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A single mother told me she had no interest in religion until her severely disabled daughter began attending a church camp. When the girl desired confirmation, the mother agreed reluctantly to attend her daughter's first Communion. "I stood in line, nervous, resistant, with the other parents. And there I got a direct revelation. 'My body is broken for you,' God said. 'Not just your daughter, but you.' "

In Moscow I asked my translator how he had come to faith. He knew the communist propaganda was false, he said, so he bought a book touted as an exposé of religion. Since the atheistic author seemed most scornful of Baptists, he went to a Baptist church and there was converted.

After I had listened to discouraging stories from missionaries, and then met these scattered individuals, another Bible scene came to mind, that of the prophet Elijah cowering in a cave, frightened by opposition and discouraged by the apparent lack of results. God reminded him, "Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal." Elijah promptly left his cave and recruited Elisha.

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

For more articles on Russia, see Christianity Today's World Report.

Previous Yancey columns for Christianity Today include:

Jesus' Sword | Longing for peace in tumultuous times. (Jan. 7, 2002)

Guilt Good and Bad | The early warning signs. (Nov. 11, 2002)

God's Funeral | What will keep faith from nearly disappearing in America? (Sept. 3, 2002)

Sheepish | Feeling autonomous and proud? Then ponder the lives of sheep. (July 2, 2002)

Servant in Chief | Jimmy Carter's journey from the White House to building houses.(May 28, 2002)

Why Do They Hate Us? | How to turn the Baywatch syndrome into the Jesus syndrome. (March 27, 2002)

Honest Church Marketing | We enhance our 'image' by offering the world a realistic picture of faith. (October 24, 2001)

Compassion Confusion | We should serve the needy even when it has bad political consequences. (August 28, 2001)

Fixing Our Weakest Link | Evangelicals should be more "needful of the minds of others." (July 13, 2001)

Replenishing the Inner Pastor | Churches should take greater interest in their shepherds' spiritual health. (May 14, 2001)

Beyond Flesh and Blood | I used to disdain biblical talk of "invisible spirits." No more. (Mar. 27, 2001)

God at Large | A look around the globe reveals a God as big as we want him to be. (Jan. 31, 2001)

Humility's Many Faces | Everyone I've looked up to has shared one trait. (Dec. 4, 2000)

Getting a Life | The most fully alive persons are those who give their lives away. (Oct. 16, 2000)

Yancey's Where is God When it Hurts, Special Edition and Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church are available on Christianbook.com.

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March 2003, Vol. 47, No. 3