Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
First Person is produced in cooperation with the Far East Broadcasting Company, who rejoice in the stories of changed lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Learn more at febc.org. Though it was really hard throughout the whole journey, I see that God continues to bless me. Even like throughout the countries I traveled, there was always churches, Christians that helped me, provided during these difficult times. ♪
We'll hear about the remarkable journey of a young Russian man as he left his homeland under difficult circumstances to attend Bible college in Chicago. Welcome to First Person, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Before we begin today's interview, I invite you to use our free smartphone app to download any past program from our archive. When you use the app, you can choose interviews to take with you in the car or any place you go. Look for the app First Person Interview in both the Apple and Google Play stores. Search for First Person Interview.
We have an amazing story coming up now. Pavel Shanichi's home is in Russia. Coming from a Christian family after his required military service, he took online courses from the Moody Bible Institute. But just when young Russian men were required to re-enter the military because of the war in Ukraine, Pavel wanted to travel to Chicago to complete his education. He chose to leave Russia under difficult circumstances, and he'll tell us his story now.
I asked him where he had served in the Russian Navy on his first deployment. I served in Sevastopol. That's kind of the military city of Crimea. I served there a little bit more than a year. For me, it was an interesting journey, both to understand about myself and about the world beyond me. Since I was the only Christian in the military base, basically.
So, and I don't know if you know that, but during mandatory service, most of the time you're not allowed to leave the military base. So you're not allowed to see your friends, relatives, like on a weekly basis. I didn't know that. Wow. So you're basically just in the military base 24-7. Like in one of the military bases, one of my first ones, you're not allowed to have a phone. The only phone you're allowed to is like the bunion one.
And you only get it for one hour during the Sundays. A landline. Yeah, to kind of call your parents, friends, or someone just to say you're oak. So you're left to your own thoughts for a whole year, huh? Yeah. Was that a time of growth spiritually for you then? I definitely think it was because as a Christian and when you're kind of in the Christian bubble, although I did go to like secular schools and so on, but when you're
24-7 for a whole year with non-Christians, you cannot really play a Christian. So at that time, you really see your true colors. And to be honest, I was in some ways even astonished. Like, I never knew some of those things were inside of me. How long were you in the military, in the Navy, the Russian Navy? A little bit more than a year. So you're released from the military. You go back home. And what were your plans?
My plan was, of course, getting a Christian education. I was planning it right after school, but talking with different people and understanding that I need a secular education to kind of provide for myself with the money, finances, because most pastors are not fully financially supported by the church because the church is either not that big or not that rich to afford more than one pastor.
So I understood that I need another job to kind of pay for me and maybe my future family and so on. So I got my first education, and I was planning to go to Christian University right after that. I didn't expect the military to take me right away. It was kind of unexpected because I thought they would at least give me a summer to rest. But no, they did not. They took me right away. And at that time, this was the question because, as we know,
Most military experiences in Russia, mandatory, don't have access to computers. Even the ones at headquarters, they don't have access to the world internet because of the military secrecy and so on. So you were cut off in a sense. In one sense, yes. And I understood, okay, I'm coming back in July, in August, school starts.
That means I will not be able to at least another year to study anywhere. But thankfully, since I was in the headquarters, I was a little bit more free. Sometimes I could go into the city and also go to the church, like once in three weeks, once in two weeks. So I did have a little bit of access in the internment, and my family helped me to search for different Christian universities,
to just apply and find different scholarships in that sense. Were you planning for that education to take place inside Russia? No. The Christian education I was planning to probably take in America since...
The Christian education here in America is quite high, of high quality. Had you been to America? I've been here as a kid. So my dad studied in Southeastern Baptist Seminary in North Carolina, got his doctorate. He studied also in New York, but that was before I'd been born. So you had some experience with America. You were looking at American schools. Were you looking at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago at that point? To be honest, at that point, when I was in the Navy, I did not know a lot of Christian universities. Yeah.
I don't have a lot of encounter. But thankfully, my dad is really into the whole Christian education system because he's a professor and a president of Christian University back home. And my sister also studied at NIAC, which is in New York. So both of them are kind of more informed about the whole Christian universities here. And so they helped me a lot. At what point did you decide you wanted to come to Chicago then and study? I think...
The point was probably in spring. I can't remember exactly the month or the day, but looking both at the level of education and affordability, not to say that Moody was one of the universities or if not the only university that had a 10-year experience with online students. Because I understood if I would come back from the military experience,
in July and in August start at school, I would not be able to even get a visa. It's too short of an amount of time. So, and that's also COVID time, basically. That's where all restrictions, the boards are closed. So, yeah.
I decided to go with Moody because it's affordable, it offered a good scholarship, and it had a good experience with online students, online program. So you became an online student at Moody Bible Institute in the country of Russia. Yeah. Now, let's move the story along because at some point, Russia decided they needed to call up reservists. Did that put you in some danger of having to go back into the military?
So, yeah, there was a draft basically during the September of 2022. So this is during the Ukrainian war. Yeah. But, and at that time I just came back from my journey, my first journey to America. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to get America on the plane because of the, they didn't accept my vaccines. So you came, but you weren't allowed to stay? No.
With the whole process, I went first to get a visa in Kazakhstan since all the embassies are closed in Russia. Later on, came back to Russia, got my stuff, tried to travel through Turkey, Germany to America. But in Germany, they did not allow me to get on the plane. Because of non-vaccine? Because they did not accept my Russian vaccines for COVID. I see. Okay. Okay.
So were you pretty disappointed? You had to be at that point, huh? At that time, I kind of had the hint that they would not allow me because I talked to radio. When I found out later on, it was too short of an amount of time to get a vaccine. I understand. So you find yourself going back home at that point? I got my vaccine in Turkey. I lived there for five weeks. I came back to Russia. And after a week and a half, the draft started.
But you knew that the threat was there, that you would likely have to report for duty. There was, yes, a big risk that I would be called because at that time a lot of people were called. Like right now, one of my cousins served right in the beginning. The other one is still serving currently in the Russian-Ukrainian war. And there was also a risk. There was kind of a gossip between the people that there was going to be a big announcement on Monday.
Everyone knew, and there was kind of a gossip going around that, hey, this is going to be an announcement that the borders will close for all the people that are serving in the reserves. By the way, what was your attitude toward the war? For me, the war is something more complicated than black and white. I definitely can say I don't justify what Russia has done to start a war.
I don't think that the war is the solution for those problems. So you did not support Mr. Putin's move into Ukraine? No. Okay. But the very real possibility existed that you were going to be put back into military service during the war, and who knows what would happen there. So what did you decide to do? The borders are closing soon? On Thursday, they announced the draft. On Monday, there was supposed to be a...
Everyone thought there was supposed to be a closed border, but eventually it never closed. But everyone was thinking it would close because a lot of people were starting to flee the country. I remember the news articles and pictures and videos of the cars heading for the borders and the planes being full of people and no more seats available on those planes. Yeah. Or those that are left that are really, really expensive. So, yeah. And...
At first, I did not want to leave right away. I was thinking just to stick until January and move during my spring semester. But talking with my parents and understanding that if they close the border, I would not be able, like even if I can like hide somewhere in Russia or just stay low, I would not be able to leave the country. Yeah, not a great idea. And so for me, it was also the question, what are my main scholarship that I had kind of
ended on that spring. So I understood that if I would not move now and I would get stuck in Russia, I would just not be able to pay for my education. Okay. So how did you get out of the country? What route did you take? And did you drive? Did you take a train? What was the plan? So I was thinking through different methods. It kind of was all spontaneous. We decided only in one day, basically. Okay.
And by the way, what part of Russia were you living in? I live in the southwestern part of Russia. So I don't know how good are you in Russian geography. I've been to Krasnodar. Oh, I'm from Krasnodar. Are you really? Yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. So, yeah. So my state is basically connected with Crimea through a bridge. We're on the opposite side of the Black Sea with Turkey. We'll continue to talk with Pavel about his journey from Russia to Chicago to study the Bible. Stay with us.
Hi, I'm Ed Cannon. And as you know, situations around the world are changing quickly. Stay current with FEBC's ministry and get a deeper understanding of people who need to find hope. Hear how you can feel the pulse of God's Spirit moving through the hearts of believers dedicated to reaching the lost. Be sure you join me for the podcast until all have heard. Discover how the gospel is making a difference around the world.
