My name is Yuri Levchenko. My father abandoned my mother when I was 4 years old. Therefore, I grew up as a hooligan. By God’s miracle I was saved at age 27 when I was about to die of drug abuse. God spared my life and gave me a godly wife, children and ministry. In 2005 I was ordained as a pastor and planted two churches.

My wife’s name is Svetlana. We have three sons: Timothy, 14, Kirill, 13, and Matthew, 8; and two daughters: Svetlana, 2, and Kristina who is only 4 months. Kirill plays the pipe, and Timothy plays the violin, and Matthew began mastering the cello. 

In 2012 I entered the SRS seminary in St. Petersburg where discovered such things as Covenant theology, biblical liturgy, Christian education for our children. I found out that all church children must participate in the formal worship and learned how to be a good husband and father. Blake Purcell and Oleg Volkov have been very good examples to me for my ministry. 

Until 2013, I served as a pastor in the city of Vladivostok. Due to some circumstances I moved my family to the city of Dmitrov in Moscow region in the fall of 2013. Dmitrov is located 55 kilometers north of Moscow. Its population is approximately 60 000 people. We sold our property in Vladivostok and purchased an unfinished house in Dmitrov. A considerable amount of time and efforts have been spent on repairs. In February 2014, we started conducting our services on the Lord's Day and now two families gather to worship the Lord – four adults and ten children. All children in our church are homeschooled, and we believe that God will bless them in this commitment. Services are held at our house every Lord's Day. In our prayers we ask the Lord to help our church grow and be strong. We believe that the Word of the Lord is the scepter of Christ, and the Word is mighty to change the hearts of people.

My dream is to build strong Reformed church in Dmitrov. I want my three sons to become strong Reformed pastors in Russia and never leave this country but reform it with God's help. Therefore I suppose they can play music, do sports, study in conservatories and universities - actually, that's what they do or planning to do now. But at 27 they will have to stop because they will have only 3 years to finish seminary and begin their own ministry by 30.