Page 42 - Living Epistles

teaching him.

The time was coming that there would be a great crush coming on Russia with
confiscation, killing and shooting, and finally, exile in Siberia. There were
different rumors that there'll eventually be a control on Russia.

So this brother was praying to the Lord, "You know what these people are
talking about here. There are rumors that we'll be persecuted and killed in
Russia. So Lord, help us, and protect us. Lord save us." On one of the nights
while he was praying, the Lord said to him, (his name was Ivan which means
John in English) "My son Ivan, I'll lead you into the country of China." In our
language China is Kitai. And the Lord said to him, "Get ready for the journey."
Then the Lord gave him a night to leave. "On such and such a night at dusk,
you are going to leave this village." And Lord told him what to do.

He was a quite well off brother, because he had eight cows and two pure-breed
horses. To have eight cows in Russia, in those days, made quite a good farm,
because you would have chickens and different things. That was quite a good
farming operation.

The Lord said, "Leave your house. Leave your cattle. Leave your pure-breed
horses. Leave everything. Put your milk cow onto the horse cart. Harness her
and put her onto the horse cart. Take a couple of bags of millet grain and some
other food and leave this village at dusk, in the darkness. Leave on such and
such a road." The Lord told him to take a side road out of the village, and the
Lord gave him the name of the next village where he should go.

So this brother was puzzled, as he had good transportation and his horses
were good. But because he was a man of prayer and man of obedience, he
decided to obey the Lord. And so, when the night came, he harnessed his cow.
The Lord even told him the name of the cow - such and such name of the cow.
He harnessed his cow to the horse-cart. He put the lights in the house. He fed
his cattle. Fed his horses. Then he put his children and wife on the horse-cart
and was quietly leaving the village.

As they were passing through the village, the people of the village saw
someone traveling at dusk. They were saying, "Oh no! We have another gypsy
coming to our village." Gypsies were traveling through all of Russia. They were
stealing. They were doing witchcraft. They were doing all kinds of things, and
begging. That's how they lived in Russia. They never worked in Russia. There