28 – Jan. 28 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

“She became “more than a conqueror.”
The verdict against Valentina Saveleva, a Russian believer was handed down by a Russian judge on Jan. 28, 1983.  Her long trip began that would deliver her to a distant prison camp near Irkutsk in Siberia.  Valentina was a secret courier of Christian literature who was arrested in Jan. 1982.  As a 27 year old college graduate, her future looked bright, but from her detainment she knew that she would receive five years in the Russian penal system.  The brilliant defense that she presented meant nothing to the puppet judge.  The KGB had already determined the sentence and she made that clear to her court appointed atheistic attorney.  He interrogator became interested in her Bible and especially wanted to read the trial of Jesus.  After the sentencing the miserable journey took a month to reach Siberia with stops at several remote cities along the way like Pyatigorsk and Aktyubinsk.  Russia formed the art of “Diesel Therapy”, before it ever caught on here in the US.  She finally arrived at the prison camp at Bozoi on March 3, 1983 which is known as the “Valley of Death” where living conditions were desperate but Valentina lived victoriously.  Continual efforts by the KGB to break her spirit and will were in vain.  She had a resolute assurance that she was right were God wanted her, and though she suffered greatly, he provided grace for every trial.  Valentina persevered, and she became “more than a conqueror.”
Dr. Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. IIII: Cummins, pp. 57-58.