when he felt called to serve in Russia. At the time, in light of the Cold War, Nancy didn’ t think it would happen. But in 1992, the Lord stirred Bill’ s heart again. The Kidwells applied to OMS, expecting to serve in Budapest, Hungary. Instead, God redirected them to Moscow, Russia, where doors had just opened to OMS. Nancy was terrified.“ I arrived in Moscow in November 1993, and it was the scariest moment of my life,” she recalls.“ The language was foreign, the ruble( Russia’ s unit of money) was unstable, and necessities were hard to find. I felt lonely and out of control.”
But God was already at work. Nancy met Sergei and Lyba Vdovin, and everything changed.“ I had no theological training, no Christian college background. But I loved Jesus, and he gave me the greatest gift— I fell in love with the people.”
She listened to their doubts, shared meals and tea, and lived among them.“ Did I feel ordinary or average? Absolutely. But I brought Jesus in me, and he
made something beautiful and lasting by his Spirit through me.”
Today, Nancy and Bill serve as church multiplication facilitators with OMS, mentoring Russian and Ukrainian partners across Europe and the Middle East. They coach, mentor, and train teams through media platforms and regularly travel to Ukraine to train teams in disciple-making and leadership development.
If you’ re unsure about being involved in missions, Nancy has a message for you:“ You’ ll never regret it. It’ s been an absolutely amazing life because of the doors opened to us through OMS.”
You don’ t need a seminary degree. You don’ t need a perfect résumé. You just need a heart that says yes.
photos, page 14-15: Nancy Kidwell and her husband, Bill, have served the Slavic people of Europe for more than 30 years.
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