Меня зовут Лаура, мне 28 лет. Я родилась в цыганской семье в г. Уфа. Мой отец с юности вел разгульный образ жизни и даже когда женился на моей маме, это его не остановило. В последствии такая жизнь привела его к тяжёлой наркотической зависимости, в которой он пробыл 20лет. Моя мама, в свою очередь, старалась как-то прокормить семью, меня и моего братишку. Она гадала, продавала вино, сигареты, потом стала приторговывать анашой,»ханкой» и чуть позже героином. Мое детство ничем не отличалось от детства других цыганских детей. Мы не ходили в школу, у нас не было правил и дисциплины. Уже с 10 лет я начала сама продовать «травку», димедрол, ангедрит и через некоторое время героин. Все,что могу вспомнить из своего детства, это то,что меня всегда окружали наркоманы, помню, как нас забирала милиция, и все это для нас было нормой. Но, примерно в возрасте 12-13 лет во мне стало расти несогласие с тем, что меня окружало. Я смотрела на цыганские семьи, на плохое отношение к женщинам и все больше и больше была не согласна с такой жизнью. Уже тогда, будучи ребенком, я сказала, что буду жить подругому.
As I wrote above, my dad was an addict, but I still loved him very much and always wanted him to quit drugs. But even though I wanted to live a different life, it happened that at the age of 15 I was already heavily addicted to heroin myself.
And that's when it started...
My name is Roman, I'm 29 years old. I first met Laura when I was about 14-15 years old. That's when she came to see her uncle, who lived across the street from me, who came to trade "hanka". It was normal for those places, our neighborhood was "famous" for high crime. Ever since I was a little girl, I've seen fights, cheating. Gypsies lived in the neighborhood, and there were many drug addicts. Unas was a big company and we had fun and noisy time.
I grew up with my father from the age of 8, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not influence me. I didn't like going to school - it seemed too boring to me. I loved freedom, sport, loved to win, and always had confidence in my future ... I had a dream that in the future I will have a strong and happy family, that my children will be happy. My parents got divorced when I was 6 years old. I remember when I couldn't understand why they weren't together... and of course it made it very difficult...
The next meeting with Laura happened when I was 17 and she was 16.
We started socializing, dating, we loved each other. Laura was living in a tabor and when they found out that she was dating a Russian guy, they closed her up and kept her at home, but she managed to run away and come to me. And one day I realized that this is the person I'd like to live with my whole life.
Laura once admitted she was using heroin. It was unacceptable to me then, I thought addicts were lost people. And here's my favorite person. What do I do?
I decided to help her get rid of the drugs. But no matter how hard I tried, I noticed again from time to time that she was stabbed, had too much access to drugs and, of course, in such conditions it was not realistic to give them up. So I decided to take Laura to another town, away from the tabor. We got together and secretly went to Cheboksary to see my mother. We lived there for almost a year, Laura gave up drugs, we waited for the baby, her family calmed down, and we went back to Ufa. We had to make a life, I knew I couldn't make much. And then we decided to sell marijuana, and later we switched to heroin. Everything spun up, money went, and there's a life with it. I was more and more "snooping," and Laura was crying, trying to stop me.
I remember finding myself unhappy, although I had everything for 18 years, but the sadness ate me from the inside. One day I stayed home alone and tasted heroin. Then one more time, and I didn't notice how I got addicted. By that time Laura had a daughter and I didn't even realize I was a father, I was turning into a drug addict...
When Laura found out about it, she was shocked... everything started to fall apart. That's what it means - what a man sows, he reaps... And that's when Laura jumped after me in this swamp with the words: "If you, then me too." And we started absorbing heroin together in huge quantities. I remember how scary it was when I realized what we were turning into. Living like a chase, always looking for another dose. There was pain, dirt, we were just dying alive.
Over time, various crimes began, problems with the law. I was wanted and had to go to another city. At that time I turned 21 and it seemed impossible to change anything in my life.
I want to tell you how God knocked on my heart then. A faithful guy, knowing my difficult life situation and my connection with the Gypsies, gave me an audio cassette of songs by faithful Gypsies. I remember crying when I listened to those songs that talked about God, the meaning of life, that Jesus was dying for me. I listened to that tape over and over again. At the time, I first picked up the Bible and started reading it, but I didn't understand much of what I was reading.
