Insight for Living Ministries is an evangelical Christian ministry founded by Charles R. Swindoll that produces radio programs, publications, and events to teach biblical truths. The ministry is working towards its vision of reaching all nations, represented by its goal of Vision 195 to proclaim the gospel in all 195 countries and 6,875 languages. The document introduces Peter Mitskevich, the pastor of Insight for Living Russia, and his family's remarkable story of faith amid persecution in Russia for generations, culminating in his role leading the ministry's work in Russia today.

1. Continued insidewww.insight.org
COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATING BIBLICAL TRUTH AND ITS APPLICATION
Insight for Living
Ministries’ vision is to
reach all the nations.
We’re so grateful to
have Peter Mitskevich
as the pastor and
voice of Insight for
Living Russia.
— Charles R. Swindoll
Insight for Living Ministries USA • Post Office Box 5000 • Frisco, Texas • 75034-0055 • USA • 1-800-772-8888 • Spanish-language materials, please call 1-800-898-4847 •
Churches and bookstores, please call 1-800-641-5485 • International orders, please call +1-469-535-8436 • CANADA • Insight for Living Canada • PO Box 8 Stn A • Abbotsford BC V2T 6Z4
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duced in any form without prior written permission from the publisher. Insights is published monthly by Insight for Living Ministries, the Bible-teaching ministry of Charles R. Swindoll.
Insight for Living Ministries is an autonomous ministry. Cover inset of Chuck Swindoll: Edmonson Photography. Printed in the United States of America.
by AARON MASSEY
Writer for the Searching the Scriptures Department
FROM INSIGHT FOR LIVING MINISTRIES
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UPCOMING
VOLUME 40
ISSUE 4
Renewed Strength from a Surprising Verse
1922
Arthur’s heart raced as footsteps approached his cell. Russia was cold to
those who believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; it was
downright frigid to those who proclaimed the gospel to others.
Arthur Mitskevich had put his faith in Jesus just five short years ago. Born
in Lithuania, he had moved to Russia in 1914 before the revolution. At age
17, he had become a Christian. A year later, evangelists in St. Petersburg lit a
fire in him for missionary work. Despite laws against it, the gospel compelled
him to preach throughout Russia and Ukraine. By age 22, he found himself
arrested for crimes against the regime. Imprisonment had done nothing
to alter Arthur’s passion for Christ . . . but his time in prison had forever
changed his heart. The reason approached now: Maria, a beautiful, young
Russian woman who often brought Arthur food in his cell.
Upon my release, he thought, I will ask her to be my bride.
1997
Seventy-three years after Arthur’s imprisonment, Chuck and Cynthia
Swindoll donned aprons, appropriate for barbeque, behind the tables at
the graduation celebration for Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS). As the
president of DTS, Chuck and his wife, Cynthia, had volunteered to serve
barbeque to the graduating students. For decades, the Lord had stirred in
Cynthia’s heart a desire to turn the world upside down with the life-changing
truth of God’s Word. When Chuck stepped into his role at DTS, Cynthia
had asked the Lord to open her eyes: perhaps the campus housed men and
women chosen by God to partner with Insight for Living Ministries to teach
A Year in the Word
You never know
when God will snap
His fingers and cause
a single verse to light
a flame in your heart.
I’ve been living in
a season of plenty. I
like waking up each
day. Work fulfills me,
my wife delights me,
and I can’t wait to do
it again tomorrow.
Not long ago, as I
was following Chuck’s Bible reading plan, Leviticus . . .
of all books . . . lifted me up to have a bird’s-eye view.
I visualized each scene: mastering the burnt offering,
flinching at God’s blaze burning up Nadab and Abihu,
rubbing the fur atop the scapegoat’s head before sending
it off. When I came to the feasts and festivals, a lone
sentence shook me as if I were Isaiah surrounded by
the white train of that divine robe in the Lord’s temple:
I will command my blessing on you in the sixth
year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for
three years. (Leviticus 25:21 ESV)
The Lord told the Israelites to take a year off every
seven years for rest and worship; He promised a single
year of tilling would yield three years of food! My
heart felt strangely warmed as I read those words—not
for the season of plenty I’ve recently enjoyed, but for
the hope of the blessed land to come. Leviticus 25:21
catapulted me into the eternal city it foreshadows, the
New Jerusalem, whose Architect and Builder is Jesus
Himself.
