LL HER LIFE IRINA DYACHKOVA, like thousands of her fellow Russians, had sought God. For more than 40 years Communist ideology had attempted to do away with religious beliefs. As Communism began to collapse in the late 1980s, Christianity came out of exile to fill the void.

Many Russians flocked to newly opened Russian Orthodox churches to be baptized. Meanwhile, Western Christians flooded Russia with Bibles, and evangelists held crusades and preached to crowds of spiritually hungry potential converts. Irina was one of those baptized in a Russian Orthodox church who secured a Bible to read.

Although the Bible didn�t make much sense at first, Irina read it because of its popularity among the Russian people in the early 1990s.

Civilization�s Dark Side
Meanwhile, Russia had become a country with a serious alcohol problem (see Boris Segal, Drunken Society [Hippocrene Books, 1990]). According to recent statistics (London Times, Aug. 13, 1999), 40 percent of oppressed and despondent Russian men and 17 percent of Russian women are addicted to alcohol. The newly reconstituted Russian government did not know how to solve the rising problem of so many drunken people, nor did they have the resources to do so. Other drug addictions followed alcohol addiction, especially that of heroin. Statistics for teenage drug addiction also rose.

In the 1980s Americans in recovery from their own alcoholism came to Russia to begin planting the spiritually based 12-step self-help support groups. By 1991 a few of these seedlings began to take root in Moscow. Meanwhile, Minnesota-model treatment centers, such as the Caron Foundation and Father Martin�s Ashley, sent counselors to Russia to start similar treatment centers. This recovery movement coincided with the resurgence of Christianity.

Alcoholism�s Human Face
Many women, such as Irina, had married alcoholics. Irina divorced her first alcoholic husband and married another one six years later. Challenged as to how she would be able to provide for a son by her first husband, Irina decided to abort two other pregnancies. Under Communism abortion had become an acceptable means of birth control, and Irina had no desire to bring another child into the chaos and confusion of a drunken home. Instead, Irina worked her way through school and supported her family teaching English at Moscow State University.

In 1990 Irina�s second husband started into recovery for his alcoholism at a Caron Foundation-sponsored �Vysdorovlenie� treatment center in Hospital 17.

�When I entered that room with him and read the 12 steps in English on the wall,� said Irina, �I knew that God had heard my silent prayers.� Yet, in spite of her husband�s recovery and their attempts to heal their broken relationship, in 1992 this marriage also ended in divorce.

One of the American counselors in charge of the treatment program, Jeb Bird, suggested Irina might want to investigate becoming a family therapist. Through the generosity of the International Institute for Alcoholism Education and Training, Irina went to the United States for training in family therapy at Father Martin�s Ashley. After her training she joined the staff at the Russian/American Recovery Treatment Center as their family therapist.

However, Irina still carried bitterness toward her ex-husband. She prayed that God would release her from this bondage. In February 1993 she sensed the presence of Christ. As He embraced her with His kind and gentle presence, she heard His voice saying, �Don�t seek people; seek Me.�

Willingly Irina began her daily walk with Him. She attended Mark Finley�s evangelistic series at the Kremlin. Finley�s subject, how knowing Jesus brings healing and health to the sick, intrigued her. Night after night she searched for meaning in her own suffering. On Sabbaths she attended Seventh-day Adventist services and joined in a Bible study of the book of Job. She kept searching, and finally opened the door to allow Christ to enter her soul.

Irina no longer needed to hound heaven to find God. On July 17, 1993, she responded to her role in their new covenant relationship by being baptized in the Seventh-day Adventist church in Moscow. The church she joined offered congregational life, teaching on how to live a healthy lifestyle, Bible studies, and evangelistic outreach. All these enriched and nurtured Irina�s newfound faith.

Called to Serve
Working on a team with other counselors at the Russian/American Recovery Treatment Center helped Irina find healing from her shame-based past. Through a multidisciplinary approach to treating alcoholism, Irina overcame her initial reticence to find new interpersonal relationships. Constant practice with group therapy interpersonal interactions built trust in her own perceptions of herself and others. Undergirded by her faith, Irina�s self-confidence grew along with her professional abilities.

During the next five years Irina became known as an official Russian expert and lecturer on codependence and alcoholic family issues at seminars and on radio broadcasts. At one of these seminars her in-depth knowledge of the Scriptures caught the attention of a Presbyterian missionary, Pam Brunson, founder of the churchbased OPORA (Russian, �support�) training program.

The cross-cultural, interdenominational OPORA was initiated in 1997 to train and mobilize Russian churches to provide recovery resources and set up support groups for suffering alcoholics, drug addicts, and their families in the name of Jesus Christ. By the spring of 2000 this Christian outreach program had trained 1,000 Russians from many denominations in 28 Russian towns and cities.

The Russian Department of Education heard about the success of OPORA. Still strapped for funds and struggling to find ways to stem the rising tide of substance abuse, they begged the OPORA staff for assistance in setting up a prevention program in schools.

Irina, now 53 years old (the age when most Russian women are eligible to become pensioners), wanted to start winding down her busy career. �I still have grieving to do over my past life,� she said. �Especially I need forgiveness and healing from my two abortions.�

Stresses from coping with an alcoholic husband, raising a son, and taking care of an 89-year-old mother had left Irina physically and emotionally weary. However, God had one more mission for Irina to do for Him.

Strength for the Task
In May 1999, in response to the Russian government�s plea, OPORA selected Irina to initiate a school prevention pilot program. In June 1999 she came again to the United States for specialized American prevention training at the Rutgers� Summer School of Alcoholism.

Now, back in Moscow, Irina not only continues her role as a family specialist for the OPORA training team but also oversees the work of an OPORA prevention team. American prevention specialists met last year to prepare a school prevention curriculum that will be adapted and modified by the Russian OPORA team. This team will then select and train 100 teachers to pilot the K-8 curriculum in two Moscow school districts. The OPORA school curriculum will include Christian family values and setting up support groups for students and their parents.

Irina Dyachkova, the daughter of a Russian Orthodox father and a Jewish mother, will then be able to rest in peace. Then the Master will say to His servant, �Well done, good and faithful servant! . . .� Come and share your master�s happiness� (Matt. 25:23, NIV).

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Mary Theresa Webb is director of GOAL Ministries (Global Outreach for Addiction Leadership). She lives in Princeton, New Jersey.