Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9
Peter Yakovlevich Vins (1943)
Serving in Siberia
Peter was a minister of the Gospel in the 1930s in Siberia and eastern Russia. He was first arrested in 1930 while he was involved in the assembly of the Russian Baptist Union in Moscow, and was sent to Svetlaya Bay labour camp for three years. He was released in 1933 and went to live in the town of Omsk. After working during the day, he would visit believers in the evening to teach and encourage them through Bible teaching, despite Christian meetings being forbidden.
By 1936 there were 1,000 believers in Omsk. Peter was again arrested and put on the fourth floor of Omsk prison where, for a while, his family and friends could see him near a window until workmen came and covered over the windows. At some point Peter was taken to a closed camp and forbidden contact with his family. He died on 27 December 1943, aged 45.
He, the Wisdom, Word and Might,
God, and Son, and Light of Light,
Undiscovered by the sight
Of earthly monarch, or infernal spirit,
Incarnate was, that we might Heav’n inherit;
For He hath triumphed gloriously!
Cosmas the Melodist (died c. 760)