A Desire to Grow

By Donald Eade

One Sunday morning a young man we had never seen before came to our church in Bernolakovo, Slovakia. I noticed he seemed to have difficulty understanding what was being said as though Slovak was not his native language. (It is easy for those of us who are in a similar situation to notice someone else's difficulty.) Several weeks passed and this man understood more much faster than I could imagine. His name is Alexander, and he is from Ukraine. He already spoke Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, and was quickly adding Slovak.

Alexander immediately won our hearts and began visiting our home. With our poor Slovak language abilities and his developing abilities, those first few times together included lots of body language, grunting, and role-play. Conversation was a mixture of Ukrainian, Slovak, English, Polish, and Russian. Our discussions included our families, life experiences, the Lord, the Bible, and many doctrinal issues about which Alexander had great interest. After hearing his testimony of coming to Christ, it was evident that God had implanted a new heart in Alexander. He had a desire to grow, and was searching for answers from the Bible.

As Alexander and I continued to meet and discuss the things of the Lord, we often disagreed with one another and questioned each other. During one of these times sitting in our living room, it hit me that our relationship was the foundation of leadership training. Alexander gave me a rare opportunity to invest my heart and life. He allowed me into his confidence. We became true friends in Christ.