Knowing Jesus is the only thing that helps me to survive in this place. I tried to read the Bible many times in the past but it didn’t make sense to me until now and I understand almost everything. When I was in the USSR we were not allowed to believe in God or go to church. Faith in Jesus Christ survived through our grandmothers who taught us. Hate and payback don’t solve anything, but God can.

God put me in jail so that I would turn to Him completely, to learn the power of prayer, the power of good over evil, the power of giving and forgiving. It’s been only three months that I’ve been here, but I’m making progress. I know now that I had to come to prison. God has opened my eyes to see that before coming to prison, the only thing I saw was $$$$. Now I understand there is much that I did not understand – that my relationship with God and other people is priority. God can solve my problems, not money.