Biography
Detained at the border, transported in handcuffs in the view of the passengers of a plane and humiliated by security forces — Izolda Guseva faced such treatment in the spring of 2023 only because of her religion. A criminal case had been initiated against her in the summer of 2022.
Izolda was born in May 1969 on the Black Sea coast in the city of Batumi (Georgia) in a military family. She spent her childhood in a big noisy house: her parents, older brother, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins — all lived together. There was a large garden — the whole family used to gather the huge harvest of tangerines, figs, pears and grapes.
Izolda's happy childhood was overshadowed by the death of her uncle. The news of this caused her grandmother to fall into a coma. “I was strongly affected by everything that happened in our house, although I was very small,” Izolda recalled. “I often crawled under the blanket and imagined what God is like. I asked him: if you are so strong, why don't you help my grandmother come out of her coma?”
When Izolda was 13, her father took her to study in Russia. After school, she graduated from a medical college in Rybinsk. She worked as a nurse in a hospital. She said: “I saw a lot of human suffering. And although health workers must have composure, I could not be indifferent and sobbed, seeing the pain of others.” Later, she retrained as a rehabilitation-massage therapist.
In September 1988, Izolda married a doctor and joined him in Yaroslavl. They raised two sons. The younger one is a creative boy, loves to draw and sing. The older works as a builder, loves nature and recreation with his family. Both completed alternative civilian service instead of military service. Izolda considers cooking different dishes her hobby.
All her youth Izolda wondered what is the purpose of life, why so many people get sick and die and who is God. She tried to find answers by talking with people in different religions. After some time, having become acquainted with Jehovah's Witnesses, she began studying the Bible more scrupulously. What she learned from this book was similar to what her beloved grandparents had once taught her.
In the Bible, Izolda found answers to all her questions, moreover, she found inner satisfaction and peace and friends among peace-loving fellow believers. In November 1995, she decided to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Later, her sons joined her.
The criminal prosecution undermined Izolda's health. Her husband, who does not share her convictions, changed his attitude towards Jehovah's Witnesses for the better after the beginning of the investigation. Izolda's relatives do not understand why they are prosecuting this peace-loving woman.