When I was in prison, the officers told me my faith would last till I got to the first beerhouse. In twelve years of freedom, I've passed many beerhouses. I want to tell you how God found me and showed His mercy to me.
I was born in 1959 and grew up with my mother and stepfather. I had a younger sister. My stepfather didn't care for us, so it was hard for my mother to raise two of us. I was often left on my own. There was tension at home and I often went on the binge and was actively involved in fights. Once, after a particularly nasty fight was finished, my victim was taken to hospital where he died.
In prison, my soul knew no rest and I attempted suicide. For two days the court was unsure whether to sentence me to be shot by firing squad. That was in 1982, when the death penalty was still active and practiced. However, their final decision was 15 years in prison. The first five years I served in Ivano-Frankivsk Prison, and then I was sent to Cherkassy, Prison 62, where I heard the Word of God.
I repented in 1992, which was when Vic Jackopson first came to Prison 62. In the summer of 1994 he baptized me. The repentance brought me such a release. I got hope in life. Most importantly, I realized God loved me and accepted whoever I was.
I had been praying for 18 months for God to send me a wife before I was released. On August 22, 1997 I was released, and the next day I met a sister in the Lord, Natasha, a well-known journalist in Cherkassy. We were married and now have a family of three children.
God has entrusted to me a ministry in the orphanages. I go, with small group of Christians, to three orphanages. We try to be there once a week to tell the children about the love of God. I also preach in Grace Church, where we are church members.
About a year ago they blessed me and put me in charge of a church in the Komintern village. There is a small "living church" there but we need a house in which to conduct our services and also a space to offer summer day camps for children. In that village, one can buy a little house for about $4,000.
asha Squatting (3rd from rt) 7th August 2004
We pray together and I believe that God will care for those in this village, who sink in alcohol and are "children of rage", as I used to be. We don't have such money and come to Hope Now with our need.
With love in Christ,
The Believers from Komintern Church Alexander (Sasha) Kirpichov
