Life is unpredictable. We very often find ourselves at a crossroads and have to make a choice. Just as often we choose crooked paths, indulging our weaknesses. And only when we find ourselves in a dead end do we raise our eyes to Heaven and call upon God.
Alexey Goncharov first heard about God through an unfortunate incident that happened to his father, a sailor. One day, his father’s ship was captured by modern “pirates.” They were about to execute the entire crew. But among the captured crew members, there was one who offered to pray… This story continued for Alexey’s entire family. Thanks to this episode, he believed and came to church.
“ For me, God revealed himself as always faithful. No matter what happens in life, even when you think there is no way out, at the last moment God comes and changes something ,” shares Alexey. This is what happened to his father on a ship captured by “pirates”, and it happened to Alexey himself when he was diagnosed with cancer. God intervened and saved him.
This is just one of the stories that testifies to the incomprehensible path of God to the human heart and vice versa – the path of man to God. The Creator tries to reach us through various incidents – tragic or everyday. All we have to do is hear and respond to His call in time. As businessman Oleksiy Goncharov, Ukrainian basketball champion Leonid Stefanyshyn, and Ruslan Skrypnik, whom God freed from gambling and drug addiction, did in their time.
Ruslan’s wrong ways led him into a real trap. “Such circumstances came into my life, as if the Lord had closed all the doors for me and left only one – to go out to meet Him,” Ruslan recalls the most difficult period in his life. At that time, he had 20 years of substance abuse, theft, and numerous attempts to quit a destructive way of life behind him. God revealed himself to Ruslan in a rehabilitation center and answered his sincere prayers for help. However, Ruslan values something else more than liberation from drug addiction: “I realized how much God had forgiven me, and above all, I thank Him for changing my heart . ”
Leonid Stefanyshyn is also grateful to God – a professional basketball player, champion of Ukraine and coach of the ADMIRALS Basketball Academy. He had a very successful sports career, and it seemed that he needed God. However, it was through sports that the Lord touched Leonid and opened a new calling for him. He started a basketball academy, where he seeks to teach young people not only sports, but also leadership. “Not all of these guys will become professional basketball players ,” explains Leonid, “ But they will all be husbands, fathers, business partners, just people in this society, Ukrainians. Therefore, we must invest in them something truly important. The vision of the academy is to educate new Christian leaders, beacons of hope . ”
The purpose of the lighthouse is to illuminate the path for others. THE PATH TO GOD. This is the name of the new joint project of the NGO “We Can!” and the TBN UA channel. It tells the stories of people who faced insurmountable circumstances, difficult challenges of fate and ultimately found the only way out in faith in God. As Ruslan Skrypnik said: “God came to my humility and gave me the grace to go through this whole path . ”