Guy's Books and Thoughts

I read in the church bulletin, that Pastor Lytkin, who spoke at our
church last year, was to be consecrated today, as Bishop of the
Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church. The ceremony was to take place
in the country of Estonia. When Pastor Lytkin spoke at our church,
he was quite open about the problems and challenges facing the
Lutheran church in Siberia.

I believe Pastor Lytkin began his spiritual quest in his teens. I
think his parents told him not to trust the government party line. And
that is what started him on his journey. Finally he traveled 3,000
miles by train to one of the Baltic countries (Estonia?) to be
baptized. The church authorities would not baptize him until he had
read Luther's small catechism. So he spent 2 to 3 days reading the
catechism before being baptized. How many of us take our baptism and
the practice of out faith for granted? Becoming a Christian in a
communist country was not an easy road to take Pastor Lytkin was put
in an insane asylum and received a stamp on his internal passport
saying he was crazy. I asked him if he could have kept his faith
secret. But he cited the scripture passage about a city on a hill not
being hidden or no one lighting a candle and putting it under a
bushel.

Pastor Lytkin's background reminds me of Panel Uhorskai, who became
Bishop of a Lutheran church denomination in Slovakia. Both Pastor
Lytkin and Pastor Uhorsaki were imprisoned for their faith. Yet both
rose to become Bishops in their respective Lutheran churches. Who
would have thought this would be possible in the 1980's? Who would
have thought it possible that that members from the Concordia Fort
Wayne Seminary would be able to send professors such as the late Kurt
Marquart to teach at a sister seminary in Novosibirsk, Siberia?

While there are many terrible things going on in the world today, we
should give thanks that Christianity is now being allowed in countries
which used to be officially atheistic. I had read in a church
newsletter, that the Russian government had even helped in restoring a
destroyed Lutheran church. The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel
visited this church and Pastor Lytkin conducted the worship service.
Well I suppose one may argue that the Russian government restored the
church because they wanted to be on good terms with Germany and get
financial aid. While that may have been the motive of the officials,
one may still argue that the LORD works in mysterious way.