Artem’s Testimony

As a young person I would always stand my ground. I even remember making a decision to never become a drug addict after hearing an ex-addict share his testimony. However, this decision in its self was not enough to keep me from that lifestyle. Soon I started to hang out with people my parents did not approve of. After a while this small disobedience led to more wrong moves in my life. I began to smoke and drink and eventually I started using hard drugs. When I started using hard drugs my life started to fall apart very fast. I began to lose jobs because of who I had become and began to lose trust between friends and family. I lost health living that life and eventually I lost everything that I owned. I was a person who visited scrap yards and pawn shops every day. It was at this moment that I realized that I had become that which I vowed to never become. It was in this low state that God started drawing me to Himself. One day I got my drugs as usual and came home to get my fix. After I used the drug and cleaned my kit up I reached for the door knob and everything went dark. The next thing that happened was I had a feeling travel from my head to my feet. It felt like a sword cutting deeper than flesh. After that I found myself into a familiar room. I looked to the left and there was a desk and to the right was a door. As I looked in front of me I saw a bed and on the bed was my body. As soon as I saw this I felt that feeling of cutting again and found myself in the position that I saw myself from outside of my body. I realized that I need help soon and in a little while I was at the Recovery Center. At the Center God had found me and showed me a new way of life. I thought that the life I gained in Christ was a long lost hope for me however I learned that Christ had redeemed that life for me on the cross. Praise God! He teaches me every day to trust in him and what he is doing and he lifts me up when I am weak. I am glad to call Jesus Christ my redeemer, my teacher, the faithful one and Father. Praise God for his mighty acts.