THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 13, 1995 TAG: 9503130076
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICK LACKEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Russian Maj. Gen. Slava Borisov began his talk at Kempsville Church of Christ Sunday in a joking manner.
Clad in his brown Army uniform, an ``I love Jesus'' pin beside five rows of battle ribbons, Borisov addressed a Sunday school class in English: ``Good morning, sisters and brothers in Christ.''
The students eyed the translater standing by Borisov, wondering what he did if the speaker talked in English.
Translator Eugene Chebezov repeated the greeting in Russian and the students laughed.
Then Borisov switched to Russian and Chebezov translated into English, as the general told of his near-death experience and his conversion to Christianity in 1984 in Afghanistan.
Borisov, 55, now spends his vacations seeking money to buy 2.5 million pocket-sized Russian New Testaments for Russian troops. The cover of the 50-cent bible shows American and Russian flags, with a cross between them.
``An army without moral standards becomes dangerous,'' he said.
Sunday, he raised enough money during his two talks to buy almost 4,000 bibles, a fitting end to his 18-day, four-state tour.
The general spoke less than a mile from where infamous Soviet spy John Walker Jr. worked as a private detective while peddling some of the U.S. Navy's deepest secrets.
Borisov heads the Russian Academy of Civil Defense, where he requires 70 hours of Bible study each academic year. Five years ago, such a requirement would have gotten him arrested. ``For nearly 80 years,'' he said, ``Russian people were denied faith in God.''
Things change, but not always smoothly.
``Russia is suffering a crisis of spirituality, a crisis of broken souls,'' Borisov said. People placed their faith in communism, he said, and when that faith proved false, a moral vacuum formed and people began to turn on each other.
More people were killed in Moscow last year - 1,820 - than Russia lost each year during its 10-year, bloody war with Afghanistan, he said.
Borisov was deputy chief commander in Afghanistan, in charge of planning and carrying out operations, when his helicopter was shot down in 1984.
``I thought it was time to say goodbye to my life,'' he said. ``The thought occurred, `What if God exists? I know I am an atheist, but why not cry out to him? I am not going to lose anything.' ''
Borisov was the sole survivor of the crash, and spent six months in a hospital, much of it in a body cast. Doctors said if he lived he wouldn't walk again. But he recovered fully and began asking God why he had been saved.
Then, when communism collapsed and the dangerous confrontation between his country and America ended bloodlessly, he credited God.
Borisov is still in the Army, although he said he hasn't taken part in a military action since his crash. Among other things, he spent three years as an adviser in Cuba. He is vice president of an organization of military officers and has been active in allowing Christian missionaries to visit Russian military bases to convert military personnel. MEMO: Tax-deductible contributions may be made to ``Bibles for Russia'' at
380 Lions Creek Circle, Noblesville, IN, 46060.
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI/Staff
Maj. Gen. Slava Borisov
KEYWORDS: BIBLES RUSSIA by CNB