February 13, 2012
The winter of 2012 was exceptionally frigid in Ukraine and in other parts of Eastern Europe. In Nikolaev, the banana belt of Ukraine, temperatures plunged to eleven degrees below zero F. Snow piled up, and rivers froze solid. Hundreds of people in Ukraine died from hypothermia.
Yet, Natasha Budynka, a WEI student taught by David and Galina Binkley, braved the elements on February 13 to be immersed into Christ.
The Binkleys met Natasha in 2009 while they were visiting in Odessa, a beautiful city just west of Nikolaev. They went into a McDonald’s restaurant to eat lunch and sat down next to Natasha. She smiled when she heard them speaking in English, and they introduced themselves. They learned that Natasha worked in Odessa as an accountant but spent her vacations in Nikolaev with her parents.
Since then, Natasha has been worshiping with the Church of Christ in Nikolaev and studying with David and Galina at every opportunity. This year, during her winter vacation, she studied the WEI Bible and English courses.
On a cold day in February, Natasha came to the church office to study. Before she opened her WEI book, she asked, “When can I be baptized?”
The following Tuesday, David wrote, “Fresh snowfall greeted us yesterday morning as we began to make preparations for our day with Natasha Budynka. In the morning, we met with her for a long period of Bible study and almost completed the study of The New Birth. We have been amazed at how much she has grown spiritually since we first met her in 2009—when she was mostly interested in being our friend and improving her English.
“After the study, we left the office and went to our apartment. The fresh snowfall was a reminder of how the saving power of Jesus’ blood makes us white as snow. We didn’t have much water pressure, so we had another good Bible study while we waited for our tub to fill up. Galina was boiling water in our hot water pot and on the stove. This was the fifth baptism here in our bathtub.”
