By Elena Polaskova
Translated by Martina Gembalova
My name is Elena, and I was born in the Soviet Union in 1963, when God’s Word was still forbidden. I knew Karl Marx’s famous statement, “Religion is the opium of the people” all too well, and my family members didn’t believe in God, except for my grandmother Evdokija, who worshiped an image of God that hung in a corner of her room.
At the time, I had no idea there were other believers, except for the badly dressed and illiterate old women who wore scarves and went to church to pray from time to time. When I looked at them, I thought, Karl Marx was right!
During my third year at the university I met a Czechoslovak man who was there on the Druzhba (Friendship) exchange program. After graduation we married and moved back to his country.
My mother-in-law, Esther, made a strong impression on me. She had a cheerful, helpful, and open nature, and she became my only friend until I met other women my age. But I was shocked to discover that my husband’s family was religious, and I was very disappointed that he had not shared this important information with me before we married. You see, I was an atheist, and now I was married to a believer! They tried to persuade me of their “truth,” but I was quite adamant. “Leave me alone about your God and your Bible,” I said. “I don’t want to discuss this!”
They respected my wishes.
Blessed
Gradually I began to learn about the Bible in a way that was acceptable to me: logical and understandable. That method of learning continues today. Three years later, I was baptized, and my extraordinary life with God began.
I enjoyed going to the Seventh-day Adventist church, and tried to participate in all their events. I got involved in presenting healthy cooking classes and shared Jesus with my family in Russia. The Lord blessed my efforts, and my parents decided to get baptized. Then my friend Natasha, her mother, and another friend were baptized, followed by my husband and his older brother in Slovakia. Even my sister-in-law and her daughter were baptized after his abrupt death, and I praise God for all of them!
My desire to read the Bible and learn more about Jesus and His ministry ignited a passion to share this with others. So when I heard a call in church for literature evangelists, I quit my elementary school job immediately. It had been a good way to learn the Slovak language, and the salary was adequate. But there wasn’t much to do, so it became monotonous. Now I was working for the Lord, though, and for the next six years He blessed my work and five people were baptized as a result. I thank God for those wonderful experiences!
Bitterness
However, there’s more to this story. Six months after my baptism, an American pastor held a large evangelistic series in our city. Many people attended the meetings, and I was one of those who assisted by giving Bible studies. When it was over, so many people were baptized that we had to start a whole new church!
The new believers needed a lot of instruction on how to study the Bible and how to know and implement God’s will into their lives. But along the way, the problems that arose created an unfriendly atmosphere. For six years I struggled to overcome those problems, but finally, I was so disappointed that I stopped going to church. Not long afterwards, problems with my marriage ended in a divorce, and I felt very alone. I longed for fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Jesus, and I still believed in the church doctrines. I faithfully returned my tithe, and never worked on Sabbath. I even tried to encourage others to attend my former church, but it was hard to invite people to a church service I didn’t attend myself. But God was merciful, and some of those people actually did come.
He Spoke To Me
During that lonely time I began asking, Lord, are there any other people on this earth with whom I can fellowship? Are there any who can love me as their sister in Christ, people who I can love in return?
I had always appreciated the words of Ellen White, since they had strengthened my faith and kept me from becoming disappointed with God. Now, as I read her writings, I longed to find others who wanted that same close relationship that she had with Him.
Time passed, and one Friday night I began searching for something spiritual on the Internet—and that’s when I discovered 3ABN Russia! The first program I watched was Marina Potapova’s testimony on our Face to Face program, and I nearly stopped breathing when I realized that God was speaking through her to me!
I couldn’t take my eyes off the computer and tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched for six hours. Finally, I understood God’s answer to my prayer: Elena, the people who surrender their lives to My leading are your brothers and sisters!
Deep Forgiveness
Another essential message I received was that my relationship with my former brothers and sisters from church was not right. I needed to repent from my sin of hatred; however, forgiveness did not come easily.
Finally, I did exactly what I’d heard in those testimonies: I knelt down, closed my eyes, and poured everything out to the Lord. I told Him, I don’t love them, Lord, and I don’t know what to do with these feelings.
His answer? Go to church!
The impression was very strong, but the miracle didn’t happen in my heart until I was on my way to church the next month.
The closer I got, the more I felt a great love for these people welling up inside me. This was not ordinary sympathy. It was an unearthly, ethereal love. By the time I arrived, I couldn’t help but hug and kiss every one of them—I simply loved them all! This overwhelming feeling remained for several hours. It was extraordinary and delightful!
God’s Love
I’ve had this same experience several other times, as well. A good friend whom I’d known for 19 years was married to a man whom I honestly did not like because of the way he treated her. I’d told him how I felt several times, pleading with him to change his behavior, but nothing helped.
One day, as I visited them, he began complaining about work—how difficult it was, and how people weren’t very nice. “Nothing ever works out for me,” he complained.
And then it happened. I was suddenly compelled to tell him that he was the one who needed to change, but even as I spoke those words, I felt God’s powerful love for this struggling soul, and it grew stronger by the minute.
Unexpectedly, he began to agree with me, and before long he was begging God for forgiveness, right there in the kitchen! Now both of us were crying so much that we could hear the tears dripping onto the kitchen table. His wife and I were stunned as he confessed to her that he was to blame for his failures—something he’d never been able to admit before. Then, turning to me, he asked what he should do, so I gave him a link to some 3ABN Russian programs on relationships that had just been translated into Slovak.
Finally, I understood clearly that the most important words in Heaven are unconditional love, and that the most severe sin is to not love! 1 John 3:10–14 says, “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.” (Emphasis supplied.) God used those experiences to make clear that He wanted me back in church, and I thank Him for giving me the wisdom and strength to do so.
I could not keep what God had done for me to myself, so I decided to share it with those around me. I realized that many problems could be solved with the help of 3ABN Russian programs, so I began to show them to a small group at church. Soon a decision was made to translate them into Slovak and distribute them via personal e-mail contacts to approximately 300 people. The feedback was huge! People loved the programs, so we decided to start our own website to post 3ABN programs and articles.
Talents
During this time, through God’s leading, I realized I needed to support 3ABN Russia financially. Later, I was invited by the network to come visit them in Russia, and what a great blessing it was to see how they operated!
At the time I was working as a business trainer, and Tatiana Malysheva asked me to record a program called, “Leadership and Christianity” for the 3ABN Russia television series called, My Character and Me. God blessed, and I was able to get a permit to return to Nizhny Novgorod the following year for the recording. While I was there I was asked to provide the TV staff with some training on how to better understand each other at work, using information about personality types.
Now I must mention an important matter. Before my second visit to Russia, God distinctly impressed me three times that I could best use all the talents He’d given me in Russia, and particularly in Nizhny Novgorod. So you can imagine why I was quick to agree after I got the call to work there!
This was a big step for me, since I’d be leaving the place I know to live in a completely new city, and a country that I don’t know very well at all. But the Lord prepared me in advance by revealing His will for me very clearly.
I’m so happy that I could serve the Lord in both management and in the creation of new programs. I volunteered for seven months as 3ABN Russia’s production manager as I waited for my temporary resident permit, but I often remembered my prayer six years before, “My Heavenly Father, You have given me so many talents. You have taught me so many precious things. Please send me where I can best honor Your gifts and work for You and for humanity!”
May His Holy Name be glorified!
EDITOR’S NOTE: For health reasons, Elena returned to Slovakia in 2016, where she continues to serve the Lord. We remember the happiness she brought to so many while she worked with us at 3ABN Russia.