God’s Word Saves Drunk

Viktor need to hear God’s Word and feel God’s love to save him from his desperate alcoholism. Growing up as a Communist under a strict Soviet system, Viktor was certain that there was no God. “I would live and I would die, and there would be nothing after that,” he says of what he always believed to be true.

He married and had a son. As the Soviet system’s “safety nets” loosened during Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika initiative, Viktor first turned to alcohol as a way to cope. Years later, when his wife died and he moved in with his adult son, his drinking intensified. When his son threw him out of the house, Viktor found himself living in basements and begging in the subway.

“One day a woman came up to me on the street and told me that there was a way out of my awful life,” he says.

Finding a way out

“She invited me to a Bible study [led by a Bible League-trained Christian], but I ignored her and kept drinking.” Until he hit rock bottom.

He awoke one day in a wet basement swarming with rats. “They were just waiting for me to die so that they could eat me,” recalls Viktor. “I was scared, and I remembered the woman’s invitation. I gathered what remained of my strength, and crawled in the streets until I got to the subway.”

Crawling under the subway turnstile because he didn’t have money for a ticket, he found the place where the Bible study group met and began delving into God’s Word. “I have a new life,” says Viktor, noting that he’s still reading the Bible. “Jesus Christ reigns in my life. He suffered for me. Now, I know that death is not the end of life, but the beginning—and I know I will have that better life.” 

They need more Bibles, too, so that everyone who completes a Bible study will receive a Bible of his very own.