Jonathan and Grace entered the little, inconspicuous building partially hidden by tall, unkempt bushes along the front. They weren’t as timid this time as they entered. Now, they had a reason for being there and kind of knew what to expect. They felt a little familiarity with the place.

As they entered, the same diminutive old woman was there, but this time, she recognized them.

“Hello, Jonathan and Grace. Sit. I call Vlad.” She said in the very few English words she knew. Vlad must’ve taught her. She indicated for them to sit down at one of the tables on the other side of the thin, worn curtain dividing the foyer from the restaurant, then went to the phone to call Vlad.

Jonathan and Grace sat down, but this time, they weren’t smiling, enjoying the adventure of trying a new restaurant.

“Wow! We didn’t even have to ask for Vlad. She knew as soon as we came in what we wanted. I wonder how she knew?” Jonathan kept his voice low even though the woman did not speak English and there were no other patrons in the restaurant.

Shortly, the woman came in and said in very broken English, “Vlad say you come. Address. Not far.” She shoved a piece of paper with an address and a rough map sketched on it into Jonathan’s hand.

Jonathan and Grace thanked the old woman, “Spasiba.”

As they stepped out of the restaurant, they realized the bright sunlight of the afternoon was quickly waning, and dusky shadows were creeping in. They would have to hurry to reach Vlad’s apartment before dark.

From the map, it didn’t look to be very far, but once you got into one of these apartment blocks, all the doors looked the same. They hurried down the road to their first turn-off and looked around to ensure they weren’t being followed. Soon they came to the building indicated on the map to be their destination. They compared the numbers on the map and the numbers on the building.

Just then, a little old man approached them, “May I help you find something?” He asked with a heavy German accent.

Jonathan showed him the map and the numbers, and the man said, “Come, follow me.” He led them to the middle of the building complex to a set of stairs going down to a door. “Go through that door, and this address will be the first door on your right. Just knock, and your friend should answer.”

“Ochen horosho! Spasiba!” Very good, Jonathan was glad he had paid attention in Russian class enough to get a few good words to use in these situations.

The hall was dimly lit, which made the apartment numbers hard to read. But the man said it was to first door on the right, so they knocked. Immediately, a tall, burly, blond-haired man opened the door. “Jonathan, my friend! And Grace! It’s so good to see you again! Come in, come in!” Vlad threw the door open wide for Jonathan and Grace to enter.

“How have you been since the last time we met?” Vlad’s voice reverberated in the small, crowded foyer. He gave Jonathan a big bear hug and shook Grace’s hand warmly.

“We’ve been doing well. Grace has been busy grading papers getting ready for final grades, and I’ve almost finished the project at the school. We will be leaving soon.” Jonathan replied.

“What can I do for you, my friends?” It seemed incredible to Jonathan that Vlad would call them ‘friends’ considering their vast differences in lifestyle and world outlook.

From their last conversation, Jonathan surmised that Vlad had been involved in some kind of underground activity. He had been, in effect, expelled from Russia. Although he had not divulged what kind of business he was in, Jonathan figured it had to be something big. It made him wonder what it was that allowed him to drop what he was doing to come to their aid so quickly now. The last time they were together, Vlad had said to call on him if they needed help, any kind of help, emphasizing the ‘any kind’ a couple of times. Any kind at all.

Now, Jonathan and Grace needed help. They didn’t know exactly what they needed, so they decided to come to Vlad. “We need help, Vlad. We will be leaving in about a week, but we feel like somebody is following us. Whenever we turn around, there’s no one there, just rustling bushes. Now, some small items have gone missing from our apartment. Just small things, but we feel someone has been in our apartment.”

“What exactly has been missing? Is it worth it to go to the police?” Vlad questioned.

“So far, just some packs of markers and supplies I’ve used for my class,” interjected Grace. “Like we said, nothing valuable yet, just enough to be noticed. But we don’t want it to get to be something more valuable. And just the fact that someone has been following us and has been in our apartment and up to mischief makes us feel uneasy and vulnerable.”

“I completely agree with you. That person has no business in your apartment, and, like you said, who knows what they are after and what they will take next.” This big lug of a man had a warm, endearing quality to his voice. He made you feel safe and comfortable in his presence. “I have some people who can watch your apartment without being seen. They may have seen something strange going on in your area already. I’ll check with them.”

Jonathan let out a sigh of relief. The tension in his shoulders noticeably eased.

“I’ll just make a phone call. Then, why don’t you stay for dinner? I’ve got some out-of-this-world galupsi just waiting to be shared. Those cabbage rolls are in the fridge waiting to be cooked.” Vlad got up to make his phone call in the other room, although that wouldn’t have been necessary since his voice carried through the walls, and Jonathan and Grace could not understand a word he was saying in his quick Russian tongue anyway.

A minute later, he re-entered the room, clasped his hands together, and announced, “Well, now, that’s taken care of. Let’s get down to the business of cooking up a meal for you. You look cold and hungry.”

The apartment was small. There was a kitchen in the corner of the living room and a small table with three chairs pushed against the wall at that end of the room. An oilcloth tablecloth covered the well-worn table. A door at the opposite end of the room led to another room they assumed was Vlad’s bedroom. The apartment was scantily furnished with a well-worn, overstuffed chair and sofa. A floor lamp was tucked behind the chair, which Grace assumed was Vlad’s favorite chair. It looked cozy for reading, albeit a little lumpy. A low, long coffee table strewn with a couple of magazines and newspapers lined the front of the sofa.

Vlad pulled out some balls of cabbage from his small refrigerator and plopped them in a pot, then poured tomato sauce over them. “I love it when my sister shares some of her galupsi with me. She’s the real cook. I wouldn’t make these on my own. They’re too much work. Now, all I have to do is pour tomato sauce on them, heat them up, and eat. My kind of meal! The part I don’t like is peeling the potatoes to go with it.” Vlad’s hands worked as fast as his mouth and, in a jiffy, had potatoes boiling in another pot next to the galupsi. The flavorful aroma was soon filling the small apartment.

As he pulled out all the dishes he had in his cupboard and placed them on the table, he continued talking. “I don’t think we really got acquainted last time we met. What do you do in America, Jonathan? And what brings the two of you here to Ukraine?”

Jonathan began to tell Vlad a little about his business background and talked about his love of doing things with his hands. “When we heard about the opportunity here to help build a school that was preparing young people to serve God and the opportunity for Grace to teach on her favorite subject, teaching teachers, we jumped at the chance to come. This was ideal. We could be helping others while doing the things we love to do.”

Just then, Vlad’s phone buzzed. When he pulled it out of his pocket, his face brightened up. “Ahhh. Maybe the answer we were waiting for.”

“’Privyet, Dmitri! Kak dyela!” People on this side of the world always asked about your health before they got down to business.

“Oh. Uh-huh!Uh-huh!” Vlad was being very noncommittal in this conversation it seemed. Jonathan and Grace could not make out which way the conversation was going.

Just then, Vlad clicked off his phone and announced, “Good news! Dmitri said one of his fellows saw someone going into your apartment the other day when he knew that you were gone. He came out with a small bag of things. Today, they caught this same guy going in, and this time, he tried to take a few bigger things. When his man approached the thief, he claimed he was just collecting a few things for you. When Dmitri’s man searched this thief, they found passports and plane tickets not in his name besides a suitcase with your clothes, Jonathan!”

Jonathan and Grace grew angry. They had hidden those papers where no one would be able to find them. “He must’ve torn the apartment apart! I hate to see what it looks now!” Jonathan fumed! “Did your man call the police?” Jonathan asked eagerly.

“No. We don’t do things that way here. If we did, your passport and tickets could be held up in police custody for months. And who knows how many of your clothes you would actually get back. The police have sticky fingers, too. By then, the tickets would be no good, and you would be detained here unnecessarily. Sergi took care of the thief himself and put your papers in safekeeping. He has your suitcase at his apartment. We’ll pick them up from him on our way back to your place….After we eat! Looks like everything is ready. Bon Appetit!”

With that, Vlad invited them to the table, and he dished up potatoes with a cabbage roll and lots of sauce on top. “Would you like sour cream? We always eat this with sour cream.”

“Sure!” Jonathan and Grace chimed in unison. They were as hungry as a bear, and it looked like it would take a bear to eat the large servings on their plates. Jonathan wasn’t sure he wanted to ask how Sergi took care of the thief and spoil this awesome dinner and company.

“You know, Vlad, this whole experience reminds me of something Jesus said in the Bible. He said to ask, seek, and knock regarding our seeking help from Jesus. These words apply to us asking God for things we need, seeking His will, and knocking where we need to be persistent. The last time we saw you, you told us to ask for you if there was anything we needed. So, today, we asked the lady in the restaurant, she gave us an address we had to seek, and when we got here, we had to knock, and you opened the door to the answer to our prayers.”

Vlad seemed deeply moved and speechless for a minute, trying to regain his composure. “I’ve never been used as an example for a Biblical application before except for what kind of life not to live. You don’t know who you’re talking to.”

“I don’t, but God does. God did not come for the good people but for the sinners to bring them to Him.” Jonathan laid his hand on Vlad’s broad shoulder, bowed his head, and prayed a simple prayer for Vlad to find peace in his very soul.

After Jonathan and Grace left, Vlad thought about what Jonathan said. He finally got on his knees and asked God to show him the way to the peace that Jonathan had. He sought answers and knocked on the door of Heaven, which is Jesus Christ. He received the answers and found the peace he sought, and the door of Heaven was opened to him.