Nikolay Ivanovich Makovskiy

Our father, Nikolay Ivanovich Makovskiy was born in the village of Pasat the region of Balta/Odessa, on the 22nd of October 1934 to Ivan and Agatha Makovskiy. It was a large family and one of the first families in the village to come to know God. Our father had 3 sisters, Lena who preceded him in death, Galina and Nina, and brothers Michael, Anatoliy, and Sergey who also preceded him in death, and brothers Peter and Polikarp.
The 1930s were very difficult especially for such a large family therefore our father had to help his parents from a very young age. Then the 1940s brought even more difficulties because the war started and the duties around the home got multiplied. From his early childhood he was a shepherd for sheep and cows and he got paid for it. People in the village said that with that he fed the whole family, was very hardworking, and helped his parents in anyway he could. That part of his character stayed with him for the rest of his life. And at this moment in his life is when he met his Lord and Savior who stayed with him during his life on earth and then took him to His Kingdom. During the day he worked and during the night he had many heated prayers to his Lord.
Towards the end of the war his older brothers Anatoliy and Michael and their father were taken to war and then were convicted of treason and were given a very long sentence. Because of that all the household chores fell on our father and his older brother Polikarp. Dad said those were very difficult years. The post war years, famine, and the destruction of the country were difficult but they set our father on fire. He fell in love with Jesus and fell in love with the taste and strength of prayer. Since there wasn’t any older men/brothers in the village he was put to preach during the nightly prayer meetings. He would say that it was his schooling.
At 18 he was called to be in the army. He was promised a successful army career because he was a strong and smart young man. But our father chose the Lord and was sentenced to a logging camp in Kirovski. After the logging camp our father learned the profession of an electrician. For many years he worked in that field.
In 1963, our father married our beautiful mother Galina Studenuk who has also preceded him in death. They had 4 children, sons Yuriy, Victor, Gennadiy, and daughter Svetlana. Throughout the years they gained 15 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. In 1964, he got very sick and had to go on disability, but even then our God remained faithful throughout the years and is continuing to do so. God promised him full healing and in 1994 our father was fully healed from asthma after 30 years. Praise to Him and only Him.
In 1993 our entire family moved to Sacramento, California. Then in 2002 our parents moved to Sedalia, Missouri. Like every Godly person, our father went through many trials in life but with every trial he went to God in prayer. His prayers about his wife, children, grandchildren, family members, members, and elders of the church we heard all throughout our life from our childhood until his death. When he would pray he would name everyone by name starting with his children all the way to his nieces and nephews and their children. His steadfastness and knowledge in the Lord were with him forever. Sometimes persistent in his condemnation but his speech never left a bitter taste or a negative impact. He had a talent of being able to instruct and give direction to everyone around him especially to his children and grandchildren. Any discussion or conversation always ended in the words of salvation and repentance and a relationship with God. The life of our father on this earth ended with a prayer on his lips surrounded by his children and grandchildren. Praise the Lord for everything.