lava Kratko’s Story (As told by Bob Van Sant)

Shortly after our arrival in Simferopol in 1996, Tanya Kratko and her daughter, both deaf, were saved. Slava, Tanya’s husband, was a so-called “atheist” and refused to come to church. Tanya asked prayer for Slava and invited him to church each Sunday. After almost one year of begging, he did attend Simferopol Baptist Church for our One Year Anniversary; however, he sat in the back of the auditorium with his arms crossed the entire time.

A month later, Tanya invited us over for dinner. We had given her a copy of the “Jesus Film,” which Slava watched before we arrived. That night at dinner, Slava asked what seemed like a million questions about various religions; but he avoided topics that would bring him to salvation. When it was time for us to go, Tanya began crying and got on her knees before Slava - begging him to get saved. I got her attention and asked her to get up and not beg Slava. If the Holy Spirit did not draw him, then we needed to wait and pray. Slava asked if I would come in the morning and talk with him. Both Judy and I prayed that evening that Slava would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s moving.

The next morning at 10:00, I rang the door bell (actually a light, since they are deaf) and I saw someone looking through the peep-hole. Almost immediately the door swung open and Slava grabbed me by the arm. He said, “I must get saved right now!” I said, “Wait; let me take my shoes off (Ukrainian custom).” As I took my shoes off, I looked into the living room. There on the floor near the couch were Tanya and her daughter praying. I learned that they had been there most of the night! Slava was gloriously saved. He, his wife and daughter cried and praised God together.

Over the next several months, Slava could not get enough of the Bible. He would stay up to 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, studying his Bible and writing down questions. After each service, he would come up to me with the questions he had. These sessions at church would last for one, two, even three hours. Many times there was a crowd of deaf people around us. However, this was not enough for Slava and so he started making weekly visits to our home.

In 1999, Slava became deacon of the deaf church. As far as we knew, a deaf deacon was unheard-of in Ukraine. Through the next few years, I watched Slava continue to grow and I watched as the people began to look to him as a leader. I began transferring more and more responsibility to him and began planting the idea that he could become pastor. Slava’s reply would always be the same, “But I'm deaf.”

Praise the Lord that Slava realized that “Deaf CAN!” In June of 2005, we laid hands on Slava to become pastor of Simferopol Baptist Deaf Church. Six American men were on the counsel and were in total agreement that Slava was truly fit for God’s service. Slava also is a missionary who travels each week to the cities of Sevastopol and Feodocia. In addition, he travels around Ukraine visiting other churches (deaf and hearing) and is in high demand around the country as an evangelistic speaker.

As far as we know, Slava Kratko is the only ordained deaf pastor/missionary in this country. For the past three years, Slava has been pastoring and training a man in Sevastopol to become the pastor there. The deaf church in Simferopol is growing strong, under the leadership of Pastor Slava. The church is averaging fifty to sixty in their weekly attendance. Pray for Slava, his wife Tanya and their daughter Natasha as they serve the Lord in Ukraine.

Training for ministry to the deaf is available: