Paul Mitskevich serves as the Russian-language ministry leader for Insight for Living Ministries. He grew up hearing bedtime stories from his grandfather Walter about his and his family's faith and experiences surviving persecution in Russia as Christians. Paul is now translating resources from Insight for Living into Russian to share the gospel and Bible teaching with Russian speakers worldwide, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather in serving God.

1. Continued insidewww.insight.org
Christ’s vision is for us
to take His message to
the remotest parts of
the world. The Russian
people may seem remote
to us, but through Christ,
our hearts reach out
to them.
— Charles R. Swindoll
by PAUL MITSKEVICH
Russian-Language Ministry Leader
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UPCOMING
VOLUME 40
ISSUE 5
Who’s in Charge?
Around the world tonight, children will put on pajamas, crawl into bed, and
snuggle under the covers. Parents or grandparents will settle beside them
and recite fairytales and folk stories to usher their little ones into dreamland.
It’s a ritual hundreds of years old—so familiar, most of us know by heart
variations of the same stories from “Little Red Riding Hood” to “The Tortoise
and the Hare.”
Bedtime stories are common in Moscow, too, where I grew up. But the
stories my parents and grandparents told me were no ordinary fairytales.
They were real—colorful, true stories that always pointed to the truth: there
is a God who loves us.
Grandfather Walter especially is an amazing storyteller! He knew how to
create intrigue in every story and leave space for our imaginations to fill in
the empty spots. He told tales of Great Grandfather Arthur rescuing a woman
from drowning, protecting his home from a thief, and winning the heart of
his soon-to-be bride while in prison for proclaiming the gospel—a sentence
he would receive at least two more times in his life. Grandfather Walter also
shared the intense poverty and persecution his family of eight endured after
Great Grandfather Arthur was released from prison and they were banished
to Siberia, along with the ridicule he endured as the son of a pastor and, later,
for the choice he made to sacrifice medical school when Christians were
banned from education.
A Year in the Word
I started reading the
New Testament in
January, so by April,
I had read the first
three gospels and
half of John. What
better preparation
could there be
for Easter? As I
read through the
apostles’ accounts
of Jesus’ life, one
thing impressed
me most: Jesus was
fully in charge of the timeline that would take Him to
the cross.
Whenever His enemies plotted—too early—to kill
Him, something went wrong. He eluded their grasp,
or He disappeared into the crowd, or the people were
hanging on His every word so much that the Jewish
leaders didn’t dare disrupt Him. Jesus played them like
marionettes.
I like to keep up with current events and the
happenings in the halls of power in DC, and sometimes
I let fear of the future occupy my mind. My husband is
retired, so we could be affected noticeably by careless
decisions made remotely. Chuck Swindoll’s Bible
Reading Plan pairs the New Testament with Proverbs,
and it seems God wanted to share His perspective with
me through Solomon’s words:
People with integrity walk safely,
but those who follow crooked paths will be
exposed. (Proverbs 10:9)
The blameless will be rescued from harm,
but the crooked will be suddenly destroyed.
(28:18)
Passages like these along with my reading in the
New Testament reminded me: God has always been in
charge. Jesus played the so-called authority figures in
His day; God is no doubt still doing it today. As I read,
I could hear Him say, “Joni, I’ve got this. Don’t fret. Just
wait and watch Me work.”
We’re still on His timeline and in His care; justice
and righteousness will have their say at just the
right time.
Our Heart Cry for Russian-Speakers Worldwide
Following in the footsteps of his father, Peter, his grandfather, Walter, and his
great grandfather, Arthur, Paul Mitskevich is preparing for ministry and
serves as Insight for Living Ministries’ Russian-language ministry leader.
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?
Endnote
* The English-language versions of Insights on the Bible
can be found at http://insight.org /resources / bible.
by STACIENICOLE SIMMONS
International Ministries Project Manager
Visit insight.org / Russian to share this article and find more information about
our Russian-language ministry.
Excerpt from memoirs
in Russian by Walter
Mitskevich, and photo of
Walter with his wife, Zoya
COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATING BIBLICAL TRUTH AND ITS APPLICATION
Since November 2018, Paul Mitskevich—the Russian
boy who grew up hearing the best bedtime stories—has
been serving as our Russian-language ministry leader.
Paul, a Dallas Theological Seminary student, translates
and prepares content for our Russian website. With the
potential to reach the world’s 170 million people whose
heart language is Russian, the significance of Paul’s work
resonates with us all.
Our Russian website, replete with Chuck Swindoll’s
Bible-teaching resources and Searching the Scriptures
training materials, will be an effective vehicle to take
the study and application of God’s Word to Russian-
speakers worldwide. So far, Paul has translated into
Russian 10 of our Insights on the Bible. As he translates
and ponders this content, Paul echoes our amazement
as he revisits how—despite our many failings and
shortcomings—the Lord forgives, loves, comforts, and
guides His people. God’s love for us and desire to be in
relationship with us has been
apparent since the beginning!
