German A. Petushkov

German was born on August 29, 1955 in Liepaya, Latvia. He was the only child of a very young girl, Eugenia, who was struggling to bring him up. Finally, she gave up and he was placed in an orphanage house. Even though the teachers were strict, boys loved to run away instead of study. They were exploring around and were amazed how much fun they had. After WWII there was a lot of ammunition, bullets, rifles and pistols laying around in the forest where the heavy battlefield was. German had one teacher who spent a lot of time with him by lecturing him and talking to him about his life values. After her lectures, he returned to study and finished his school education. He was interested in music and started to play guitar. German was overtaken by electronics and started to build a recorder, an electric guitar, and an electric piano. With his perfect pitch, he imitated music bands Deep Purple, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. German started to play and sing at restaurants, night clubs and dance clubs without knowing English. In 1972, German graduated from the Technical College. One night German was awakened by strange cosmic music. When he opened his eyes, he saw a shadow over him with gray hands. He was overcome with horror and ran out of the room. What was that? Up until that point German had never heard about God, the devil, or any religion. He found his cousin’s grandmother and started asking questions. This was his starting point toward God. Auntie Alexandra brought him to the Russian orthodox priest, Father Michael, who was a victim of Stalin’s regime and spent ten years in Siberia with six hundred other priests, of which only 10 people survived. Father Michael read the Bible to German, led him to God and then baptized him German’s life had changed. He was fully dedicated to God and to church. He started singing in the church choir and helping Father Michael with the services. Then he was called to his military duty for two years. In 1976, German completed his military service, returned to Latvia and was admitted to Liepaya musical college to study voice, piano and classical guitar. When he returned to the church, Father Michael was already with the Lord. With a new priest, German did not find understanding and got in trouble by not kissing his hand and the icon. He started to attend the monastery where Father Michael’s friend was serving and decided to become a monk and study music at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. German met another Christian friend from the Baptist church, Peter from Moscow, who was sent out from Moscow by KGB for his work among the youth. German liked this man and his family. He spent a lot of time with Peter. One evening German met Peter’s guests from Riga. He knew Sergey from school, who also became a Christian. Sergey came with his wife Zoya and her sister Liza From the first time German saw Liza he fell in love with her. He proposed to her one week later and on October 9, 1982 they got married and had three children; Maria, Ilya and Elizabeth. In 1989 German, with his wife and three children, immigrated to the United States and lived in Hayward, California, until August 13, 2020 German worked at Family Radio from the beginning of his arrival to the US. His first job was as a clerk, but when his English improved, he went to the manager of Tech Department and said that he wanted to work for them. An old broken receiver was given to German as a test. The manager said if German could fix the broken receiver, he would hire him. German fixed it and was hired. He progressed from a technician to a technical engineer, then to a manager of the technical department In 2001 German was diagnosed with Hep C which caused the liver cirrhosis. In 2005 he had massive bleeding and doctors told him that his life expectancy was less than one year. His health started to deteriorate. Pastors came and anointed him with oil and prayed over him for healing. German told his wife that he was bothered by a lingering question, “Did he accomplish everything that he planned to do?” His wife told him it was God who was asking him. Since their children were teenagers and in needed of his guidance and wisdom. German said, No. Soon after, he got the flu with a high temperature, which burned the Hep C virus and he recovered.The children finished school, graduated from Cal State East Bay University, established their careers, got married and relocated to Idaho. German said to his wife, “I would like to move you close to our children so when I am gone, you will not be alone.” Once German and Liza were settled into their home in Idaho, German told Liza he had finally accomplished everything that he planned to do. Recently, doctors wanted to put German on a liver transplant list. This is not what he wanted but proceeded because he knew family would want him to. During many procedures and a heart failure, he developed a staph infection and got sepsis. Doctors could not help him anymore and he was sent home. German told his wife that he was very curious about heaven. He said that he was reading the Bible, but still could not imagine it. His wife told him that he did not need to worry about it and that the angels would give him a tour. Then he started thinking about the process of departure from his body. His wife told him that she has heard a lot of stories from her grandmother, her mother, and believers that they were greeted upon entrance to heaven. Liza told him, “My mom was looking up and prayed until her last breath.” His pastor came to give him communion for the last time and German confessed that Jesus Christ is The Lord and His Savior. Until his last breath German was looking up towards the sky, waiting to meet Jesus. Suddenly his eyes opened wide, his face brightened, and a big smile appeared on his lips as he breathed his last breath. We are all very happy for German that our sadness now is nothing compared to the joy we have seen on his face. Goodbye, my beloved, until we meet again.