| Valera Rimshan - Siliene, Latvia |
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Valjera was born
in Daugavpils, Latvia, and has lived there most of
his life. His father was from Daugavpils, and his mother
from Russia.
During this time Valjera lost hope, feeling he had nothing to live for. He had a "common law" wife, whose friend talked with him, and tried to comfort him. She told him of Christ. He prayed with her to ask God's forgiveness, but he did not yet believe. For three nights he lived in fear. He saw himself as a sinner, and was continually crying, and hardly slept. The third night he was no longer afraid of dying (he had been very sick for two weeks). He committed himself into the hands of God, and woke up in the morning with hope. He wanted to start everything new, and live a different life. He began physical therapy, having by this time been in casts for three years. He gave away all the books he had been reading during the past three years as a diversion, and began read the Bible. He read through the Bible in ½ year. He started attending church that summer. The Baptists took him to church in a wheelchair, until he became embarrassed, and set a goal of using crutches, which he attained by the end of the year. After having been a believer for 5 years, he began traveling to Daugda with another man, learning to preach, and how to lead a worship service. He received CP-21 training during that time, and now feels he is "on the front lines." Valjera is now planting a church Silene, as a plant out of the "White Church" in Daugavpils. He and a Southern Baptist missionary, Gary Ramey, began visiting people in that region. He was still helping with the plant in Daugda, but began to pray for Silene. Another brother, Anatoli, went with him to Silene for a while, and now Valjera has been planting the alone. Valjera holds an informal worship service on Sunday, meeting in a small rented facility. He also travels from Daugavpils to Silene during the week. He has plans to do outreach this year, including an outreach through the provision of humanitarian need. The progress is slow, but Valjera is faithful and committed. |
Valjera lived a
sinful life in his youth. At age 34 he
has a serious car accident. His legs were broken, and did not heal properly,
and had to be rebroken. He had three
operations on his legs, which were only partially successful, and he was left
crippled. Immobilized by his condition,
one night he fell out of bed, broke his hand, and dislocated his shoulder. He had two surgeries on his shoulder.