Russian student follows winding path from Vologda to Calvin When Nadya Zheltuhina went to see the recent Disney release The Prince of Egypt, she felt a special bond with Moses. "Everything in that movie was so personal," she said. "I relate a lot to Moses."
The Calvin senior feels that she was chosen by God to first of all become a Christian and then was led to Calvin all the way from Vologda, Russia.
"Sometimes I ask myself, 'Why am I doing this when I could be at home?' I have to answer that God put me here. I said, 'yes' because I couldn't say, 'no.' When God says, 'Go,' you go, just like Moses," said Zheltuhina, without a trace of her foreign accent.
Growing up as the daughter of a doctor and a civil engineer, one might think that Zheltuhina comes from a wealthy family. In fact, it is quite the opposite, she explained.
"In Russia those positions are both paid by the government and the government has no money," she said. "We are a very average family in Russia-by American standards we are poor."
Zheltuhina never dreamed she would attend school in America.
"When I was young, my mother made me take English," she said. "I didn't like it but she told me I would thank her some day. I have very wise parents."
In high school, Zheltuhina won an English contest and was therefore given the opportunity to come to the U.S. as an exchange student her senior year. While at a Christian home in California, she lost her foreign accent and became a Christian. She had never heard of God before.
"When I got back to Russia, my parents thought my Christianity was some foreign thing that I brought back with me-like a hobby," she said. "I think they thought that I would grow out of it."
The next year Zheltuhina went to school at a university in Russia. While there she and her family hosted Ron and Jeanne DeHaas, who came from Michigan to Russia on a short-term mission project.
"They were placed with us because of my English skills," said Zheltuhina. "While they were at my home I shared my testimony with them and they became very interested in my life."
So interested in fact, that they offered to fly her and her family to Michigan with the possibility of Zheltuhina attending college in the United States. "Their philosophy is that you can support American missionaries in Russia who don't know the language or the culture or you can support a Russian here. You can give them education and theology and then send them back with no cultural gap and no language gap. They chose the second option."
The DeHaas family provided housing and paid Zhelthuhina's tuition for one year at Michigan State University.
"That's about when things started going really badly in Russia," she said. "My parents said that if there was any way I could stay in America and get an education I should do it."
So Zheltuhina started looking for other options. "There wasn't any financial aid at Michigan State for a Russian who wanted to go back to her country and teach English," she said, "and I really wanted to go to a Christian college."
She visited Calvin one day after hearing random people talk about it, she said. "I spoke with an admissions counselor and because of the cost it didn't sound too promising."
She went on to meet with English Professor Jim VandenBosch who has spent time teaching in Russia.
"He took a special interest in me and between him and Frank Roberts (a former Calvin dean) they found scholarships for me," he said.
Zheltuhina, who is majoring in English and secondary education, plans to go back to Russia and teach English.
"My real vision though is to run an orphanage of my own-a smaller one so that each child would get more attention," she said. "I would like to have a school attached with a teaching staff," she said. "Sometimes this sounds like a big dream to me, but God has done so much with me already."
Another mission for Zheltuhina is her family, she said. "They have stopped ignoring my Christianity," she said. "They don't grasp the concept of salvation, but when they see how everything in my life has fallen together they do believe that there is a God working behind all of this. So there is hope."
While at Calvin, Zheltuhina has met friends from all over the world. "I have a friend in almost every country," she said. "I have found Calvin to be a very welcoming place."
Zheltuhina has never wavered from her plan to go back home, however. "While life is much easier here, I love to go home. I grew up without variety. I become very materialistic when I am here. When I go to Meijers (a local 'everything' store), I am tempted to spend my money. In Russia, you go to the store and buy only what you need," she said. "It's very nice to have warm showers here every day, but boiling water and having it in the tub is not so bad either.
"I will go back to Russia because that is where I belong," she said. "I do have a sense of God choosing me and I want to go back and do whatever it is that He has planned for me."
--Lynn Bolt Rosendale
