A Life Transformed

Meet Alexander Astakhov, Missionary in Gulkevichi, Krasnodarsk

My life without God was terrible. I was born into family of alcoholics. I was seeing binges, drunken brawls, and fights with painful consequences all almost every day of my childhood. Then my parents got divorced. As a result, we were brought up by the streets. Finally, a government social worker became interested in our family. My mom was stripped of her parental rights, and my brother and I were sent to a children's home. Compared to my home, I loved the children's home. We were given food and drink in time, and I got to sleep in a bed covered with sheets.

One day, a loud drunken company was taking rest on the lakeside. My mother decided to go for a swim. She never come out of the water. A search for her began the next day. I participated in the search and was the first to find her. While in the water I stepped on something soft. Once I realized what I had stepped on I grew dumb with shock. I could not come out of the water by myself.

When I served in the army I was imprisoned for robbery. In prison I studied in survival school. Then I met one very successful businessman. He was very kind and allowed me to work as a guard in his office. He fed and clothed me and gave me room and board. After half a year, however, my salary seemed too meager to me. So I decided to fix my life and start all over.

As a “right” man, I went to work at a bread-baking plant as a metalworker. I got a room in a dormitory. Then I sustained a work injury and was hospitalized. In was in that hospital I met my future wife. In 1994 we got married officially. In 1996 our son Dima was born. While in the maternity hospital, I promised my wife I would stop drinking alcohol, but my addiction to alcohol was stronger than me. Our family life was not good. We would part ways and reunite often. In 1998 our daughter was born. We named her Tatyana in honor of my grandma. When she was one and a half months old, the doctors said that she had a foreign body in her bronchus. My wife stayed with Tatyana in the hospital. Our daughter stopped eating, so the doctors tried to feed her using a stomach pump. My wife and I prepared ourselves for the death of Tatyana, but even that fact did not stop me from drinking my vodka. Now I realize that the Lord saved our daughter. After one week I brought home both my wife and daughter from the hospital. I see now that all these things were in God’s hand, but back then nothing could stop me from drinking alcohol.

Finally, our family life came to a deadlock. I did not see a solution to the problems, so I up and left. I remembered my friend Alexander businessman and decided to go to him in Krasnoyarsk. I could not find him by his old address. His neighbors said that he sold his apartments. They gave me the address where I could find him. When I came to his new address I found out that it was a Prayer House. I was asked to wait a little. It was no matter to me where I was or what was happening to me.

After a short while a car approached me, and a man stepped out. He looked a lot like my friend, but at the same time he was very different. He smiled kindly and his eyes were full of light and joy. Needless to say, his expression seemed very strange to me. His first words were, “I prayed for the salvation of my friends.” I thought, “Alexander’s gone crazy.” He invited me to his home where I told him about my life. I ended up living at his house during three months. I was watching him and his Christian life.

After fellowship with him, something strange happened to me. For the first time in my life I kneeled down and prayed from the bottom of my heart. On that day, 2 August 1998, I accepted Christ into my heart, and I was born again. Immediately, I had a desire to call home and tell my wife that I was a different person. I called her and got the answer, “Do not come back home. We do not have a future together. We should not live together. If you come back I will kill myself and the kids.” My wife could not understand me at that moment, but I was told that I should reconcile myself to my family. I came home to my wife and kids.

But I was disappointed again and went into the world. I returned to my old life, but it was even more worthless and difficult. I was suffering by myself and made my family suffer with me. Finally, I left home again. I knew I had to escape from myself somehow. I went back to Krasnoyarsk. There I lived as a tramp, drinking hard, sleeping at railway stations and stealing. Once I got very drunk; I spilled alcohol all over myself and set it on fire. After a moment, I was awakened and tried to extinguish the fire, but could not. It was then that I gave up and laid down on the ground waiting for the end. Suddenly someone threw water on me and the fire died out. It was a little boy; he also was a tramp. I thanked him and went somewhere, not realizing where I was going. I did not want to go to the hospital, but my condition was getting worse with each hour. After two days my friends got me into a hospital. I was in critical condition and at the brink of death. I was very dehydrated and had first-, second- and third-degree burns. I spent two weeks in rehab and had seven anesthetics during bandaging. But by the mercy of God and the prayers of brothers and sisters I recovered very fast. After a month I was released from hospital.

I began to look for my friend Alexander again. By that time he was a pastor of a church in Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk. He helped me and directed me to a rehabilitation center. After my rehabilitation period I stayed in the center to serve. In 2000, my wife applied in court for a divorce and we were divorced. After that I devoted my whole life to ministry. I was living by serving God. I rejoiced when the Lord brought and saved new lost souls, remembering his grace to me. And the Lord is merciful and wonderful.  He reconciled me with my family. I came back home again and me and my wife were re-married.

Until recently, there was no Baptist church in our village; but the Lord inspired me to organize a new local church. I began to look for brothers in faith. I found out that there were Baptists living in our village. We started to meet at home, praying and meditating on how wonderful it would be to organize a new local church. Today there are 20 people visiting our church. In the Lord I found the meaning of life, and now I have a purpose in my life – to serve God and to tell the good news to people like I used to be – the lost, the forgotten and all those living on the edge of life and death.

I’m very grateful to God that He saved me, forgave my sins, gave me a new life and gave me the opportunity to serve Him and fulfill His commissions. Studying in seminary is a new page of my Christian life. Before, I did not know how it was possible to study with desire, and now I’m enjoying my studying. Seminary gives me a very strong spiritual foundation. I value and appreciate it very much. What an opportunity!

“Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1-Cor. 1:3)

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