Story Title
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…
Andrey’s Story: Freed from Addiction
“I had dedicated myself to Satan and was involved in the practice of the occult from an early age. When I was only 14, I began to use drugs and then graduated to heavier drugs. I soon realized that I couldn’t help myself, even though I knew deep down inside that I should stop. My addiction to drugs was just part of a destructive lifestyle that involved immoral behavior, clubs, parties, women, and everything that the world could offer “I ended up in a lot of rehabilitation centers over the years, and it seemed like there was no hope. But when I entered the Christian rehab center in Haifa, I somehow believed that things would be different. And they were! The Christian rehab center in Haifa actually served as a springboard to a new life that is now full of joy! It was here that God changed me from the…
Irina’s Story: A Heart Transformed at Summer Bible Camp
God can transform even the hardest of hearts in an instant, and at our summer Bible camps each year, thousands of young people surrender their lives to Jesus. For the last four years, the village of Andreyevka, Ukraine has endured the violence, destruction, and despair of war. In order to share the eternal hope and peace of Christ with the children and youth living in these tragic circumstances, our School Without Walls (SWW) students from Berdyansk have been hosting summer Bible camps in war-torn Andreyevka since the war broke out. Last year, Irina, a young woman from Andreyevka, was invited to camp by one of her friends. At first, Irina and her group had no interest in Christianity and just wanted to hang out together, but then God started working in Irina’s heart. “I wanted to relax and get away from my everyday worries, but then I saw a completely…