“My advice to those who have an addiction or ended up in jail is to go to Christians, study the Bible, and seek God! Jesus changed my life, and He can change yours if you want Him to.” Those with addictions battle continuously to be freed from the prison walls that surround them. Sometimes these prison walls are physically surrounding them due to an offense that has placed them in prison. Other times, the prison walls can be the addiction from which they can’t seem to escape on their own.

God is the One who gives true freedom. When our hearts change from the inside out, we can battle these addictions with the help and strength of God. When we try doing it on our own, the battle is ongoing. We make attempts to change the outside, but the inside stays the same. Thankfully, God’s desire is to grant peace to troubled hearts. 

In the story below, you will read of a woman named Alyona who fought the fight on her own— but in the end, she realized it was only with God that she could obtain true freedom. Please pray for the men and women who serve in prison outreaches as part of SGA-supported Compassion Ministry, faithfully speaking truth and ministering to broken souls like Alyona.

My name is Alyona. I was born in Omsk in 1978. Our family was frequently moving from place to place, but I managed to finish a secondary school, and afterwards to enter a vocational school. In 2000, I gave birth to a daughter from a man, who my parents didn’t like very much. My schooling did not work out. I skipped a lot of classes and eventually was expelled. My daughter grew up with my parents, because I wanted to be with my boyfriend, my daughter’s father. Alcohol was quite normal in our lives, it all seemed fun and entertaining. I didn’t notice how my life was falling apart and didn’t even think of changing anything.

By 2012, my way of living led me to falling sick. When my legs failed, I was very scared. It was at that time that I met a friend from childhood, from whom I heard about Christ for the first time, and who invited me to the church. Knowing his background, I was surprised to hear from him about God. Of course, I didn’t really believe, but six months later I felt even worse, and I called him.

Hence, through a friend of mine, I ended up in a Christian rehab center, where I spent several months recovering and studying the Bible. After finishing, I joined the church, married a man from among the former rehab center residents, and got a job. Unfortunately, my hasty marriage ended with us drinking together, no longer attending the church, drifting away from brothers and sisters, and my life returned to the same old pattern.

By 2018, I had been to rehab center two more times and divorced my husband. My life was not working out. I was doing wrong all the time. I guess I was returning to my old life, thinking that I could always return to God. And I failed to realize that it was without Him that things weren’t right. I remember the time when I was about to leave the center once again, the pastor told me, “Alyona, think about how you will look when you return to God, if you return at all.” I brushed aside his concerns and said that I knew what I was doing.

As I left the center, I was living with a man who not only wasn’t a believer in God, but who took all kinds of actions to keep me from attending the church and having fellowship with believers. My lifestyle led to both of us ending up in jail in 2018. Despite all the warnings and obvious facts, I didn’t expect it to turn out that way! It was then that I realized for the first time all that I had been doing wrong in my life and that without God, all things aren’t right. I hadn’t kept any of my commitments to God when I promised to serve Him. I cried out to God, asking Him for forgiveness and help.

In 2019, the court hearing took place, and, to the great amazement of my defense lawyer, I was given a minimal term. At the prison, I learned that they regularly have Bible reading meetings with visiting Christians. I knew then that I definitely needed to be there, and that I could not do anything without God. While in the group, I began to study the Bible anew. In March 2020, I truly believed in Christ and repented of my sins with all my consciousness, and began my journey with the Lord.

I continually felt the protection of the Lord. He helped me find a job in the prison according to my strength and abilities. The Lord saw into such a job that I had time to pray and talk to Him. He turned the hearts of the supervisors and sent people who helped me. But the greatest blessing was the opportunity to fellowship with believers and to know God. I continued to attend the group, looking forward to each Sunday.

During Covid, we kept in touch with brothers and sisters from the visiting church over the phone. The girls noticed that my eyes would sparkle when I came back to the room after the fellowship, to which I would say that it was because we were talking about God. As time went on, I would bring the girls to the group. [JG1] It was at this time when I began to correspond with believers from Moscow, which I continue to this day.

I am so grateful to all the people who visited our prison, prayed for me, helped me and supported this ministry with funds. I am especially grateful to the prison ministry team from Novosibirsk, who met me after my release, sheltered me and helped me with clothes, food, and housing. God Himself sent them into my life! Now I have a job, I rent a place to live, participate in church life, and am preparing to receive water baptism. 

My advice to those who have an addiction or ended up in jail is to go to Christians, study the Bible, and seek God! Jesus changed my life, and He can change yours if you want Him to. There is a verse in the Bible . . . Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary (Isaiah 40:31).

If we wait for the Lord, He will give strength to overcome it all and will change our life. For with God, all things are right!