My name is Sergey. I’m 39 years old and I was born in Belarus (one of the countries of the former USSR) in an orthodox family where I actually never heard about God. When freedom came to our country Christian booklets sometimes got to my hands. It was interesting to me to read about God.
One day I watched a feature film on TV and one of the heroes in that movie read a passage from the Bible – from the Sermon on the Mount. When I heard the words “but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” tears appeared in my eyes – I could not see such love in this world!
I understood that those were the words from the Bible. And I decided to find a copy and to read in it (I did not even have a small part of the Bible yet). I found and bought the Gospel of John and the Revelation of John and started to read. I repented before the Lord at home and started to pray regularly and considered myself a Christian. But I was alone and did not tell anyone about my faith. Sometimes I would read the words 'brothers and sisters' in the booklets and I also prayed the Lord’s prayer “our Father in heaven…' and I noticed that it was written 'our Father…', not 'my Father…' and I understood there should be other Christians with whom I should pray.
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| Women's crisis center |
I wanted to find an orthodox priest to talk about this but then I decided that it was better to pray and ask 'Lord, where are my brothers and sisters?' Several days after that I was passing a small Christian library in the center of our city and at that time a man from this library talked to me and offered me a booklet. I said that I had it. He offered me another one and I answered that I had it as well. Then he said “look, you will not be saved by books”. I went home and a thought came to me: 'this man offered Christian literature, maybe he is the brother that I’m looking for?' I went back to him the next day to talk and he invited me to a church service.
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| Renovation 2nd floor is necessary |
I visited the church and at the end of service I gave my life to Jesus. When I came out of the church I knew I had found what I was looking for. At that time I was almost 16 years old at and very happy to be in God’s family. Through all these years I have never regretted giving my life to Jesus. After some time, when I already served in a rehabilitation center, the Lord told me that He would send me to the people whom the world does not bless but curse. Several years later I was sent to serve with homeless people.
The Lord blessed me with a sweet wife and 4 children. I praise Him for everything He has done in my life and for everything He will do in the future. Glory be to Him!
Sergey is coordinator in the Baranovichi center and he is also our interpreter and guide. Because of him we can stay in good contact with our friends in Belarus. The donation thermometer for project expansion women's home has risen to 4,000 euro. yeah!
Gifts are still welcome at St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention: BELARUS.