My name is Aleksandr, I am 34 years old. I want to share my testimony of how the Lord saved me. I was born in the city of Odessa, which is in Ukraine. I was born and raised in an Orthodox family.
From childhood, my main hobby that occupied me was soccer. After receiving a leg trauma, I had to say goodbye to soccer. Almost instantly, I felt I needed to fill this void with something. I remember that at the age of 14, I tried alcohol and started smoking. All this I enjoyed and at that period in my life, I thought it was cool, because the majority of my peers lived this way. It was also one step closer to the older kids, who in the area were already trying drugs.
Through time, this addiction also did not pass me by. Everything started with light drugs, but very soon heavy drugs followed. With every dose of intake, I would go deeper and deeper into the very pit of hell. At 19 years of age, I had a desire to join the army. After serving the required time, I came home. At that moment, all my friends and close acquaintances with whom I used to hang out were drug addicts.
It was clear that through a very short amount of time, I too was part of the drug system. Like the majority of addicts, I didn’t see that I was addicted. I was certain that at any moment I could stop. After some time, though, I did acknowledge that I was trapped and decided to get admitted to get medical treatment. It did help me, but inside, I didn’t feel that I was truly free.
I soon started a family, and we gave birth to 3 wonderful children. Soon, though, another serious physical trauma to the spine happened to me and I became paralyzed to my waist. This caused me to be bedridden for about a year, and the doctors gave me a diagnosis that I would never be able to walk again. This was a big blow to me. At that moment, I was only 28. I have a family to feed, yet I am helpless with a disability.
I remember those days very well, as I lay in my bed and heard through the wall as my mother and grandma prayed. They did this every single morning on a regular basis. My hardened heart did not allow me to receive their care and prayers, and I would argue with them. I didn’t have any faith that I would once again be able to walk.
After sometime to the amazement of the doctors and myself, the spine grew together. Slowly I started to move. I was then able to get into a wheelchair. After another year I was able to walk slowly with the help of crutches. After another half a year I was able to walk independently.
This was definitely a miracle, but it is only evident to me now that it was the work of the Lord in my life. But at that time I didn’t understand and was confident that I was just lucky.
Soon we decided to immigrate to Israel. In Israel I decided to try and replace drugs with alcohol, but my life was still spiraling into destruction. All that knew me turned away from me. I lost my family and was left to myself with my problems and nothing I tried helped.
Soon, someone recommended I go through a Christian rehab center in Ashkelon. But even here, striving to follow Chris,t I was relapsing by leaving and coming back.
After about 6 months of rising and relapsing into alcoholism, the brothers decided that I should be transferred to a different rehab center. They transferred me to Bait Ham Hesda rehab center, which is in Karmiel, northern Israel.
The program that was in Karmiel happened to be the one that fit me best and helped me meet the Lord truly. I began to be transformed, began to have a love for His word, and began to take part in serving in the ministry of rehabilitation. The Lord delivered me from all of my addictions, and I dove further into helping the same people as I used to be. After a year, I received the water baptism.
I felt my life was restored. After about 1 month, it was offered to me to attend a Bible School in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, and I very willingly accepted. After completing the program, I returned to Israel and was blessed by Bait Ham Hesda to get more practice in serving in a rehab center that most needed my help in Jerusalem.
Only the Lord could have done all this. All I needed to do was to believe and to entrust myself to my heavenly father. Praise be to Him for everything.
Aleksandr
