For 54 years and counting, Alex has been the Executive Director of Slavic Missionary Service. Alex has always said that when God decides to take him home, he wants to still have his "boots on!" His goal is to remain active, ready to be used by God until his time on earth is over. August 10th will mark his 90th year, and indeed, Alex is still wearing his boots as the director of SMS.

As a result of Alex's health, he is not able to get out of the house to travel as he used to, however, he is still making decisions about the work of Slavic Missionary Service from the home base. And although he is not out and about to minister to people, not a day goes by that he isn't answering myriads of phone calls and encouraging listeners on the other end. We still receive emails and letters from people that were impacted by Alex when they were in the former Soviet Union under the grip of communism. Just a few weeks before Alex's dear friend, David Virkler, passed away, Reverend Virkler sent him a copy of a letter he received from a young Russian woman he had met in upstate New York. She writes,

"…A special thank you for the book that you sent me about Alex Leonovich. Indeed I do know him: as a small child I listened to him on the short wave radio. He was known to us as Aleksei Pavlovich. My family and neighbors used to get together at our house and listened to him preach every night for many years until we were able to immigrate to the USA. He and Earl Poysti were the main sources of spiritual food for us, because Bibles were scarce at the time of socialism reigning. The book you sent is very captivating to read and I can identify with a lot of things there. I had a hard time putting it down…"

Having shared this if you were to come visit Alex, one of his words of wisdom to you would be, it's not what we did in the past to be used of God. It is what we are ready to do today. In his weakened state, he would also say, remember, the apostle Paul said, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me… not SOME things, but ALL things!"

Alex would covet your prayers as he comes closer to the end of his journey here on this earth. He is ready to go "home" whenever the Lord sees fit, but until that time comes, he continues to be a great example of dedication, servanthood, leadership and Christ like love. Thank you so much for the support you have given him and the work of Slavic Missionary Service over so many years! As Alex would say, may God bless you REAL GOOD!"