Darkness to Light: Vladimir Kuzitsov

Vladimir Kuzitsov

"Inside of me God lives, and He is victorious.”

By Erich Bridges

Vladmir (“Volodya”) Kuzitsov’s father was an Udmurt village shaman, a dealer in spirits and spells.

He drowned in a puddle of water one night after running down the street, screaming that he was being chased by evil spirits. Some say it was an accident, or that the old man was crazy. Volodya believes his father was killed by the spirits.

Volodya, too, once had a gift of “healing.” But it became a curse as he sensed the evil at work in his life and saw the fear in those around him. Alcohol also tormented him, and he nearly lost his wife and family as he battled darkness within.

He got a job as a fire truck driver in the city. His boss was Alexander Popov, who would later become the leader of Baptists in Udmurtia. The first time he attended one of Popov’s informal lunchtime Bible studies, Volodya’s eyes rolled back into his head and he became violently ill. For months he couldn’t listen to the Word of God without a similar reaction. But something drew him back.

One day he attended a showing of the “JESUS” film in a local theater. “At the end of the film there was a prayer (to receive Jesus as Savior),” Volodya recounts. “I said, ‘That prayer is for me. God, I need you.’”

Through Popov’s patient witness and more viewings of “JESUS,”
Volodya repented and gave his heart to the Lord. When the Holy Spirit entered into him, he felt the old spirit of evil flee.

Within a month he was driving a bus for a “JESUS” film team going from one Udmurt village to another. “When we showed the film, people didn’t want to leave,” he recalls. “We would say, ‘Go home already. We’ll talk more tomorrow.’ They would say, ‘God spoke to us in our language, to our people!’”

Fourteen years later, Volodya is the national “JESUS” film representative in Udmurtia for Campus Crusade for Christ – and a passionate member of Resurrection (Baptist) Church, which was started by Popov.

He has a list of every one of the 2,000 towns and villages in Udmurtia. His team has shown the “JESUS” film in about 500 of them; they fully intend to reach the rest.

“The guy is a walking evangelism machine,” says Tim Wicker. “Whenever he’s out with us, we’re constantly waiting on Volodya because somebody walked by that he just couldn’t resist talking to.”

Once, driving late at night, Wicker and Volodya were pulled over at a police checkpoint. Volodya got out and began talking to the Udmurt policeman. Soon he returned to the car, reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a New Testament and tract to give to the policeman. When he came back, Wicker asked why they had been stopped.

“We never got to that,” Volodya said, grinning as they drove away.

He prays for the day when evangelical believers grasp what it will take to reach all Udmurtia with the Gospel. It won’t be easy, he knows.

“There’s a spiritual battle going on everywhere,” Volodya asserts. “So I don’t live by my feelings. I live by the Word of God. Inside of me God lives, and He is victorious.”