Search for Until All Have Heard on your favorite podcast platform or hear it online at febc.org. Pavel Shenitsy continues talking about that long journey he took from Russia to Chicago and the route that he took. We were first thinking through Georgia, since Georgia is the closest to us. It's like a...
Nine, 10 hour drive. Just a short drive, yeah. Oh, considering Russia is big for us. I know, I know it is. It's short. But seeing the traffic there, it was like a 30 kilometer traffic by car and the cars were not moving at all. And I had some friends who went that way. We decided to get a different path and go to Kazakhstan. Russia has a big border with Kazakhstan and I've been already in Kazakhstan. We had, I had already traveled
Some connections, I had a SIM card, I had a bank account and so on. Okay. You had any friends there that you could count on? Yeah, a couple of friends that I made during my first visit to Kazakhstan that same year when I got my visa. Okay. So I decided to, with my parents, we planned. So I traveled to Volgograd, which I traveled by train.
In the evening, the next morning, I met with some people from the church. We traveled by car to one of the gates to Kazakhstan. And it was also a big risk because we did not know if the traffic is bigger or smaller because there was no news on that gate. But we kind of took the risk. So I traveled there and...
Probably staying there for a couple of hours when it should, the cars are barely moving. And even in those three days, we would not make it. So the border would close likely before you made it there in a car. Yeah, there was a big risk. And we decided to just walk with our suitcases on.
Leave the car and just pass by my local... Who's we? You and some friends? Me and some friends, yeah. There was another guy who was also from my state. So, yeah, me and him, we kind of crossed the border. It took us like two nights in a day to cross the border. It's a five-kilometer walk. It's not that far. But at the same time, it was a big line of people, too.
My goodness. So we kind of spent there two nights and a day. It was really cold though. Like I remember I had a bean bag just covered up because it was really cold. But at the same time, there's no close by cities or towns nearby. So the sky is really clear and you can see the whole area.
stars exposition on the sky and I was just amazed by God's grace. I can understand that but still that had to be quite an ordeal with all the uncertainty mixed into it as well of not knowing what was going to happen when you got to the border and what would happen if you did cross the border where you would go after that. So give me just a little synopsis. How did it go at the border and where did you go after that? So, yeah, as I was getting closer to the border I started seeing a lot of people being turned back. Oh, okay.
And that was already kind of the beginning, the morning of Tuesday. We were kind of a little bit late. And I was thinking, no, they already made their announcement, and now I'm late. Because I felt like probably like eight people in a row were turned back in.
They were right in front of us. And I was kind of getting closer to the border, to the passport station. And I was like, no. Your stomach churning at that point? At that time, my parents were praying. I was praying. My relatives were praying. And I just remember it would be so sad. I was thinking, where are my next steps if I get turned back? Because I have to also go back. It's 400 kilometers to the closest city. But thankfully, God was graceful.
I went through the border, everything easy. And that's the funny part that when they ask like, why are we going to Kazakhstan? A lot of people saying, oh, just for a vacation or something. Like, yeah, look how many people decide to get a vacation, right? In Kazakhstan. It's a beautiful tourist spot. Yeah. And the same time when the mobilization started. So yeah, I crossed the border.
And then we paid to a bus driver to drive us to the closest city that has an airport or any station, train station, which is like a 10-hour drive to the closest also. So we slept in the bus.
We rented a bus. Like, there was 10 people, 10 guys. So we rented and traveled to the closest city. So Kazakhstan let you in. Yes. And where did you intend to go after that? I was intending to go to Almaty. That's the ex-capital of Kazakhstan. Uh-huh.
And since I already... This is the city where I got my visa, and I already had some connections there. There's a Christian university there with a dorm, and I was... We already talked there with the people, and we were allowed to stay there in the dorm for a certain amount of time. So they were really hospitable for us to stay there. Yeah, that was my plan to go to Almaty, stay there for a certain amount of time, since there's also a limit to how much...
