Pavel Vlachkov stood on the sunny mountain slopes of Bulgaria with his wife. They watched their six-year-old son ski down a powder-coated hill, and Vlachkov’s heart burst with pride. The tiny family moment was a miracle.

“This was how my life changed after I had Jesus,” said Vlachkov.

For more than a decade, Vlachkov had lived a life dependent on destructive habits. For a time, he managed to balance his relationships with his substance abuse and gambling addiction. His addictions eventually overtook everything. His choices caused terrible pain in the lives of those closest to him.

“My life suddenly crashed,” Vlachkov remembers. “From 100 to zero in no time.”

He entered a rehabilitation program, where he found himself with plenty of time to reflect. He remembered meeting Nazarene missionaries Josh and Katherine Haun through their children’s mutual school, and the family’s life led by love for Jesus.

Vlachkov had been vehemently opposed to the idea of God and religion for most of his life, and he found Josh to be kind but crazy, assuming he was part of a cult.

“I was totally against anything that had anything to do with church,” Vlachkov remembers. “I was against everything that wasn’t putting me in the center of the world.”

But stripped of outside distractions, Vlachkov began to wonder if there was something to Josh’s strange beliefs. His body slowly started to heal from the years of abuse, and he dug into Scripture. “I started exploring, reading the Bible, praying,” he says. “And I felt even better.”

Vlachkov completed eight months in rehabilitation, re-entering the “outside” with high hopes for his homecoming. They were immediately struck down.

“I had expectations that the whole world would be so happy to see me,” he remembers. “But it turns out that there are no red carpets waiting.”

 Vlachkov discovered he had destroyed many relationships, and the ones that remained were hanging on by a thread. He was devastated and didn’t know how to move forward.

“I was clean and sober,” he says, “but I was super depressed about life.”

He decided to reach out to someone he believed might have answers—Josh the missionary. The two began to meet. Sometimes, they would sit in a cafe over coffee. Often, they would take long walks, discussing prayer and faith, and studying the Bible.

“After every talk with him, I felt better,” said Vlachkov. “He taught me how to pray; I started going to church.”

Josh recalled that he was thankful for the church as it was a place he received love and support. Vlachkov agreed.

“Even when I was clean and sober, every single day was feeling worse than the day before.” Vlachkov said. “And now suddenly every single day was feeling better than before. It was a huge improvement. I was like, ‘Oh man, I’m onto something!’”

Soon after, Vlachkov said yes to following Jesus and chose to be baptized — his life was transformed by God.

“He is not the same man,” Josh said. “He is a new creation.”

 Josh watched Vlachkov begin helping with the church community’s worship services, transportation needs, and housing issues. Six people were present at the church’s recent Sunday service as a result of Vlachkov’s investing in others and sharing of his newfound faith.

“Before, he was so self-centered, and now he is so self-less.”

Vlachkov worked to reunite with his wife and began to take his role as a father seriously. Soon after his baptism, he decided to take his young son skiing for the first time. They planned to go for the day but wound up staying two.

Vlachkov watched his son quickly catch onto the skill of sliding down the slopes on his own. For the first time in his life, Vlachkov felt pride for someone other than himself, and he was overwhelmed with gratitude at the emotion.

“Previously, I never would have paid attention to something like that,” said Vlachkov. “I would never have spent the time with him.” And, he adds, “I never paid any attention, because I was so self-centered.”

“The actual change in my mindset of perceptions toward the world, people, everything came when I had Jesus in my life,” said Vlachkov.

Josh remembers a conversation the two had just as Vlachkov committed his life to Christ, acknowledging that Jesus had drawn him in.

“I know it was Jesus,” Josh remembers Vlachkov saying. “Because no other God would have come to me, where I was, and saved me. It was not a religion, the Bible, or any other information that helped me. It was Jesus. I know it was Jesus.”

—Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region

God’s transformative work in the lives of Pavel Vlachkov and others around the world is made possible by generous giving to the World Evangelism Fund (WEF). To learn more about how you can participate in God’s transformative work around the world, visit nazarene.org/wef.