“My mother is a Christian and I attended Sunday School. I didn’t make any friends there, though. Instead, my friends were from families with alcoholism and other problems, and they introduced me to sniffing glue and trying stronger drugs.

“I soon began to steal in order to pay for my addiction. My parents found out and were very angry. Sometimes I ran away from home, but my mother never gave up on me. She spoke to the pastor and he found me a place here. I give special thanks to God for my mother. Her love for me was so great that she never abandoned me. I also thank the Bible Society for supplying Bibles that help us to become familiar with God’s love.”

Another resident, 25-year-old Sergej, is also looking forward to a brighter future.

“It all began when I started smoking drugs at school. I came from a good, orderly home, but I fell in with friends who had a bad influence on me and I was easily led astray. I managed to get a place at university, but once there I soon became addicted to heroin.

“Gradually, all my old friends turned their backs on me and my only friends were fellow addicts. Both my parents had died by then and my brother did not want to have anything to do with me. I had a girlfriend, though. Her mother was a Baptist. When she heard about my addiction she told me about a rehabilitation centre that might be able to help. She even arranged a meeting with a man who had received treatment and was starting a new life. He turned out to be one of my old friends! We had often taken drugs together in the past, but now he told me, ‘There is a way out of your situation. Jesus Christ can set you free’.

Fell on my knees

“It took me a few months to pluck up the courage to contact the centre. The turning point came one night when I had a very bad dream as a result of all the drugs I had been taking. My whole body was worn out. I fell on my knees and prayed, ‘Dear Lord, I so much want to find peace within myself. I don’t want to lead this life any more’.