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Drug rehab group in Siberia.
In 1998 a drug addict came to the meeting in Kansk in Siberia. According to the doctors he only had a few days to live. He received prayer and the miracle happened. He experienced deliverance from drugs without any withdrawal symptoms whatsoever and his sick body was healed.
That was Nikolai, who is now pastor of the churches in the Kansk region. Through his testimony others came. 1999 saw the opening of the first rehab center in Kansk. More were to follow in other cities. AVC/NEHEMIA churches are currently running 38 centers with over 480 patients. Those who were set free became a testimony to the power of God. When their families and friends saw how their lives changed, they came to the churches, heard the gospel and many have made a decision to follow Jesus.
MY LIFE WAS COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS
He killed his own mother
Oleg, 32 years old
AT THE AGE OF 16 I BEGAN to drink and became an alcoholic. I was also a heavy smoker. In order to be able to buy alcohol, I started stealing. In a drunken state I then killed the person who was my best friend - my mother.
I was convicted and sent to prison. My life was completely meaningless. In prison I met a group of prisoners who had become believers. I went to their services, too, and was amazed to meet such joyful people. I then got to know them better and they told me about Jesus. I understood that Jesus was the only one who could help me and change my life. That is why I gave my life to Jesus.
When I was released, I heard that there was a rehab centre in Smolensk. I have now been at this center for three months. Jesus has set me free and given me joy. I am happy about getting to know and love him more and more.
SET FREE FROM ADDICTION
A liter of vodka every day
He tells his story
I AM 32 YEARS OLD. Although I have parents, they did not look after me and I effectively grew up parentless.
At the age of 17 I began to drink alcohol and became an alcoholic. After that my life consisted of alcohol and stealing in order to obtain alcohol. In recent years I drank more than a liter of vodka every day. One day I got involved in a fight. I was injured so badly that my left arm was paralyzed. I did not want to go on living like that, but I could not get free from alcohol. I knew that if I carried on like that I would soon come to a bad end.
One day I heard that there was a rehab center in Smolensk and I went there. There I heard about Jesus, and He set me free from alcohol and smoking and also healed me. Apart from my little finger, my arm is completely normal again. I am now a happy person. My dream is to go to Bible school and then to serve people who are as I used to be. I am very thankful to God for what he has made of my life.
ROTTEN INSIDE AND OUT
First shot up at twelve
Vika, 24 years old, tells her story
I WAS BORN INTO A SIMPLE FAMILY. My parents often argued and drank. No-one concerned themselves with my upbringing, most of the time I was left to my own devices. Finally my parents got divorced and no-one took any interest in me.
I then got in amongst a group where everyone else was at least five years older than me. That was where I tried the first drugs. I shot up for the first time at the age of twelve. I was still a child and had no concept of what I was doing. Little by little my friends all ended up in prison. I was the only one left. Like all drug addicts, I lived for the moment. I had no past and no future, only pain, bitterness and emptiness all those years. I lived in order to shoot up and shot up in order to live and, at some point, die.
In eight years of addiction I not only rotted from the inside but also on the outside. I was totally dried up and could no longer walk. I was dying and the flesh under my armpits was already rotting. My soul wanted to live, but I did not have the strength.
Then I started to think about my life. A young man came to me and said that all was not yet lost and that there was a way out. He told me that he used to be a drug addict, too, and his life had changed by the grace of God. He told me about Jesus, who sets people free from drugs and other bondages. He also talked about the rehab center and what God had done in his life. I do not know why, but I trusted him and believed that there was a way out for me, too. The church prayed for me and I very soon started to improve. That was the proof for me that God lives and is almighty. For me it was a miracle. When I could walk again I traveled to the rehab center and followed the program for a year. During that year my life was greatly changed and I felt like a human being for the first time. God set me free from drugs and other bondages. He changed me inside and out. In God I have found joy again and a new, big family. My life has meaning and purpose now and I am happy. I do not stop thanking God for the miracles he has done in my life.
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