This is the story of a man born in turbulent times in Tsarist Russia, a man who found his vocation in China and carried the Christian Gospel into the barren and lonely land of Inner Mongolia. He was a man of courage and perseverance, fervent in prayer, and persuasive in his preaching. Who were the people who influenced his life? What were the events that shaped his destiny, the places where his character developed? Read the pages that follow to find those people, places and events in the life of Pavel (Paul) Rodionoff. Read also the story of his wife, Vera, and their three surviving children, because they too shared the trials and the joys, the privations and persecutions. It is a story, but it is also twentieth century history; an account which leads us from Russia to China, to Mongolia and back to China, before resolution in 1950s Australia.