June 2000, Ukraine
“The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble; And those who know Your Name will put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You” - Ps. 9:9-10
We reached the end of a very full week in Ukraine and it was time for us to move on for a week of ministry in Russia. We accompanied our host to the train station but remained in the car in the parking lot, while our host went inside to purchase our train tickets. He hadn’t been gone long before we noticed uniformed security officers going from car to car demanding to see passports. After our difficulty in customs we were uneasy but showed ours as they came to our vehicle. Fortunately, they weren’t interested in us and moved on.
Soon our host was back with our tickets and we gathered our equipment and suitcases for the fourteen hour train ride through the night into Russia. Our host and his family and the believers in Ukraine thought it best to send a body guard with us, as the trains were dangerous. A young special forces soldier who was also a believer was willing to go with us. We felt quite safe with him even though the train smelled strongly of alcohol and contained some very rough looking men. We had a small compartment and we settled back to experience the ride.
At midnight the train slowed to a stop as we came up to the Russian border. Two uniformed Russian officers with big German Shepherds came aboard and were going from compartment to compartment, checking people’s documents. We were stunned when after checking ours the officer angrily spoke to our body guard and there was clearly something wrong! An intense exchange in Russian ensued! How could our documents not be in order?! We were to find out later that the customs officials who had passed our paperwork around for hours, wanting a bribe, had never stamped them. We were in the country with our equipment without permission and this was not a small problem!
We had grown up during the Cold War years when the threat of a nuclear war with Russia came dangerously close to happening. In the public schools there were drills where children had to hide under their desks (like this would have helped!) in case of nuclear attack. All those fears of what the Russians could do to us came back as we stood kind of frozen in place as this all played out.
The conversation was unintelligibly Russian but then a curious thing began to happen as we prayed for God to help us. We heard the word “Chicago” over and over again. In our nervousness, we wondered “What on earth does Chicago have to do with this?” Then the train whistle blew, signaling its departure. The official smiled, handed back our documents back and left the train. What had just happened!!! Our bodyguard explained that the official was quite upset and demanded to know what these Americans were doing on the train, trying to enter Russia without the missing stamps on their paperwork. Our bodyguard, Vitale, explained that we all were working with a mission based near Chicago and had come to help the Ukrainian and Russian people with their teeth. “Chicago?” the official questioned. “I have relatives in Chicago!” “Where in Chicago?” Vitale asked. “I don’t know. I have lost track of them. I only know that they live somewhere in Chicago.”
“Could our mission near Chicago be of assistance in finding them?” Vitale asked “We would be glad to try if you give me their names.”
“That would be wonderful! I’ll write them down!” the officer said.
“Our agency has many contacts in Chicago. We will do our best to find them!” Vitale replied.
Even after Vitale explained it all we still couldn’t believe it. Really, it makes no sense that this official would just let us enter Russia without proper documents except on a spiritual level. Our God had just delivered us again!