BY ELFRIEDE VOLK

OW LONG WILL YOU STAY IN RUSSIA?" My husband and I were volunteer missionaries at Russian Sahmyook University in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and this was a common question asked by church members, university administrators, and students.

"As long as we are needed and God gives us the strength and ability," we replied. Heinz had recently had a heart attack and six bypasses, so we had to live one day at a time.

"As long as we are needed . . ."
When we arrived on November 2, 1997, the school had two foreigners to teach English in the university and the associated English Language Institute. One was Filipino, the other Japanese. Besides teaching and pastoring, we actively recruited other workers so that if we had to leave, the school could function very well without us.

"As long as God gives us the strength and ability . . ."
As director of the English Language Institute, I covered for teachers who were sick or were absent for other reasons. Some days I taught from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. without a break. I walked to class with a broken foot and wrote left-handed when I broke my wrist. I thought that as I was doing God's work, He would give me the strength. Instead, He showed me that "unnecessary deprivation or excessive labor that tends to injure health" is a violation of the sixth commandment.*

Just before my last class ended one evening, my eyesight suddenly left me. It was as if someone had turned off the lights. At the same time I felt as if I were losing consciousness. The frightening experience, which lasted about 20 minutes, was repeated three times in a matter of a few weeks. We decided that, after four years in Russia, this was the sign to return home.

Goodbye, Hello
We had missed our children and grandchildren while in Russia, but we had also missed time alone together. We had shared a small apartment with the university's president and another teacher, so that the living room was also used for sleeping. Now, after visiting with our children and having the necessary medical examinations, we decided to indulge in a weekend away from everything, to unload the accumulated stress and strengthen our marriage ties. We drove to Ainsworth Hot Springs in British Columbia. The resort held special memories for me, for I had been baptized there 46 years earlier.

We arrived Friday evening, just before sundown. The next morning when the pool opened, we were the first guests in. Rather than swim, we sat on one of the built-in benches on the east side away from other people. The sun, having risen over the mountains behind us, crowned each ripple in Kootenay Lake with a sparkling gem. In front of us, on the other side of the pool, hummingbirds flitted along a wall completely covered with impatiens, drinking in the sweet nectar. Behind the wall songbirds in the towering firs chorused their praise.

I had felt guilty that because of me we had had to leave our mission post. I felt that I had failed, that somehow I had let God down, that I had lost the chance to work for Him. But gradually, relaxing in the water, caressed by the warm sun and gentle breeze, I found peace again. I leaned my head back against Heinz's shoulder and, overcome by the beauty around us, closed my eyes. Filled with gratitude and praise, I started singing without even realizing it. It was a spontaneous outpouring of love from my head to God, meant only for His ears.

"This is just wonderful," a deep male voice said when I had finished the hymn. "The warm water and sunshine, the wonders of God's nature, and a beautiful song."

I opened my eyes with a start. "I'm so sorry," I stammered, feeling myself turning red. "I didn't realize anyone else could hear."

"Don't apologize," the man remonstrated. "It's good to hear someone praising God. I am a Christian too."

"We were missionaries in Russia for four years but had to leave because of excessive stress and health problems," Heinz said. "We came here to relax, and God has provided everything we need to do that."

"I'm a pastor myself, from Montana. My family and I are here for a weekend retreat. I believe that the Christian family is one of the most sacred institutions God has given us, and we need to guard it carefully."

"I agree. Before I went to Russia, I was a social worker for 23 years, dealing with family problems, particularly physical and sexual abuse. You wouldn't believe the heartache and trauma that can come into a family when God is left out."

"You said you were missionaries," a lady on Heinz's other side interrupted. "I'm a Baptist myself. What church were you with?"

As we talked, other guests joined in the conversation or listened as we had an impromptu interdenominational discussion on family values, sin, and God's solution to it. Unfortunately I don't remember all of it. I was too amazed that, without any effort on my part, I had become an instrument through which we could witness to these people. Jesus' words in John 12:32 flashed through my mind: "And I, if I be lifted up . . . , will draw all men unto me."

Wherever we are, we need to lift Jesus up. He was already lifted up on the cross. Now all we have to do is lift Him up in praise. When we do, He takes responsibility for the rest.

_________________________
* Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 308.

_________________________
Elfriede Volk writes from Summerland, British Columbia.