While I was trying to find more information about the Central Asian country of Tajikistan for my post about the American couple murdered by ISIS, I came across this inspiring story from Open Doors* ~ He Used to Traffic Heroin in Central Asia, Now He Smuggles Bibles.’

 
“Viktor” (the alias that Open Doors uses for the central figure in the article) was once a successful drug runner operating in and around Tajikistan, Afghanistan, etc. His luck ran out in 1996 when he was apprehended with almost nine pounds of heroin, arrested and imprisoned.
 

Victor’s subsequent journey from drug smuggler to Christian pastor is a powerful witness to the transformative power of the gospel ~

In jail, Viktor’s life took a turn for the worst. As his sentence wore on, Viktor grew suicidal. He describes how his state of mind deteriorated:
 
“I felt empty inside and did not want to live anymore. I did not know how long I would be in jail.”
 
Viktor’s daily life in confinement continued to burden him until the day his cellmate received a package from his mom. It was the Gospel of John, which his friend offered to Viktor.
 
At first, he didn’t touch the book. But as he continued to struggle, after 10 nights of poor sleep, Viktor finally picked up the book and began to flip through it.
 
Initially, the Bible made little sense to Viktor.

Eventually, many sleepless nights led him to spend more time with the book ~

As he read, Viktor began to feel God’s presence. He didn’t know about prayer; still, he called out to Jesus.
 
“’You know I am not sure that you exist, but I want eternal life and I want to be born again.’ I continued reading in the Bible alone in my cell with no Christians around. It was just me and the book.”
 
When fellow prisoners later tried to smuggle him a package of drugs, Viktor refused it.
 
“Looking at the drugs, I knew that they would drive me insane. ‘This is death!’ I said. I made the decision to choose life and sent the drugs back.”

 
Changed completely by the grace of God, when Viktor was released from prison he enrolled in a seminary Bible college ~

During his studies, he started to work among drug addicts in a rehab center and began sharing the Word of God with them.
 
Today, he is the pastor of a very special church in Central Asia. His church can’t be formally registered, so it does a lot of its work in a barn filled with animal feed. Thanks to Open Doors support, Viktor is able to sustain himself and his ministry by selling blocks of salt for cows and grain and rice for chickens, while he also secretly stores resources and materials needed for evangelism. Where he lives, Bibles and Christian literature are illegal.

 
In our materialistic world, the very fact that heroin is illegal makes it an extremely valuable commodity. In Central Asia, Bibles are also quite rare and difficult to acquire – for the same reason. But a transformed life, and the promise of eternity with our blessed Redeemer? Priceless.
 
Read the entire article about Viktor’s journey HERE.
 
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Open Doors* was founded by Brother Andrew who began his own ministry by smuggling Bibles – behind the Iron Curtain. An amazing story!