Open Doors

God has been opening doors for new ministry opportunities this past month. We are praying that doors continue to open as the ministry school students prepare for graduation and decide what’s next. Featured in this month’s newsletter is a new student spotlight and news regarding an upcoming event with Streams Ministries and an outreach in a public high school in Kolpino.

Student Spotlight: Zhenya Sushkova

Zhenya is currently studying in her first year at the StreetCry School of Ministry and is 27 years old. In addition to spending her time as a student, she ministers at a Christian female rehab center in St. Petersburg. Zhenya is engaged to be married in June, following her graduation from the School of Ministry. Here is her story:

My life as a child was typical of most other young Russian girls. I had the typical dreams many girls share of one day falling in love with a ‘prince charming’ and then having a fairytale wedding and living happily ever after. Unfortunately, very few girls growing up where I did ever saw these types of dreams come true.

As a student growing up I received praise from all my teachers for my academic excellence. The gifting I possessed enabled me to also excel in extra curricular activities such as music and sports. However, by the time I entered my teenage years I began to exhibit signs of rebellion. Soon I found it easier to go out and be with my friends than stay at home and practice the violin or study algebra. I was bored with life and looking for some excitement.

I found this excitement in a particular guy I fell in love with at school. He introduced me to a whole new world of excitement I was eager to explore. At this time in Russia it had become very fashionable to use heroin. Not wanting to be left behind in any trend, we began experimenting with this drug. In a short amount of time we (and many others our age) were hooked and using regularly.

By the age of 16 I had become an addict and was living with my boyfriend. Although Russian society is far from being a standard in moral conduct, one thing still considered taboo is for an unmarried couple to live together. Because of the stigma surrounding this lifestyle my parents pressured my boyfriend and I to get married.

There comes a point in the life of most heroin addicts when the growing addiction becomes too expensive and additional methods of obtaining income are explored. For some this means resorting to prostitution, but for the majority it becomes theft. My husband and I chose the latter and developed a daily routine of stealing in the mornings and then shooting up with heroin in the afternoons.

After two years of following this routine my husband was caught by the police and taken to prison. I continued stealing from expensive boutiques and outdoor markets on my own. My insatiable appetite for heroin made me fearless in doing whatever it took to get money.

In the year 2000 I celebrated my 21^st birthday. For most girls this is a time to celebrate being in the physical prime of life. My physical prime had already been wasted because of my lifestyle and I felt more like an old ‘babushka’ (Russian for grandmother) than a young woman.

Soon after my birthday my husband was released from prison. When we were reunited it felt as if we were complete strangers, however, we still shared a dependency on heroin which gave us a reason to once again depend on each other.

My life hit rock bottom when eventually I was physically unable to get out of bed in the mornings until someone had injected heroin into my body. My husband would bring my dose to me and try and find a vein big enough to receive the needle. Over time my veins became so small that the only place I could receive an injection was through my fingers and toes.

Soon after this I made an attempt to end my life. I slit both my wrists but was saved by a friend before I lost too much blood. Today, the scars left behind from this incident are a reminder to me of how close I came to death.

In 2005 I had a surprise visit from an old girlfriend from school who now lived in St. Petersburg with her husband. They had both been drug addicts but were now free as a result of joining a Christian rehab. As she was describing her experience at the rehab I felt hope begin to rise in my heart that I too could be helped. I needed to make a drastic change in my life and thought that this was my golden opportunity.

My husband’s response to the idea of joining a Christian rehab was not very positive. He had major issues with Christianity and did not feel he was ready to leave drugs behind. Still I felt this was my only chance of surviving my addiction and secretly I enrolled to join the rehab. As soon as I received my acceptance letter I packed my bags and told my husband I was leaving to get the help I needed.

Once at the rehab I was told about Jesus Christ for the first time in my life. The leaders explained to me that He was the only one who could truly break the power of addiction over my life but that first I would need to acknowledge my sin and repent. This was difficult for me to accept because I was a very proud person.

A few days later I woke up with an unfamiliar feeling in my soul. I felt restless and that something was not right inside of me. I went to my leaders and tried to describe what was happening. They recognized that I was feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit and suggested that we pray together.

As we began to pray the wall of pride around my heart fell and I began to weep uncontrollably. I felt God’s love pour over me and asked for Him to save me. After we finished praying I stood to my feet feeling that a transformation had occurred in my inner man.

Upon completing the rehabilitation I received the news that my husband had divorced me. This was difficult news for me to accept but I have since moved on and chosen to allow God to continue piecing together the broken parts of my soul.

Everyday I’m alive I stand in awe at the love of God. It is beyond my understanding how someone as Holy as He is could reach down and help a proud, filthy, drug addict. This love has renewed my youth and filled me with the vision of helping other girls who are in the same situation as I was. He has become my hope and my future.

News

Upcoming Training Course with Streams Ministries

StreetCry will be hosting a spiritual development training course at the end May with two itinerant speakers from Streams Ministries. The topics to be covered include intercession and prophetic evangelism. The speakers will spend three days doing intensive training with the school of ministry students and then one full day of meetings open to the general public. Everyone at the ministry is very excited to be hosting such a dynamic event. To learn more about Streams Ministries you can visit their website at www.streamsministies.com.

Drug Prevention Outreach in Kolpino

A group of school of ministry students recently had an opportunity to speak in a public high school in Kolpino on the subject of drug prevention. Although they were not permitted to openly share the gospel, they were able to warn the students about the serious drug problem facing Russian youth. They were also able to share their testimonies of how attending a Christian rehab center helped them to overcome their drug addictions. Many of the young people they talked to responded very positively and important relationships were formed that could open the door for future ministry opportunities.

Prayer Points for May:

• That we would have a fruitful, life changing conference, and that all necessary physical and spiritual preparations for it would be accomplished
  

• For fruitful spring and summer outreaches resulting in souls saved and Kingdom advancement
  

• For fruitful evangelism trips for the graduating students
  

• Open doors for the gospel to go out to youth in St. Petersburg
  

• Financial supply and increased fruitfulness for the ministry
  

• Spiritual growth of school of ministry students and staff
  

• Wisdom and understanding for the leadership team
  

• Physical and spiritual protection for the entire ministry
  

• Spiritual breakthrough in St. Petersburg and Russia
  

• Righteousness, peace, and joy for everyone in the ministry
  

• Wisdom, compassion, boldness and power for evangelism ministry
  

• Abundant supply of finances for the advancement of the Kingdom of God