PARENTS SET A FINE EXAMPLE

Vladislav Apanyuk serves at Russia Bethel. He remembers how his parents instilled love for God in him and his siblings from childhood: “Our parents were exiled from Ukraine to Siberia in 1951. They taught us to make our own decisions while striving to please Jehovah. I really appreciated that our parents could always talk about their own shortcomings before us children without embarrassment. When they made mistakes, they didn’t hide them. It was clear how much they loved Jehovah. My parents were often cheerful, especially when discussing spiritual subjects with us. We saw that they really liked to meditate and to talk about Jehovah. It motivated us to meditate on truths about Jehovah as well. We imagined how people would live in the new world when everything would be wonderful and there would be no more illness or wars.

“When I was in the third grade, my entire class was invited to join a Soviet youth organization called the Pioneers. For most children in the Soviet Union, joining the Pioneers was considered a great honor. My classmates had been eagerly awaiting this day. Each of us was supposed to write up a formal oath that he or she was ready to join the ranks of the Soviet Pioneers, the future builders of Communism. I refused. For this the teacher punished me by shutting me up in the classroom. ‘You can’t come out until you have written the oath,’ she said. A few hours later, some of my classmates knocked at the window and urged me to come out to play. I stayed in the classroom, firmly resolved not to write anything. Toward evening, another teacher came. Seeing me there in the classroom, she finally let me go home. This was my first victory. I was proud that I could do something that would make Jehovah’s heart rejoice. (Prov. 27:11) When I got home, I told my parents everything that had happened. They rejoiced, and Papa said, ‘Good job, son!’”

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Vladislav Apanyuk’s Bible training helped him overcome tests of faith