One of the happiest moments in the weekly routine of 93-year-old Lyubov Mikhailovna Gorbulyak is the Saturday gatherings with preachers from the Evangelical Christian Baptist church who travel to Reno from Sacramento.
Another happy moment comes when she slowly makes her way, leaning on her walker, to the mailbox at the corner of their cul-de-sac. She takes the key from her elegant little handbag, unlocks the mailbox, and collects the mail. Once each week, among the unavoidable bills and equally unavoidable advertising flyers, she finds a new issue of her beloved newspaper, Our Days.
More than once, she has said that sometimes she wants to open it immediately and begin reading, but she postpones that moment. According to the tradition she herself established, she carefully places the newspaper into the basket of her walker and begins the journey home. The walk is uphill—not steep and not long, but this familiar road has become increasingly difficult for her.
Her daughter has offered several times to pick up the mail on her way to work, but Lyubov Mikhailovna treasures those moments of anticipation before meeting the publication so dear to her heart. So, day after day she makes the trip herself.
At home she settles into her favorite armchair. The newspaper lies waiting for her on the coffee table. At first, she simply turns the pages, then begins reading the headlines. She does this with such delight that she resembles a gourmet studying the details of a fine restaurant menu.
Only after several minutes does she stop at an article, a poem, a short parable, or a thoughtful quotation. There is always something that matches her mood and the direction of her thoughts at that moment.
On her bookshelf she keeps a stack of newspapers from recent months. She enjoys taking them down one by one and rereading familiar reflections from pastors or life stories written by readers much like herself.
But there are also disappointing days when the beloved newspaper does not appear in the mailbox. Most often this happens because of weather conditions. Mountains are mountains, after all. Winter snowstorms and autumn windstorms are not uncommon here.
Sometimes Interstate 80 is closed entirely, and sometimes only one mountain pass—but even that is enough for the mail to be delayed.
For the same reason, Saturday gatherings are occasionally canceled when the pass becomes impossible to cross. All of this is understandable, and yet she still feels sadness when her meeting with the publication—and with the people who bring the Word of God—is postponed for another day, another week.
Lyubov Mikhailovna tries not to miss the Saturday gatherings except for serious reasons—usually when her health does not allow it. High blood pressure may act up. Seasonal flu sometimes interferes. She says she would rather not even remember the days of COVID.
She says that fellowship with people who are so devoted to the things of God, who sincerely believe in their ministry both to the Lord and to those they serve, gives her joy and strength she receives nowhere else—and strength that every soul needs.
It is difficult to imagine that these Saturday gatherings of Evangelical Christian Baptists in Reno were not always part of life here.
Galina Ohanyan, the unofficial leader of Reno’s Russian-speaking community, recalls:
“Oh yes, I remember that day very well,” she says in her quick, cheerful manner. “It was eighteen years ago. Back then, there was still a café called Aroma. Lena, the owner, her sister Natasha, who worked there, and I were sitting and talking. Maybe someone else was there too.
Then two men came up to us. One asked Lena whether she could tell them where to find Galina. She laughed and pointed at me: ‘Here she is—our Galina.’
The men introduced themselves. They turned out to be from Sacramento, representing Evangelical Christian Baptists, and they wanted to organize church gatherings here in Reno.
The leader among them was Pavel Fyodorov. For several years, until he moved to Florida, he became our pastor here in Reno. He became the person through whom we were able to grow closer both to studying the Bible and to a deeper understanding of the Word of God.”
Galina recalls that at first Pavel wanted to hold the first gathering as soon as possible, but later agreed that it might be better to connect it with a more familiar community event.
As it happened, it was the end of winter, which meant that International Women’s Day on March 8 was approaching. By tradition, Galina organized an evening program and concert dedicated to the holiday, so she suggested combining the two events.
More than fifty people attended that very first gathering. Every table and every chair in Café Aroma—where those first meetings were held—was occupied.
“Our guests from Sacramento brought—you can’t imagine it,” Galina exclaims, “two buckets full of roses to congratulate the women. Someone there said they had never seen such enormous pink roses before. They were practically the size of a child’s head—maybe in Sacramento that’s just normal for you!”
She laughs and continues:
“Later, when hymns were being sung, many people stood up and waved those flowers. It was beautiful and festive. I think many people remembered that event. Especially because our Baptist friends from Sacramento also brought musicians with them. I remember an excellent pair of violinists. Someone played the saxophone, and there were wonderful singers.
They still come to visit us with concerts, combining preaching with musical ministry. I think we have developed a wonderful tradition of holding large gatherings with music.”
Before leaving for Florida, Pastor Pavel Fyodorov entrusted the ministry to Atanas Bosakov, who later passed the responsibility of continuing to bring the Word of God to the current preacher, Oleg Lanin.
Back in those early years, nearly twenty years ago, the gatherings were held twice a month. Today they take place every week.
Oleg explains that naturally one person—or even two or three—would not be able to sustain such a ministry alone. For that reason, they now serve through four rotating teams, each traveling once per month.
One team includes Oleg Lanin and his friends; another is led by Fyodor Vinnikov, usually together with his family; the next consists of Vladimir Sukach and Alexey Semeryuk; and then they are followed by Vitaliy Voronenko and Igor Verstak.
Often, they bring guests with them. Usually these are preachers who have served—or continue to serve—God in different parts of the world.
Their stories about distant places and about ministry in circumstances far more difficult than the comforts of life we are accustomed to always draw great interest from the people of Reno.
Oleg himself speaks very modestly about his role:
“We bring the Word of God. We help keep the fire of faith alive. With all our hearts we desire that every person would understand that life does not end where the physical limits of human existence end.
On the contrary, eternal life begins there.
For the sake of helping as many people as possible come to faith and come to God, it is worth making the effort to meet and spend time together as often as possible.
Of course, we would love for one of our brothers in faith to settle in Reno with his family so that we could have a permanent place for our gatherings—but all is according to God’s will.”
Lyubov Mikhailovna especially enjoys it when Oleg leads the gatherings.
“He explains everything so clearly and simply,” she says. “His words seem ordinary, but they reach the heart—as though he takes you by the hand and leads you to meet God.”
She is also especially happy whenever singers and musicians come.
Each time she responds with sincere amazement and admiration:
“What beautiful voices they have! Like opera singers. And how wonderfully they play. The words of their songs speak so truthfully about life—you want to listen again and again.”
And it truly is so.
Beautiful melodies accompany words that bring goodness, light, encouragement, and hope.
May the Lord bless those who see their ministry in bringing their neighbors in Reno to faith, to God, and to the Word of God.
Evgeniya Moen
Reno, Nevada
