Fimiam Baptist Church

Photo •
Audio •
Video •
Sermons •
Church Newspaper •

Volodymyr Zinchuk

“But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.”
Mark 9:27

Every person is a personality. He/she has a special way of life which depends on external reasons and upbringing. I was born into a family which has a right and moral upbringing of children. My mother is a doctor and my father has a technical education… that presupposes that the children are supposed to be nice, polite and honored citizens of our society.

Since childhood, my parents tried to do the best for me. I visited art and sport schools and was given much attention and love. I had everything, but my parents did not have God in their hearts. They did not want to fill their heads and our heads with religion. I grew up and could not understand many things: Why do people teach us to tell the truth and lie themselves? Why do they teach us not to drink alcohol and not to smoke and do it themselves?

When I was 14 years old, I tried drugs for the first time. I did not feel anything special because, as “professionals” told me, it was a light drug. I began to use it regularly and thought I was free from its addiction. I thought I could quit any time. But in two years I ended up in the intensive care unit at the hospital. After that I said to myself that I would never use drugs again, but in two weeks I began to use them again with my friends.

Those were the first steps leading to opium use, which I first tried at 17 years of age.

My parents did not suspect anything. I was studying to become a veterinarian. I did not show any evidence of using drugs. Several months passed after my first injection and I tried a second one. Within a year, I began to use it systematically.

In order to use opium one needs money. That was the reason I started stealing and doing criminal things. My parents did not suspect anything even after two years of such a life, but I understood that I am a drug addict. I could not stop being on drugs. I decided to go to doctors for help. In the beginning, I had hope that they would help me. After the fifth attempt to change my life, I did not trust them for changes. My life was a hell. I had constant problems with my parents, debts and, what was the worse, I looked for drugs all the time. That life caused negative emotions and even thoughts about suicide, but God saved me from this step.

I mentioned above that I was raised in an atheistic family, but drugs caused my parents to look for solution. Once when I came home I found my mother praying on her knee. I was surprised and even afraid, thinking that my mother was going crazy because of me. Half a year has passed without changes. But God heard our prayers even though we did not believe in Him.

The long months of rehabilitation came. There was backsliding. After receiving freedom I came again to drugs. Again I was at the bottom. But God changed my life. He took away drugs, anger, fear and despairs from my heart and replaced them with love, joy, and confidence. I thank God for His grace to me. Glory to Jesus Christ!

God gave me a beautiful wife and a child!