I realize many are not in a season of plenty. Drab
days sap the energy of some; others dance a jig just
to make it to the next breath. No matter our current
season, we can know what awaits us: the same sure
hope and strength God promised His people long ago,
the same flame He rekindled in me this month from a
surprising verse.
Is the Lord calling YOU to be a part of the work He is doing in Russia and around the world
through Vision 195? To continue marching forward in our mission to proclaim the gospel
of Jesus Christ and the life-changing truth of God’s Word in all 195 nations and their 6,875
heart languages, we need the financial support of people like you. Please see the response
device, visit www.insight.org /donate, or call 1-800-772-8888 to partner with us today!
How can I make Vision 195 a reality?
Peter has been IFL Russia’s pastor and the voice of Chuck Swindoll
in Russian since 1998. For the last 21 years, he and Tatiana have
served on the ground in Moscow. Paul and Tim, two of their five
children, have recently joined our staff in the U.S. Be sure to catch
the next edition of Insights to see how the Lord is working through
the Mitskeviches, Insight for Living Ministries, and financial
partners like you to reach Russian-speakers around the world!
Peter Mitskevich
there: “Nothing is an accident! The new hospital was
much more open than Moscow. People began to talk
about me. ‘You are not drinking or smoking or going
to parties?’ they asked. ‘Are you a Christian?’ ‘Yes, I
am,’ I answered!”
Through the witness of Peter’s life, the Lord
drew others to Himself. First the vice president of
the hospital became a Christian. Then she brought
another woman to faith. Before long, Peter started a
church, and more and more people believed. “I’ve
never been a great evangelist,” Peter confesses with
a chuckle. “My role was simple: just invite people to
church. God’s amazing grace did the rest!”
Peter never intended to start a church. Despite
his grandfather’s, and later his father’s, leadership in
Moscow Theological Seminary, Peter never planned
on going to seminary himself. In short, he had no clue!
The regime had begged him to build communism on
the earth, but the Lord knew Peter would be a world-
changer for Him.
About 10 years into his medical career, a door
opened that would change his life. Walter had
encountered a Norwegian Christian who had come to
Russia with The Gideons International and fallen ill.
Walter called his son. While caring for the Norwegian,
Peter received something he had spent years praying
for—his own Bible. Under communism, Bibles had
once been illegal, and later, very hard to find, but here
was this Gideon handing Peter one! Two days later,
Peter became the president of the first Gideon camp
in Moscow. He reveled in the opportunity to give his
countrymen and women the Word, written in their
heart language! But he discovered they had questions
he couldn’t answer.
From hospitals to police stations, people asked:
“Who will teach us to read this? Who will teach us
to pray? Can you send somebody to help us?” They
wanted to understand and apply the Word, but Peter
himself didn’t know how.
In 1991, Peter traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, for a
speaking engagement with The Gideons. While there,
he called a friend, who happened to be a student at
DTS. As Peter shared the need for biblical discipleship
back home, his friend encouraged him to enroll at
DTS. When he returned to Russia, Peter asked his wife,
Tatiana, what she thought of the idea. A native Russian
with three children, her eyes grew wide, “America?!”
Peter assured her he intended to return to Russia as
a doctor and remain in bi-vocational ministry as a
pastor and representative of The Gideons. He simply
wanted to be able to answer peoples’ questions.
As Peter and Tatiana prayed together, the Lord
turned both of their hearts toward the adventure of
DTS. In 1992, they packed up their family of five and
headed for the United States. As they landed in Dallas,
they knew they were diving into a completely foreign
culture. But they had no clue that Peter’s passion for
curing sick and broken bodies would soon turn to
an even greater passion for tending sick and broken
hearts . . .
And they certainly couldn’t have imagined the
God-sized mission the Lord would be soon serving
up with a Texas-sized barbeque plate!
You can find Chuck’s Bible reading
plan on our mobile app. Click the Bible
icon . . . then go to insight.org /share to
tell us what you’re learning!
Will you read the Bible with us?
Visit insight.org / Russian to hear Chuck Swindoll’s conversation with Peter which aired April 22, 2019.
Continued from inside: Generation to Generation & Family to Family: God’s Remarkable Plan for Russia and Vision 195.

2. family had become “famous” in their small village as one
of only two families who believed in Christ. As soon as
Peter walked into school, those in power announced, “We
need to work on him!” The secretary of the Communist
Bureau, who acted as an assistant to the principal, quickly
brought Peter into the principal’s office. With the sweet
distraction of tea and cookies, they began manipulating
him: “You don’t really believe this stuff your parents
are teaching you, do you? We will help you! We will
open your eyes. We will build you, and you will build
communism on the earth.”
