After breaking the cardinal rule of combating jetlag by taking a nap as soon as I arrived, my first day in Moscow was mostly a fog. But after spending a week in Ivanova, Russia, and returning to Moscow yesterday, my body has finally adjusted to the eight-hour time shift. Considering the full schedule of interviews I have lined up for the next three days, I’m grateful.

One of the highlights of my time in Ivanova occurred two days ago when I had the privilege of sitting down on a park bench with a 72-year-old man who recounted (in remarkable detail) the story of his father’s persecution under the Communist regime in the former Soviet Union. I was both challenged and humbled to hear the story of a believer who was imprisoned several times totaling a period of 25 years. He was beaten, exiled, and torn from his family. But without exception, each time the authorities released him, he returned to preach the Gospel.

After hearing his story I couldn’t help but consider whether I would have done the same. So many families compromised during those years. In fact, I also heard a story of another man who was imprisoned and was asked to give a statement saying he would no longer preach the gospel. Time after time, he refused to put those words on paper, but just as he was about to be separated from his family indefinitely, the officials brought him into a room where they had also brought his wife and children. They told him this was his last chance to say goodbye. They told him he might not see any of them again.

And then they handed him a piece of paper.

They told him he could simply write the words and go home with his family that night, and he chose to go home. Those who knew him said that he repented. He asked God to forgive him, but his life was never the same.