“…it was then that this realization went from my head to my heart.” In this life we can learn many things about God. We feel as if we are quite intelligent and have it all figured out. We are even ready to argue our knowledge with others, in order to prove that we are “right.”
But that knowledge means nothing until we have the wisdom of God in our hearts. When God reveals Himself to us, our head knowledge in that moment becomes heart knowledge. And heart knowledge is what transforms our lives and helps us to live a life quite pleasing to God.
Arnie shares, “I was insanely grateful for God’s undeserved love and salvation because I definitely would never have been worthy of that love.” These words reflect a humility and love for a forgiving Savior. Please pray for Arnie as he shares his testimony, and ministers at an SGA-supported rehabilitation center to men who are in the same situation as he was a few years ago. Pray that they will gain this same heart knowledge by the grace of God and be forever changed.
“My name is Arnie. I’m 61 years old. I was last released from prison when I was 46 years old. I have served four terms in my life, a total of 17 years. As I can analyze it now, my life has been in three phases. For the first 23 years of my life, I was a guy from a well-to-do family, I was engaged in sports to which I devoted 12 years of my life. The next 23 years were very different. After one fight, I was cut very badly and I couldn’t play sports, so I started spending more time with street guys. That’s when I went into the criminal world. I started with weak drugs and ended up with heroin.
During this period, I served part of my sentence, and sometimes I was on the outside, but I was always under watch. As a consequence, all my family and friends were alienated. It’s not to say that they turned away completely, but if they helped, it was only a little and from a distance. They did not want anyone to know that I was their relative, because our family was very prosperous, especially by the standards of the Soviet Union.
“I served my last term in Russia, which lasted 10 years. Then a friend came to me and told me that 8 to 9 years before he left prison, he repented and now wanted to come to me to tell me the Gospel. I was very surprised at him, because visually he was my good buddy, but in words, thoughts, and conversation he was a completely different person. It prompted me to reflect. But I was still thinking as before, thinking about how much money he had in his pocket and how much I could get from him. Then I was released from prison, came to Central Asia, and met this friend again. He invited me to the House of Prayer, and I went there. Then my friend left for the ministry in Ukraine. After he left, I was not a regular visitor to the House of Prayer, but I was definitely dedicated to reading the Word. At that time, I was reading the Quran and the Bible at the same time.
One day I received a call from my friend, and he suggested that I come to him to serve in Ukraine. The thought of serving did not appeal to me very much, but I thought that I would go. Although I was well aware that I had never worked in my life and did not know what physical labor was. I didn’t even realize where the thought of a job even came from in my head. Eventually he offered me a job as a driver, I took my small bag of all my belongings, of which there was very little, and arrived. On arrival I went to get my luggage, but my luggage was not there. Then I left the airport empty-handed, my friend met me and accepted me as I was. He shared his clothes with me and that’s how we began our close communication.
I used to read a lot. We used to talk about different topics a lot, and deep down inside I really wanted to prove to him that I was right, that the Quran was the truth, even though I had no idea about faith or religion. My friend always had a lot of arguments and proofs for all my questions, and this encouraged me to dig even more. Several times, I read the Gospel from beginning to end just to prove him wrong. I continued to do my job: I was a driver, I drove goods, I drove my friend to different ministries. One day, one of the pastors from Central Asia came and said one phrase that I still remember. He was surprised at my state at that moment and told me that the next time I met him I should be with Christ. Interestingly enough, that is what happened—the next time he came to see me, I was already with Christ.
During this period, I saw many buddies from my criminal past and their lives were radically changed. I couldn’t understand why their lives were so changed and mine was not. One day I was praying and I said to God, “What’s the matter, show me the way.” I tried to be neutral in my prayers and prayed just to God not Jesus, but one day I automatically ended my prayer with the words “in the name of Jesus Christ.” Then I was surprised at myself, thinking about how much society had influenced me, even though I was asking God to show me the truth. I ended up speaking the truth with my own mouth, but it was then that this realization went from my head to my heart.
“I was insanely grateful for God’s undeserved love and salvation because I definitely would never have been worthy of that love. Looking at that love, my love for God grows bigger and bigger every day because I see how often I make mistakes, but His love is bigger than that.”
Arnie has dedicated his life to ministering to people who have served time in prison or have been in addiction. He currently leads a ministry of rehab centers in our country. He has nurtured a minister who has now become in charge at one of the centers. Arnie has no family, but all these guys who come to the center have become his family, whom he serves faithfully.