March 18. Nikolai Khamara. Nikolai described himself as a man without a conscience who did not care who he hurt. He lived in the Soviet Union during a time when religion was closely monitored by the government.
On this date in 1966, the government of the Soviet Union ordered fines and imprisonment for people who held non-sanctioned religious meetings. Nikolai met some of those people while he was in prison serving a ten-year sentence for robbery. That encounter changed his life. Here’s his story.
A man can be radically changed by people with the courage to be radical.
Nikolai was a stinking thief. And being any kind of thief in Russia in the 70s gets you thrown in prison for ten years.
Month after month, Nikolai watched other prisoners—people who were in prison for refusing to deny their faith in Jesus. They were forced to live in virtual squalor and many dying because of poor food, forced labor, and torture at the hands of the gulag’s guards and the KGB.
But in the darkest hours, the Christians sang and prayed. Nikolai was bewildered. What kind of men were these Christians, who showed such joy under these horrible conditions? Their faces shone as they spoke to someone he couldn’t see.
One day, two Christians sat down with him, and he shared his life’s story. He told them he was a lost man.
They asked him, “Suppose somebody lost a gold ring. What is the value of that ring when it’s lost?”
“Well, a gold ring is a gold ring. You lost it, somebody else has it,” Nikolai answered.
“Well then, what is the value of a lost man?” Not waiting for an answer, the Christian continued, “A lost man, even one who is a thief or an adulterer or a murderer, has the whole value of a man because the Son of God died on the cross to save him. God loves you, Nikolai. You are valuable to him, and your sins are forgiven. You only have to believe.”
Nikolai understood, and he did believe, and when his sentence was done, he left prison a changed man. He became a faithful member of the underground church, which was under constant threat from the KGB.
One day, his pastor was arrested, imprisoned, beaten, and tortured. The KGB demanded the pastor turn over the names of the church’s members. The KGB wanted to stop the Christians from printing and distributing Christian material.
But the pastor refused to speak, so they arrested Nikolai. If the pastor remained silent, the KGB would torture Nikolai in front of the pastor. The pastor could not bear the thought and cried out, “Nikolai, what should I do?”
“Be faithful to Jesus, and do not betray Him. I am happy to suffer for the name of Christ,” Nikolai assured his pastor.
The guard then threatened to gouge out Nikolai’s eyes, and his pastor’s heart broke. “How can I look at this? You will be blind.”
Nikolai stood strong and with a loving voice said, “When my eyes are taken away from me, I will see more beauty than I see with these eyes. I will see the Savior. You remain faithful to the end.”
Having blinded Nikolai, the guard once again threatened the pastor. “If you do not betray your church, we will cut Khamara’s tongue out.” Nikolai’s immediate response rang through the prison. “Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, I have said the highest words that can be said. Now, if you wish, you can cut out my tongue.”
Nikolai died a martyr’s death, faithful to his brother and to his last spoken words.
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16 ESV).
What is God asking you to do for the persecuted church? A man can be radically changed by people with the courage to be radical.
Enesi, Ajanah E. “Nikolai Khamara: Soviet Union, 1970s.” Breathe Series. February 15, 2014. The sequoia brooks. http://breathingmind.blogspot.com/2014/02/nikolai-khamara-soviet-union-1970s_15.html.
DC Talks, Voice of the Martyrs. Jesus Freaks: Martyrs. Ada, MI: Bethany House Publishers, 1999.
Jackson, Dave and Neta. The Complete Book of Christian Heroes. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005.
Story read by Blake Mattocks
Story written by Thomas Mitchell, http://www.walkwithgod.org/