By Veniamin Makarov, Andreapol
On May 18th at exactly 10 am, I received a call from my brother in the Lord, Nikolai from the village of Selishche. He asked if I could come with him to visit Mikhail; a parishioner who was becoming weaker each day. Nikolai had just spent hours on his tractor plowing the community gardens and suggested that tomorrow would be more convenient for him and I quickly agreed that I too had experienced a busy day.
Then and there, I’m not sure why I said so, but I pleaded with him that today must be the day we visit! I didn’t understand why I would have even said so. (But later, it dawned on me – the Lord corrected my self-centeredness). We agreed that I would pick up my wife, Valentina, and Nikolai and go to Selishche that evening. By 7:00 pm we were at Mikhail’s home. Mikhail had suffered pain for several days. His main desire was to turn to the Lord in prayer in our presence. Brother Nikolai prayed for Mikhail. Then Mikhail prayed a prayer of confession. At that point, after reading verses from the Bible, James 5:14-16 “ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”, I prayed for Mikhail and anointed him.
By now it was late evening and we had quite a distance to travel on country roads before we could return home. I picked up my wife who had been praying for Mikhail at his sister’s house. We headed home to Andreapol. Not halfway there, we received a call from Mikhail’s sister informing us that Brother Mikhail had retired to eternity. Immediately I felt the Lord had been merciful to such a foolish person as myself as I almost had rescheduled the meeting with Mikhail until the next day.
I need to share with you that I believe by God’s grace, deathbed conversions are possible for any sinner. A person does not have to be a knowledgeable theologian to have saving faith in Jesus Christ. Mikhail’s sinful eyes were opened and he saw something of who Jesus is and trusted in Him, God poured out His mercy on him. I believe his salvation was granted instantly, freely and abundantly. I know that we can’t earn salvation; we are saved by God’s grace when we have faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. All Mikhail had to do was believe he was a sinner that Christ died for his sins and ask God for forgiveness. Jesus Christ already knew Mikhail and loved him. What mattered to God is Mikhail’s attitude of heart.
Mikhail is no longer with us. He was 48 years old. He is now with the Lord and this reliance comforts and gives all who loved him hope. His funeral was on May 20th at our church. We gathered to honor our loved one and not only to grieve the loss of Mikhail but to also give thanks for his life among us. We gathered not only to mourn over how different the family’s lives will be without him, but to give thanks to God for how full life was when he was with them. We gathered to give thanks to God for the gift of his life, the gift of his family and the gift of friendships. We asked the Lord to comfort the family as they come together to share love and sweet memories with one another.
Great testimonies to his life were heard. I spoke on the Prodigal Son. (Luke Chapter 15 11-32 – The father receiving the son back into relationship is a picture of how we should respond to repentant sinners as well. It is only by God’s grace that we are saved, not by works that we may boast of). After the service, three women who helped with the funeral gratefully accepted the New Testament and other Christian brochures. As I write this testimony, I pray for help in the midst of things we cannot understand, to believe and trust in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection to life everlasting.