It Hurts to Say Goodbye

Russia, 1997-1998

Learning the language in order to bring the Gospel to people has a hidden drawback. The more the nationals helped us with the language, the closer our relationship grew with them. And then it really hurt to say goodbye.

We spent only four weeks with some Russians learning their language, but at the end of our time, a number of them begged us to stay much longer. We couldn’t. The language school moved us every month to a new city in Russia. After our first city of Nizhni Novgorod, we realized that we would never see those people again. With our extremely primitive language ability and only four weeks, we were only able to give our teacher and hosts a Russian New Testament. We placed on trust in God’s Word, that if they were true seekers, they would eventually find our Savior (Matthew 7:7-8). As our language ability improved, the faster and closer our relationships grew with them, and the harder it was to leave.

But what about all those Russians in those other cities who had never heard the Gospel?

By the time we returned to St. Petersburg, we had decided to stay there long-term. God had other plans for us.