For how much longer can stay in Kazakhstan without a visa? And after that, I traveled to Turkey. I stayed with a friend in Ankara, which is the capital of Turkey. Almost a week later, the landlord kind of kicked us out of the apartment. He wanted more money. We had a contract, but since the prices went up because of a lot of Russians fleeing, of course, like, hey, rich Russians are coming. We need to put the prices up. So he kind of kicked us out of the apartment. So I...
Had a lot of friends in Antalya, and they rented a house, a couple of houses. Thank God for these friendships and relationships you had with these people in all these different countries. That's amazing. That's a God provision, isn't it? Yeah. Well, those guys were from Russia, from my church. A lot of them there were. Okay. All right. And they left prior, before even the draft, and they were living there. So, yeah, I was blessed in that sense. Okay. Okay.
Pavel, was your intended goal Chicago to come to study at Moody? Yes. That was where you wanted to end up? Yes. How long did it take you from the time that you left your home in Krasnodar until you made it to America and even Chicago? It took me basically like three months. I was traveling throughout three months in different countries just to get to Chicago. Did the school know you were coming? No.
School knew because they knew that I tried to get an August and they knew I was not allowed. I asked if it would be acceptable for me to come later, like in September. Fortunately, because of the government restrictions, they were not allowed to accept me later.
So I had to come to the spring semester. Okay. But you made it. I made it. I finally made it. I came here on December 10th, which they graciously allowed me because usually all the students only can come in January. Right. But I kind of came on the finals week, basically. Well, how could they say no after you've been so determined to get here and to get to Chicago and pursue your studies, your biblical studies here?
Yeah, Moody, what are you studying, by the way? Well, the Bible. You can't get more biblical than the biblical stuff. Okay, I know that. But yeah, in general, if we're talking about this semester, I think this semester is probably one of my strongest. I have like biblical ethics. I'm taking Gospel of Mark from Conqueror to Kings. That's basically, what is there? Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and 1 Samuel I'm studying. So what is your goal for these studies? What do you want to do after school? Do you know yet? Yeah.
There's still some options I'm still thinking. I'm thinking if I want to get my master's right away,
Well, my end goal, of course, is coming back to Russia and serve in Russia. You want to return home. Yes. Not many people know, but Christianity in Russia is less than 1%. So it's a needy place spiritually. Plus, a lot of the Western missionaries are leaving because of the whole situation in Russia and more restrictions. That's why. But as a Russian, you have a unique opportunity to minister to the Russian people, your own people. Yes, and they cannot kick me out of the country. The maximum they can do is put me into jail. Yeah.
Did you face any consequences for leaving the country when you did? You had a visa, right? Yeah. I got a visa, and of course, my country allowed me to leave my country. Okay. There's no any consequences for that. And that visa is good for your time of study in America? For how long? Well, technically, my visa already ended in July. Okay. So I'm here staying with a different document. It's called I-20. Okay.
With this document, I'm allowed to stay here till the end of my education. So we're going to pray that all of this works out. And you are a senior at this point. And when you complete your studies, you may go on for a master's, you're thinking. Yeah. But as you look back on that whole ordeal, months of travel, I mean, that's a National Geographic kind of trip that you took.
How do you look back on that, and where do you see God in all of that? Though it was really hard throughout the whole journey, I see that God's hand was always above me, and he always continues to bless me. Even throughout the countries I traveled, there was always churches, Christians that helped me, provided me.
And for that, I was like, this is a great blessing just to see how united we as a church and the church still stays as a church even during these difficult times. And how do you ask Americans to pray for your country? There's a lot of confusion about how we feel about Russians these days. You understand that. How do we pray for the nation and the people who need Christ? I would say, first of all, for the Russians to be open to other people.
Pavel Shenitsy, who continues his study at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, as he has a special status to stay in the U.S. for studies, and he's considering graduate school.
As Pavel indicated, we need to pray for Russia and believers in that country. Did you know that the Far East Broadcasting Company is reaching millions of people every day despite the difficulties? FABC's broadcasters on radio and online continue to reach deep into the country with programs offering the truth that Pavel mentioned, the truth of the gospel.
To learn more, simply visit febc.org slash Russia. You'll learn much more there on that webpage. Once again, that's febc.org slash Russia. Now, with thanks to my friend and producer Joe Carlson, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Join us next time right here for First Person. First Person