“When God Heals Me, I Will Serve” – Suvid, Ukraine

Ella Rodionoff

Aug 3, 2018 2782

“When God Heals Me, I Will Serve” – Suvid, Ukraine

Alexander (left) with Eliezer Gonzalez, who he met when Eliezer was in Ukraine preaching the Gospel.

Alexander, the director of the rehab centre “There Is a Way Out” in Suvid, Ukraine, is committed to helping people become free from addiction. How he got to where he is now, having spent decades addicted to drugs himself, is a story of God’s grace.

Four years ago Alexander was undergoing treatment at the “There Is a Way Out” rehab centre in Poltava for his own drug addiction. He had been addicted for 30 years, during which time his drug use had resulted in him spending time in prison and several different rehab centres, none of which were able to break his habit.

While he was at the Poltava rehab centre, he attended Bible study meetings with a GNU pastor. It later became clear that the turning point for Alexander was a Q&A session at these meetings. He asked, “Is it true Jesus helps immediately – you simply have to trust him?” The pastor answered, “In 90% of cases no. The process of healing is slow and difficult. God acts through natural instruments…”

A year later, when Alexander was baptised, he said,

Having heard that it will be difficult, I understood that I had found those who had the truth. In the past I had been offered an easy recipe against addiction – and it did not work. They said that all you need to do is pray and earnestly read the Bible and you will be healed. However, now the path presented required labour!

Even after his baptism, Alexander continued to struggle. He began smoking again. He also became ill with hepatitis and a trophic ulcer. A church member took him under his wing. Almost every week they would have a meal together, and they often talked over the phone.

“I understood that I had found those who had the truth”

The second turning point for Alexander was anointment. His ulcer did not heal up, although the best doctors in the city tried to cure him. But after a prayer, he was healed within two weeks. Alexander says that the main thing was the reconciliation between him and God during the time preparing for anointment.

I had hard feelings towards God but at that moment I stopped blaming him for all the twists and turns in my life. I realised he was not the cause of the troubles I had in life.

After that he started attending church. At this point, the GNU pastor he had met at the Poltava rehab centre asked him, “What will you do when God heals you?” He replied, “I will serve.”

He went to the consultant school “There Is a Way Out”, where he completed a course and then began working as a social worker at the Poltava rehab centre. After that, he decided to upgrade his skills at the psychology faculty.

Right now he is working on establishing a branch office of the rehab centre “There is a Way Out” in Suvid. He is the director of the centre, and is committed to helping people who are in the same place he was only four years earlier.

– Ella Rodionoff