Collection 310 [April 10, 2000]
Grosman, Eugene; 1945-
Interview; 1985
Audio Tape
Restrictions
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Biography
Eugene Grosman was born on April 18, 1945, in Moscow. His father was killed during World War II before he was born and he was brought up by his mother and grandmother. Although officially designated a Soviet Jew because that was his mother's designation, he considered himself an atheist like his friends and relatives; this was the national policy. As a young teenager, he became interested in religion and read widely about atheism and various kinds of religions. Grosman attended the prestigious Moscow University where he received the equivalent of a B.A. in Russian language and literature.
In 1973, he met two Tulsa, Oklahoma, businessmen and their wives who were stranded in a Moscow subway, and as he helped them to find their hotel, he asked them if they believed in God, and it was from them that Grosman first learned of Christ's love. Later he was visited by other Tulsa Christians, one of whom brought him an English Bible sent by the Christians he had met earlier. He began attending the Moscow Baptist Church and became a Christian. Before his conversion, he had applied for permission to leave Russia, and this permission was granted in 1976 on the basis of his Jewish family background.
In March, 1977, Grosman came to the United States where he studied in the Advanced Studies
Program at Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, Illinois. After completion of his studies, he began
serving as a missionary for the Slavic Gospel Association and in 1985 had a weekly thirty-minute
radio program aimed at reaching atheists in the Soviet Union. In 1985, he received additional
schooling in the Graduate School at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois.
Scope and Content
Eugene Grosman was interviewed by Robert Shuster at the Archives of the Billy Graham Center on September 4 and 18, and the collection as recorded consisted of three audio tapes. However, two of the tapes were badly distorted while being recorded and are inaudible; they have therefore been discarded. Time elapsed in minutes and seconds is recorded to the left of the topics discussed in the interview. This index is keyed to the cassette copy and not to the reel-to-reel original.
Tape T1 - side 1
00:00 Start tape.
00:06 Introduction.
00:20 Americans' beliefs in God compared to beliefs in God in the Soviet Union.
01:45 His friendship with Americans visiting Soviet Union, their gift to him of a King James
Bible. Reactions of his Soviet friends to his Bible.
03:15 Another group of Americans; their gift to him of a Russian Bible; hearing the Gospel
from them.
05:00 Attending a Baptist church service in Moscow; difference from Orthodox church
services. His impressions of the service.
07:00 Hearing the service of the church in the Russian language for the first time.
10:00 Interpreting for American young people.
12:00 Handicap of the Russian church--no bridge between Christian and secular communities;
most Russian Christians from Christian families.
13:00 Christian literature given to him.
14:30 Why he kept going to church; rebellion against official ideology; example of Lithuanians
attending Catholic Church as a sign of dissent against Soviet government.
16:30 His attraction to the people of the church; reaction of his friends--how could he go
among these illiterate people; search for truth.
18:00 Church youth meetings prohibited by Soviet government.
19:00 Change from atheism to belief in God through argument from design.
21:30 His renewed interest in the old atheistic literature; atheistic literature as a source of
information for Soviets about what's in the Bible; reanalysis of atheistic literature.
23:00 Belief in God the Father followed later by trust in Christ; important order.
24:40 His early atheistic teaching from Communist doctrine; that Jesus Christ was only a
myth.
26:30 Asking for faith from God. Bible study with Russian youth; sharing prayer request for
faith.
28:45 Poor quality of the translation of Christian literature from the West; word-by-word
translation with little understanding of how Russians think.
30:00 His attraction to the Christians because they didn't drink or smoke; contrast of this
behavior to the rest of Russian society.
32:00 Prayer customs in Russia either standing or kneeling, never sitting; standing to sing
hymns if they address God directly, like a prayer.
34:00 His prayer of confession and request for faith. Others' prayers for him leading to his
moment of salvation.
38:00 Request for Bibles from other Russian churches.
41:15 His application to leave Russia on July 4, 1976; his Jewish ancestry -- by blood only, no
religious tradition for several generations.
43:15 End sound.
Tape T1 - side 2
00:00 Start tape.
00:04 Beginning of tape and overlap from side 1.
00:50 Leaving Russia.
01:35 Moody Bible Institute; his missionary work with Slavic Gospel Association, using both
radio and literature.
02:30 Conclusion.
02:55 End sound.
Provenance
Tape T1 was given to the Billy Graham Center on September 4, 1985.
Accession 85-117
July 21, 1989
Janyce H. Nasgowitz
L. Graham
S. Feeck
Revised, March 2, 1990
Janyce H. Nasgowitz
LOCATION RECORD
Accession 85-117
Type of Material: Audio Tapes
The following item(s) are located in the AUDIO TAPE FILE:
T1 - Reel-to-reel, 3-3/4 ips, 45 minutes. Interview with Eugene Grosman by Robert Shuster,
September 4, 1985. Discussed his conversion, leaving the Soviet Union for the United
States, attendance at Moody Bible Institute, and work with the Slavic Gospel Association.