By Sandrina de Klerk, Communications Assistant
This article was first published in our Autumn 2024 Ready magazine.
‘Leo’ is a soldier who has a story to remember
In 2015, a man named Petr Jasek travelled to Sudan to evaluate how a Christian organisation, ‘The Voice of the Martyrs’, could best serve, help and encourage Sudanese believers. It was supposed to be a four-day trip, but it became a 445-day incarceration. Imprisoned with Islamic extremists, horribly abused and charged with espionage and waging war against the state, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. His story is one of God’s sustaining strength in times of great difficulty and one of God’s powerful intervention when all hope seemed lost.
Years later, a small Christian performing arts group were inspired to tell Petr Jasek’s story through theatre. Their production, ‘If Prison Walls Could Speak’, was performed at churches and events across the United Kingdom. When they came to a particular church one Saturday evening, an eighteen-year-old squaddie called ‘Leo’ (not his real name) was in the audience. He was fresh out of his basic training and dragged there by his roommate who attended the church.
The story gripped Leo right from the start. During the intermission, he looked around the stunned room. Many heads were bowed, eyes were closed, individuals were sitting deep in thought, some with tears in their eyes—Leo bowed his own head. Maybe he would try this once more.
‘God, could you try and take control of my life?’
So many times before, Leo had tried to believe in God. But every time, something would go wrong, so he would blame God and throw it all away.
So many times before, Leo had tried to believe in God. But every time, something would go wrong, so he would blame God and throw it all away. Yet here was a man who had suffered much more than him. Petr had such surety and conviction that even though he suffered unimaginable pain and hardship, all it did was drive him to his knees. Things got worse and worse, but he never doubted his God, he never threw it all away.
Leo looked around the room again. He felt an odd sense of belonging, to this church, to these people.
‘It felt like coming home after a long hard day. When you walk in wet and tired and there’s this sense of relief and relaxation as your parents give you a hug or you’re invited to the table.’
He was bored and decided to join the Army Cadets. He enjoyed it, and it sparked his interest in the military.
He spoke to the pastor after the service and simply said, ‘I feel like I’ve come home.’
Leo left the church that evening with a new-found hope and joy.
At four years old, Leo had moved from Latvia to the UK with his mother.
He began his education in a Church of England primary school and attended services, which he found to be strict and unengaging. His friendship group was bullied by the older, taller, cooler kids. But beneath even his group were a couple of Christian kids that he himself bullied. The Christians didn’t have it easy, and he feels sufficiently bad for his part in their suffering now.
In Year Eight, he was bored and decided to join the Army Cadets. He enjoyed it, and it sparked his interest in the military. At the next school jobs fair, he spoke with a veteran who had since become a civil engineer. The man told Leo that if he wanted to be an engineer, he shouldn’t go to university but rather join the Army and get his qualifications through them. So, Leo began researching.
During sixth form, Leo started hanging out with the wrong crowd, which had a negative effect on his life. A lot of his friends were Muslims, and he was close to becoming one himself. Some of what they were saying seemed to make sense, and he was searching for something, but wasn’t sure what it was.
He knew there had to be a God but didn’t want to believe it, not when it would mean giving up the way he wanted to live. He knew what he was doing was wrong, it was struggles in other areas of life that drew him to a failing coping mechanism that kept him in an endless cycle of guilt and searching. Now Leo says, ‘I knew the truth, but I suppressed it.’
He knew there had to be a God but didn’t want to believe it, not when it would mean giving up the way he wanted to live.
When his mother found out that Leo’s mock exam results for his A-Levels had dropped from As to Ds, she had a serious talk with him and he started to get back on track with school, spending the remaining months before his exams with his head in maths and physics textbooks.
He joined the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) as an electronics technician in 2021 and started basic training in September 2022.
After basic training, Leo was sent elsewhere for his phase two training, and a last-minute room change resulted in him sharing with a Christian called Mike.
One of the guys in his troop was a devout Roman Catholic, and although Leo didn’t agree with his beliefs, he was impressed with how deep his beliefs went. This soldier was okay with going against the grain. His convictions were firmly rooted, and he acted upon them. After basic training, Leo was sent elsewhere for his phase two training, and a last-minute room change resulted in him sharing with a Christian called Mike.
Mike was desperately annoying and talked about Jesus non-stop. He wouldn’t stop asking questions, challenging positions, sharing the gospel and inviting Leo to church. Mike told him he was doing it because he loved him. He said, ‘I keep telling you this because one of my greatest fears is that the day of the Lord comes and I see my unbelieving friends next to me, asking, “why did you never tell us?”’
Leo would not go to church with him, but one Saturday evening, Mike invited him to a theatre production at his church. He went along and that night, his life was changed.
Leo had joined the Army wanting to do all the ‘fun stuff’, and now he was faced with the fact that it was wrong and sinful, and he knew all of it would lead him down a path of self-destruction. He was in an ungodly relationship that he knew he had to break away from. He knew he had to break away from the idea of fun that he and all the people he lived and worked with seemed to have, the drinking and the drugs, which didn’t line up with Biblical standards.
He went along and that night, his life was changed.
‘When you fully trust Christ, all these things just seem to fall into place.’
He knew what he would face from fellow soldiers now that he was a Christian; he was prepared for the comments and the sometimes-harsh banter of the military environment. He thought, ‘Okay, now I’m a Christian, I have to do x, y and z and live this certain perfect way.’ It didn’t take long for him to realise he could not do it in his own strength and that he would fail repeatedly. Now, he marvels at the process of sanctification, ‘When you fully trust Christ, all these things just seem to fall into place.’
He started to grow in knowledge and understanding as he attended church each Sunday, the Bible study on camp led by the Scripture Reader and during his one-to-one meetings with him. Leo and his roommate Mike became as close as brothers. They had a Bible study every night they were together. By February 2024, they had met over 290 times, not counting group studies with other believers on camp.
Six months into his relationship with Christ, Leo still struggled with doubt. Was he just doing all this to get to heaven? Or for fear of hell? Was he genuinely seeking to know and love God? He began praying that old prayer, ‘Lord I believe, help now my unbelief.’
His doubt faded as he watched Mike’s public commitment to the Lord as he went through the waters of baptism and proclaimed his testimony of salvation from the pulpit of the church.
‘When can I be baptised?’ He said to the pastor afterwards.
They had a Bible study every night they were together. By February 2024, they had met over 290 times.
He has become a bold witness for Christ himself and has been greatly encouraged by seeing many of his friends and fellow soldiers come to salvation.
In June 2023, Leo made his own public commitment to the Lord as he was baptised and testified of the Lord’s grace in his life. Since then, he has become a bold witness for Christ himself and has been greatly encouraged by seeing many of his friends and fellow soldiers come to salvation. As they grew together, they encouraged one another, studied with one another, preached to one another and have held each other accountable.
Leo shares:
[I am] so thankful for my Scripture Reader and SASRA. I would not have come so far or grown so much without them. I’m encouraged by all the serving Christians I know, seeing how the Lord works in their lives. He encourages me through my brothers and sisters in Christ. Please pray that the Lord would help me and the others to be good witnesses as we go out now to various postings, for strength and courage to continue.
How will they hear?
We can’t do it without you.
