My name is Alexander Petensky. I made aliyah to Israel from Birobidzhan in 1996.
By that time, I had already been addicted to drugs for about ten years. I had spent time in prison, and after arriving in Israel, my life only continued to spiral downward.
In total, I struggled with drug addiction for 27 years. For 12 of those years, I was on methadone maintenance treatment. I had completely lost hope. I wanted to die and prayed that the Lord would simply take me home.
But God had a different answer. He sent someone into my life, a man who was like an angel to me. He brought me to Living Israel Church, where there was a ministry specifically for people battling addiction.
In 2012, I came to the Lord, completed the church’s recovery program, and graduated from Bible school. After that, I spent three and a half years serving others who were struggling with addiction.
Later, our church launched a soup kitchen (we call it the Café Ministry) where brothers and sisters serve meals to the homeless, people battling addiction, and those living in poverty. I also became part of that ministry.
It was there that God gave me the greatest earthly blessing, my wife, Svetlana, from Tel Aviv. She also had a difficult past, but the Lord completely transformed her life.
Today, for the past six years, my wife and I have been serving alongside Pastor Benjamin in a men’s rehabilitation home in Rishon LeZion. At the same time, we have continued serving in the café ministry for the past eleven years.
I am so grateful to God that He found me, found my wife, brought us together, and gave us the privilege of serving others.
Today, I oversee the Café Ministry in Tel Aviv and serve as the regional leader of our rehabilitation ministry in central Israel.
To God be all the glory!
And thank you for partnering with us and supporting this ministry.