Inadditiontoworkingonthe
website,Paulisenthusiastically
learning from the ministry’s
leadership. When asked about
his training, Paul gives a
swift response: “I am training
here to impact the world, by
impacting my country. I love
my country and my people
very much.” He adds, “My
desire is for everyone to come
to know Jesus Christ.” When
asked what he has learned
since November, Paul notes,
“I’m learning many things . . .
but mostly what I’m learning
is to LOVE. The love that I’m
receiving, both from God and
from my brothers and sisters
in Christ, I want to take back
to my country and share.”
Such an outpouring of love is the heart’s response
to grace! Paul’s heart cry matches all of ours in
International Ministries: to understand the Word of
God, apply it, and teach others to do the same.
Will you join us in praying for God’s wisdom and
provision as we build this website to reach Russian-
speakers all across the globe?
And may the Lord our God show us his approval
and make our efforts successful.
Yes, make our efforts successful!
(Psalm 90:17 NLT)
Strengthened
Storiesby
How My Parents and
Grandparents Shaped My
Future with Their History

2. As I read through Grandfather Walter’s memoir,
I can hear his voice telling each story, as he has
done so many times before. I can see his tears and
feel his pain and joy. I know this story is about
a righteous man who surrendered everything to
God—his life and his family—just as his father,
Great Grandfather Arthur, did before him. The
patriarchs of my family embody one of my favorite
hymns: “I Give Everything to Jesus,” better known
in English as “I Surrender All.”
Remembering their stories—our stories—is
important, just as it was for the ancient Israelites
(Deuteronomy 8:2). They’re more than just
memories; they’re instructions for life, for how
to live, and even for how to be ready to die.
They are rooted in Scripture, so I cling to them
(Proverbs 4:13). They have made me look at
life more maturely with an understanding that
while there is bitterness and suffering, through
Jesus Christ, there is also joy, light, and warmth.
My family’s legacy motivates me to be courageous
My parents and grandparents have never failed
to tell us about their faith in Jesus Christ and what
they have learned from His Word intentionally and
passionately . . . literally as we were going to bed
and getting up!
In 2012, my brother Elijah and I asked
Grandfather Walter to write down some of those
true bedtime stories he shared with us and our
siblings while we were growing up. I have been
working on translating this slice of personal history
into English. Here are a few of my favorite entries
from his memoir:
Naturally, as a young boy, stories about heroes
fascinated me. Knowing Great Grandfather Arthur
survived both world wars, I had questions: What did Nazi
Germany look like? How did they defeat their enemies? I
didn’t understand how harsh and evil war is, how it is
the saddest, most destructive thing humans do to each
other. I once asked Grandfather Walter if he had been a
war hero. In reply, he began sharing new stories about
Great Grandfather Arthur, who didn’t take action in
those wars but was a hero of a different war—a much
bigger one that is still going on today. He was a hero of
faith, who fought and won many spiritual and physical
battles of staying faithful. He shaped in my imagination
what a real hero looks like.
The real heroes of my family have been changing the
world for Christ for more than eight decades! I, along
with my brothers, Tim and Elijah, and my sisters, Mary
and Elizabeth, have the lives we do today because our
parents, grandparents, and great grandparents took
Deuteronomy 6 seriously:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
all your soul, and all your strength. . . .
Commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these
commands that I am giving you today. Repeat
them again and again to your children.
Talk about them when you are at home and
when you are on the road, when you are
going to bed and when you are getting up.”
(Deuteronomy 6:5–7)
and put life in the proper order: 1. A free and personal
relationship with God, 2. Family, 3. Everything else.
Their stories teach me to be grateful for what I have—
for freedom, copies of the Bible, and open churches.
Learning the faith of those who came before me
has taught me to be humble, obedient, and faithful,
reminding me, as the writer of Hebrews put it:
“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you
will continue to do God’s will” (Hebrews 10:36).
I, too, am pursuing full-time ministry right now
as a student at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS).
I’ll never forget my first day of classes. I was excited
to gain knowledge and wisdom from the world’s best
Bible scholars, but I also was excited because my
father had studied here. I was thrilled by the thought
that I would sit in classes he sat in, even learn from
the same professors! I love him very much and wish
to be like him and my faithful Grandfather Walter
and Great Grandfather Arthur. Our lives are different,
but they all have one core unity—a love and faith in
our Savior and the desire to share Him with others.
Our trials are different too, but the Lord has put
each of us in a position to learn to trust and rely
on Him alone. As soon as my wife and I made the
decision to come to DTS, everything began changing.
We saw God’s hand guiding us as never before.
