It’s not easy to tell the story of the life of a person who lived 99 years – almost a century. Our Dad told us a lot of stories about his life in Ukraine, how he was converted to the Pentecostal belief, how he loved to read the Bible, especially where it’s written about “the new heaven and new earth.” He didn’t say much that was bad about his native land, but I found out later that he was forced to sign into a collective farm (kolhoz) in the 1930’s when the policy of collectivization spread throughout the Soviet Union. There was a famine in Ukraine in those years, and also a widespread propaganda against Believers (Christians). My Dad couldn’t stand how they laughed at Believers and forced them to learn about atheistic ideas in the school; he begged his father, “Please don’t force me to go to such a school.” So he was home-schooled.

Many people in those days searched for a better land where they could live in freedom – without persecution. Some fled through China, and others fled through Europe. My Dad and Mom learned to pray and trust the voice of God as he directed them through His Spirit. When World War II arrived, Dad refused to serve in the army because his belief prohibited him from using a weapon to kill someone. This Christian belief, which was based on the words of Christ, served me well when I also became a conscientious objector and refused to carry a weapon to kill when I served as a medic in a hospital during the war in Vietnam.

What kind of country was this that forced a person to kill another person? They put our Dad in jail for his anti-war and anti-gun belief and preaching. Yes, he considered that he needed to seek a better land. And God helped him in this endeavor when the door opened up for him to emigrate to Germany; in those days, when the Soviets fought against the Germans, people of German ancestry were forced to leave the Soviet Union and go to Germany. Since his wife Olga was of German descent, they were forced to leave their native land. In this way, they went through Poland on horses and covered wagons and entered Germany.

When they arrived in Germany, where the war was escalating with every passing day, Dad once again was drafted to serve in the army. Once again he refused to take up a weapon to kill someone, and once again he sat in prison. And again God’s guiding hand and the direction of His Spirit freed him and his family from the terrible life when the war ended and the door opened up for them to emigrate to America. Brother Dege, a fellow-believer, helped the family settle in Philadelphia, a city close to New York. A year later, brother Paul Demetras and brother Sergei Nazarov informed our Dad that California was indeed the wondrous, enchanting “Promised Land.” When I was in Israel several years ago, our guide told us that for the Jews there were two “Promised Lands”: Israel and America. So Dad accepted the invitation from his brethren of the evangelical faith and journeyed with the family to the warm state of California.

However, not everything went according to what our Dad envisioned about this fantastic land. The small church on Geary Street in San Francisco experienced a small schism – a division between two groups – and Dad started his own “House of Prayer” in his own house, where he was the pastor. Dad was always an evangelist and he preached the Gospel (“Good News”) of the Kingdom of Heaven, but he wasn’t successful as a pastor, and he soon rejoined his fellow-believers when they were building a new church – the Russian Gospel Temple.

When a new place opened up for the preaching of the gospel in the state of Oregon, his son Stanley also desired to go there and preach to and convert the Russian Old Believers. When they settled in the green land of the northwest (in Woodburn), they experienced resistance, for the Russian Old Believers or Old Ritualists were strict orthodox believers, and they did not want to convert to the new Pentecostal belief. Nevertheless, our Dad preached and witnessed to everyone he met about being born again, about the kingdom of heaven, about the second coming of Christ, and about the resurrection from the dead to the end of his life. Many people testified, starting from those in Ukraine and in Germany, and later in America, that our Dad’s testimony affected them, and they also became believers.

When my Dad finally passed away into Eternity on Friday, December 27th, I was with my brother Adolf by our Dad’s side that last day. I read his favorite scripture from the book of Revelation – the 21st chapter, about the new heaven and new earth and the new Jerusalem; and the 22nd chapter, about the river of life and the Tree of Life. He was breathing heavily, and his body twitched at times, and I sensed that his soul wanted to be released from his body and wanted to fly like a bird into the heavenly land. When we were informed of his death at 7:35 in the evening, my heart rejoiced that at last his prayer – “I want to go home to Jesus” – was finally answered. The following day, my soul sensed his spiritual presence and his love, and I saw how my Dad loved to discuss spiritual matters with me when I was young, and how he taught me to follow the path of righteousness; and in that contemplative moment I remembered that I had forgotten to tell my Dad that I loved him. In our Russian families, it was rare for the fathers to tell their sons, “I love you.” However, in that special moment I turned my gaze heavenward and said, “Father, I love you.”

And then in conclusion I sang a song that we used to sing together. And this is the song I wish to sing now in his honor and in his memory.

- Written by Paul J. Wigowsky

I sang the song – “Where are you going, Pilgrim?”

Life of Ivan 1(Russian), pdf file
Life of Ivan 2(Russian), pdf file
Life of Ivan 3(Russian), pdf file