Ukraine: How an addict became a ‘man of peace’

By Marc on September 27, 2010 in Starting simple churches

Valeri, an infamous hooligan from Obolon, the most heavily populated region of Kiev, turned to God from a life of drugs, alcohol, and crime two years ago. He is a classic example of what Jesus called a ‘man of peace’. Jesus said, when you find a man of peace, stay in his house. In other words - stay with him in his context. Instead of extracting him from his friends and family, help him reach them. This is a principle we are seeing bear much fruit in the making of disciples and planting of new churches, and especially with Valeri.

What is the kingdom of God like? It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.” - Jesus

Two of Valeri’s childhood friends and drinking buddies quickly followed his example by also giving their lives to Christ. That was only the beginning. From the seed planted in Valeri, the Kingdom has spread in many directions. First, a church developed in Obolon, directly among Valeri and his friends. The small fellowship, that met first in a café and later in an apartment, quickly grew as Valeri’s drug addict friends wanted to find out what had brought about the dramatic change in his life.

As more and more junkies showed up, desperate for help, Valeri started praying about starting a simple rehabilitation center. With little resources, the only option was to start a center in a dilapidated house in a village outside the city. So Valeri and six of his needy friends started living in and working on a broken down house without electricity and plumbing. Today the house is a stark contrast to its former self, but even more so this can be said about the men’s lives. They have been set free, and their lives are being daily renewed and remodeled. The joy on their faces and fresh hope in their voices is quite evident.

“Through this one ‘person of peace’, more than 35 drug addicts and alcoholics have come to Christ.”

Now what happened in their lives spread to more places. The brothers started helping with community projects in the village. As people watched the transformed lives of the former drug addicts ‘good gossip’ spread in the small town. Some of the guys were baptized and many of their family members were in attendance. We discovered that they were so blessed and surprised by what has occurred in their loved one’s lives, that many of them were interested in hearing more about Christ. Seven or eight of the parents attended a discovery Bible study started especially for them.

Today, through this one ‘person of peace’, more than 35 drug addicts and alcoholics have come to Christ. In addition, over the past year and a half four rehab centres that function as churches have been opened. In the centres, the former addicts live together in community, read the Word, pray and farm the land in order to provide for their own needs. The changed lives of these men and women are now in turn impacting many of their friends and family as well. Truly the biblical principle of going into the harvest to reach people, make disciples and see simple churches spring up and multiply, is occurring more and more in the Russian speaking world. What a delight to see the reality of the kingdom of God spread from life to life.

Source: Timmy Powers