The Walking Encyclopedia

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We met Marina last spring when she was here for a conference and she was here again this week, attending a conference on Anabaptist history. Last spring while work in the library I noticed this woman, reading, studying and taking notes. When not attending one of the conference sessions she spent hours in the library.

I asked someone, "Who is that lady."

"She is Marina, from St. Petersburg," was the reply. "She is the living legend, walking encyclopedia on Anabaptists and their history in Russia."

Marina was born in St. Petersburg almost 80 years ago. My, the changes she has seen, not just in Russia, but in the entire world. I wish I knew more of her story, more of how she survived the Second World War as well as the purges and persecutions of Christians under Stalin and others. Now Marina travels extensively, teaching and lecturing on the history of Anabaptists.

She is a survivor of the siege of Leningrad, that terrible period of time from September 1941 until January 1944 when the city was surrounded by the German army. I have read that it is estimated that 800,000 of the city's 3 million inhabitants died during this time. Marina is one of the survivors.

The other morning at breakfast she sat at the table with Nancy and me, "You should write a book about your life. You have seen so much," I said.

Marina smiled, "I have written a small book. We did not publicize it trying to get it widely read and so it ended up being read by everyone." She then broke out in a chuckle.

"Has it been translated into English?" I asked.

"No," she replied.

While here this week she again attended sessions of the conference and spent hours in the library. This week she read extensively on gender and the church. She poured through a large number of books before checking out two that she wanted to read and study closely.

Marina is always smiling, always very friendly and always ready to give a word of encouragement and I will give you odds that there is a will of steel inside this saintly woman.

Nancy-Bill only 'saw' Marina last year and helped her with his camera. Katharina, who has known and worked with her for years, and I got to work with her and I got to know her then. Last year she was eagerly searching through our books hunting for the lives of famous Russian Christians. She was absolutely delighted to find the stories of and pictures of some of the Christian men who escaped and lived in other countries. They had had the freedom to publish that was not given to those who remained in the Soviet Union. Bill made digital photos of the illustrations of these men. Marina told him this year that she had used these pictures in a class she taught back in Russia during these past 12 months. Last year she had a bad swelling of her legs during the conference but absolutely refused to slow down. When she appeared in the library this year, I told her I would get anything she wanted but I didn't want her going up and down the circular stairs to the floor where the books were located. She pulled up her skirt and showed me that her legs were totally healed this year. Obviously she refused to sit downstairs and let me run up and down those stairs with books for her. I fixed a desk upstairs for her and carried all the books on gender and the Bible, gender issues in the faith, etc. to the desk and she sat down and read parts of each one that first day before the conference began. Then she carefully selected the two with the most original ideas, new fresh ideas for her, and checked them out to read in the off hours during the conference. She is preparing a new course to teach this year and wanted to be right on top of the latest ideas on males and females and their places in God's plan for this world and the next. She was wearing a nice crocheted sweater that she had made and a beautiful knit shawl that someone had made and had given her so she would be warm sitting in our rather chilly stacks. Her smile totally wins over those who are young and old. It is a pleasure to be in the presence of so many folk we meet here. Marina is one person we will always remember.

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Photos

Mariana and Nancy
Did you notice the title of the book Marina is holding, "Gender and Grace."