“I am grateful to God that He saved me from death. I was dead spiritually and almost dead physically. I had a high position in Communism. I worked with the man who later became the President of our country. I left all that to follow Christ.”
Vitaly Cheban was born in 1961 in Northern Moldova. During his second year of school he was accepted to become a member of the junior communist party. After completing high school he was drafted into the Soviet army for two years. If he had refused to go he would have been imprisoned. He was promoted into a ‘special forces unit’ of the military where all operations were carried out in secrecy. On occasions when Vitaly was at work in his secret location the whole earth shook around him as nuclear explosions were carried out underground. He has explained that there were times when the bomb shelter underground where they were staying would not stand after the explosion and many were killed as a result but he is so thankful to God that he was kept safe.
In 1982 he began to work in a military factory as an electrician, manufacturing secret radar equipment for the Russian navy. He was soon recognized by the supervisors as being one of the top employees. He was approached about becoming a fully pledged communist. “After some hesitation, I decided to take this route. I was welcomed by all party members and became first secretary to the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in that area, who is now the current President of Moldova. The Communist cause was my life.”
In 1988 Vitaly decided to study and become a special officer in the police force. After the formation of the Republic of Moldova in August 1991 war broke out when the eastern region of Transnistra wanted to remain part of Russia. It was a terrifying experience as tanks and heavy weapons of the Russian army seemed to shake the whole earth. In spring 1992 Vitaly was relieved of duty and returned home to his wife and two sons. Deep in his heart he felt betrayed by the communists. He had served the Soviet Union and his country for many years. He decided to finish with his former life and burned all his communist documents in the fire. Now his search for reality had begun.
In 1994 he had an accident when his spine was fractured. As a result his legs and arms were paralyzed. He was drifting in and out of consciousness. While the medics were preparing him for surgery he stopped breathing and was declared dead. They covered him with a blanket and planned to return later to take him to the morgue. “I don’t know what happened,” Vitaly explained, “but I was given life again. When another patient, who was in the room with me, saw what was happening he called the doctors back.” He experienced a miracle and was walking in four days after surgery. During this time he felt he was in total darkness and saw hell. This was the beginning of a long road in his search for God. He visited many churches and went to monasteries in his search for God. Three years ago he met Victor Shambra (former student in Balti mission school) who greatly influenced him. A short time later Vitaly, his wife, and two sons repented. He is now a second year student in the Mission School in Balti.
“Today I am thankful to God for saving me from both physical and spiritual death. I don’t know how many days of life on earth God still has for me, but I know that He saved me from spiritual death when I cried out to him for salvation. God has renewed my soul and I have eternal life with Him.”
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