When I came to the tabor, my new hobby of reading the Bible was of course not supported. I once told Laura that maybe we should try to start believing in God to change our lives. Then Laura laughed and said: "Romka, I didn't think you were such a loser to get caught up in this!"
So I threw the Bible away and took up the syringe again, but it didn't take long, the tussle arrested me. It seemed like it could be worse - I'm an addict, I'm ahead of time, and I'm only 21 years old. But that wasn't all, a month later Laura was arrested for distributing drugs. At the time, my mother-in-law was already serving time in prison. It was scary to see that reality...
A few months later, due to the fact that I could not prove some of the episodes in my case, I found myself on probation. My lawyer warned me that one month at the most, as there was another case in which I had appeared and was due to be tried, and then my sentence was already secured.
But surprisingly, I wasn't even subpoenaed, it turned out that my forger took full responsibility. So I'm back on the heavy system... After a while, Laura was released, then she was ransomed. And here we are again together... me, her, our daughter and again drugs, year after year, trying to quit and again without success.
...one day we got a phone number of believers (they were missionaries) who were ready to help anyone who turned.
And soon we talked to one of them. Then this man told us that he himself had been addicted to drugs for 16 years, and that after he turned to Jesus, his whole life had changed. Of course, for us it was something fantastic, but I believed him. I remember how bright this man's face was, he was like an angel to us back then. We trusted...
After a while we were helped to get to a Christian rehabilitation center in Kaliningrad and there our new life began!
It was just God's house, which became like an oasis for us. It was there that I realized that God is real, that he needs us, that only He can change everything.
I remember one moment as if I saw my life from the outside, I realized how much evil I had caused people... I thought it was better not to live at all than to continue living like this... I cried and repeated: "Forgive me, Jesus, help me, I can't live like this anymore. And God helped!
Today it is already 6 years that we have believed in the Lord and have received full freedom from drugs. Our whole life has changed. Today we have already helped more than one person to find a way out, we just share what we have received ourselves.
Also I finally got the answers to my life questions and now I know exactly what the meaning of life is and that after death there is a continuation, and today we have to choose where we will end up - paradise or hell.
My childhood dream of a happy family also came true. Laura and I have three beautiful girls. Our eldest daughter, who is 11 years old today and who has touched upon some of our past, is very happy that the Lord has returned her parents. She is an exemplary child, good at learning, playing the violin and learning English.
I remember a Bible verse, Matthew 15:14: "If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit". So I, being blind, decided to help Laura and we both ended up in a deep hole. And only God was able to save us.
I want to tell everyone who has lost hope, whose heart is broken and who thinks that he is lonely and rejected. Just call Jesus sincerely into your life, and he will come with good changes for you.
I also want to say a few words to the Gypsy people. A nation that I love and with whom I have mixed my blood and my destiny. I know Gypsy laws and traditions, I know Gypsy life from the inside and I want to shout: Stop!
There is too much sin and curse in your houses, and the wages of sin is death.
That's why children die, why many don't get out of prison. That's why it's so easy for men to leave their wives with children and go to others. That's why there's so much pain...
And it's not a gypsy's lot, as everyone says, it's an answer for sins.
The legend that the Gypsies stole the fifth nail when they crucified Christ, and therefore God forgives them all, is False. Every man has to answer for his life.
Today there is a way out for us, this way out in God, accept grace from Him to escape judgment!
Laura. I am grateful to the Lord, He has pulled me out of this vicious circle that continues from generation to generation. I am grateful that my children have a childhood, a future, and that they will not live under the curse in which I was born.
I am also grateful to God that He opened my eyes, now I can dream, in my life there are goals to which I aspire and today I am just a happy man.
Appealing to the gypsies:
Romale, I'm addressing you! Our life is not our destiny, as we often say. And God has not forgotten us, He has a wonderful future for the Gypsy people and our children.
But to do so, we must leave evil and turn to God.
You'll say: What do we live on? If you sincerely turn to God, He will help you and teach you to live right. You do not need to become Russian and accept other people's culture ... but our life should change and only Jesus can help to change it!