​How 14-Year-Old Girl Found Sabbath in Kyrgyzstan

Trouble with school and pork couldn’t stop her from observing the seventh day.

By Galina Pogorelova, as told to Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

Hey, can we hang out together this Saturday?” I asked my friends Olga and Karina.

I was 14 years old, and it was the start of summer vacation in my homeland of Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic.

“No,” Olga said thoughtfully. “We go to church on Saturday.”

I was surprised! Didn’t all Christians go to church on Sunday? Karina explained that they are Seventh-day Adventists, and they worship in church on Saturday.

I thought about that for a minute. “May I go with you one Saturday?” I asked, curious to know where and how they worshiped.

“Sure!” Karina answered, a huge smile brightening her face. “How about this Saturday?”

I asked whether I needed to wear a long dress and cover my head with a shawl like women do in the church I was familiar with.

“No,” Olga said. “Wear a dress or a skirt — but just come!”

I was a little nervous when we arrived at the church in the city of Tokmok. Would the people think I was strange? Would I think they were strange? But I needn’t have worried. The people welcomed me and made me feel at home. Best of all, the Sabbath School had a big class of young people.

My mother gave me permission to keep going to church because I had friends there. But she warned me not to get too serious about this religion. I returned to the church every Sabbath that summer.

Trouble!

When I told my mother that I wanted to be baptized and join the Adventist Church, she was furious.

Schools in Kyrgyzstan have classes on Saturdays. I wanted to go to church, but I didn’t dare. I asked God for help. I had learned that God wants us to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” So, I chose not to go to school on Saturdays. I left home as if I were going to school, but instead of entering the building, I walked around the school until classes ended. I didn’t dare go to church because I knew my mother would be even more angry.

But my mother found out that I was skipping school on Saturdays. This time she was even more angry. She said I could not go to the Adventist church again. She took away my cell phone so I could not talk with my friends, and she ordered me to go straight home after school every day.

I was very sad. My mother had always been my best friend, and her anger over my desire to attend church seemed so strange to me. Again, I prayed to God for help.

Then something strange happened in school. My math teacher at the public school started giving me bad grades. I’m pretty good at math, and I didn’t understand what was happening. When I failed a math test, I asked another teacher I knew to look at it and tell me what was wrong with my answers. The teacher looked over my paper and said she couldn’t find any mistakes.

Then I realized that some teachers at the public school didn’t like me. There was nothing that my mother or I could do about it. My mother was worried about the teacher’s actions, for Mom wanted me to finish the school year with good grades. So, she sent me to the Adventist school in Tokmok! She also told me that I could go back to church. I was so happy! I knew that the math grades were God’s way of answering my prayers.

More Trouble

One Sabbath, the pastor announced a special camping trip for teenagers. I wanted to go, but the camping trip was only for teens who were baptized or were planning to be baptized. I asked my mother to allow me to go on the camping trip and be baptized. To my surprise, Mother agreed. She said I was old enough to make my own decision.

I was so excited! I wanted the world to know that I love Jesus with all my heart. I went on the camping trip and was baptized.

My mother was the only person in my family who was happy with my baptism. My grandparents — especially my grandfather — opposed my decision to join the Adventist Church. He did not understand why I refused to eat pork. I would try to explain that the Bible tells us to not eat any unclean food, and I didn’t want to disobey God.

But still my grandparents tried to feed me pork. It made me very uncomfortable. Once when my grandparents invited us over to eat, my mother asked what they were preparing. They said they were making chicken. But when we arrived, we found only pork on the table. When I looked for something else to eat, my grandfather became angry and said, “Eat what we made for you.”

My mother finally told my grandfather, “Look, we are not going to come over again unless you will provide food that Galina can eat.”

Three Prayers

I am praying for my grandfather. He does not believe in God. But I think God is changing his heart. My mother once heard my grandfather talking on to the phone to a friend. He said with pride, “My granddaughter is such a nice girl, and she goes to church.” I hope this means that my grandfather has accepted me as a Christian.

I’m praying for my mother, too. So far, she has not come to church with me, but I can see changes in in her. When I return home from church, she asks me what the sermon was about. She asks a lot of questions about Jesus. My mother tells other people at her work that Saturday is the right day to worship. I can see that God is working in her heart, and I pray for her every day.

And I pray for my church and my school. I am who I am because of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Adventist school. Now I am 21, and I am studying to become a teacher to teach others about Jesus, my best Friend.

Part of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in fourth quarter 2017 will help Galina’s school, Heritage Christian School, build a gym where children can take physical education classes in the winter. Children who live near the school will be able to come to the gym and learn to play soccer and maybe other sports as part of the school’s outreach program. Please remember this school in your prayers and with your Sabbath School mission offerings.