An unlikely church planter

CMF missionaries Cory and Janice Lemke have been training church-planters in the Ukraine since their arrival there in 1995. As they recently looked back over their 15-year work, they shared this story about a fisherman named Victor that illustrates the change God can bring about in the hardest of hearts.

One morning, Victor decided to go fishing. He was a good fisherman and always caught many fish, but that day, his bobber did not even move. He tried all kinds of bait, but nothing worked. Such a thing had never happened to him before.

Before heading home, he decided to eat something. While looking for a knife, he found a copy of the gospel of John in his bag. He figured his wife Olya, a Christian, had put it there. He usually tossed out all Christian literature she brought home, but this time, he had no one to show off for so he decided to see what it said. When he began to read, he forgot about everything else. He forgot to eat and forgot it was time to go home. He read it from beginning to end.

Victor knew he was a sinner, but did not see any hope for his situation. Now as he read John’s words, he understood Jesus Christ was the hope and the answer. He read and prayed, asking God for forgiveness and help.

In the past when he had visited the Evangelical Baptist Church, he felt as if people were watching him. Of course, he had once promised to bring a canister of gasoline to burn the place down and see how those sect-followers jumped out the windows, so it was not surprising that they were a little leery of him. However, just the day before, Olya had told him some Americans would be visiting the church service. Since American visitors were extremely rare, he wanted to see them.

With an angry heart, he arrived at the church service. Since too many people came to hold the service inside, they met outside that Sunday. When Victor saw those Americans, each one well over six feet tall, his aggression cooled. When one of them told how people laughed at him after he became a Christian, Victor’s anger disappeared. More than anything, he feared that people would mock him. These Americans were his brothers.

The pastor invited him to return the next Sunday. He did, but stood in the entryway and listened to the service through the open door. When he finally felt ready to enter the room, he sat on the last bench. The word of God worked in him and he decided to publicly repent the following Sunday. At the end of the service the pastor said, “Anyone can turn to God right now.”

Victor grabbed the chair in order to stand up, but his hands became glued to the seat. He could smell strong fumes of paint and thought, “Why didn’t they tell me? Why didn’t they put a sign on the chair that they had painted it? How will I look when I go forward and the whole church sees me with paint? That would that would not be repentance, but a circus.”

The church service ended and everyone left the room but Victor. He decided to wait until everyone left even the yard so he could leave unnoticed. The young pastor came up, put a hand on his shoulder, and asked, “Victor, why are you sitting?”

“You painted the chair and I sat on it.”

“We did not paint anything.”

At that moment, the smell of paint disappeared and Victor’s hands became free. “I can’t understand this. I could smell fresh paint. Honestly.”

The pastor smiled and said, “You probably wanted to turn to God. Let’s pray right now.”

“No, my desire has faded. Maybe next Sunday.”

As he drove to the House of Prayer the next Sunday, he decided not to sit at all and stood through the service, waiting for the altar call. In his thoughts, he addressed his invisible enemy, “You will not get me this time.”

As soon as the pastor gave the invitation, Victor realized with a shock that his body from his waist down was paralyzed. His legs felt as though they were filled with lead and each leg weighed a ton. He could not move his legs, much less take a step.

When the service ended, he continued standing in the middle of the aisle, getting in the way of people leaving. His feet still felt glued to the floor. People walked around him, smiled to him, and shook his hand. The pastor came up and asked, “What happened?”

“You see, I cannot move from this spot.” At that moment, his legs returned to normal.

At the next church service he went quickly to the front as soon as the service began, without waiting for the altar call. When he fell to his knees, the beautiful prayer he prepared at home evaporated from his memory. How he prayed or what words he used, he doesn’t know. When he opened his eyes, the whole church was crying.

The believers cried, rejoiced, and congratulated him with hugs. The persecutor, who tormented their sister and promised to burn the House of Prayer, had repented. For half a year they had prayed for him. God answered and the church rejoiced. But Victor did not feel anything special or different.

He thought, “Probably God did not forgive me, such a big sinner.” So every free moment that week, he searched the Bible for an answer but found none. As they prepared for church service the next Sunday, he put his hand in his coat pocket and found a whole pack of cigarettes. That meant he had not smoked for the whole week. He had not even thought about it, never even had a craving. It was impossible, something only God could do. He understood God had forgiven him and received him.

The following year, 1993, the pastor began asking Victor to preach occasionally. Victor always chose the same theme for his sermons: the love of God. In 1995, he enrolled in a distance education course that prepared him for ministry. In 1998, he joined the Lemke’s training program and became one of their most effective church planters.