My big brother was my role model. One day he told me he would make me eat a cigarette the next time I smoked. But I didn't have the strength to resist the cigarette dependency.

When I was 14 my older brother left the country, got married and settled down. I was feeling relatively free to do whatever I wanted, so I decided to try drugs. At 17 I was already addicted; using "meth". At this time, after completing school, I went to college. Less than a month later I was caught by the police in a drug house. I was faced with a possible 7 years in prison. Praise God, I didn't go to prison, but I did get expelled from college. This turn of events forced me to settle down, and six months later I got into another college. During my student years I became a father. During my third year in college my craving for drugs took control again, but this time I switched to opiates. In spite of my detrimental attraction to drugs, I started in business with a foreign company and was rather successful and prosperous. At the time I finished college I was already a thoroughly addicted person. At 25, because of my drug habit, I walked away from my job. I became a completely corrupt person. My wife and mother set me an ultimatum: rehabilitation in Moscow or get out of the house. I went to rehabilitation, where I stayed for one and a half years. There I learned for the first time that it was possible to live sober. When I returned home, though, I fell back into old habits. During the next four years my situation did not get better - it only got worse. I lost all my friends. My wife left me. My parents turned me out of the house. I had taken everything of value and all the jewelry out of the apartment. In a word, I became an outcast from society and was likely to die any time - either from an overdose the next time I shot up or in an argument with the people I owed money to. And I owed the whole city. The inner emptiness, the constant depression and hurting people ate at me to the extent that I considered suicide.

In early autumn 2008 I was sitting at home and happened to call a friend I had lost contact with 6 months before. I was surprised to hear that the phone was ringing. He answered after a few seconds. We met up a little later. He was completely different (before he had been a lot like me). I asked how he had done it. He told me about a rehabilitation center in Ukraine. I took the telephone number of the director, though it was 6 months later before I contacted him (I couldn't make up my mind to have that conversation). In February 2009 I did finally call and received the immediate invitation to rehabilitation, and free of charge, no less. After I got there I started to feel at home and found out that "Liberation" was a Christian rehabilitation center. Within a month I had accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. The Lord started working in my worthless life. He quickly restored me physically and morally. I again began to feel the values of life. My relationship with my parents was restored. The Lord gave me full confidence in my life in the present and future. My heart began to fill with happiness and God's love. After completing the full course of rehabilitation (9 months), I stayed at the rehabilitation center, but in the role of mentor. I started to help the other patients turn away from their destructive dependencies and get to know Christ. After 14 months I went to Cherkassky, was baptized and became the member of a small baptist church. There I began to server people and preach in the services. After about 6 months there, the Lord introduced me to an amazing girl, who also believes in Jesus Christ. This girl turned out to be a resident of Poltava. We decided to get married and form a Christian family. At this time we are living in Poltava. The Lord gave me a wonderful, loving wife and daughter. On top of that, my wife and I are students at the Bible Institute.

For everything that I have now I praise the Lord Jesus Christ alone, because without Him I would have died and gone to hell. He gave me a wonderful new life, faith, salvation, a family and confidence in tomorrow!