By Gennady Podgaisky, CBF Field Personnel
When he and his family came to our home Bible study group 10 years ago, Bogdan was a 16-year-old. It happened that he had the same name and was the same age as my oldest son Bogdan. Often, he was the only child/teenager in our weekly home Bible study meetings. Throughout these years Bogdan rarely missed our meetings, and he always sent me a message if he was not able to attend our gathering. Occasionally he requested a meeting with me to discuss or clarify various life issues or had a biblical/theological question on which he wanted to have my opinion.
When he was dating a girl and was not sure how to proceed, he asked for my advice. One time he even brought a girlfriend for pre-marital counseling with Mina and me. After several meetings with us, Bogdan broke off the relationship with that girlfriend, which was the right thing to do, since she had different values, goals and aspirations in life. He thanked me for helping him figure out his relationship with girls. It was then when I realized how much trust he had in me and how much influence I had on this young man.
Back in May we went to Ukraine for a short trip to pack and release our rental house. At the end of our stay, we had a farewell party for our home Bible study group. The fellowship lasted from 5 p.m. well until after 11 p.m. when everybody had to quickly go home before the country-wide curfew which started at midnight. During the farewell party we ate, talked, prayed, shared memorable stories from our common past, laughed and then cried because our time together was over, and we had to leave Ukraine. Bogdan was there, trying to help in any way he could but mostly kept quiet.
A couple of days later we left Ukraine and came to our new permanent place of ministry in Krakow. Then I received a message from him:
“Gennady and Mina, I am grateful to you for all these years. In the past 10 years, since I got to know you, you have helped me to grow spiritually and been an example of how to relate to people with acceptance, understanding and without judgement. Thank you that you led our home Bible study group, which I always tried to attend. I liked to be at this home group because I felt God’s presence, and I was among people who are filled by Him.
Only in the last few years have I realized how important were your teachings/Bible studies (studying the Word and follow up discussions). Now I am ministering to teenagers in my church, and you are an example for me of how to relate to them, just like you were relating, accepting and understanding all of us. Ten years for me is almost half of all my life, and I will be missing you. However, God has a plan for my life. Thank you for everything which you have done for me.”
Are you a person of influence in someone’s life? Yes, you are, whether you realize it or not, whether you know it or not. Let’s be an example to others who come across our life pathways, whether they are relating to us, or watching and learning from us.