River of Faith: Our Amazing Journey to Freedom – Russian Edition

Starting his service in the Mission in late 1979, Michael Lokteff made, a very wise decision, which was inspired from Above. Having a Sound Recording Studio at his disposal, Michael put his father Daniel Lokteff at the microphone and he, on ten cassettes, told the story of the Lokteff’s family, beginning from his Russian ancestors to moving to America. This is a large historical layer in history. At the end of the 19th Century, moving from the Tambov Province of Russia to Kazakhstan, then fleeing to China, and then fleeing from China to the Philippines and from there to the United States. “The River of Faith” is a book that will help many people to better understand and feel the history of the country from which the roots of our genealogies come; it will help us to better understand the people who lived there and look at the events that our grandfathers and great-grandfathers went through. This book is also unique in that it was written by representatives of two generations, Daniel Lokteff and Michael Lokteff. Thanks to radio broadcasts that were broadcast to the Republics of the USSR for several decades; thanks to numerous letters and parcels that were prepared at the Mission office and then sent beyond the “Iron Curtain”. Thanks to this book, we have the opportunity to get to know his family and relatives, all those with whom Michael lived and worked, and why serving with Word to Russia Ministry (WTR) continues. In 2022 WTR reached its “Golden Jubilee.” “lnscrutable are the ways of the Lord,” we read in Scripture. Often this is incomprehensible at the beginning of the path, but at the end, we repeat with King David: “My lines have passed through beautiful places.” We find the same in the book “‘The River of Faith,” going through experiences, doubts, difficult decisions, ups and downs, together with the author, but in the finale we see a beautiful mosaic composed of the Providence of God, which led the entire Lokteff family through beautiful places. Executive Director of the “Word to Russia” Mission, Vladimir Mysin