NIKOLAI KHAMARA Soviet Union, 1970s

Nikolai khamara was a criminal. Having been arrested and convicted for robbery, he was sentenced to prison for ten years in the former Soviet Union. There he shared the same jail cell with some Christians. They intrigued Nikolai because they were able to be joyful even in the midst of great suffering, even when everything seemed hopeless. He noticed that when they had a crust of bread, they shared it with someone who had none. Mornings and evening they folded their hands and spoke softly – though Nikolai could not tell to whom – until a peaceful expression appeared on their faces. One day as he sat with two of them, one asked Nikolai, “What brought you here?” “Ah,” Nikolai waved his hand, “it was just my bad luck.” Then he stopped. “No. it wasn’t luck. It was because I am a man without a conscience. I did not care who I hurt.” He then related his life of crime and turned aside with a shrug. “I am a lost man.” But before he could rise and walk away, a gnarled hand gripped his shoulder. “Wait friend,” one of the Christians said. “Let me ask you a question. What is the value of a ten-ruble note if you lose it somewhere?” Nikolai turned back, a frown wrinkling his brow. “What do you mean? Ten rubles are ten rubles. If I lose them” – he shrugged – “I’m out.” Then he grinned. “But whoever finds them would be very happy.” “Exactly,” said the Christian. “One more question. Suppose someone loses a gold ring. Would its value change?” “What a foolish question! A gold ring is a gold ring. If you have lost it, somebody else will gain when he finds it. But its value doesn’t change.” “Well, then,” said the Christian, “what is the value of a lost man? Even if he is an adulterer or murderer, he is still a man, and doesn’t his value remain the same?” Nikolai nodded slowly. “Every person is of such value that the Son of God forsook heaven and died on the cross to save him. God loves you, Nikolai. Nowhere in the Bible will you find Jesus asking someone what kind or how many sins he has committed. When He met men who had committed great sins, He said, ‘Be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven.’ I also tell you that your sins are forgiven because Jesus died for you. All you have to do is believe.” The Faithful Believer Nikolai did believe, and when he was released, he joined the underground church. Then one day, his pastor was arrested by the Communists, who tortured him to get him to reveal how the Christians printed and distributed gospel tracks. But the pastor did not crack. Finally, the interrogator said “Enough. We have a better way.” And he brought in Nikolai Khamara, who had also been arrested. “If you do not tell all the secrets, we will torture one of your members in front of you.” “Oh, no. Nikolai, what should I do?” wailed Nikolai’s pastor. “Don’t worry,” said Nikolai. “Just be faithful to Christ and do not betray him. I am happy to suffer for the name of Christ.” But when the Communists prepared to gouge out Nikolai’s eyes, the pastor withered until Nikolai said, “When my eyes are taken away, I will see more beauty than I see with these eyes. I will see the Saviour. You just remain faithful to Christ to the end.” When they moved to cut out his tongue, Nikolai calmed his frantic pastor by shouting, “Praise the Lord Jesus Christ! There, I have said the highest words anyone can say. What does it matter now if they cut out my tongue?” In this way, the communists martyred Nikolai for the sake of Christ, even while he encouraged his pastor not betray the church. [JESUS SAID,] “IF ANYONE ACKNOWLEDGES ME PUBLICLY HERE ON EARTH, I WILL OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PERSON BEFORE MY FATHER IN HEAVEN. BUT IF ANYONE DENIES ME HERE ON EARTH, I WILL DENY THAT PERSON BEFORE MY FATHER IN HEAVEN.” MATTHEW 10:32-33 © Dave & Neta Jackson, The Complete Book of Christian Heroes.

USING WHAT IS IN YOU

THERE is a gold mine hidden in every life. Nature never made a failure. Every man has success hidden away in his soul. No one else can find it but himself. He holds the key to the hidden room. Failure comes because we never sought that hidden treasure. Failure comes because we tried to find it somewhere else. You can’t find it anywhere else. Success, victory, achievement are in you. The exceptional people are those who develop what is within them. That quartet is winning fame and success because they developed what they had in them. Singly they could not do it but united they make a harmony that thrills the heart. The soloist had it in her. It was there and she developed it and made it of commercial value. I have seen three great baritones. One was a miner who, had he not been too lazy and loved the companionship of drinking men and useless women, would have been known the world over. What a voice he had. I picked him up a drunkard. I tried to make a man of him. I bought him clothes. When it was known that Scotty was going to sing the building could not hold the crowd. I said to him, “I don’t know whether my pianist can play the pieces that you want to sing without looking them over.” He looked at me with a peculiar expression and said; “I need no accompaniment.” He stood by the piano that first night in his old mining clothes and sang. I closed my eyes and I couldn’t locate him because his voice utterly filled that whole room. He seemed to be everywhere in it. That great voice was strange, sweet, wonderful music. He made the songs all over that he sang that night. I raised the money and sent him back to his own land. He promised to sing again. As a boy he sang in Drewry but he confessed he was so drunk it took a man to hold him up. But he never amounted to anything. He did not develop the thing that was in him. Genius has grown up to weeds about it, just because they did not develop the thing they had. I know it is hard work but you will learn to love hard work. There are no great gold nuggets lying on top of the earth now. You have to go down into the earth for them; you must dig for them. You want the applause of the world? You want money to buy fine clothes and build splendid houses? Awaken young men. Go find that hidden place in your own nature. Did and dig until you have conquered. A father was dying. He had two sons. The boys had always felt that he had gold that he had hidden away somewhere. He had never been a strong, healthy man so his farm was not developed. Back of the house there was ten acres of stump land. When he was dying he said, “The stump lot.” Again and again he said, “The stump lot.” As soon as the funeral was over the boys said, “The gold is out in the stump lot.” How feverishly they worked. They tore up every inch of it. But they found no gold. Then the older one said, “We have the land in good condition, let’s put in corn.” In the autumn they found in the ripened corn the gold. You have a stump lot in you. Dig it up, clean it up, and you will find the gold in it. © Kenyon.

A MISSION ADAPTATION OF 1ST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 13 BY MRS. C. E. COWMAN

“Though I speak concerning foreign missions with great eloquence, and have not vision, I am become as sounding brass, or tinkling cymbal. “And though I spend long hours in study and reading missionary literature, and know much concerning the hardships and difficulties of a missionary’s life, and have not vision, it profiteth me nothing. “A vision holdeth one steady before God; a vision enableth one to pray earnestly; a vision burdeneth, that others may have salvation. “Doth not exalt any but Christ, seeketh only the redemption of the lost, is given to those who earnestly seek for it, thinketh no price too great to pay; “Trieth not to discourage those who would be missionaries, but trieth to encourage them to answer the call of God. “Beareth another’s burdens, believeth that God is willing to undertake, hopeth for the salvation of many, endureth seeming failure and disappointment. “A Vision doth not soon fail, but where there be excitement aroused by hair-raising stories, it shall fail; where there be only interest, it shall vanish away. “For all Christians know in part, and all Christians see in part; but when they have a vision their lukewarmness and intermittent interest shall be done away. “Before I caught the vision, I spoke as one without a vision, I prayed as one without a vision; but when I caught the vision, I put away half-hearted things. “For now at least I have caught a faint glimpse of the need which Jesus alone can satisfy, but some day I shall realize it fully; now I know something of the price salvation cost, but then I shall see it clearly even as also it hath been purchased for me. “And now to be a missionary Christian are necessary – a prayerful heart, a surrendered life, a vision; these three, with others, but one of the greatest of these is a vision”.