James: For most of my life I thought I was a Christian. My parents sat me down one day when I was about eight years old and they had me say the "sinner's prayer" so that I could go to Heaven. I distinctly remember that afternoon, however, I don't believe I was genuinely saved until the age of twenty.

At the age of twenty, thinking I was a Christian, I decided to go to a Christian college. On October 2, 1996 I was genuinely born again. A dynamic and spirit filled evangelist preached two days in chapel. The particular day that I got saved, he preached from John chapter 21.

I went back to my room after chapel, knowing I was not saved. I got on my knees, crying heavily over my sins, and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save me. I trusted in the Gospel, how that Christ died on the cross, shedding His precious blood for the remission of my sins, was buried, and bodily rose from the grave three days later. I asked God to save me and I believe I was saved that day.

One year later, the Lord called me to preach from Ephesians 3:7, which says, "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power."

Right after I had gotten saved, I immediately began reading the Bible every day. I, as many have done, began reading the book of Genesis. When I came to Genesis 24, I sensed the Lord impressing upon me the significance of this passage with regard to my own life.

I wanted to know for sure who my future wife would be. "Lord, please show me how I may know for sure who my future wife will be," was my prayer.

The Lord impressed upon me, concerning my future wife, the following: At a time when I needed comfort, the woman that the Lord had chosen for me would recite Philippians 4:13 and apply it to my present need.

Some would say that such a test was too simple and that the chosen verse was too common. However, Abraham’s servant prayed to the LORD God, "let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac." Such things as offering water to the servant and his camel could be considered "common" things and no proof of the Lord working. However, we know that the servant was led of the Lord and that the Lord fulfilled this request exactly, making His will clear.

Some would say that I had asked for the Lord to show me a fleece, such as Gideon required of the Lord, even though He had already heard the Word of the Lord. However, my request was rooted in the Word of God, having found it’s motivation from the Spirit through the Word of God and it would have its fulfillment through the ministry of the Word of God through the woman that the Lord had chosen to be my bride.

In early 2003, I had a desire to do some research on the Baptists in Ukraine and Russia. I read whatever materials I could find and eventually sought articles on the Internet. I came across pages, written by Baptists from Ukraine and Russia. A young Baptist named Roksolana Shkadova, who went by the shortened English name RoxLana, wrote one of those pages.

After reading about RoxLana’s Baptist beliefs and affiliations, I decided to write to her and ask her questions. The communication was purely informational and academic, however, we began to develop a friendship out of this exchange of information.

RoxLana: I was saved at the age of five or six years old. However, at the age of 13, I realized that I had a greater need of the Lord in my life. I knew that He was my Saviour, but, I realized that I really needed to walk with Him. It was at this age that I received assurance of the Lord’s salvation. At the first opportunity, I followed the Lord in believers’ baptism with other church members, in the Dniper River.

James: Over the period of a year-and-a-half, RoxLana and I shared many things about our walk with the Lord, our family, and our Bible beliefs. Our appreciation for each other continued to grow, as we communicated verbally and in writing.

During the week of July 4th, 2004, I experienced a very difficult time, physically, emotionally, and mentally. My job brought about great demands upon me that week.

On July 6th, while in a conversation with RoxLana, I explained the difficulties of the week and she listened attentively.

RoxLana: And then, in the most comforting way, I quoted Philippians 4:13, which says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." I told him that I knew that the Lord could help him through the difficulties that he was experiencing.

James: Immediately, I knew what the Lord had done. After having waited eight years, the Lord fulfilled the test, which He laid on my heart. I was truly overwhelmed, knowing that the Lord had done this.

Only two months before, I began to have serious desires to marry RoxLana. However, I truly desired that the Lord would still fulfill this thing which He laid on my heart the month after He saved me. So, in May of 2004 I had begun to pray again, that the Lord would fulfill this. I wanted to know for sure, His will, concerning RoxLana.

RoxLana: After I fulfilled the test, James began to explain to me how the Lord had shown him His will concerning his future wife. I was amazed by his testimony and overwhelmed by its meaning and application in my own life. I also knew this was from the Lord and after pondering these things for a few days, I knew that I must become his wife.

James: After the Lord fulfilled the test through RoxLana, she began to tell me some stories about the previous summer. She told me that she went through some hard times, emotionally and physically that summer. In June of 2003, she went to a meeting at the local Bible College where she did some interpreting, during a class, for an American missionary.

