Georgi Petrovich Vins
For 11 years I worked as Assistant to Georgi Vins. He was a the internationally known Russian evangelist who spent 8 years in Russian prisons and labor camps before being exiled to America in a dramatic 1979 exchange. (The U.S. swapped 2 captured Soviet spies for 5 well-known prisoners in the Soviet gulag—4 human rights activists and Vins, a Christian preacher.)
During those years of laboring alongside Georgi Vins, I often interpreted his Russian to English at church services and Christian conferences. He was always a popular speaker, who spoke out about the then-persecuted church in the USSR. During Q & A sessions, there was never a shortage of hands. I well recall how one man, after learning details of the persecution, asked, “Isn’t there a way for believers to live peaceful lives and avoid the oppression and harassment?”
After a pause, Georgi Vins replied, “If a Christian stayed home instead of going to church; if he didn’t pray openly; if he didn’t let others know about his faith in Christ; then yes, he could probably avoid persecution. But that’s not the Christian life.”
Georgi Vins in 1989, at Instituto Biblico Palabra de Vida in Argentina to share about persecution of believers in the USSR.
Mr. Vins died in 1998, but over the years, that answer has often resurfaced in my thoughts. In western nations, the ridicule and harassment Christians sometimes experience may not be as hard-hitting as it was in the USSR, yet certain forces in society try to suppress our outward expressions of faith. They attempt to quash our Bible-based convictions. Some believers might be tempted to decide, “Enough already. I’ll still be a Christian, but just a silent one.” In other words, to avoid mockery or making waves, they try to be “secret agents” of faith. But that’s not the Christian life.
Jesus was crucified. His apostles endured arrests, chains, prisons, sentences of death. How did they respond? They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ’s name. In Philippians 1, the Apostle Paul writes from prison to gladness that other Christians were emboldened by his example: “And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (v. 14).
If you’re ever tempted to go undercover with your faith, tempted to dim the source of light in your life so as to not “offend” someone, my encouragement to you is this: Don’t. Jesus Himself says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). A dark, burned-out light bulb may still be a light bulb, but it’s useless. Don’t try to be a “secret agent” for God. Let your light shine!
Visiting the grave of Georgi and Nadezhda Vins, Prairie Street Cemetery, Elkhart, Indiana.
Well said and well written!
Thank you, Karen. He was a special man in many ways.