The Wrestler

Alexei Bogomolov

Alexei loved sports from the time he was small. When he was about 10 years old, he took up wrestling. Soon he decided that he wanted to become a wrestling coach, and he put his whole heart and energy into mastering whatever it took to become the best in the sport. He took wrestling classes and studied karate. When he was still a teenager, his karate coach asked him to be his assistant and help him train other youth. Eagerly Alexei accepted the coach's offer.

Searching for Spiritual Roots

Alexei had received no religious training at home. His karate teacher offered to teach him about Buddhism. Then a school friend gave him a book on Hare Krishna [HAH-ray KRISH-nah], another Eastern religion, and he began reading that. The book about Hare Krishna helped Alexei get a grip on some bad habits that he had picked up. For two years he made study of religion a part of his daily practice routine. He was convinced that the soul does not die, but is reincarnated into another body and another until the person becomes good enough to enter karma, a state of perfection.

Alexei was introduced to a new style of Russian wrestling that incorporated judo and tae kwan do [tie kwahn doh]. This wrestling style fascinated him, and he began reading books on it. Eventually he and a friend established a program to teach Russian wrestling to young boys ages 8 to 15.

Alexei learned about Boy Scouts and was attracted to the organization's activities and philosophy. He and a friend decided to broaden their work with youth to include some Scouting activities such as camping, survival skills, and civic activities. Soon their club was recognized as an outstanding organization for youth.

New Ideas, New Faith

One day Alexei was home alone and became bored. He decided to take a walk. While he was out he saw a poster advertising some evangelistic meetings that were being held in his city. He decided to attend, though up to this time he had known little about Christianity. Although he no longer studied Hare Krishna or Buddhism, he was still fascinated by one of the topics printed on the poster. "What happens when a person dies?" it asked. Alexei decided to go and find out what Christians had to say about reincarnation and immortality of the soul.

The presentation on life after death gave Alexei some new ideas to chew on, and he decided to continue to attend the meetings. He was surprised at how much he did not know, but also how easy the lectures were to understand. As he learned new principles, he was quick to put them into practice in his life.

However, Alexei's mother was not happy with some of his new ideas. She resented it when he refused to eat certain foods, saying they were unclean. And she wondered why he had to give one tenth of his earnings to the church. But as she saw changes in his life, she eventually she gave her blessing, and he was baptized.

Which Will It Be?

Alexei continued working in the youth sports program. One day as he talked to one of his friends about his new faith, his friend challenged him, "You talk about the principles of Christianity, and yet you teach young people to be aggressive. You shout at them to spur them on. How do your belief in Christ and your work at the sports center fit together?"

His friend's words made Alexei question whether his wrestling activities conflicted with his new faith. Alexei asked his pastor about it, but the pastor would not answer for him. "You must make this decision on your own, based on what God shows you," the pastor counseled.

Several months later Alexei met an Adventist pastor who had once been a professional wrestler. The two young men talked and prayed together for several hours. Then the pastor urged Alexei to quit wrestling. Although it was a painful decision, Alexei decided to give up wrestling. It was not easy, for wrestling and sports had been a major force in his life for several years, but he decided that he had to put it away if he was to truly follow Christ. He decided to leave Boy Scouts as well.

Alexei had a lot of time on his hands when he quit wrestling. He filled the void by forming an organization similar to Boy Scouts in his home church. He had never heard of Pathfinders, for it had not yet been introduced in Russia. During two summers he took the young people on camping trips to areas where no Adventists lived. The children and teens spent their days going from door to door, sharing their faith with the people. They helped elderly people plant their potatoes, repair fences, and do other jobs that the people needed help with, then they shared the gospel with them.

A School and a Ministry

He wanted to find some reference books and was directed to the Adventist publishing house located in Zaoksky, Russia. He traveled to the small town and stayed on the campus of the Adventist seminary there. While he was in Zaoksky, he took a walk around the school and talked to staff and students about what courses the school offered. Before he left Zaoksky, he had decided to enroll in the school. But he had no money, no full-time job, no means of support. And he had no courage to ask his conference or his church to help him. But he decided to ask his former boss for a loan so that he could attend this school. His boss listened to his appeal, then surprised him and gave him the money for his first year of study. His former karate teacher, who had taught him about Buddhism, paid another semester of his studies.

Alexei loves working with people and enjoys his own door-to-door ministry. On his own he began delivering bread to small villages that had no grocery stores. In the bitter winter months, lacking money for bus tickets, he went as often as three times a week on skis through the snow in sub-zero temperatures for hours to be sure that the people had bread.

When Pathfinders was introduced in Russia, he was already at Zaoksky. He organized a Pathfinder Club for the children of Zaoksky families. He went to one of the elementary school teachers and told her what he wanted to do. He hesitated, for he feared that teachers might not be eager to support such a club. But her response surprised even him. "Praise God!" she said. "You're an answer to my prayers! There is a desperate need for such a club, but we have had no one to organize it."

At the end of Alexei's first year at Zaoksky, he and his three friends took the Pathfinders and elementary students camping near a community four miles [seven km] from the school. They again went door to door, singing, giving out literature, and sharing their faith. These young people have divided themselves into small groups that go to three different villages near the seminary to conduct weekly Bible studies with interested people. Twice a week Alexei goes to villages near the school to share his faith. He visits with the people, listens to their problems, prays with them, and even sings to them.

He has a good rapport with the elderly as well as young people. He wants to bring these two groups together and bring the love of God to places where it is not yet known.

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Alexei Bogomolov is a third-year theology student at Zaoksky Adventist Seminary in Russia.

This story originally appeared in the adult edition of Mission, 3rd quarter 2001, edited by Charlotte Ishkanian. Used by permission.