RoxLana: During one of the June interpreter meetings, the Bible College director’s wife gave me a bookmark, which had Philippians 4:13 printed on it. She had no knowledge of my difficulties, but, the Lord used that verse for the rest of the summer, to comfort me. So, when he needed comfort, I comforted him with the comfort that I had received from the Lord.

James: In the months that followed July of 2004, RoxLana and I began to pray about when the Lord would have us to marry. I made all plans to travel to Ukraine and was set to depart from Indianapolis on December 27th. Our thought was that we would spend time with each other for two weeks and then submit the paperwork to the US Embassy for RoxLana to come via Fiancée Visa.

RoxLana: On October 31st of that year, Ukraine held its presidential election. The candidates were narrowed down to Victor Yanikovich and Victor Yuschenko, resulting in the need for a run-off election on November 21st. However, horrific things were taking place during this time. Yuschenko was poisoned with dioxin and his face was greatly marred by the effects of the poison. Ukraine knew that this election would be fraught with corruption and deception.

On November 21st, the run-off was held. As anticipated, widespread dishonesty, theft, and destruction took place by the Yanukovich campaign, in an effort to win the election. Ballots in favor of Yuschenko were burned. Disappearing ink was used in districts that were likely to be in favor of Yuschenko. A policeman that was guarding a ballot box, was killed in order to steal the ballots, which were in favor of Yuschenko. Yanukovich, a self-declared communist, used every means within his power to take the presidency.

As a result of the exit polling figures on November 21st, the country erupted into protest in the days that followed. By the end of the week, in Kiev alone, literally millions of protestors were gathered. In each city and village throughout Ukraine, many millions were gathered to protest the injustice.

James: Truly, Ukraine was on the verge of a civil war. The Eastern region of Ukraine leaned heavily toward Yanukovich, who has strong relations with communists in Russia. Western Ukraine, very nationalistic, supported Yuschenko. And indeed, if the civil war broke out, I would not have been able to come to Ukraine.

It was during this time, that the Lord began to impress on my heart that, when I went to Ukraine, I needed to marry RoxLana. On November 23rd, I called RoxLana and told her that I believed the Lord was leading me to marry her in December. She too sensed this from the Lord. We asked her parents permission to marry at this time and they agreed. We immediately began our preparations for a December wedding.

RoxLana: The decision in Ukraine was made to re-run the November 21st election. The date chosen…was December 26th, the day before James was to step on the plane to fly to Ukraine. This added immense tension and several people told him that he should not come to Ukraine at this time. However, he was at peace to come.

James: When I purchased the plane tickets, the Lord knew that all of these events would happen. I knew that RoxLana and I were in His hand, to fulfill His will.

The December 26th election was held and it seemed strongly in favor of Yuschenko. On December 27th, I stepped on the plane for Ukraine and arrived the afternoon of the 28th.

Three hours after meeting RoxLana at the airport, we were married in a Baptist church in Kiev. The events, from the days that followed, will show you how the Lord blessed our faith in following His leadership.

RoxLana: The morning of the 29th, James and I had to go to the US Embassy in Kiev, to fill out paperwork which would be used at ZAGS, the center of marriage registration, down in Zaporozhye, my home city. This paperwork was then brought to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for certification. In the midst of this paperwork, we were obligated to take care of other matters as well. And, that night, we got on an overnight train to Zaporozhye.

On the morning of the 30th, we arrived in my home city. We had our paperwork translated into Ukrainian and then we began the process with ZAGS. Things would not go so smoothly this day, however, and the Lord tried our faith.

James: Two main documents were needed to fulfill the requirements at this point. First, we needed to have certified by a lawyer, the translation of the letter of non-impediment. However, being the end of the year, all of the lawyers had closed their books for the day and did not want to process this certification – a simple stamp and signature.

We went from lawyer to lawyer all morning long and finally found one, at 2 PM in the afternoon, who would certify my translated letter of non-impediment. After visiting 16 lawyers, the 17th performed the needed work. This was a tremendous answer to prayer! We were pleading with the Lord to do it and He did!

