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A life story by Nadja Stebner

In her testimony, Nadja, now 82 years old, recounts her life's journey. This testimony tells of her fervent faith in God, but also of great difficulties, poverty, illness, and hardship. In everything, she always saw God's hand. Thus, this testimony is intended to serve God's glory.

A decision with far-reaching consequences

The message of the Gospel reached us through my Aunt Erna when I was 16 years old. Our mother was Lutheran, but our father and we children weren't really religious. One day, my aunt brought home a Bible and warned me about the seal of the Antichrist in recent times. This made me think seriously, and I came to the conclusion that I wanted to serve God. I faced a lot of opposition at school for this decision.

After six years of schooling, I left due to the constant humiliation and started working quite early. Being the oldest of my siblings, it wasn't easy. I had to leave the house very early in the morning to tend the calves. I was often so tired that I would lie down somewhere and fall back asleep.

After we held some Christian events at our home, the whole village found out about us "sectarians." They then tried to dissuade me from my faith with a job and a good education, but out of fear of God, I refused. As a result, we were summoned to a village meeting where I was urged to deny God.

Of course, I felt very uncomfortable in front of that crowd. But in that situation, I remembered the words of the Bible: “Whoever disowns me before others, I will also disown before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). So I stood up and said, “I have prayed and I will continue to pray. I have believed and I will continue to believe.”

An eventful journey

After a visit from Christian brothers from Belarus, I wanted to visit their baptized congregations with some sisters. I convinced my father to give me permission by telling him I was traveling to Ukraine to visit relatives. To finance the trip, I worked day and night. Finally, I set off.

First, we headed for the town of Kokchetav, where we had heard about a brother who had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Finding him wasn't easy, however, as he was under surveillance by the authorities. With God's help, though, we found the right house. Other guests were also present, including a Brother Karl. Brother Ruwim later told me that I had barely crossed the threshold when an inner voice spoke to him: "Karl's destiny has come here." It was in this community that my future husband and I even received the Holy Spirit.

The journey continued. Our relatives in Ukraine welcomed us with a lavishly set table and plenty of alcohol. However, when I told them that we wouldn't be drinking with them because we were Christians, they reacted very angrily and called us sectarians. That ended the pleasant fellowship.

We also searched for Christians in this area. We knocked on one house, but the Christians there had not been baptized with the Holy Spirit. We were sent to another hut. But there they told us, "No, you are not ours." However, shortly afterward, they relented and said we should wait a moment. I understood that they were now praying to God. A little later, we were called in. "Come in, God has confirmed that you are His children." God had acknowledged us. When our relatives heard that we were planning to travel on to other Christians, they were very upset. They wrote a letter to my father and told him about it. He was very angry at first, but my mother, with God's help, managed to calm him down.

We finally arrived in Belarus. We drove from village to village, where religious people lived everywhere. People were very surprised by us, because we had traveled about 4,000 kilometers for this visit. But it was worth it for this pleasant spiritual community.

God's guidance

Finally, we returned to the city of Kokchetav. My future husband prayed that his unbelieving friends would turn their backs on him. Shortly afterward, he had a terrible accident and was hospitalized with severe burns. There he said, "Thank God, now my friends will turn their backs on me."

While he was in the hospital, he dreamt of a young woman standing beside him with a child. When he realized it was me, he called me over. "God has revealed to me that we will be together. However, not for another three years." I was very surprised by this. But shortly afterward, the brothers came to perform our engagement ceremony. Three years turned into three months.

Life wasn't easy after the wedding. We couldn't find a suitable house at first because everything was too expensive. After a long search, the only option was a shack that was dirty and smelly. Almost everything there needed to be renovated, but we were very happy with it, and eventually, it became nice and cozy. We even took in a lonely grandmother. After a long search, I was hired as a kitchen worker. From then on, I worked day and night shifts, breastfeeding my son in between.

Challenging years

We had barely settled into our cozy cabin when my husband suggested we move, even though we didn't have the means. God revealed that it wasn't His will, but by that time we had already received a down payment on our house. We found a new house, but it had no heating. In the middle of winter, it had to be installed.

But only a short time later, a relative came to us and told us he was moving to the Cuban region. My husband was immediately thrilled and traveled with him. From there, he wrote me a letter: "Nadja, sell the house and come here with the children!"

We started all over again. Karl was often ill; it was a very difficult time. During one pregnancy, I was told I was going to die. But when I gave birth to my daughter healthy, people asked me what miracle had miraculously kept me alive. "Perhaps God really does exist!" "I've been telling you that for a long time," was all I could manage.

Often, people tried to convince me not to have any more children. They said doctors could intervene medically so that no one would notice. But I pointed out that God sees and hears everything and refused. In all these experiences, we always saw God's grace. If God's hand hadn't been there, we wouldn't have survived any of it.

We experienced many miracles. Once, my husband was setting up a ladder and fell very badly. There was also an incident where my six-year-old son almost drowned. But thank God, he wasn't hurt. We experienced many situations that could have been fatal.

God blesses in His time.

For many years we worked in the fields. Once, we would arrive at a field, work it up to a certain point, and then go home. The next time we returned, the entire field had been worked. To this day, we can't explain how the work was done. It was as if God had sent His angels. One day, our barn, where the animals were kept, caught fire. The beams were already breaking when I managed to free the animals. I even had to lift the calf over a fence myself. After a short time, the barn burned to the ground.

Once, my husband was hospitalized for the entire winter due to an illness. I had to leave the children behind to go to work. Karl was sometimes so weak that he couldn't work. So we prayed to God for improvement. We were very dependent on work, as otherwise there was no wages and therefore nothing to eat. Wages were low, and we were very grateful when we received soup and bread. Today I can say that even the barn that burned down later served us well. With God's help, we were able to build a house on that land and live there for many years.

When the first families spoke of a possible emigration to Germany, we weren't initially interested. However, a family we knew organized our departure. The Lord had placed this responsibility on their hearts. When we were informed that our documents had arrived, our son was to collect them from the relevant office.

My husband said to him, “Go and ask for the documents. They will tell you they haven’t arrived. But tell them: Open this particular drawer; the documents are there.” And indeed, that’s exactly what happened. That’s how God blessed us in His time, and we finally arrived in the Rottweil district, where we have lived ever since.

Nadja Stebner

Municipality of Irslingen-Neukirch