gomel 01_edited

My name is Oleg.

My grandmother raised me since I was seven years old. I still don’t know my father and my mother had an addiction to alcohol. When I was four years old my mother lost her driver’s license because of alcoholism. I began to go to church when I went to live with my grandmother.

When I was a teenager, I gained a better understanding of sin. At that time sin was still dominating over me. When I would talk to the leaders, I would promise them and myself that tomorrow I wouldn’t do sin again but when tomorrow came I couldn’t keep that promise. God gave me a chance to see myself as bad as I was through His Word. I understood that sin was a problem in me!

After some time I understood that only with Jesus I would be able to gain a victory over sin. It was not about my efforts, it was about being broken and asking Jesus for help. However, I kept putting off placing my faith in Jesus and receiving his free gift of salvation.

Then, with no warning, I received a call that my mother passed away. She was 45 years old…

I understood at that point that it is better to accept my mistakes and repent before God as long as I have opportunity, because God can take away my life at any moment! I prayed to Him: “God forgive me for my sins, all the bad I have done. Lord please change my life. I want to be in You and serve You. I am very grateful for the life that You gave me!” I was sorry for my mother too.

It was September 24th, 2012… That day became the day of my repentance! gomel 02_edited

He opened for me many things which I didn’t know before. The Lord gave me new relationships and opportunities. I know that He is near and always supports me. He gave me a new Christian family. I know that God wants me to go and tell people about Jesus.

In retrospective, now I understand that if I would have had parents (mother and father) I would possibly never accept Jesus. I am grateful to God for the life He gave me!