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Pasha Smirnov
Junior, Social Work
2002-2003

Pasha was born in Moscow to a Christian family, one of ten children. From his early childhood, Pasha attended a Baptist church, where he assisted teachers with Sunday school classes and later started a music ministry (he plays the guitar). Pasha is also a youth pastor in his church, working with a group of about fifty teenagers. The church is located in Dedovsk in the Moscow region; several of its members have attended RACU, many of whom heard about the University through Pasha or his elder brother, a 2002 RACU graduate.

Pasha first heard about RACU while he was studying at the New Life Bible College, which shared the same building as RACU's main administrative offices. Pasha is now in his third year at RACU. In addition to his coursework (7-8 classes each semester), Pasha is also a student employee, responsible for RACU student activities. His job involves organizing student events (overseeing and training others to hold parties or other activities, organizing games, etc), as well as participating in the student chapel committee, student counseling, and the Student Counsel (Pasha is its President).

Six months ago, Pasha married another RACU student, Belova Masha. In May, they are expecting their first child. The couple lives only a five-minute walk away from RACU's future campus; it takes them an hour and a half to get to RACU's present facility.

Three or four times a year, Pasha participates in missionary trips with "AGAPE," a medical missionary organization. These trips are usually ten or twelve days long and involve travel to the Far North regions of the Komi republic, Yamal, and Kemerovo, all of which offer a very poor quality of life and have residents in need of serious medical help. "AGAPE" brings professional doctors and medicine, as well as Christian literature, to these poor families. Pasha helps as an interpreter; he also leads group activities, such as games and music.