Death Threats and Job Loss Don’t Discourage Sabbath-Loving Janitor

Yelena Golubeva says she will do whatever it takes to share Jesus in Kazakhstan.

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

Yelena Golubeva has every reason to be distressed.

She lost her job because of the Sabbath earlier this year. After a period of unemployment, she found work as a low-paid janitor. Now she is receiving death threats because of her desire to help another woman keep the Sabbath.

But Golubeva, a Seventh-day Adventist living in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, is visibly happy.

“I love to serve God,” she said in an interview at the Southern Seventh-day Adventist Church in Pavlodar, a city of 300,000 people in a northern corner of Kazakhstan.

Sabbath observance is a challenge in this predominantly Muslim country of 17 million people and only 3,500 Adventists. No church schools operate here, and public schools hold classes from Monday through Saturday. Employers are often unsympathetic to Sabbath requests, even when church members offer to make up the work during the week. Many people dismiss Adventists and other Protestants as “sectarians.”

Golubeva’s troubles began when the pipe production company where she had worked for the past five years decided to expand its work week to six days from the previous five. Golubeva had disclosed during her job interview in 2011 that she observed the biblical seventh-day Sabbath, and her supervisor had replied: “No problem. We only work five days a week. Your Sabbath will fall on your weekend.”

But the company changed its work schedule this year, citing economic conditions, and Golubeva had no choice but to leave.

After two months of unemployment, an Adventist friend helped her find a part-time janitorial job at a pawnshop. Golubeva also received training as a massage therapist, allowing her to volunteer at a community health center operated by her church.

Treating Grandmother Faina

Golubeva’s work as a massage therapist led her to “Grandmother Faina,” as she affectionately calls the 75-year-old woman. They met through a church member, and Golubeva agreed to give the elderly woman 10 daily sessions for free.

Grandmother Faina, who suffered pain from an accident in her youth, thanked Golubeva profusely as her health improved. Golubeva said she replied every time, “I am a Christian, so you need to thank God.”

The 10 days passed quickly. At the last session, Golubeva invited Grandmother Faina to study the Bible together. The woman agreed, and the two began to meet once a week to go through the 24 Bible lessons.

Halfway through, the grandmother asked Golubeva to escalate the Bible study so she could be baptized more quickly. Golubeva didn’t have time to meet twice a week, so she drafted the director of the church’s community health center to help.

Grandmother Faina accepted what she heard, and her lifestyle began to change. She sought to observe the Sabbath.

When she told her adult son, Pavel, about her new faith, he was furious, Golubeva said. Pavel, a divorced father, lives alone with his mother.

Pavel searched the house for contact information for the Adventist visitors, finally finding the telephone number of the health center director.

“My mother was completely different before,” he angrily told her by phone, Golubeva said. “She used to make good food, but now she won’t prepare pork. Before she drank alcohol during holidays, and now she refuses to drink.”

Court and Death Threats

Pavel threatened to go to court if the Bible studies continued.

Several days later, when his mother refused to stop the lessons, his threats grew more serious. He told Golubeva that he would kill her if she set foot in the house again.

The Bible studies stopped for two weeks. Church members prayed about the situation. It was decided to resume the Bible studies by phone.

“Grandmother Faina started to call me when the son went to work,” Golubeva said. “We prayed by phone and then did the lesson.”

Earlier this month, with only two lessons to go, the son lost his job and refused to leave the house. The lessons stopped for two weeks. The church members prayed that the son would find work.

“God heard our prayers,” Golubeva said. “This week Grandmother Faina called and said, ‘Pavel has gone to work, so we can continue our lessons!’”

Golubeva expressed excitement at seeing how God would lead next.

“When we pray, Grandmother Faina praises God that she was able to meet people who could help her live a healthier life and get to know Him,” she said. “Last Sabbath she called me and asked me to pass greetings to the whole church.”

Golubeva said it can be difficult to reach people in the world with the gospel. But she said she was willing to do whatever it takes — even losing her job and working for low wages — if it meant that she could obey God and share her faith.

A portion of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering for fourth quarter 2017 will help fund the opening of the first Seventh-day Adventist preschool in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan.