Pavel Ozerkov

Run, run, my love,

Like a swift-footed chamois,

Run to my garden and be with me

There are many gifts in it for you.

“The poet Pavel Ozerkov is a legendary personality,” wrote Sergei Kulichenko, one of the authors of our almanac, in his preface to this publication. – Christians came to the United States for various reasons. Former conscript senior sergeant, deacon and carpenter Ozerkov went to America to evangelize the Indians, about whom he read adventure books and saw GDR films with Gojko Mitic in the leading role. Paul fell in love with these brave, beautiful people and wanted to tell the American Indians about the real Geechee Manitou—the Savior and Redeemer of all the downtrodden and oppressed, Jesus Christ.

Pastor Pavel Ozerkov has already visited many reservations in the USA and Canada. He was never supported by a church; people donated, of course, but most importantly, he earned money through his carpentry for missionary trips to different countries. His last trip in 2023 was to Kenya, where he helped build a Sunday school and kindergarten at the Maasai Christian Church. The local tribe of fearless warriors and hunters elected Pastor Paul as honorary Masai!

What more can be said about Paul? He sleeps no more than five hours, and even then in the middle of the night he kneels and prays. During the day, while it is light, he works at a construction site. At the same time, he manages to read the Bible, prepare incendiary sermons and write poetry. Now you will read one of his many poems, and not the greatest one - a poetic arrangement of the Song of Songs. He wrote it while sitting on roofs under construction with a carpenter's pencil, on an airplane during flights between different countries, on tablets, on scraps of paper at the base of the Avachinsky volcano in Kamchatka.