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(BAHbooshka)
Russian for "grandmother" |
She is short but stout, strong but tender. Her crinkly eyes have seen so much pain in the space of her 70, 80, or even 90 years. She wears a scarf indicating that she was once married. But her husband is now long gone, taken by vodka, cigarettes, or cancer. Communist authorities lied to her for most of her lifetime. They promised that a comfortable pension awaited those who obediently served the state. They assured her there was no God. She knows the truth now, but lives on a pension of anywhere from 150 to 500 rubles, three to five dollars a month. She often must decide whether she will buy bread or milk. Still, and incredibly so, she is not bitter. Her tough exterior hides a tender heart. |
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She gathers on the church pews an hour before the service starts and either sings praises to the Lord of Heaven in a chorus of grandmothers, or prays on her knees that her heart might be prepared for worship. As we tiptoe past her still 30 minutes before the service begins, we listen as she beseeches the Almighty, still on her knees. "Prostite menya Gospod’!" – Forgive me Lord! "Slava Tebe Otets Nebesnii, Slava!" – Glory to You Heavenly Father, glory! She struggles to her feet and hobbles to a small box in the back of the sanctuary. We know what she is about to do and have to hide our faces to conceal tears. She fishes in the pocket of her long dress and produces a 5-ruble coin – a widow’s mite. She will go without much food today. |
We ask her as she passes how she is doing. "Slava Bogu!" she says – Praise God! "How can I complain," she adds, "in light of what Christ suffered for me." We marvel at how she always gives thanks, at how she endures. She returns to her knees and asks forgiveness for not having more to give. We pause in awe of this old prayer warrior. We are ashamed that we often complain that we have to use outhouses outside of the metropolitan area while this gray-haired one has only praise on her lips. She is old, but yet so beautiful. She is 70% of the Russian Baptist Church. She is the Russian Baptist Babushka and we have grown to love her. Please join her as she prays for 99.8% of the people in Bashkortostan who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. ... that the babushkas will be able to pass their faith on to the younger generation. ... that each of us might have the faith of the Baptist babushkas. © 2003 |
