Helen – From 1992 to 2002
When the Chairman of the Moscow Department of Education saw the outstanding qualities in the young people whom we brought to Russia, she exclaimed: “What I see here is what I want all my students to be like, and I will do whatever it takes to make this happen.” She then asked me to select and train Russian students who would help her achieve this goal.
When I met Helen, I immediately saw in her the qualities that we were looking for. So I invited her to come to the Moscow Training Center. During the next ten years, she not only served at the Center, but also earned a degree at the University of Moscow, which qualified her to be the assistant to the director of our college. Helen also served in the international department at the Oak Brook Headquarters, at the Indianapolis Training Center, and on two trips to Taiwan.
To Whom it May Concern,
I met Bill Gothard when he and hundreds of ATI students came to Moscow, Russia in the early 1990’s. At that time I was 15 years old. The first time we met, Bill gave me a vision of what my life could be like by loving the Lord Jesus Christ and serving Him. I became a believer in the Lord, and so did my father and other members in my family.
In 1992, I was invited to come to the Headquarters. This was an exciting opportunity for me. For the next ten years I served at the Headquarters and at the Moscow Training Center. During those years Bill Gothard encouraged me, trained me, and showed the greatest respect for me as a young lady.
I want every ATI student to know that I am grateful for your part in helping me receive salvation in Christ. I thank God for each one of you, but it deeply disappoints me that some of you are defining Bill Gothard in the way that you have. I am confident that his motives were and are sincere, and the sacrifice of his life demonstrates the kind of person that I have known during those ten years and beyond.
I am now happily married to a wonderful man. We have three children whom we are raising up to love Jesus and serve Him. I continue to consider Bill Gothard as a close friend and mentor. I will always be grateful for his great influence in my walk with God.
Sincerely,
Helen.
Footnote:
Helen actually met Jim when she was sixteen years old. I had asked Jim to join our group to go to Moscow. She was instantly attracted to him but during the next ten years of her single service, she did not see him, then God brought them together, when she was 26 and he was 32, they married the next year.