Mighty excitement stirred within us! But questions
soon followed. Where would we live? How would we
live? How would my wife and children, who didn’t know
English, adapt?
My daughter, who was less than two years old,
broke her leg the night before our flight. We worried,
Is this a sign? Should we not go? Then our 16-hour
flight, which is long enough with two small kids—
one in a cast—and a pregnant wife, turned into a
two-and-a-half-day flight, topped off by lost luggage.
What’s going on? we wondered. Lord, haven’t we left
everything to fulfill Your will?
These and other questions came to mind, but I
remembered the words Grandfather Walter spoke
to me before I left. I had gone to visit him to receive
his blessing. I expected he would be proud that I
was following in his footsteps. To my surprise, the
conversation turned into an “interview.” He asked over
and over, “Are you sure you want to do this? This is
not easy!” Eventually, I realized he was giving me a
hard time because he loves me and didn’t want me to
go through the same struggles that Great Grandfather
Arthur and he had gone through. Ultimately, he gave
me his blessing, and remembering his blessing has
helped me overcome my struggles.
Grandfather Walter was right! Following God’s
call meant leaving everything I had: a dream job
in the aviation business, a loving extended family,
grandparents nearby for my children, a local church
I loved and served, friends we sorrowed and rejoiced
with. However, with the heritage of my family written
in my heart, I can testify without a doubt: Jesus is
worth every sacrifice.
All to Jesus I surrender . . .
Strengthened by Stories: How My Parents and Grandparents Shaped My Future with Their History, continued from front
Walter is pictured here as a boy just before
World War II. Soon after, Walter’s father, Arthur,
was sentenced to a prison camp in Siberia for being
a pastor.
Paul is the son of Peter Mitskevich, the voice of Chuck Swindoll
in Russian. Peter and his wife Tatiana serve on the ground in
Russia where Peter is also a pastor and the superintendent of
the Church-Based Learning Centers in Moscow. Paul and his
brother Tim both serve on Insight for Living Ministries staff, Paul
as our Russian-language ministry leader and Tim as our Human
Resources coordinator.
Paul Mitskevich
Refusing to renounce his faith, Walter was
forced to quit his doctoral studies. He later
followed God’s call into the ministry and
became a pastor. Do they know the stories of your family’s
faith through illness and pain, loss and
heartbreak, uncertainty and hardship, and
even just day-to-day decisions? Take the time
to make the tales of your family’s salvation,
the Lord’s provision, and His guiding hand
on your lives as familiar to them as the
world’s most famous fairytales. Next to the
Bible, they are the most powerful legacy
you could share.
What stories are YOU writing
in the hearts of your children
and grandchildren?
On May 5, 1945, your Great Grandfather
Arthur received freedom. He came home
skinny as the bones are—all long hair,
unshaven, and barely alive. How badly I
wanted everything to change for the better
at his return! But we didn’t have enough
room in our house or enough food for
another person. Still, the main thing was
that he came alive, and he came with Jesus
Christ in his heart.
In 1937, my mother—your Great Grandmother
Maria—boarded the train with me and my five
brothers and sisters, headed for Siberia where your
Great Grandfather Arthur was imprisoned. It was
amazing to be traveling on the train!
At one point, we went into a huge tunnel under a
mountain. Suddenly, the smell of coal from the
engine flooded our passenger car. The tunnel was
completely dark. Immediately, everyone began
to panic. Some cried out. Then, a flash of light
appeared, and we saw the light of the sun. Laughter
spread through the car. I remember thinking, We
didn’t fall into a hole! We are heading to my father,
who is by the sun. He is not in the darkness!
From early morning until late night, KGB
officers would search our house, taking anything
suspicious. Even children’s games were suspect!
We had one called “From Moscow to Leningrad”
that had a map. I had to explain to the officers
it was just a game, not some spy map. Being a
small boy, I was quick and managed to hide in
my pocket a small New Testament as well as our
hymnal. Everything else was taken by them
forever—even our game . . .
My dear mother, your Great
Grandmother Maria, would come
home very late from work only to work
more to take care of us and our home.
I remember seeing her at night, on
her knees by the fire, praying with
a look in her eyes I will never forget.
“Our whole family is in the arms of
the Lord,” she would say. “And we are
on the side of the Lord in this battle
between the evil one and the good One.
We are on the bright side.”
When I was four years old, while your
Great Grandfather Arthur was in
prison and your Great Grandmother
Maria had to work, I was the babysitter
for my baby brother, who was about two
years old. My ears remember only the
sounds of neighbors’ radios and babies
crying. My eyes were always looking
at my smaller, baby brother but also
outside the window. My heart was
always waiting for my older siblings
to come home or for our neighbor, Anna,
to come. My baby brother had stomach
pains, and I didn’t know how to help
him. Sometimes, when he screamed for
a very long time, Anna would come.