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The Travail of a Russian Spring

By Donna Duell

It is springtime in the Ural Mountains. Thinking of spring should conjure up thoughts of fresh green grass, crocuses peaking through the earth, sunny skies, white clouds, and warm rain.  Where I grew up, spring meant watching for the first robins to return from the south, seeing the apple trees bud, and waiting for the mares to foal. I live in a different world now; I live in northern Russia. And the dreaded spring never seems to end.   

Spring in the Ural Mountains of Russia brings gray, cloudy days, weeks of slush, and months of dampness. It is not unusual to go ten days or more without seeing the sun. On the city sidewalks, the melting snow runs in rivulets across the ice, distorting areas where there might be sure footing. I've seen more people fall down in these slippery conditions than in snowy winter. As the snow melts, the water lays all the garbage from the winter bare. Layers upon layers of dirty sand and snow shrink into slippery, icy mud, revealing smashed plastic bottles, paper litter, and doggy doo. During this time, the rain troughs and sewers are not adequate to contain all the water. Mini-creeks flow alongside the streets, and people must stand far away from the crossings unless they want to be showered by sheets of dirty water from speeding cars. Often the road water gets so deep that trucks plowing through it cause a mini-tsunami to swoosh pedestrians.

And just when you think spring has fully arrived, a blanket of thin snow covers the ground in late May. Or a crystalline layer of ice encases the green leaves in early June. It seems that all of nature struggles and groans to give birth to the warmer and dryer days of summer.

I have seen this same kind of travail in the birth of a new Russian believer. Oh, how difficult it is to shed the grasp of the former lifestyle. The strangling hold of sin causes the immature Christian to wallow in the mire of immorality. Satan refuses to let go, constantly throwing temptation in new believers’ paths. Alcohol, drugs, and nicotine cause them to slip into their murky addictions. You can see their struggles, cry with them through their trials, and agonize with them in their failures. They grow stronger as they read God's Word, pray, and fellowship with other believers. Confrontation and encouragement bring repentance and victory. Oh, what joy to see their freedom in Christ!

Our desire is to see sunnier, happier Christians—victorious believers reveling in their faith. How wonderful to see new believers climb out of hopeless lives into a rejoicing revival! It's like shedding the dreary, depressing days of Russian spring for the warmer weather of a Russian summer.