Nancy’s Books in Russian
by Nancy Van Pelt
In October of 1992, I traveled to the Adventist Theological Seminary in Russia to teach both COMPLEAT COURTSHIP and COMPLEAT MARRIAGE SEMINARS to the seminary students. This turned out to be a formidable challenge since there has been no sex education in the home, church, or school. The seminary is located in the antiquated village of Zaokski, about two hours south of Moscow. It is the only Protestant school of theology in the former USSR.
The property, on the edge of a small village in the middle of no where, was given to the Adventist Church by the government. It consisted of a three story dilapidated school house complete with trees growing through what was left of the flooring. With amazing rapidity Adventist volunteers, with Elder Bud Otis at the helm, converted the building into a beautiful Byzantine structure.
About a mile from the seminary the Publishing House is nearing completion. It is built in similar Byzantine style. Massive amounts of marble have been donated and the large entry is of marble. Other flooring is intricately inlaid hardwood.
Roy Terretta, Publishing House Manager, gave me a full tour. It boasts state-of-the-art German printing equipment. Students from the seminary are employed to type manuscripts into computers. On the day I was there the first pages ever to be printed in Russian rolled off the presses.
Having our own publishing house is an absolute necessity due to the circumstances there. Roy told me that in order to get one book published in Russian, he had to make twenty-six trips to Moscow (four hours round trip) to “negotiate” the publication. Publishing there is not what it is in any other part of the world. No colporteur work has existed for many years. Fred Knopper, from the Australian Division is on loan to develop the beginnings of a colporteur ministry. These publishing geniuses are gearing up to use some inventive and progressive tactics to get Adventist publications into the hands of the Russian people. Let’s not forget that for 70 years this country was closed. It was illegal to have Christian literature in your possession. Homes were frequently searched by KGB officers and if any Christian literature was found it meant loss of family and immediate incarceration or exile to a Siberian prison camp.
Brave and inventive Adventists were not to be outsmarted by the KGB. Early Adventist believers developed their own brand of publishing. Natasha Ivanova’s family was one. Her father, an Adventist minister, copied by hand carefully printed scripture and Spirit of Prophecy quotations. Then Natasha would type these quotations — ten carbon copies at a time.
Typing in this manner was very dangerous. Someone might hear the clacking of the typewriter and report suspicious activities to the KGB. To protect herself and her family, Natasha typed inside a wooden box with a glass top so she could see. The box was silenced by lining it with foam. Natasha, from the time she was 14 years old, would spend up to 10 hours a day in this manner! These books were then bound by hand in the home and shared with others. These precious books were cherished and carefully hidden from the KGB who frequently searched homes for contraband books. Two good hiding places, Natasha told me, were the attic and under the floorboards.
I held one of those books in my hands and wept. Natasha demonstrated how she slipped her hands in the opening on the front. I could not stop the tears at the thought of such sacrifice and dedication.
Rusty, who had an unpronounceable last name, is book editor. In very broken English he told me that my book, To Have And TO Hold is the first book he has ever read but couldn’t put down…that every sentence in the book is important.
Before I left Zaokski, I had signed a contract for To Have And TO Hold to be printed in Russian. That makes eleven languages into which my books have now been translated. My book, To Have And To Hold, will be the first book on marriage to be printed and sold in the former USSR.
Pray for the opening of our publishing work as well as the people of Russia. Then thank God daily you live in America — land of the free.
Your On The Scene Reporter
Nancy Van Pelt is a Certified Family Life Educator, member of National Council on Family Relations, and author of 28 books on family related topics.