Overview

“If you don’t stop praying to God, then we’ll keep you in prison for the rest of your life,” the soviet official threatened Pastor Peter Rumachik (p. 40). Threats like this became common for Rumachik in the 1960s and 1970s. For nearly two decades, he faithfully preached the gospel in prison from Siberia to the Ural Mountains.

Though this book is translated from Russian and looks a bit self-published, this firsthand account of God’s work behind the Iron Curtain is well worth the read. Rumachik and his family will encourage your faith in God. And the flesh-eating centipedes under his bed in prison will haunt your dreams. Actually, you can read that part quickly if it bothers you. The book does not focus on the suffering so much as on God’s work in the darkest of times and most forsaken corners of the world.

Learn more about Peter Rumachik later this spring when my new missions devotional comes out. The release date for Daring Decision will be announced soon! I highlight Rumachik on Day 15. Subscribe for updates about its launch date (if you received this book review by email, you are already subscribed!). Contact me if you would like to join my launch team to organically promote this new missions resource.

Highlights

  • Rumachik’s testimony and fruitful ministry through suffering in Siberian exile.
  • Rumachik’s suffering for Christ in Soviet prisons and how God sustained him.
  • God’s protection and eventual deliverance of Rumachik against all odds.

Quotes

  • “I decided that even if the Lord allowed me to spend my entire life suffering for His name in prison—even if I should die there in jail—then I wanted all of that to bring glory to Him” (p. 41).
  • “You say you believe in this God that loves you, right? Well then, why are you here? That is, we know why we have to be in these conditions: we’ve earned it. But you, you’re a holy person. Why is it that you’re here? . . . If you have such a loving God, . . . why does He allow you to be here with us, so that you suffer, your family suffers” (p. 73).
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Other Sources

Peter Rumachik is highlighted in my upcoming missions devotional, Daring Decision: a 31-Day Journey with those who Followed God’s Leading. Find out more at www.mrconrad.net.