God Has a Purpose and a Plan for Us: the Luba Lisitsyna story

At 14 years old, the 2nd born child of Gregory and Luba Lisitsyn had a knack for language. At school growing up in the small town of Seltso, Russia she excelled in it. As she grew older she would commute to the big city of Bryansk by train then bus for an hour and a half one way everyday to round out that education. This little girl's name is Luba, which comes from the Russian root word of "love." It was during these years after the fall of communism and the opening up of outside travelers that many western Christians began coming to Russia and to Bryansk for the first time and even to the small town of Seltso. Groups came from Kentucky, Michigan, Texas and from Maine to this small town where the main industry is a bomb factory. It is a bit of a commuter village as it is connected by the "electric train" for those to go to work in the big city of Bryansk 20 miles away. During communist times this whole region was totally closed to outside visitors for security reasons, but in the 1990's these American visitors were passing through and connecting with churches, passing out Bibles, building Church buildings and developing friendships. There was a pastor from Bangor, Maine that developed a special place in his heart for the small town of Seltso having worked there on mission trips with teams from his church, and a special relationship grew between he and Luba's family who were Baptist Christians. Young Luba Lisitsyna was used as an English translator for the first time when this group arrived, and she was so proud to use her English in a productive way. She caught the attention of the group from Maine, and a special invitation came to the table. How about the possibility of this Bangor, Maine family sponsoring young Luba to receive an English speaking American education in Maine?
Why Maine? She had relatives who had immigrated to Seattle, and the Russian population in Washington was on its way to swelling to 100,000. That would make more sense. She also had other American friends they had grown to love from Texas. It was during those tough economic days while the new government was restructuring that huge numbers of the protestant Christians were immigrating to the USA at an astounding pace. Some Russian churches were losing more than half their membership as they were leaving under a policy the Russian government had adopted to let as many Christians go as wanted to leave. Often claiming "religious persecution" the US government gladly accepted them, and many left. But no was immigrating to Maine. Even though her parents had opportunities to leave Russia, and many of their family members who were pressuring them to get away from this land that formerly persecuted Christians, mom and dad did not go. But, strategically (even though they did not know it at the time), they sent their daughter for an education to New England.
When this little 14 year old arrived in Bangor, it was total culture shock for her. She thought she knew English, but was totally overwhelmed with all her school subjects being taught in a foriegn language to her. Math, science, music, and sports were all things she excelled in at home, but now she was quickly finding failure for the first time in everything. She found herself daily after school hiding in her bedroom provided by her host family so that she didn't have to face anyone. She just couldn't handle the pressure of the constant bombardment of a new world, new food, new style of life, and a different language. Even church life was a shock for this little traditional Baptist girl who found herself in a non-denominational contemporary style Maine church. It was just not working at all. After three miserable months the Bangor pastor realized how bad things were and contacted her parents with a translator and told them that the experiment was failing and that Luba should come home. Luba then spoke with her parents on this very long and expensive phone call and begged them to let her come home immediately. Of course they loved her and were going to protect her, but her father finally got on the phone and said something that has totally altered and shaped the rest of her life. He told her that God gave her a gift and he believed a calling, and that somehow she needed to see this through. Somehow he and his wife felt that this was God's plan and that if she would see this through, God would bless it in untold ways. The bottom line is that he told her that she can do it, so finish this task at hand. After a tearful phone conversation on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, she agreed to stick it out. Her attitude and perspective changed, and she says that about three months later, she woke up one day and it all began to click. Her grades began to soar, her involvement in sports and church grew, and it all came together.
After attending Bangor Christian School for awhile she did come back home to Bryansk and finished High School. But with her Maine connections she was offered a scholarship from the University of Maine and graduated there with a degree in International business. Before her senior year she married a fine young man from Bryansk named Pasha and even went back to Maine to finish her senior year while she was pregnant with their first born. All the while her husband was in Bryansk.
Today Luba has been a critical piece of so much of the advancement of Kingdom work in Bryansk. Its not at all just because her English is so strong and she has helped countless Americans (like those from our Church, including me of course). While she was in Maine she got a idea; and inspirations; a dream as it were. A dream of seeing a school come to Russia and Bryansk where Christ is the center. She also felt she could use her English as a way to connect with the growing population of Russians who were seeking to better their business life by learning English. She felt the deep burden of wondering why the traditional Church of Russia so badly overlooks and shuts the door on the secular minded lifestyle of so many around her.
Today Luba has a secular English Linguist School in Bryansk. She and her husband Pasha were key people in starting the History Maker Church in Bryansk, with the vision of reaching the secular young people who were searching. Pasha is the Pastor and is developing a healthy construction business. She has not starting a Christian school and is not sure how to do this yet, but she is only 27. Her father and uncle together coordinate and run the Christian Campground Yolochka in a wonderful strategic way. Two weeks ago at the History Maker Camp Pasha and Luba hosted a camp experience at Yolochka for secular people. She carefully invited several of her students, and many came. They were ALL blown away by the caring atmosphere and the attitude and witness of a relationship to God in Christ. The theme of the camp was "what are your dreams and what is your purpose". On opening night she shared the above story to tell people that God has a purpose for your life, and you can find it too. She told everyone how that her fathers words to her at 14 years old led her to inviting all of them to this camp this week. God wants to work in your life too.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile