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Mission
YOUTH & ADULT
2021 • QUARTER 1 • EURO-ASIA DIVISION
AdventistMission.org
Contents
O n t he Cover: Olga Noshin, 34, survived a terrible car crash without a scratch, forever changing
her marriage and her walk with God in Zaoksky, Russia. Story, page 14.
RUSSIA KYRGYZSTAN
4 Memory Stick Controversy | Jan. 2 22 Sports Changes Lives | March 6
6 Gift of Tongues | Jan. 9
24 A Book and a School | March 13
8 A New Person | Jan. 16
10 Making Friends With God | Jan. 23 UKRAINE
12 Ivan’s Greatest Day | Jan. 30
26 Rowdy First Grader | March 20
14 Life-Shattering Crash | Feb. 6
16 Skipping School for Church | Feb. 13 28 Thirteenth Sabbath: Teach Us to Pray | March 27
18 Astonished Physician | Feb. 20 30 Future Thirteenth Sabbath Projects
VEILED COUNTRY* 31 Leader’s Resources
20 Thanking God for the Table | Feb. 27 32 Map
= stories of special interest to teens
*A “veiled country” is a country that Adventist Mission has chosen
not to identify because of regional sensitivities involving Christianity.
Yo u r O f f e r i n g s a t W o r k
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering three years
ago helped construct this gym at South Union © 2021 General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists ® • All rights reserved
Adventist College in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan. Read 12501 Old Columbia Pike,
Silver Spring, MD 20904-6601
stories from the school on pages 22-25. 1-800-648-5824 • AdventistMission.org
2
D e a r S a b b a t h S c h o o l L e a d e r, Andrew McChesney
Editor
A remarkable story is unfolding across first Protestant seminary
the Euro-Asia Division, where the number in the Soviet Union when
of church schools has surged from 14 in the institution now known as Zaoksky
2012 to more than 50 today. Adventist University opened outside
“There are many reasons why schools Moscow in 1988. But compared with
are opening quickly now, but one of the other parts of the world, Adventist
main reasons is it is the right time and the schools got a slow start in the vast
right place for God to fulfill His plans,” territory of the Euro-Asia Division, partly
Mikhail Kaminskiy told me during his because of the seven decades of Soviet
2015-20 term as president of the Euro- rule. Brave Adventists who surreptitiously
translated church cofounder Ellen White’s
Asia Division.
writings into Russian intentionally
Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering
omitted her advice to open church
will make a big difference to Adventist
schools over fears of needlessly provoking
education by helping two schools construct
the authorities.
their own buildings on the campuses of As a result, it was only after the 1991
Zaoksky Adventist University in Russia Soviet collapse that church members
and the Ukrainian Adventist Center began to read White’s counsel such
of Higher Education, a college located as: “In all our churches, and wherever
outside Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Currently there is a company of believers, church
the combined elementary schools and high schools should be established: and in
schools borrow classroom space from the these schools there should be teachers
Russian university and Ukrainian college. who have the true missionary spirit for
The Adventist Church established the the children are to be trained to become
missionaries” (The Southern Review, July
18, 1899). The first elementary school was
Opportunities opened in 1990 at Zaoksky.
The Thirteenth Sabbath Offering The Euro-Asia Division is home to
this quarter will help the Euro-Asia 330.4 million people, including 107,252
Division to: Adventists in 13 countries. That’s a ratio
of one Adventist for 3,080 people.
Construct three-story preschool, You can download PDFs of the youth
elementary school, and high school on the and adult Mission magazine at bit.ly/
campus of Ukrainian Adventist Center of
Higher Education in Bucha, Ukraine adultmission and the Children’s Mission
magazine at bit.ly/childrensmission.
AdventistMission.org
Construct two-story preschool, If I can be of assistance, contact me at
elementary school, and high school
on the campus of Zaoksky Adventist mcchesneya@gc.adventist.org.
University in Tula region, Russia Thank you for encouraging your church
to be mission-minded!
3
Memory Stick Controversy
RUSSIA | January 2
Alyona Pirozhok, 20
filling station. The man was very kind and
gave them unlimited cups of free herbal
tea to drink as they waited.
Finally, the bus was fixed and ready to
go. The students boarded the vehicle,
thanked Alyona’s father for his assistance,
and resumed the trip to Minsk.
About an hour later, Alyona suddenly
felt a strong desire to return to the filling
station. She wanted to give the kind
worker a memory stick with Ellen White’s
A lyona wanted to return to Zaoksky
Adventist University when the
lights went out and the heat stopped
“The Great Controversy.” The memory
stick was a witnessing tool that she and
her friends liked to give strangers.
working during a cold, winter bus trip. “We need to return to the gas station,”
The other students in her singing group she announced.
felt the same way. They were tired, and The group groaned.
they didn’t know whether the bus could “We should give a memory stick to that
be fixed. The bus with ten people was five man,” she persisted.
hours into a 12-hour trip from Zaoksky, “Yes, we should have given him a
Russia, to Minsk, Belarus. memory stick,” said a student, Nikita.
The students decided to call Alyona’s “But we’re not going to go back.”
father back at the university to see whether The students discussed the dilemma
he could help. Alyona’s father, who knew for 10 minutes. They wanted to give the
a lot about fixing cars and buses, told them memory stick to the kind worker, but it
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
to wait at the next filling station and he didn’t seem like a good use of time to turn
would drive over to take a look. around. Nikita was the most adamant in
The students waited four hours for insisting that they keep driving to Belarus.
Alyona’s father to arrive. Then they Suddenly, Nikita changed his mind.
waited another two hours as he fixed the “We have to go back,” he said.
bus. While they waited, they spoke with “Why!” everyone exclaimed in unison.
a tall, muscular man who worked at the Nikita looked embarrassed.
4“I forgot my cell phone at the filling
R U S S I A
station,” he said, hanging his head. Stor y Tips
The bus turned around. Everyone
onboard was happy. Alyona was especially Find Zaoksky, Russia, on the map. It
is south of Moscow. Show the route to
happy. They wanted to witness to the Minsk, Belarus.
worker. But then Nikita remembered that
he was big and muscular. “Maybe he won’t Watch Alyona on YouTube:
bit.ly/Alyona-ESD.
take the memory stick,” he said. “He
obviously isn’t a Christian, and we saw Download photos on Facebook
(bit.ly/fb-mq).
that he was smoking while we waited.”
For the next hour, the students debated Download ESD Mission Posts and Fast
whether the worker would accept the gift. Facts at: bit.ly/2021-ESD.
As the bus drew near to the filling station,
Alyona prayed for the group. “Dear Jesus, Mission Post
please open the worker’s heart so he will The Russian Federation is comprised of
accept the memory stick and read the the West Russian Union Conference,
information on it,” she said. with seven conferences; the East Russian
Union Mission, with three missions;
As the bus pulled up to the filling the Caucasus Union Mission, with two
station, the worker stepped out of the conferences and a mission; and the Far
building. In his hand was Nikita’s cell Eastern Union of Churches Mission.
phone. He had been waiting. There are 640 churches and 719
Alyona went up to the man. She felt companies in Russia, with 42,466
shy and small next to him, but she pulled members. With a population of
out the memory stick. 154,842,000, there are 3,646 people for
each church member.
“Please take this,” she said. “We are
Christians and believe in Jesus. We want
to give this gift to you. Maybe it will help
you in your life.” underestimate the power of the Holy
All the students looked at the man. Spirit. He is very powerful. People also are
kinder than we think, and they actually
Would he take the memory stick?
want to know about Jesus.”
The man’s lips spread into a large smile.
His face positively beamed.
This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath
“Thank you so much!” he said. “I will
Offering will help Zaoksky Christian
definitely take a look at the memory stick.”
School, where Alyona attended grade
Alyona doesn’t know whether the man
school and high school, construct its
kept his promise, but she isn’t worried.
own school building on the campus of
Whether he was convicted to read “The
Zaoksky Adventist University. Currently
Great Controversy” was the work of the the school borrows classrooms from the
AdventistMission.org
Holy Spirit. The students’ part was only to university, and your offering will help the
share the memory stick. children meet in their own classrooms.
“There is no reason to be afraid
about sharing Jesus,” Alyona said. “We By Andrew McChesney
5RUSSIA | January 9
Gift of
Tongues
Anatoly Golovizin, 28
and Mother agreed to go with him to
Taldikurga, the nearest city with a college
that offered English classes. Anatoly failed
the entrance exam, and he and Mother
sadly returned home.
But Anatoly couldn’t forget the idea.
Anatoly promised God to work as a
pastor after being healed of a long One day, he was reading the Bible under
a tree and he realized for the first time
illness in Kazakhstan, but he didn’t
have any hope of entering the seminary. that the ability to speak various languages
He came from a poor family in an is a gift from the Holy Spirit. He read,
impoverished village, and he had no “For to one is given the word of wisdom
money. Reluctantly, Anatoly moved to through the Spirit, to another the word of
Russia to work. knowledge through the same Spirit, … to
another different kinds of tongues, [and]
“God what do you want from me?” he
to another the interpretation of tongues”
prayed daily.
(1 Corinthians 12:8, 10).
As he prayed, he sensed God answer,
Anatoly bowed his head and prayed,
“Study to be a language interpreter.”
“God, please give me this gift.”
Anatoly laughed. He wasn’t a good A month later, he was walking along
student. Moreover, everyone in his family train tracks and found a conversational
worked as engineers. No one knew any English textbook on the ground. Back at
foreign languages. Unable to forget the idea home, he opened the book and read simple
of taking language classes, he returned to phrases in English and Russian. After
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
his mother in Ushtobe, Kazakhstan. reading two pages, he closed the book
“Mother, I want to study to become an and pondered what he had just read. He
interpreter,” he said. remembered every word that he had just
Mother was surprised. “Son, you only read in English. Stunned, he repeated every
know Russian and Kazakh,” she said. English word again and again in his mind.
“That kind of work is not for you.” “This is impossible,” he thought. “This
The idea persisted in Anatoly’s mind, is some kind of fantasy.”
6He opened the book and read 10
R U S S I A
more pages. Closing the book, he gave Stor y Tips
it to Mother. “Mother, read anything
Show Zaoksky, Russia, on the map. It is
from this book in Russian,” he said. south of Moscow. Also show Kazakhstan,
She read several phrases, and Anatoly Kyrgyzstan, and Argentina on the map.
interpreted them into English. With
Download photos on Facebook
shock, he wondered whether he had (bit.ly/fb-mq).
received the gift of tongues that he had
Download ESD Mission Posts and Fast
prayed for.
Facts at: bit.ly/2021-ESD.
Anatoly entered an English course in
his hometown and in two months reached
the intermediate level. Then he went to sent to Zaoksky Adventist University.
harvest watermelons. With the money, he Anatoly firmly believes that the gift of
bought his first laptop. He harvested more tongues and other gifts of the Spirit were not
watermelons and used the money to get only for the early Christian church in Acts.
the Internet and a cellphone. With the new “God is the same today as He was
possessions, he learned more English online. yesterday,” he said. “If we ask for His
The next year he enrolled in the college gifts, He will give them to us. Why don’t
where he had failed the entrance exam. we have gifts of the Spirit? It is simply
This time, he received a perfect score. His because we don’t ask.”
English was so good that the college sent A friend once told Anatoly that he had
him to a national contest. The college never received a gift of the Spirit. Anatoly
president, who had been scolding Anatoly asked him if he had ever asked. He looked
for missing Saturday classes, changed his at Anatoly with surprise. “No, I have
mind when he placed second and won never asked,” he said.
U.S.$200 in the national contest. Anatoly plans to return to Kazakhstan
“Go to church!” the president said. “In and serve God as a pastor after graduation.
fact, I’ll go with you.” And he did. “Imagine, a poor Kazakh boy
Anatoly graduated with honors in two speaking so many languages,” Anatoly
languages, English and Turkish. said. “God is great!”
He didn’t stop with Russian, Kazakh,
English, and Turkish. He learned Spanish Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath
while studying for four months at an Offering will help Zaoksky Christian
Adventist school in Kyrgyzstan. Then School construct its own school building
church leaders sent him to Argentina on the campus of Zaoksky Adventist
to fine-tune his Spanish, and there he University. Currently the school borrows
learned Portuguese. When he returned, classrooms from the university, and your
he worked as an interpreter and language offering will help the children meet in their
AdventistMission.org
teacher for the Adventist Church in own classrooms. Thank you for planning a
Kazakhstan for three years. Then his generous offering.
dream came true. Nine years after
promising God to serve as a pastor, he was By Andrew McChesney
7RUSSIA | January 16
A New
Person
Andrei Abramyan, 22
W hen I was 15, I spent the summer
training to be a boxer. One day, as I
traveled home from training, the thought
hormonal changes. “I’ll just finish cutting
your hair.”
“I’m dying,” I said.
popped into my mind, “You’re sick.” Grandmother thought that I was
I shrugged off the thought. At home, seeking attention. I actually wanted to
though, I began to feel depressed. I asked commit suicide, but I couldn’t do it. After
my parents to take me to a therapist. But Grandmother finished cutting my hair,
then I realized that I might be expelled she sat down. Mother was sitting nearby.
from school if people thought I was I remained in the chair. Looking up to
mentally ill. I didn’t go for counseling. the ceiling, I prayed silently, “God, if You
Two weeks later, another frightening exist, help me.”
thought popped into my mind: “You will Nothing happened.
die in a month.” I felt a strong desire to go to the
I felt worse and worse. Life lost all bathroom and kill myself.
meaning. Everyone thought that I was At that moment, I saw a light
seeking attention, but I was in deep come down from the ceiling like a
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
pain and no one believed me. I didn’t bolt of lightning. It went into my
understand what was happening. chest. I cannot describe how it felt. It
At the end of the month, Grandmother was pleasant. I felt eternity in me. It
gave me a haircut in our home. As she cut happened in a split second.
my hair, I wept. I jumped up from the chair and
“It’s OK,” said Grandmother, who exclaimed, “Praise God! God healed me!”
thought I was going through some Mother and Grandmother hadn’t
8seen the light, and they looked at me
R U S S I A
with concern. Stor y Tips
“Calm down,” Grandmother said.
Ask a man, preferably a young adult, to
“Everything will be OK.” share this first-person testimony.
Elatedly, I hugged my mother. It was
Download photos on Facebook
like I hadn’t seen her in weeks. (bit.ly/fb-mq).
“God healed me,” I said.
Download ESD Mission Posts and Fast
I found my twin brother, Vadim, playing Facts at: bit.ly/2021-ESD.
on the computer. I told him about the
light. “God healed me,” I said. Mission Post
He didn’t believe me. He thought I was
Adventism in Russia began as a lay
making up a story. missionary movement by German
Grandmother thought that I was colonists who had emigrated from Russia
mentally ill. to America in the 1870s. After being
converted to Seventh-day Adventism,
I understood that I had nearly killed they began to send Adventist
myself, but Someone had saved me. At publications in the German language to
that moment I realized that God exists. their friends and family in Russia.
That day began a long journey In the “purges” of the early 1930s many
toward Jesus. Adventist ministers and church members
Today I am studying to be a pastor in Russia were arrested and exiled, often
without any actual charges being made
at Zaoksky Adventist University. My
against them. The remaining ministers
family is happy for me. They say I am a were denied full civil rights and were
new person. not allotted food rations, and their
children were not allowed into schools.
I believe that God brought healing into In addition, the ministers had to pay a
my life, and I have not been the same special “professional tax,” which often
since. I cried out to Him, and He heard exceeded their income, forcing them to
leave the work.
me. I praise Him for being a God who
hears and answers prayers.
Fa s t Fa c t s
Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Russia spans eleven time zones.
Offering will help Zaoksky Christian Russia paved the way in space travel.
School construct its own school building Although the U.S., in 1969, was the first
on the campus of Zaoksky Adventist country to put a man on the moon, the
Soviets had launched the first orbiting
University. Currently the school borrows satellite in 1957 and made the first
classrooms from the university, and your human trip into space in 1961. Other
offering will help the children meet in their accomplishments included the first
AdventistMission.org
spacewalk, the first spacecrafts to land
own classrooms. Thank you for planning a on the moon, Venus, and Mars, and the
generous offering. launch of the first space stations.
By Andrei Abramyan, as told to Andrew McChesney
9Making Friends With God
RUSSIA | January 23
Masha, 17
The pastor was pleased with her
decision and invited her to join a
baptismal class with eight older children.
The class was very interesting. But after a
year, when Masha was 11, the pastor was
transferred to another church. The new
W hen Masha was 5, her older sister pastor refused to baptize her. “I’m sorry,
got baptized in the Siberian city but you are too young,” he said.
of Novokuznetsk in Russia. Masha felt keenly disappointed. She
Masha watched intently as her didn’t talk to the new pastor for a while.
sister went down into the water in the When she was 12, she decided to ask
baptismal tank. She heard the pastor and him again whether she could be baptized.
other church members congratulate her The pastor agreed and invited her to join
afterward. She thought that the baptism his baptismal class. Masha attended for
was a wonderful occasion — and she four months. But for some reason the class
pondered it for a whole year. didn’t seem interesting anymore. All she
When she was 6, she decided that she could think about was how long she had
was old enough to be baptized. wanted to be baptized and how the pastor
“I want to get baptized,” she announced had refused to baptize her. She dropped
to her mother. out of the baptismal class and considered
But then she got to thinking. Maybe 6 leaving the church.
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
was too young to be baptized. Ten sounded Outside church, Masha didn’t enjoy her
like a better age. Masha decided to wait school or her life. She didn’t have many
until she was 10. friends. The future seemed dreary.
The years passed. As her 10th birthday One day Mother asked Masha whether
approached, Masha remembered her she would like to go to Zaoksky Christian
decision and approached the church School, a Seventh-day Adventist day and
pastor. “I want to get baptized,” she said. boarding school. Masha wanted a new
10start with new people, so she agreed to go.
R U S S I A
The summer before school started, she Stor y Tips
finally was baptized. At summer camp
she noticed that she seemed to be the Download photos on Facebook
(bit.ly/fb-mq).
only teen who wasn’t baptized. She was
baptized at 16. But life didn’t change after Masha is not identified by her full name
because she is a minor.
baptism. She was the same person.
The first few weeks at Zaoksky were
lonely. Masha wasn’t sure how to make Fa s t Fa c t s
friends. She felt sad. A theology student The matryoshka is a Russian nesting doll,
at Zaoksky University, which is on the a set of wooden figures that can be pulled
same campus, noticed her loneliness and apart to reveal a similar but smaller figure
inside, with usually six or more in total.
befriended her. “God knows our needs,” The shape of the doll is usually smoothly
he said. “He is nearby, and we can talk to cylindrical with all the decoration being
Him like a friend.” painted on, often elaborately. The most
Masha didn’t have many close friends, common theme is usually peasant girls
in traditional dress, but it can be almost
and she decided to try to talk to God. anything, including political figures and
Finding a quiet place, she poured out her fairy tales.
heart to God.
Traditional Russian cuisine is diverse,
“Forgive me for not talking to You for reflecting the vast territory of the
such a long time,” she said, weeping. “I’m country, and was originally based on a
sorry for not getting to know You. I was hearty diet intended for people working
wrong to be angry with the pastor for not outside in harsh climates, with lots of
protein from meat, and carbohydrates
baptizing me.” from various grains, including rye, barley
Peace flooded over her as she prayed. and wheat. Soups and stews made from
For the first time in her life, she felt that vegetables, meat, and fish are prevalent.
God was near. In recent centuries, more refined culinary
techniques and food imports from abroad
From that moment, life has not been have been creatively incorporated into
the same. “Before I always longed for Russian cuisine.
friends,” she said. “But now I have a
Friend that I can talk to at any time, and I During the twentieth century, particularly
during the Soviet years, Russia produced
don’t need to look for Him to talk.” internationally famous ballet stars,
including Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky,
Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Maya Plisetskaya, Rudolf Nureyev, and
Sabbath Offering will help Zaoksky Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Christian School construct its own Lake Baikal, in Siberia, is the largest
school building on the campus of Zaoksky lake, by volume, in the world, with 5,670
Adventist University. Currently the cubic miles (23,615 cubic km) of water:
nearly a quarter of the world’s fresh
school borrows classrooms from the
AdventistMission.org
surface water. At its deepest, it reaches
university, and your offering will help the 5,387 feet (1,642 m), making it the
children meet in their own classrooms. world’s deepest lake as well.
By Andrew McChesney
11Ivan’s Greatest Day
RUSSIA | January 30
I v a n S h a r o n o v, 2 7
he had two options: pay a double fine
immediately, or go to jail for 15 days.
Ivan couldn’t believe the terrible day
that he was having. As the judge spoke,
images of the end of the world and
Judgment Day flashed through Ivan’s
mind. “If I don’t repent now and return to
God, I will end up on the wrong side on
Judgment Day,” he thought.
Ivan wasn’t raised in a Christian home,
but he believed in God. His mother
had been baptized into the Seventh-
day Adventist Church when he was a
teenager, and he had attended a small
LifeIvanseemed perfect until one day when
was 22.
group with her and other Adventists for
a year. But then he entered the university
First, he had a big argument with his and forgot about God.
mother during a visit to his hometown Now in court, he found the money to
outside Kazan, Russia. Then his landlord pay the fine. Receiving back his driving
called to evict him from the apartment license, he drove carefully to his mother.
that he rented near his university in A day later he came down with a
Kazan. That afternoon, he failed an exam high temperature, and he lay in bed for
at the university. Later that day, the three days, feeling awful. He opened a
police stopped him as he drove back to his Bible, and his eyes fell on Matthew 6:33,
mother’s house and discovered that he had “Seek first the kingdom of God and His
an unpaid fine for speeding. righteousness and all these things shall be
“You didn’t want to pay your fine,” the added unto you.”
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
police officer said. “Now you will have to Jesus’ words touched his heart. He had
go to court.” never noticed them before. He realized
The officer confiscated Ivan’s driving that he had been putting his studies and
license and told him to drive behind him even his family before God. Even though
to the courthouse. In court, the officer he still had a high temperature, he wanted
explained the situation to the judge. to leave the house to spend some quiet
The judge sternly informed Ivan that time with God. He drove to a quiet spot
12by a river. There he poured out his sorrow
R U S S I A
and deep personal repentance to God. Stor y Tips
“I want to return to You,” he prayed. “I
Show Zaoksky, Russia, on the map. It is
want You to be near to me.”
south of Moscow. Also find Kazan.
From that moment, Ivan began to make
God first in everything. He prayed a lot. Download photos on Facebook
(bit.ly/fb-mq).
He read the Bible every morning and
evening. He read “Early Writings” and Download ESD Mission Posts and Fast
other Ellen White books. He was baptized Facts at: bit.ly/2021-ESD.
and became a church youth leader.
Before giving his heart to Jesus, Ivan had Fa s t Fa c t s
organized a highly successful fitness club In 1885, Tsar Alexander III
in Kazan. City authorities had noticed his commissioned Peter Carl Fabergé, a
work and invited him to organize public jeweler in St. Petersburg, to create a
jeweled egg to give as an Easter gift to
workout sessions during local holidays. He
his wife, Maria. The egg was made of
had been featured in local newspapers. gold, with a white enameled “shell”
Now he gave up the fitness club and that opened up to show a yellow yolk.
opened a new one that worked only with This in turn opened to reveal a tiny
hen, and inside this was a replica of the
children. Soon he was training 20 children imperial crown, made from a diamond.
for free in a public park. The children Maria loved it so much that Alexander
noticed that Ivan loved Jesus and began appointed Fabergé as the official imperial
asking questions. A 16-year-old girl started goldsmith. Each year he created a new,
and more elaborate egg for Maria, and
attending church. after Alexander’s death in 1894, his son,
After graduating with an engineering Nicholas II, continued the tradition,
degree from the university, Ivan felt that ordering one for his mother, Maria, and
God was calling him to study theology and one for his wife, Alexandra. In total, 52
imperial eggs were made, 46 of which
to become a pastor. He moved to Zaoksky still survive.
Adventist University, where he is a third-
year student. Every summer, he returns to
Kazan to train children to be physically
fit and also good citizens. He organizes Christian School construct its own
community service activities such as school building on the campus of Zaoksky
picking up garbage from city streets. Adventist University. Currently the day
Ivan doesn’t have any bad memories and boarding school borrows classrooms
about that dreadful day five years ago. from the university, and your offering
“That was an awful day back then,” will help the children meet in their own
he said. “But now I understand that it classrooms. Among the students at the
was the most wonderful day of my life boarding school is the girl who joined the
AdventistMission.org
because God used it to save me.” church through Ivan’s fitness club. Thank
you for planning a generous offering.
Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth
Sabbath Offering will help Zaoksky By Andrew McChesney
13Life-Shattering Crash
RUSSIA | February 6
Olga Noshin, 34
to lose several years of our lives paying for
the Mercedes,” he said.
At that moment, Olga realized that the
accident came at a high price. Roman
owned minimal insurance, and it wouldn’t
cover the cost of the expensive car. Olga
walked away from the wrecked cars and
into a roadside vineyard. Falling onto her
knees, she prayed, “Please help us.” She
opened her eyes and stood up. The wrecked
cars remained on the road.
The other driver, Musa, was talking
sternly to Roman. “Give me all your
AThecarRoman’s
accident shattered Olga and
Black Sea vacation.
young couple, married only three
documents,” he said. “Pay me for the car,
and I’ll give them back to you.”
Roman handed over his driving license.
years, were driving between seaside cities After the police finished their
when Roman missed a turn. He slowed paperwork, someone came for Musa.
down and made a U-turn in the middle of Roman and Olga had no way to travel
the road. As he turned, a white Mercedes on. While waiting for the tow truck, they
car came barreling down the highway and went to the vineyard to talk. There had
struck the side of the Volkswagen. The been tensions in their relationship in
Volkswagen spun around for what seemed recent weeks, and now the emotions came
like an eternity. Finally, it stopped. The spilling out. Olga realized that they had
windows were shattered, and the doors been near divorce. The couple asked each
were jammed shut. Olga and Roman other and God for forgiveness.
climbed out of a broken window. They That night, Roman and Olga slept
hadn’t suffered a scratch, but the car was a on the seashore. In the morning, Musa
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
crumpled mess. called and invited them to stay at his
Roman and Olga looked over at the house. He had a second car, and he drove
Mercedes. It also was totaled, and the them around for the next week as they
driver was fine. sorted out the insurance and other legal
The police arrived and deemed Roman paperwork. He was surprised to learn that
responsible for the accident. Roman Roman and Olga didn’t eat meat. His
buried his face in his hands. “We are going surprise grew when he found out that they
14didn’t drink alcohol. “You are strange
R U S S I A
people,” he said. “Who are you?” Stor y Tips
“We are Seventh-day Adventists,” Watch Olga on YouTube:
Olga said. bit.ly/Olga-ESD.
“No kidding,” he said. “You are the
Download photos on Facebook
second Adventist that I have met in (bit.ly/fb-mq).
my life.”
It turned out that Musa was not a Download ESD Mission Posts and Fast
Facts at: bit.ly/2021-ESD.
Christian and he had two wives. He also was
overcome with guilt. He told his guests that
he had forced his second wife to have an
Fa s t Fa c t s
abortion just a few days before the accident. Russian authors Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor
“I think the accident was God’s Dostoyevsky are considered by many
literary critics as the greatest novelists of
punishment,” he said. all time.
He had loved the Mercedes and
purchased it on special order a week
before the accident. The next year was very difficult as
Roman and Olga called friends back they repaid their debt, but Olga thanked
home in Zaoksky, Russia, to borrow money God for the accident. It had saved their
to pay for the car. Within three days they marriage. As she thanked God, she
had raised the money, but friends kept received a raise at work and Roman got a
calling to offer more money and to ask new job with a higher salary. They were
whether they could help in other ways. able to repay their debt in only a year.
Musa overheard the phone calls and wept. “We have never wanted anything,” she
“I’m rich,” he said. “I have many said. “God has provided all our needs.”
connections. I have helped a lot of people
earn a lot of money. But not one of my Olga was among the first
friends has called to see if I am fine after the schoolchildren to attend Zaoksky
accident. You are poor and have nothing, Christian School, entering the first grade
but your friends care about you.” in 1993. She finished grade school and
At the end of the week, the money high school there and went on to graduate
was repaid, and Musa returned Roman’s from Zaoksky Adventist University. Part
driving license. He also declared that he of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath
needed to go to another city for a few days Offering will help Zaoksky Christian
— the same city to which Roman and School construct its own school building
Olga had been traveling at the time of the on the campus of Zaoksky Adventist
accident. “Would you like to stay with University. Currently the boarding school
me?” he asked. borrows classrooms from the university,
AdventistMission.org
Roman and Olga spent the next two and your offering will help the children
days in the most luxurious house that they meet in their own classrooms.
had ever seen. Afterward they took the
train back to Zaoksky. By Andrew McChesney
15Skipping School for Church
RUSSIA | February 13
Ye l e n a , 1 6
Yelena’s parents divorced when she was
small, but they had taken her to church
until she was 5. Then they had gotten tired
of seeing each other in church and quit
going to church all together. Yelena went
to public school and had classes six days a
week, from Monday through Saturday.
As soon as school ended at 1 p.m.
the next Sabbath, Yelena immediately
returned to church. She didn’t understand
the sermon, but she tried to make sense
of it. She liked being in the church where
she used to worship as a small girl. She
E leven-year-old Yelena was walking
home from school in Dmitrovgrad,
Russia, on a Saturday afternoon when she
liked being among the other children in
the church.
After a while, she started skipping
suddenly remembered that she used to go classes at school so she could go to church
to church on Saturday. earlier on Sabbath. A month passed, and
She hadn’t thought about church for a she invited her older sister, Oksana, to
long time, and she wasn’t sure why she was go with her. Oksana, who was 13, agreed,
thinking about church now. But an unusual and the two went together. Then Mother
desire welled up in her heart to go to church. noticed that Yelena and Oksana were
She called Mother on her cell phone. going to church, and she started going
“Mother, remember we used to go to with them.
church on Sabbath?” she said. “Can I go But then some church children moved
there now?” away with their parents. Other children
“Of course, you can go,” Mother said. stopped going to church. Then Mother
“You don’t have to ask.” stopped going. Yelena also stopped going
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
Yelena arrived just in time for the every Sabbath.
sermon. She slid into a seat in the back A church member noticed Yelena’s
and listened. Afterward, she saw her old absence and asked her to help with the
Sabbath School teacher. sound system. Yelena agreed, and now
“Come again,” the teacher said. she had to go to church every Sabbath
Yelena smiled shyly. She wanted to because the church members needed her.
come back. As she went, she also began reading the
16Bible and books by Ellen White regularly.
R U S S I A
She especially grew fond of “The Great Stor y Tips
Controversy.”
Mother saw that Yelena liked Sabbath Yelena is not identified by her last name
because Adventist Mission does not
School and was making good friends with publish the surnames of minors.
the adults in the church. She started going
to church again. Watch Yelena on YouTube:
bit.ly/Yelena-ESD.
After communion service one
Sabbath, Mother turned to Yelena with Download photos on Facebook
a serious question. (bit.ly/fb-mq).
“Do you want to be baptized?” she asked. Download ESD Mission Posts and Fast
Yelena had already thought about it, Facts at: bit.ly/2021-ESD.
and she immediately said that she wanted
to give her heart to Jesus. Fa s t Fa c t s
Yelena took baptismal classes and was
Folk dancing is an important part of
baptized. The water in the baptismal tank Russian culture, and one of the most
was terribly cold, but a warm joy flooded dramatic is the squat dance, usually
over her when she came out of the water. performed by men, in which the men
She had made the best decision of her life. squat down, with their torsos held
upright, and then alternately kick their
She had given her heart to Jesus. legs out straight in front of them. The
Yelena never went to school on music is usually very quick, and the
Saturday again. Mother wrote a note performers have to have very strong legs
to the principal, asking for Yelena to and excellent balance.
be excused from Saturday classes so she Parts of what is now Russia were
could worship God. The school gave her conquered and settled by Vikings,
permission. But Yelena also had to make known in that part of the world as
up Saturday schoolwork, and she struggled Varangians, between the ninth and
eleventh centuries.
to make good grades.
Today, Saturday schoolwork is no
longer a problem. After that school year,
Yelena learned about Zaoksky Christian Sabbath Offering will help Zaoksky
School, an Adventist day and boarding Christian School construct its own
school located about 600 miles (1,000 school building on the campus of
kilometers) away from her hometown. Zaoksky Adventist University. Currently
She couldn’t afford to pay tuition, but a the boarding school borrows classrooms
church member offered to help. Today she from the university, and your offering
is 16 years old and in the eleventh grade. will help the children meet in their own
“It is awesome to study here,” she said. classrooms. Thank you for planning a
“The teachers are kind, and they help me generous Thirteenth Sabbath Offering.
AdventistMission.org
with my studies. I am very glad that we Please pray for the children who are
don’t have classes on Saturday.” studying at the school.
Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth By Andrew McChesney
17Sabbath Car Accident
RUSSIA | February 20
A n n a Kh i z h n y a k o v a , 3 2
injuries, and the truck driver sustained
a broken leg. Anna was hospitalized in
a coma, and the doctor predicted she
wouldn’t survive. Grandmother fasted and
prayed and asked other church members
to join her. To the doctor’s surprise, Anna
came out of the coma in three days and
rapidly recovered. In two months, she was
back in school, and she finished tenth
grade with the rest of her class.
Grandmother moved in with Anna,
M ore than anything, 16-year-old Anna giving her physical and spiritual support, in
wanted Internet in her home in a her family home in Novoshatinsk village
remote village in the Russian Far East. in the Primorye region. But Anna sank
It was 2003, and she didn’t want to be into dark sadness. She felt overwhelming
left out of the new phenomenon. guilt for her parents’ death. She didn’t
Father and Mother agreed to drive blame God. She knew that He doesn’t
Anna to the store to buy a modem on a cause death. But she also knew that it was
Sabbath morning. They weren’t Seventh- wrong to go shopping on Sabbath. She
day Adventists. Anna, however, had been wished that she had told her parents to
baptized about a year earlier after learning stay at home. They could have waited until
about Jesus from her grandmother. She knew after Sabbath to connect the Internet. She
that it was wrong to go shopping on Sabbath, blamed herself for their deaths.
but she wanted the Internet so much. The dark guilt followed Anna when she
That last thing she remembers was moved to the port city of Vladivostok to
leaving the house and getting into the car. enter the university. She attended the only
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
Grandmother later told her Adventist church in the city, but she didn’t
what happened. go every Sabbath. She went just often
Father exceeded the speed limit as enough to keep Grandmother happy. She
he drove on a slick wintery road toward knew that she wasn’t living a godly life,
the store. Suddenly, the car slid into the and her guilt deepened.
oncoming lane and was hit head-on by Grandma prayed for Anna, and she
a truck. Father and Mother died of their called every day.
18“Have you read the Bible today?”
R U S S I A
Grandmother would ask, gently. Stor y Tips
If Anna said she had, Grandmother
Download photos on Facebook
would inquire about what she had read.
(bit.ly/fb-mq).
“Have you prayed today?” Grandmother
would say. “Don’t forget to pray.” Download ESD Mission Posts and Fast
Facts at: bit.ly/2021-ESD.
Grandmother asked Anna to share
her struggles and prayed for her over
the phone. Fa s t Fa c t s
At the university, Anna met an The Russian Federation is the largest
Adventist teacher who helped with her country in the world. At 6.6 million
homework. The teacher also prayed for square miles (17 million km2) it covers
nearly one-tenth of the earth’s land area.
her and asked the church to pray for her.
Anna remembered her own baptism
and prayed for forgiveness.
“I see that my life is wrong,” she “Many people have told me that I’m
prayed. “I see that I am living in not at fault, but I don’t think that things
darkness. Life without You is pointless. happen by chance,” she said. “Even if the
Help me to make good friends at church. accident was by chance, the fact remains
Give me a friendly disposition. Teach me that it took place on Sabbath. Even today
to be open. Help me to remember to pray I sometimes think about what might have
and read the Bible.” been. But the fact is that the accident
Anna began to talk to God regularly. happened, and it changed my life. I had
She read a copy of Ellen White’s “The one life before the accident and another
Great Controversy” that Grandmother life afterward.”
had given her some time earlier. She saw Anna is grateful for the prayers of
the difficulties that Martin Luther and Grandmother, who is 80, and other
other reformers had experienced, and she
church members. She said they helped
realized that God forgives even the worst
change her life.
of sinners. She gave up her bad habits.
Anna began to call Grandmother every “I understand that many of my problems
day instead of waiting to be called. were solved because the church prayed for
Her faith grew, and she joyfully went me,” she said. “Nothing is worthwhile in
to church every Sabbath to seek God. life without God.”
She understood that God had forgiven
her for her sins and wasn’t going to Part of the Thirteenth Sabbath
remind her of them. A huge weight was Offering three years ago helped construct
lifted from her heart. a new building for Anna’s church in
Today Anna is 32 and working as a Vladivostok. Thank you for supporting
AdventistMission.org
university teacher. She also is a Pathfinder the Adventist church in Vladivostok with
leader and serves as church secretary. She your mission offering and prayers.
has no idea why the accident happened,
but she no longer worries about it. By Andrew McChesney
19Thanking God for the Table
VEILED COUNTRY | February 27
Dinara
Photo by Ryan Riggins on Unsplash
at their public school. The teacher, who
was a Seventh-day Adventist, had told the
children about God during the lesson.
“Everything that you have in your
house is from God,” the teacher said. “You
S even-year-old Dinara accidently
angered her mother over supper.
Dinara looked up from her plate of
should be grateful.”
Dinara thought that she was being
macaroni with fried onions and nodded helpful by sharing this new knowledge
toward the wooden table under the plate. with Mother. But Mother was furious,
“Mommy, did you know that God gave and she scolded Dinara for not respecting
us this table?” she said. Father for working hard to buy the table.
Mother was shocked. “I’ll go to the school tomorrow to find
“What are you talking about?” she said. out why they are teaching children about
“That is complete nonsense! Your father God,” she said.
worked hard and bought the table at the Mother raised a storm at school the
store. Stop acting like a silly girl.” next day, and she got other parents
Dinara persisted. involved as well. The school principal
“No, they told me that it was God,” promised that no one would mention God
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
she said. in the classroom again.
“Who told you that?” said Mother, who The uproar left a deep impression on
like many people in in their country was Dinara. Even though she didn’t hear about
not a Christian. “Where and when did you God again at school, she thought about
hear that God gave us this table?” Him often.
Dinara explained that she and the other Nine years passed. The family bought a
first graders had learned about kindness new home when Dinara was 16, and she
20She stopped going to church. She
Stor y Tips wanted to go, but she was afraid.
Seeing the ongoing struggle, her
Dinara is a pseudonym. She lives in husband, Nikolai, asked why she wasn’t
a “veiled country,” a country that
Adventist Mission has chosen not to attending the Sabbath meetings. Dinara
identify because of regional sensitivities explained her confusion.
CO U N T RY
involving Christianity. “My parents believe that there is no
Download ESD Mission Posts and Fast God other than their God,” she said.
Facts at: bit.ly/2021-ESD. “Why are you scared?” Nikolai said.
“There is only one God. There is no
reason to be afraid.”
found a tattered children’s Bible in the Dinara said she thought her people were
house. The light-blue book was missing allowed to read only their traditional holy
V E I L E D
more than half its pages, but Dinara read book, but she had a desire to read the Bible.
what remained with great interest. She Nikolai showed her that the
didn’t understand much of what she read, traditional holy book and the Bible had
but she understood that it was about God. things in common.
She longed to read the whole Bible. Then Dinara said she worried that
Three more years passed. Dinara started her people were supposed to worship in
studying English at an Adventist school, their traditional house of worship, but
and a teacher invited her and other she had a desire to go to the Adventist
students to a Sabbath meeting. house of worship.
“If you want, come to our meeting next “That’s not a problem,” Nikolai said.
Sabbath,” the teacher said. “You can go to both. Feel free to go to
Dinara went to the meeting. It was worship with the Adventists. Nothing is
interesting. People prayed, talked about stopping you.”
the Bible, and sang songs. Several Dinara resumed worshiping with the
Adventists, and she gave her heart to God.
foreigners attended the meeting, and she
Today she is happy to be able to read the
practiced her English with them.
Bible anytime she wants. She thanks God
Dinara went to the meeting every
for the Bible and everything in her home.
Sabbath for some time. During that time,
“I say ‘thank you’ all the time!” she said.
she married a man who believed in the
“From the moment I wake up until I go to
seventh-day Sabbath and was happy to
bed at night, I thank God for life, for food,
go with her to the meetings when he
and even for the table. Everything good
wasn’t working.
comes from God.”
But Dinara felt increasingly
uncomfortable. While sitting in the Thank you for supporting Seventh-
meeting one Sabbath, a thought popped day Adventist education in the Euro-
AdventistMission.org
into her mind. Asia Division with your prayers and
“Am I was doing the right thing?” she mission offerings.
thought. “What am I doing here? My
people aren’t Christians.” By Andrew McChesney
21Sports Changes Lives
KYRGYZSTAN | March 6
Jesús Maximiliano Gómez, 24
Jinjury.
esús nearly died during a complicated gymnastics, your shoulder will only grow
shoulder operation to repair a sports worse,” the doctor said.
After the operation, he felt a strong Jesús didn’t want to change his major so
desire to do something special for God. close to graduation. Besides, he didn’t have
But what? the money to change his major and stay at
Jesús resolved to thank God by the university for several more years.
working for a month as a literature As Jesús contemplated the future, a
evangelist after graduating from River friend, Marcos, asked what he planned to
Plate University in Argentina. do after graduation.
He would give all his earnings from Jesús told him about his idea to work
selling books to the Seventh-day for a month as a literature evangelist
Adventist Church. and to give all of his earnings to the
During his last year of studies, Jesús Adventist Church.
found it challenging to participate in Marcos liked the idea, but he had
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
gymnastics. His shoulder was acting another one.
up. Teachers warned that he would not “Why don’t you go to Kyrgyzstan?”
graduate as a physical education major if he asked.
he could not fulfill all the requirements. Marcos had worked as a volunteer at an
The doctor advised him to change Adventist school in Kyrgyzstan for a year.
his major. Jesús had never thought about
“If you continue participating in traveling halfway around the world, but
22he liked the suggestion. He prayed about
it and promised God to go to Kyrgyzstan Stor y Tips
if he graduated that year.
Pronounce Jesús as: HYE-sus.
When it came time to take the final
exam in gymnastics, Jesús prayed for help Download photos on Facebook
(bit.ly/fb-mq).
to do the seemingly impossible exercises.
K Y R G Y Z S TA N
To his surprise, he was able to complete all Download ESD Mission Posts and Fast
the exercises successfully. Facts at: bit.ly/2021-ESD.
Afterward, the doctor examined
Jesús’ shoulder and expressed surprise.
Mission Post
The old wound had healed completely. The Kyrgyzstan Mission is part of the
It was a real miracle. Southern Union Mission within the
Jesús graduated and flew to Kyrgyzstan Euro-Asia Division. It has 11 churches
and 12 companies and a membership
one month later. of 664. With a population of
Arriving at the Adventist school in 6,457,000, there is one Adventist for
Tokmok, Jesús was placed in charge of every 9,724 people.
physical education classes and made coach Around 90% of the population
of an afternoon soccer class organized for of Kyrgyzstan is Muslim, and the
neighborhood children. The soccer class Kyrgyzstan Mission runs a ministry for
met in a new school gym built with help Adventist-Muslim Relationships.
from a 2017 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering.
But that’s not the end of the story. As Fa s t Fa c t s
Jesús and the children played together, The capital of Kyrgyzstan is Bishkek,
Jesús noticed big changes in the children’s formerly Pishpek (and renamed Frunze
behavior. The boys used to argue and fight during the Soviet years) and is located
a lot, but they stopped when Jesús told near the norther border, where it was
originally a fortress built to control the
them, “We are brothers and sisters. We caravan routes into the country. It now
don’t need to fight.” has a population of over a million.
After seeing some boys drinking
The flag of Kyrgyzstan is a yellow sun
alcohol, he advised them to quit. on a red background. The 40 rays of the
“It is bad for your bodies,” he said. sun refer to the 40 tribes united under
The boys stopped drinking. the ninth-century hero, Manas, to fight
Jesús is glad that he has given a year of off the invading Uyghurs. The diagonal
stripes in the center of the sun represent
his life to volunteering in Kyrgyzstan. the crown of the yurt, the traditional
“I can see a big change in my dwelling of the nomads of the Central
students,” he said. “Also we have never Asian steppes.
lost a match against another school!”
you for supporting Adventist education
AdventistMission.org
Part of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere in the Euro-
three years ago helped construct the Asia Division.
gymnasium at the Seventh-day Adventist
school in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan. Thank By Andrew McChesney
23A Book and a School
KYRGYZSTAN | March 13
Tatyana Sokolovskaya, 72,
and Andrei Sokolovsky, 37
Noskov printed on the last page. To her
surprise, the address was in the same
apartment building where she lived.
T atyana stopped at a used-book store
on her way home from work at
the Seventh-day Adventist school in
As she thought for the next few days
about Pavel being her neighbor, she
noticed that a teacher at the school had
Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan. the same last name as Pavel. Tatyana took
She had just started teaching Russian the book to school and showed it to the
language and literature at the school after teacher, Arina.
unexpectedly receiving a job offer from “Are you Pavel’s wife?” she asked.
the principal. “Yes,” Arina said. “Pavel is my husband.”
As Tatyana paid for several books, the Tatyana learned that the family was
salesclerk picked up another book. Seventh-day Adventist and attended
“Here,” she said. “You can have this church every Sabbath. Arina invited
book as a gift.” Tatyana and her adult son, Andrei, over
Tatyana wasn’t going to turn down a to chat with her and her husband, Pavel.
free book. She took the book, paid for During one of their meetings, Pavel told
Adventist Mission Euro-Asia Division
the others, and placed them all in her Tatyana that Adventists view Ellen White
purse. At home, she curiously examined as a beloved author and prophet. Intrigued,
the free book. It was called “The Great Tatyana read “The Great Controversy”
Controversy.” She had never heard with great interest.
about the author, Ellen G. White. She Tatyana and Andrei began attending a
leafed through the pages and saw contact small Bible study group that met weekly
information for a man named Pavel in Pavel and Arina’s home. When Pavel’s
24mother fell ill and a new place was needed
for the small group, Tatyana opened her Stor y Tips
home for the Bible studies.
Download photos on Facebook
Just a few weeks later, a spiritual (bit.ly/fb-mq).
crisis erupted. Tatyana and Andrei both
Download ESD Mission Posts and Fast
felt strongly that they had to make a Facts at: bit.ly/2021-ESD.
K Y R G Y Z S TA N
decision to become Adventists or to stop
associating with Adventists altogether. Fa s t Fa c t s
They told Pavel that they didn’t know
what to do. The Tian Shan (The Mountains of
Heaven) is a region in Central Asia
“Only God can save you from this consisting of a series of mountain
crisis,” Pavel said. ranges. Eighty percent of Kyrgyzstan
Tatyana and Pavel prayed and decided lies within the Tian Shan and its
two highest peaks are found on
to attend their first worship service on
Kyrgyzstan’s borders. The highest, at
Sabbath. The experience at church 24,406 feet (7,439 meters) is Jengish
was unlike anything they had ever Chokusu (Victory Peak) on the border
experienced. The church members with China. The second highest, at
23,000 feet (7,010 meters), is Khan
were warm and welcoming. They were Tengri (Lord of the Spirits), on the
overjoyed to see the visitors and treated Kazakhstan border.
them like long-lost friends. Tatyana and
Kyrgyzstan’s largest ethnic group
Andrei felt that they had come home. (73.3%) are the Kyrgyz. Historically
Tatyana and Andrei were baptized nomadic, the Kyrgyz moved with their
together on April 6, 2019. herds of sheep, horses, and yaks, living
Tatyana credits the Adventist school for in portable round tents called yurts.
Most Kyrgyz herders are still semi-
leading her son and herself to God. nomadic and take their herds into the
“I thank this school,” she said. “If I had mountains during the summer.
not come here to work, I would not have Falconry is a traditional pastime in
stopped at the bookstore on the way home Central Asia, particularly hunting
and learned that one of the neighbors in with eagles. The Kyrgyz name for the
my building was an Adventist. I would golden eagle is bürküt and the handler
is a bürkütchü.
not have known about the Adventist
Church. God directed our path.” Another indication of how important
horses are to the Kyrgyz culture is
the popularity of the drink Kumis, a
Part of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering fermented drink traditionally made from
three years ago helped construct a mare’s milk.
gymnasium at the Seventh-day Adventist
For most of its history Kyrgyzstan has
school in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan. Thank been inhabited by various clans and
you for supporting Adventist education tribes, although it has on occasion been
AdventistMission.org
in Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere in the Euro- occupied by foreign powers. In 1991,
after the break-up of the Soviet Union, it
Asia Division.
established itself as an independent state.
By Andrew McChesney
25You can also read
