In the first few months of 2024 Jonnye and I believed the Lord was telling us to go on the 2024 musical mission trip to Germany, specifically ministering to re-patriated Russian-Germans who had returned from exile in Siberia, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.

We had wanted to explore Germany for years, and we felt this was the best opportunity to do music and missions, develop relationships and be tourists at the same time. All of this materialized when we went to Germany with Global Missions Project, but what I didn’t know was that this trip actually began thirty-three years ago.

In 1991 some friends and I strongly believed that God wanted us to go to Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. There we found a group of German Christian families who Stalin had exiled to the most barren cold places during World War II for fear they would defect and fight Russia. Many froze or starved to death the first few days. Others survived and secretly built strong churches in the Soviet Union.

When our team arrived in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, we soon discovered that there were no pharmaceuticals and a lot of sick people. Medical equipment was rarely available and there was no anesthesia, syringes or antibiotics. Even aspirin was difficult to find.

I knew very little about medication, but I had felt compelled to take some on this trip, so I had contacted a major pharmacological company who equipped us with enough supplies to pack several seventy-pound suitcases. Among the medicine were various antibiotics, syringes, lidocaine and high blood pressure tablets.

When we arrived, I instantly made friends with a young man named Oigen (Eugene) Steiger. He was a good-looking, clever individual who had very special leadership skills. He and his friends had formed an outreach to tell others about Christ and to start churches throughout his oblast (state).

Before President Gorbachev granted religious freedom to the USSR in the late 1980s, it had been illegal to practice religion. Now Christian young people were bursting out of their houses of worship throughout much of Central Asia and starting many churches. In one week we saw more than 1200 people trust Christ and five church starts.

After a few days, I noticed my friend Oigen doubling over in agony. He frequently grabbed his stomach and went into the fetal position. Yelena, our interpreter, told us that Oigen had bleeding ulcers, and doctors were planning surgery with no anesthesia after our trip.

In truth, she said, they commonly did operations with no pain relief because they didn’t have anything to give to the patients, including syringes to administer numbing medicine. They often sewed patients up with sterilized fishing line. Most people died from the surgeries in these cases. My guess was this was probably a death sentence for my friend. I suddenly realized the magnitude of the baggage we had brought with us.

Yelena and I quickly began reading the labels and instructions on the available medicines we had. One antibiotic was specifically for ulcers. We held the exact amount required in our hands. We met with a doctor and asked if we could give it to Oigen. The doctor said, “I’ve never seen this drug. You know more than me. Give it to him.” We did and in a few days he was much better. The drug ultimately cured him. A few years later Oigen and his family moved to Frankfurt, Germany.

Thirty three years later on October 20, 2024 Global Missions finished a Sunday morning church concert near Frankfurt. A young man and his family came directly to me after the performance.

He had a broad gleaming smile.

“You don’t know me, but I know you,” he said in flawless English. “I am Eduard Stiger, Oigen’s son. Here is my wife and four children. And here is my son, Danny, who was named after you. I wouldn’t be here if my father hadn’t been saved those many years ago.”

There are few moments in life that are electrifying.

For me, this was one.

The next day we met with Oigen and his wife in their home for about three hours. Today he is the pastor of a church who has started many congregations in Germany. He is also heads a missions agency that starts and builds churches throughout Europe, the Middle East and in undisclosed locations. Oigen trains Ukrainians and Russians to work peacefully together in thriving churches in the war zone. He and his wife have twenty-eight grandchildren.

Most of the time you never get to see the results of your work. This time I did. Sometimes you win.

It simply doesn’t get better than this.

Danny Griffin

Cathy Dudley