Story Title
Lidia’s Story: Thankful for ‘miracle’ wheelchair
Lidia, 81, lives just outside of Zaporozhye, Ukraine. She has lived in the same village her entire life. She loves it there, despite the violence that erupted when the ongoing conflict broke out in 2014. She knows nearly everyone in her village and is well-loved by her community. Lidia’s husband passed away 11 years ago. Her daughter Tamara is married and is close to her mother. Tamara shares, “My mother has always been kind to everyone and she gives very generously. She used to stay as busy as possible and even though she couldn’t do as much when she got older, she still picked apricots and other fruit, which she would sell at the market so she could buy tea and cookies to give to the people who visited her. She also used the money to buy things for people in need.” In recent years, Lidia started losing her sight….
Standing Strong in Christ: Amirkhan’s Story
Amirkhan (name changed for safety) grew up in a Christian family and learned about God from a young age, which is rare in Kyrgyzstan, where it’s estimated that only 6.5% of the country professes Christian faith. Amirkhan’s family are ethnic Uzbeks living in southern Kyrgyzstan. “Uzbeks are very passionate when it comes to religious issues,” shares Amirkham, “and my parents were devout Muslims just like their parents, and grandparents, and generations of their families. But in 1993, our lives changed forever when my father was given a Bible by someone from the local Baptist church. He decided to read the Koran first, before reading the Bible. He read the Koran all the way through twice, and could not find answers to his questions in it. Our family was going through some very difficult situations at the time and he was desperate for answers. So he turned to the Bible. There…
Grigorii’s Story: From Communist Party Leader to Follower of Christ
Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. – Psalm 119:18 “I spent most of my adult life working as a local Communist Party leader,” shared Grigorii. “I ran meetings and kept lists of party members, including members who brought shame on our Party by doing things like attending church. My entire meaning in life was tied up in the Party. “When the Soviet Union fell, I lost my job and my life lost its meaning. I moved to a small town and struggled to make ends meet. I faced a lot of health problems, including difficulty walking and seeing. My old glasses were completely useless and I had no money for new ones. It got to the point where I could no longer watch TV or read a book, and instead I just listened to the radio. In the summer of 2014, I…
Kristina’s Story: From Islam to Christianity
“After many years of happiness, I felt completely empty spiritually, and I was desperate to fill the hole in my heart. To my great regret, I sought satisfaction in worldly pleasures, which led to me getting pregnant. After my daughter was born, I raised her by myself, and after several years of getting sick over and over again, I finally went to the doctor. I was absolutely devastated when my blood work indicated that I had contracted a venereal disease. “After receiving my diagnosis, I had to spend a lot of time in the hospital. My relationships with my family and friends quickly deteriorated, and to my surprise, the only people who wanted anything to do with me were my Muslim neighbors. They prayed for me, talked to me about Allah, and at the end of my treatment, I started attending their mosque. For a year and a half, I…
The Eternal Impact of a Young Leader
David was born in Georgia, but in the late ‘90s, he moved to Israel to escape the law after living a life of crime for many years. After moving, he began using drugs, but in 2010, when he felt trapped in addiction, he checked into the Living Israel rehabilitation center in Haifa. When he completed his four-month program, he enrolled in School Without Walls (SWW) and lived in a monastery for a year. During that time, he married Svetlana, who is also a former drug addict, and now they have two children together. David served in ministry in Haifa for several years, but in 2015, he and his family moved to Rishon LeZion to start a new rehabilitation center. Since then, David and Svetlana have also started three home churches for about 30 people, and now they would like to start nine more home churches in their community so even…
“Discovering the Love of My Heavenly Father”
“My name is Roman and I was born in Israel to a family that didn’t know God. My father was a drug addict, and when I was only a few months old, he left my mother and me and moved to Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city. Later, I learned that he justified leaving by saying that he didn’t want his son to know his terrible father. In fact, I didn’t know my father was a drug addict for 10 years. I actually didn’t even know that he was still alive. “When I was 10, my father called me for the very first time. He said, ‘Son, you don’t know me, but I’m your father. I’ve been a horrible father, because I’ve never paid attention to you, but I recently became a new person. God changed me.’ That was also the first time I ever heard about God. It turned out that…