RoxLana: But…then began the second leg of the journey. We needed to pay a fee for the marriage certificate. The way this is done in Ukraine, requires the couple to go to a bank, pay the fee, and receive a receipt which they take to ZAGS as proof of payment.

James: However, again, none of the banks wanted to provide this service to us. With the instability of the Ukrainian Hryvna, due to the political unrest, the National Bank of sent down a directive not to transact business on the 30th and the 31st. We did not give up, however, since we trusted the Lord and knew we absolutely must succeed.

After visiting 15 banks, we finally found a bank that would process our fee and give us our receipt. This chain of banks is owned by an ex-director of the National Bank of Ukraine and he was a supporter of Victor Yanukovich during the election. He simply directed his people to process regular paperwork in accordance with Ukrainian law and this was an answer to our prayers!

We then raced to the ZAGS office with our paperwork and they, amazed, processed our paperwork. Our darkest day became our brightest day, a day of the trying and proving of our faith, and a day of standing fast and seeing the salvation of the Lord.

RoxLana: The next day, on the 31st we went to ZAGS to get our civil paperwork finalized. Everything went wonderfully and we left with our official and civil marriage certificate.

James: Why did we need to press so hard to get all of this paperwork done by December 31st? What was the need to put ourselves through this? Why couldn’t we wait to get the paperwork done another day?

RoxLana: ZAGS told me ahead of time that they would be closed from January 1st until the 15th. James’ return flight was scheduled for January 11th. We needed to be back in Kiev on the 10th to process our marriage visa and without our civil marriage certificate, we would not have been able to process this for me to come to the US to be with James, my husband. So, indeed God is Great! and He performed all of this success on our behalf and for His glory! We glorify Him for His great works!

On January 2nd, James and I had a wedding reception at my Baptist church in Zaporozhye. Special efforts were made for this day, again dressing in our wedding attire. Many of the photos, taken on this day, have become our favorites.

At the reception, we gave our testimony of how the Lord showed us through His Word that we were called together in marriage. James was asked to pray at the beginning of the service, before we gave our testimony.

James: I was overwhelmed by the Lord and His Word at that moment and began to pray, "By Thy Word, Lord, Thou created the heavens and the earth. By Thy Word, Lord, Thou created mankind. By Thy Word, Thou brought salvation to mankind. By Thy Word, Thou saved me from my sins. By Thy Word, Lord, Thou called me to ministry and by Thy Word, Thou showed me who my future wife would be. We pray that by Thy Word, Thou would keep our marriage together and enable us to serve Thee."

RoxLana: On Saturday, the 8th of January, my grandparents held a large meal as a family reception for our wedding. This was a blessing, to spend time with family and to share about our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The following evening, James and I stepped on the train to go back to Kiev. The morning of the 10th, we went directly to the US Embassy to file our paperwork for the marriage visa and that day it was off to Warsaw, Poland for processing.

James: On January 11th, I stepped on the plane to come back to the US. This was such a hard moment, but we knew that I had to come home or RoxLana could not come to me. And there was still much to do, with documents, to bring her to the United States.

RoxLana: Our file was completed by March and we were given a date for an interview in Warsaw, where I would be asked many questions and the file would be reViewed. James felt led of the Lord to be with me at this time and to bring me back with him upon the success of the interview and the issuing of my visa.

James: On April 13th we both arrived in Warsaw. We settled into the hotel and the next day we went to the US Embassy for her interview. We prayed all morning for the Lord to do another great wonder on our behalf.

The time for RoxLana’s interview came and indeed the Lord blessed us. We could not imagine that things would go so smoothly for us. By faith, we simply approached the interview with honesty and openness. When RoxLana was asked how we met, she simply told them how we are both believers and both Baptists. They looked over our paperwork and were satisfied, granting her the visa.

The following day we stepped on the plane for the United States. After a long process through Immigration, RoxLana and I traveled to our home, where we presently reside.

We cannot praise the Lord as greatly as He deserves praise. We are not able to glorify Him in all His glory. But, our sincerest desire is that our testimony, of how the Lord has brought us together as husband and wife, will bring praise and glory to His name. Amen.

RoxLana: Please pray for us as we are endeavoring to serve the Lord as full time missionaries to the Republic of Bénin, West Africa.

If you have any questions, concerning this testimony, e-mail us at the following address: Ephesians3seven Information

* © Copyright 2005 James C. Farley