A New Dean in Saratov

On April 9th, Palm Sunday, we congratulated our brother and Pastor Andrey Dzhamgarov on his installation as Area Dean of the Saratov deanery. He has enthusiastically cared for the Saratov congregation for quite some time. Now he becomes the shepherd of a larger herd. It seems to have been only recently when his young wife Olga came to the church for the first time. Andrey brought her from another city. Together with Irina Scheiermann, the wife of Pastor Alexander, Olga began to help teach the children in Sunday school. Although Andrey had a great respect for the church, he did not go to church services. And if he sometimes came, he slept peacefully on the last bench. But the word of God is for the heart like a constant drop for the stone. It carves and gives it a completely different form.

One day, Pastor Alexander Scheiermann visited the Dzhamgarov family. At the table, he told Andrey's parents, "You'll see, Andrey will become a Pastor." Mrs. Dzhamgarov laughed and said, "No, Andrey will NEVER be a Pastor!" But God's view is different from our human view, for “people look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Perhaps Olga Dzhamgarov was inspired by the words of the Apostle Peter that men who do not believe the Word of God “may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives” (1 Peter 3, 1). With patience, prayer, humility, unchanged obedience, and deep respect for your husband and his family she watched for more than 20 years how the Lord "woke up" her husband Andrey.

But the awakening did not start very brightly for Andrey from the perspective of a "normal" man. He lost his job, and his family got into a very difficult financial situation. For Andrey the humanitarian aid in form of food and clothing that brought Olga from the church became an important testimony of the love of God and brotherly care (in the Dzhamgarov family a daughter was born at that time). He began to go to church more often, to have fellowship with the faithful, and then to help Pastor Alexander at work. Despite the very modest conditions under which they lived, singing and laughter were heard in the house of Andrey, Olga and the little Adelina. Sunday guests often gathered at their humble table. In the meantime, Andrey began to preach in worship sometimes, to visit other congregations with the pastor and to serve everywhere where he had the opportunity. In 2004 God blessed the family Dzhamgarov with son David, and now Andrey and Olga have two beautiful children.

We wish our beloved brother and valued Pastor and Dean Andrey God's blessing in service and spiritual growth.
Lena Schumakova