Good News from
John & Julie Muhly in Russia .

"Pastor Mikhail and Lyuba Starilov serve at Holy Communion Lutheran Church in Borisoglebsk. We asked them to share a bit about how the Lord has worked in their lives to call them to full-time ministry. Lyuba wrote: 'I was born and grew up in Izhevsk, Republic of Udmurtia, Russia, in an atheist family, but when I was 13, I felt a strong

desire to pray to God. I prayed secretly, without telling anybody, and decided I wanted to be a Christian, although I didn't know much about it. I decided I would live an honest life and do good to others. When a friend of mine heard that I called myself a believer, she laughed and said it wasn't so, because I was not baptized. I thought I should be baptized and when I was 15, my family and I were baptized in the Orthodox church. I really wanted to read the Bible, but nobody could explain it to me at the time. I did not understand it, which made me very sad.

" 'After I finished school, I worked as a nurse's aid and saw nurses reading the Bible in their free time, seemingly without any problem reading and understanding it. I was amazed by that. On their invitation, I went to an evangelical church. One year later, I was leading a youth group and teaching Sunday school children. In 1994, my church met Finnish Lutherans. They offered our young people the opportunity to study at the Theological Institute of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria. Although at the time I was studying to be a psychologist and also had a full-time job, I had a great desire to serve God and I joined the program, going to Koltushi periodically and leaving everything behind. It was in Koltushi that I really learned about Lutheranism. While I was studying there, I met Mikhail, who lived in Borisoglebsk.

" 'In his early childhood, his grandmother had him read portions from the Bible as a character-building exercise. While attending technical school, for the first time in his life, he heard a sermon that was spoken by the first head pastor of a local Lutheran congregation. After the sermon, Mikhail came up to the pastor to ask questions. Soon after, he began to come regularly to his home where they studied the Bible and prayed together. That same year, Mikhail was confirmed. When he was 17, he went to study at the Theological Institute in Koltushi. He finished his studies after completing his compulsory military service. In 1998, he was ordained as deacon. He and I communicated by correspondence and prayed for a long time to find out whether or not it was God's will for us to be together. In 1998, we married and began to serve the Lord together in the Holy Communion congregation in Borisoglebsk. The same year, a house was purchased for the congregation where we worship now.

" 'Since 1999, we have had a Sunday school, a diaconal group ministry, a prayer group, and a sports group for youth. At different times, we have done crafts classes for kids. We hold Bible studies and, from time to time, seminars. Many in Borisoglebsk don't like having a Lutheran church in town. Because of that, Mikhail and two other church members suffered discrimination four years ago. Sometimes things are very hard, but we receive encouragement from our Christian friends in different congregations of our church. For the nine years of serving together in Borisoglebsk, many have heard God's Word through our congregation, and many of the refugees who live in town have been to our worship services. Some of them are members of our church now. Mikhail and I know that our Lord is the only source of everything he and I have.'"

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