Alexander B. is the pastor of a Baptist church in Belarus. Due to security issues, we cannot give specific names of the places in which he is working. HeartCry began supporting Alexander in 2012.

Testimony of Conversion

I came to faith in the Lord in 1977 when I was 23 years old. I never imagined before that I would become a believer, even though I sometimes thought about who the Creator was and how things were wonderfully made. After my term in the army was over I stayed in the same town I was serving in and didn’t return home. It was very far from home, in the far east of Siberia, on the border with China. I attended intensive courses at the trade school and became an assistant to the drilling rig master. With time I was designated to head North where the railroad was under construction. I spent the whole winter there with a very severe frost. I was writing letters home saying that I am really far away and won’t come back for another two years.

However, God had different plans for my life. I returned home early as a result of the praying of my grandmother and various circumstances at my job. God did everything in my life before that point and afterward so that I would come to Him, even though my thoughts were far from Him at the time. God was calling me actively in different ways to come to Him of which it would take a long time to write in detail. However, I was deaf and too fascinated by this world. Before I became a believer, everyone around me knew me for a brawler and trouble maker.

In some cases, I came out badly beaten. I was looking for a sense of purpose and couldn’t find it, so my life wasn’t valuable to me. The friends that I once had have since passed away. Looking back I can see how in many situations I was kept by God. It was as if a boundary had was established around me that I couldn’t cross even when I probably wanted to. Even now I recall, with terror, the way I was riding on those motorcycles.

In the fall of 1976 in November, my grandpa passed away. Because of this, I decided to stop going to dances and not to drink any alcohol for 40 days. I loved my grandpa. So at this time, the believing relatives of mine came to me when they heard about it. They invited me to go to a church service. Since God had been calling me and helped me in many things, I decided to sort of “return the favor” to God and attend an evening service. I went. While there I was invited again to a fellowship with believers at a different place. I didn’t want to go but since I promised I decided to keep my word. I decided to go one more and never again go to such meetings. At that meeting, one of the sisters presented me with the Gospel. At that time literature was scarce, and many were copying the Word of God by hand into a notebook. I began to realize that there is God, but I didn’t have enough guts to start walking in His way. At the end after thorough consideration I concluded that the truth is here, I have to go in this direction. I began to attend the meetings regularly. However, the new birth came a little later. I saw then what great sinner I was and saw God’s love. I was weeping and praying with joy. Prayer became a necessity for me. I would seek a secluded place to pray.

In my life afterward, I had to go through many temptations and spiritual experiences that God led me through, giving me answers to many religious questions. In the town where I was when I believed there was a Pentecostal church. After some time I left that church and joined a Baptist church in another city. That town was 50 kilometers away from my house. At a later point in time, the pastor of that church decided to relocate, and there was a need for someone to take his place. After some prayer and consideration, the church chose me as a new pastor. I was ordained in 1989 and acquired a house in 1995 where we assemble. At about the same time my family and I had moved to that town to continue in the work of the Lord. During this time ministry was filled with difficulties and conflicts that we had to go through, but with God’s grace, we continue to serve Him.