KAZAKHSTAN: THE TRANSFORMATION OF TWO GIRLS

Missionaries Steve & Marilyn Hill equip simple church planters in Central Asia. They recently shared this story of two girls in Kazakhstan, coming from a life of abuse and prostitution, who found Jesus. "My name is Ania, I am 20 years old. Before coming to Christ, my life was a nightmare. Our mother was a drunk and my sister Ira and I were given wine from the time we were six years old. We often spent nights in basements and attics of apartment blocks. We drank and smoked marijuana. At age 11, my sister (she is older than me) and I were raped in a beastly manner and after that we often thought about suicide. When I was 13, I was living with a drug addict who beat me, and at age 14, I had Umed, my baby boy. When my boyfriend went to jail and my sister and I had no money for food, we prostituted ourselves. Eventually we hit bottom and didn’t want to live. It was only because of my son that I did not commit suicide.” “At the end of 2010 uncle Sergey came to us and started talking about Jesus. We repented and received Him and our lives were changed! We started learning to read and write and now we can read the Bible by ourselves. In the summer of 2011 we were baptized and now we are serving girls who are imprisoned by the same circumstances we were in the past. We gather girls and boys from the streets, hold fellowship with them and talk about Jesus. There are some who have received Him. Now we are praying for a Home for destitute children. We have been through a tragic life and understand their circumstances. Whoever reads my testimony, please pray for my sister and me, so that we would be able to lead many addicted girls and prostitutes to Christ. Blessings to you in the Lord, Ania and Ira.” [Source: Steve & Marilyn Hill, Joel News International 811]