Time to get serious

Alexy lives with his wife, Sveta, in a town called Fastiv, in Ukraine. His journey to faith is interesting. He grew up in a typical Soviet family, where Bibles were not only illegal, but deemed unnecessary. Best leave them to the Old Orthodox believers who met in secret.

But Alexy developed a curiosity for the Bible...their illicitness adding to the mystique.

The Lord's army? 

Like all Soviet men, Alexy had to spend his obligatory time of service in the military, but he excelled and rose up through the ranks to become a junior officer. He had a friend in the military that had a Bible, and Alexy used to copy verses from it while they rode in the front seat of their truck. Later he would read and ponder them, and although he enjoyed them, he still wasn't a believer.

After his military service, Alexy became engaged to Svetlana, a woman he was introduced to through friends. "After we got married, we had to live with Sveta's parents for a time," he told me. "I remember I found a Bible and brought it home one day. Oh, her parents were very unhappy to have a Bible in the home! If for some reason the KGB found one in your home, you would certainly be sentenced to prison.  Even though I was proud to have a Bible, I wasn't a Christian. I didn't know what it meant to be a Christian...maybe just go to church on Easter and Christmas."

Soon, Alexy was a father. In order to support his family in poor times, he had to work three jobs. Life became increasingly busy, and thoughts of God or the Bible rapidly were edged out by worldly concerns. This went on for many years until life intervened: a heart attack.

Heavenly medicine

"When I had the heart attack, they told me I would die unless I had surgery. It was very serious, and of course I began to think about my life. One day, while in the hospital, a friend came to visit me, and he brought with him a New Testament he had received from Bible League International. He left it for me, and as I read it, it seemed to come alive to me. The words had an intensity they had never had before. I am so grateful my friend left me that Bible, cause I finally repented of my sins ands came to faith in Jesus."

Alexy's surgery was successful, and he became baptized in 1994. He has become a deacon in his church and he leads many outreaches in the Fastiv area. "Very few people in this area have Bibles,” he concluded. "Pray that more will be sent to us, for there are many people will believe if we can study God’s Word with them.”