Young Christian Soldier Testimony Begins
Ivan Moiseev, known to friends and family as Vanya, was drafted into the Soviet Army in November 1970 at age 18. He had given his life to the Lord just a year and a half earlier. When Vanya began to speak openly of God in the army, his military supervisors began a systematic campaign of intimidation and torture to silence him.
Soviet Religious Persecution Intensifies
At times he was starved. He was awakened and interrogated night after night, and often struck. For two weeks in the dead of winter, he was compelled to stand outside in his thin summer uniform while temperatures dropped to minus 25 degrees Celsius.
God Protected from Freezing
Vanya obeyed the order and stood in the street the whole night, remaining faithful to God. For twelve consecutive nights, he continued to stand outside. Miraculously, he did not freeze, nor did he beg for mercy. He claimed that God miraculously warmed him.
The jihadis interrogated him to find out where Christians were meeting. Every time they didn't like his answer, they would beat him with a wooden stick. But Vanya would not betray his brothers and sisters.
Faithful Unto Death Legacy
In his last letter home, Vanya urged his brother Vladimir: "Don't tell our parents everything. Just tell them, 'Vanya wrote me a letter and writes that Jesus Christ is going into battle.'" He quoted Revelation 2:10: "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life."
The next day, July 16, 1972, twenty-year-old Vanya died. The Soviets claimed it was an accidental drowning. His family insisted he was tortured to death—his body bore six heart punctures and signs of brutal abuse.
But by then, so many men had become Christians through Vanya's testimony that his unit had to be broken up and dispersed throughout the army. Even in death, his witness multiplied.
Vanya's powerful testimony—which included accounts of angelic visitations—continues to change lives decades after his martyrdom.