As Peter became a teen, the regime’s tactics began to
work. “I laughed at my parents,” he recalls. “I thought
prayer was just air, nothing happened. Church was for
babushkas—notyoungpeoplelikeme.Ibeganrebelling—
smoking, drinking. I still
prayed those ‘official’ prayers
at home. But in truth, I was
living a dual life.”
As Arthur and Maria
had done for Walter, Peter’s
parents continued to pray
for their son. With church
still forbidden for children,
they took him to youth
Bible studies and prayer
meetings at believers’ homes.
Godly influence came from
surprising places as well. “In
Russia, we love to celebrate!
Weddings are huge, hundreds
of people!” Peter remembers.
“Christian weddings were an
opportunity to see faith in
action. I remember one wedding, watching the young
people playing the guitar and leading us in worship. I
thought, I want to be like that.”
But the greatest influence came from his grandfather
Arthur. “Reading testimonies in the Bible is one thing,”
Peter says, “but when you actually meet people who
really love the Lord and suffer for Him—this is the most
influential thing in life.”
Yearly, the Mitskeviches gathered at family reunions.
“There were so many grandchildren!” Peter recounts, “We
would eat and play, but we would also listen as the adults
reminded themselves of the Lord’s faithfulness during
my grandfather’s imprisonments.” Like the repetition
of Deuteronomy, year after year, the Mitskeviches told
the stories of the Lord’s providing for them during the
war—stories of salvation, protection, and delivery. “Year
doors opened, but from that
moment, there was never any
doubt. Peter and Tatiana were
God’s team for IFL Russia.
Of course, manning their
stations at the DTS barbeque,
Chuck and Cynthia had no idea
that Peter was the grandson
of a very influential leader of
the evangelical movement in
Russia . . .
Upon his release from
prison, Arthur Mitskevich did
marry Maria. He continued to
preach God’s Word and was
arrested and imprisoned at
least two more times. The last
time, the sentence carried 10 years in prison and then—
along with Maria and their six children—banishment
to Siberia. There, Arthur worked as a photographer,
an accountant, a salesperson . . . anything to keep his
family fed. Each of them had one set of clothes, and
in Siberia’s bitter winters, the children could not go to
school because those clothes weren’t warm enough. The
KGB made surprise visits, ransacking their home for
Christian literature. Despite poverty, persecution, and
ridicule, Arthur’s and Maria’s faith never faltered . . .
and joy never left their home.
Eventually, all six children
became believers, including
their son Walter, who would
one day have a son they would
call Peter.
But Walter’s faith didn’t come
easy.
As a young man, under
pressure, Walter joined the
Young Communist League,
enrolled in medical school, and
eventually became a dentist.
Then he returned to school to
train other doctors and pursue
another degree. All the while,
his parents prayed for him and
guided him toward Christ. In
Moscow at that time, it was
illegal for anyone under 18 to
attend church. So Christian
parents would gather their children and teens in different
homes for Bible study and prayer. One spring break,
Walter had plans in St. Petersburg. Arthur knew just
the place for his son to stay—with a Christian family
in a home where youth regularly gathered for worship
meetings. Watching the youth worship touched Walter
in a new way. Right there, he knelt and gave his heart to
God. It changed his whole life.
When Walter returned to Moscow, his professors
had already heard about his conversion. They told him,
“Walter, we know who your parents are. We know you
became a believer. If you want to finish your education,
you will have to write the newspaper and publicly deny
your faith.” The choice was clear: Walter left school.
He met and married Zoya and, like his father, became
a pastor.
ThisremarkableChristian
heritage made a tremendous
impact on Peter’s life. “I was
born in 1959 in Moscow,”
Peter says. “I grew up in a
family of believers, and this
is very important because
in those days, Russia was
an atheistic country. But
every day in our home, we
would start with breakfast
and prayer. As early as I can
remember, my mother would
tell us, ‘Pray always. When
you children pray, God will
listen!’ As we got older, she
would ask us to give a daily
report: ‘What did you read
today?’ In fact, up until she died in 2016, every time
I saw her, she asked, ‘What did you read today, Son?’
‘Mom,’ I would answer, ‘I’m a pastor!’ ‘Okay,’ she would
laugh, ‘So what did you read today?’ ”
As soon as he could talk, Peter learned to pray
“official” prayers at bedtime and around the table with
his family. He recalls the first time he prayed on his own:
“When I was maybe four years old, for the first time, I
faced a challenge I could not solve by myself. I prayed
the bedtime prayer with my parents. Then I was alone,
under the blanket. I prayed, ‘Lord, my mother said You
will listen to this prayer. I have this challenge. Can You
help?’ The next day, in an amazing way, God answered.
He exists! I thought. I believe!”
With this childlike faith, Peter enrolled in the public
school the regime required all children to attend. His
the study and application of God’s Word worldwide. At
that time, there were about 38 foreign languages spoken
on the DTS campus. That evening, she had jumped at
the chance to serve and meet more students, many of
whom were international students—and among them,
unbeknownst to Cynthia: Peter and Tatiana Mitskevich.
Chuck recalls, “Well, Cynthia and I were there,
serving at the barbeque, aprons and all, and along walks
this charming couple with this unique accent. They
introduced themselves in such
a friendly way, and I thought,
Now, there is a man worth
knowing. Before I could track
those thoughts very far, Cynthia
leans over and says, ‘We’ve got to
get to know them. They’re from
Russia.’ And you know her; she
had immediately fallen in love
with them and was already
thinking, There’s our voice for
Russia, on the loose, eating Texas
barbeque!”
As Cynthia puts it, “I could
almost hear the Lord saying,
‘That’s your couple for Russia.’ ”
She couldn’t resist getting to
know them better as they ate
that evening. It would take
another conversation—this
time at a steakhouse—and
another year before all the right
by year,” Peter says, “I understood more that these
people weren’t playing! They knew who God is. They
didn’t just have religion; they lived spiritual lives.”
In 1968, after decades of persecution, Peter’s
grandfather Arthur founded the Bible-teaching
course that would become Moscow Theological
Seminary in 1993. Arthur’s passion for the Word
and his penchant for teaching younger generations
followed him home.
One day, when Peter was 15 years old, he ate
dinner at his grandparents’ house. Afterward, his
grandfather watched a soccer game on television.
Peter settled in beside him. “Peter,” Arthur asked, “do
you believe in Jesus Christ?” Peter knew the correct
answer: “Yes, I do.” “But is Jesus Christ the Lord of
your life?” Arthur prompted.
The moment pushed the young rebel to admit the
double life he had been living. “Peter,” Arthur urged,
“you have to make a decision. Otherwise, you’ll be
pulled from side to side your whole life.” Grandson
and grandfather knelt together, and Peter dedicated
his life to Christ. “That was it!” Peter says, “It was
GO! from there!”
In those days, before the age of 18, being baptized
in Moscow could carry charges—both for youth and
for their parents for “brainwashing” them. Peter’s
parents took his sister outside the city to be baptized
at 15, but Peter waited. He wanted to be baptized in
Moscow’s Central Baptist Church—the only church
in the region, one that weekly drew adults from hours
away just to hear the Word of God.
“My baptism,” Peter shares, “was a public
announcement: ‘I do believe!’ There was no turning
back! You had to be clear on what you believed
and were willing to give up. Many people would be
baptized in hidden places so nobody would know; they
didn’t want to lose their jobs. Truthfully, I was at risk
of being discharged from my university where I was a
medical student. The state did not allow believers in
the universities.”
Remarkably, Peter was able to finish his education . . .
although he didn’t hide his faith! One by one, all his
friends visited the church. Many laughed, but others
believed. One friend rejected Christ, but his friend’s
mother—a KGB officer—also visited and repented.
Another friend, a member of the Young Communist
League, also came to faith. When she told the regime
she did not want to be a communist, 300 students and
professors gathered to interrogate her: How could a
doctor be a Christian in this modern age? Ultimately,
the regime forced her out of school. But the Lord
protected Peter.
However, when he began practicing medicine
in Moscow, Peter was quickly reported for being a
Christian and sent to a faraway village and a different
hospital. He soon saw that the Lord had plans for him
Continued from front: Generation to Generation & Family to Family: God’s Remarkable Plan for Russia and Vision 195
Peter studied at Dallas Theological Seminary to prepare for ministry in
Russia. He is pictured with Tatiana and their four children in 1997.
Walter and Zoya Mitskevich hold their infant son
Peter in this photo from 1960.
Continued on back
Peter links arms with Chuck during
Peter’s visit to Stonebriar Community
Church in 2006.
Peter and Tatiana Mitskevich and their children and grandchildren attend a family reunion in 2017 with
Peter’s father, Walter, in the center.