuring out what had gone wrong where, and trying to fix it. (Half the apartment was without electricity.)
Having spent time thinking about our problems, he evidently was inspired... or something! The next morning he came knocking at the door and blearily informed Phyllis: “I have the solution -I know what’s wrong in your wiring! God revealed it to me last night when I was drunk!!” How do you reply to something like that?!
As Kolya himself said one evening, “Russians are amazing people, huh, Will? Might be drunk, but we still want to work! I want to get the job finished that I started here, a little drunk or not!” Of course, with Kolya, sadly, ‘a little drunk’ describes him roughly 45 percent of the time.
We don’t really mind helping Kolya, by letting him do this work for us. We didn’t want to at first, but we changed our minds. It’s always good to keep peace with the neighbors. We did wonder what his wife thought about it, though. I’m sure she minded. Extra money can only mean extra ‘medication,’ or at least larger amounts. That is where our second thoughts come in, of course.


Sometimes Kolya refers to God around us. He knows we are believers, after all. He himself wears a cross, and swears by St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker. He goes on about how St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker keeps him safe. “Every day, when I’m working with high voltage, or right before I open an electrical panel, I always cross myself and pray to St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker. Once I forgot, and well, lemme tell you, I had a pretty bad accident! Never again!”
Hmmm. I guess with the falling and fracturing his ribs, he had forgotten to cross himself before setting out for home. It’s rather sad, but that’s really about as far as Kolya’s conception of faith in God has gotten. And that’s about the extent of any discussion of spiritual truths. I talk about God... and he talks about good old St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker.

I try to point Kolya to God, but a self-made man anywhere in the world tends to be hard of hearing spiritually. Not to mention a man hardened by a hard life and an army career in Soviet Russia. Aside from that, everyone knows that a serious, ‘sincere Russian Orthodox believer’ categorically turns away from any semblance of worldly pleasures and goes around looking serious and sad all the time. They forsake everything that the common man finds comfort in: drinking, smoking, drinking, dancing, drinking, partying... and what kind of life is that??? (Religious options outside of Russian Orthodoxy are not considered viable by the common man here. All else is seen as heresy and dangerous cultish groups, thanks to general ignorance and effective propaganda.)

So what do I say? What do I do? Pray he doesn’t kill himself by alcohol poisoning before he understands that he needs God on a personal level, and not just the intervention of his favorite ‘intercessor,’ St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker? I do pray. The heartbreaking tragedy of it all also hurts me, makes me take another look at ‘that old drunk.’ This is a man who has had a full life. A full life of hardship, both self-inflicted as well as simply a byproduct of the times he’s lived in. His grandfather spent 14 years in Siberia for a chance comment made in the workplace. He doesn’t talk about his father, probably didn’t know him, and his mother handed him off for the government to raise. All he has known in hardness. Jack London is one of his all time favorite authors. ‘He writes about real life, don’t he... survival of the meanest! I understand that... I’m tough, I’m mean.”
Still, even with such claims, Kolya is friendly, open, faithful to his word, faithful to his own understanding of right conduct. He goes on about how faithful his men in the army were to him. “Didn’t lose a single one of them, took care of them like my own children.”
His friendship is unfeigned, even if it has a healthy dose of self interest in it. “You can always rely on me for help, Will. Don’t ever call any of those dishonest ‘professionals’ in the newspaper again. We’re moving soon, but here’s my new number... call me and I’ll be over to help as soon as I can!”
I can have him help with electrical problems, sure, but how do I help him with the need of his own heart and soul which just cries out to me? Kolya has no hope for the future. He has no trust in the leaders of his country. He sees nothing to plan for, to look forward to. His children don’t respect him or understand what he’s lived through. Life is just existence to exist. Recently he told me “What really scares me, Will, is when I think about my children, about my grandchildren - what future do they HAVE? What do they have to look forward to in life? What can I tell them? Nothing!”


I can only pray that God changes his heart, that the Holy Spirit will convict him of God’s righteousness, of his own sin, and of the coming judgment; that God will show Kolya his very own personal need of a Savior. Maybe God will see fit to use me in some way. I don’t know. I do know that He has used Kolya to begin RE-sensitizing my heart once again to the crying need of those around me.

Pray for hearts broken by the needs around us, for lives always ready to be used to display God’s love. Most of all, pray that God would work in us, through us, and use us to draw needy people to Himself.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope I’ve helped give you a better picture of our life, ministry and our daily challenges here. Thank you for your prayers, and for your support of us. We treasure you and want to communicate better and more often to you our needs, our blessings... our life here in Russia.