Pastor Valery and his wife were both born deaf but each felt the call from God to use their unique circumstances to spreading the Gospel. Valery currently pastors a deaf church in Russia where he uses his History Makers training, along with Russian sign language, to equip men and women to accelerate God's Kingdom.
He was introduced to History Makers in 2012 when his wife attended a conference in Moscow. She participated in the 5-day event with 25 other deaf and hearing-impaired students. By reading lips and text of the handbooks, these students were able to follow along with the other participants at the conference.
In 2016, Valery, along with nine other deaf ministers, decided to take their own journey through a History Makers Conference. The week blessed them with resources they could easily teach again, and they left with a new confidence in how effective they could be. They set a goal at the end of the conference for at least sixty deaf and hearing-impaired ministers from the central regions of Russia to be trained and equipped over the next four years. During a History Makers Conference held in February 2017, 15 leaders from 5 towns in Russia were taught using Russian sign language. They were all inspired by their experience and returned to their churches with much to teach.
In just the first year, Valery and his team have made great strides in reaching their goal by 2020. Pray for their efforts and missions in the deaf and hearing-impaired community in Russia. Weather it be by speaking, reading, sign language, or more, spreading the Gospel is all for the advancement of His kingdom.