Ivanov, Ilya Grigorievich

Ilya Grigorievich Ivanov was born on April 9, 1898 in the village of Dudnovichi, Smolensk province . On the first day of his life, he lost his mother. When the boy was about two years old, he was adopted by the Orthodox childless family of a railway employee Lapshin, who came to this village for a summer vacation. However, when Ilya was six years old, his stepfather died. Elena Vsevolodovna, a well-educated woman who was at the same time distinguished with god-fearing, took all the further cares about him. Ilya found out about his adoption only at the age of 15 ^[1] .

In Moscow, he received secondary education. Initially, he lived in Sevastopol , and later moved to Moscow with his family.

In 1917, Ilya began to attend meetings of evangelical Christians on Sretenka in Moscow on Maly Golovin Lane. At one of the meetings, a famous preacher from St. Petersburg, Fedor Ivanovich Belousov, preached. In this meeting, Ilya turned to God with a prayer of repentance ^[1] .

In 1918, through water baptism (performed by F.S. Saveliev ) he joined the Moscow community of evangelical Christians . Ilya began to participate in the Sunday school, then - a circle of Christian youth. He was allowed to preach.

In 1921, A.I. Mitskevich , the all-union evangelist of the Union of Christian Youth of Evangelical Christians , arrived from Vyatka to Moscow. Upon arrival, he was elected the evangelist of the Moscow circle of Christian youth and sent on a missionary trip to the Tver province . Together with Ilya visited the Christian communes "Morning Star", "Bethany", "Gethsemane." On the way we stopped in cities and villages, preaching the gospel of Christ.

I. G. Ivanov, according to a decree of January 4, 1919, was released from military service with weapons in his hands. At the trial, expert A. L. Andreev spoke in his defense.

After the anti-pacifist appeal for signatures of I. S. Prokhanov , Pelevin, F. S. Savelyev and A. L. Andreev about the necessity of military service was sent to the evangelical Christian communities in 1922, I. G. Ivanov transferred to the pacifist community of evangelical Christians " At the Red Gate ” ^[2] . He participated in an informal movement of evangelical Christian pacifists who sought to maintain the right of believers to refuse military service for religious reasons, for which he was arrested in 1923 ^[3] .

On the basis of common pacifist views, he became close to the group of “teetotalers” Ivan Nikolayevich Koloskov, at their invitation he worked with their youth for about two years.

The chairman of ALL of I.S. Prokhanov wanted to send I.G. Ivanov to study abroad, but nothing came of it, instead Ivanov completed Bible courses in Leningrad.

In 1924-1928 he participated in the Christian cooperative movement , was the organizer and leader of the Christian cooperative "Food" in Moscow (which was responsible for six canteens), was a member of the Cooperation Council ^[4] .

Along with Ya. I. Zhidkov , A.V. Karev , N.A. Levindanto, Ilya Grigorievich Ivanov, was a direct participant and organizer of meetings and congresses of ALL .

In 1929, I. G. Ivanov was sentenced to 5 years. He served his term in sixteen transit prisons and in four camps: in Mozhaisk , in Mariinsk , in Solovetsky , in Svirsky ( Lodeynoye Pole ). As a prisoner, he participated in the construction of the White Sea Canal ^[5] .

He was again sentenced in 1934 to 10 years, served his sentence in the Amur camps, on Lake Baikal , first in general work, and then in accounting. He was released in 1944 ^[6] .

At the beginning of 1944, A. V. Karev and Ya. I. Zhidkov invited I. G. Ivanov to work in the union ; he worked hard in the evangelical-Baptist communities of Moldova and Belarus , was elected senior presbyter in Moldova.

In 1948, after the death of F. G. Patkovsky, I. G. Ivanov became the treasurer and member of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition. Up to the All-Union Congress of Evangelical Christians-Baptists in 1966, he served as treasurer, being a member of the All-Union Artists' Union and then a Member of the Presidium of the All-Russian Artists Church. In 1966, he was elected chairman of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition. It was during his time that Correspondence Bible Courses were opened in Moscow .

From 1966 to 1974, I. G. Ivanov was chairman of the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christian Baptists. In 1974, due to his advanced age, Ilya Grigorievich left this work and was elected honorary chairman of the All-Union Agricultural Trade Union.

In subsequent years, he continued to work in the church as a preacher and prepared a number of articles for the journal “ Brotherly Messenger ”, among which the “Testament of the Savior of the World” should be noted.

In 1924, he married his sister in the Lord, Maria Vasilievna Mironova. Their family had three children. Daughter Lydia worked for many years as an employee of the office of the All-Union Agricultural Trade Union .

Memoirs of A.I. Mitskevich :

Ilya Grigorievich had a meek and humble character. In terms of its content, it is a spiritually developed, well-read, excellent preacher, interlocutor, and sensitive to all needs. His sermons were deeply edifying, delivered by the literary Russian language. Despite the fact that he was torn from fraternity for many years, preserved the foundations of gospel truths and was a faithful shepherd of the churches of Christ.

Having passed the path of great trials, he completely retained clarity of mind and his eyes did not fade. Until the end I did not need any glasses. Until 1979, he was still giving sermons in the Moscow Church. The church loved listening to his deeply preaching sermons, which most of all depicted our Savior Jesus Christ

- Mitskevich A.I. - History of Evangelical Christians-Baptists // Moscow, RS ECB, 2007, P.500

.

• Team of authors. The history of the ECB in the USSR . - M .: VSEKhB publishing house, 1989 .-- S. 624.
• Savinsky S.N. History of Evangelical Christians Baptists of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus (1867 - 1917). - SPb. : The Bible for All, 1999. - ISBN 5-7454-0376-4 .
• Savinsky S. N. The History of Evangelical Christians of the Baptists of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus. II (1917 - 1967). - SPb. : The Bible for All, 2001 .-- 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-7454-0594-5 .
• Miscavige A.I. History of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. - 2nd edition. - M .: Department of Theology and Catechization of the RS ECB, 2007.