Out of Egypt I Called My Son

By Yevgeny Gil

A powerful story of God’s saving grace towards the undeserving. A testimony from Yevgeny of addiction, near death experiences, incarcerations and how God sheltered him and his family through extreme measures and trying times. “I have gone through many spiritual battles throughout my life and I can confirm that there is good and evil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yevgeny Gil
• Release date: Apr 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781087854793

Book preview

Chapter 1 introduction

My name is Yevgeny Gil and I am a felon, twice so far. Although I consider myself a follower in the way of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ today, it wasn’t always that way. I say so far because I am not God and do not know what my future holds. Trying to be Holy and be a true follower of the Way of Jesus is a daily struggle and one that requires us to be alert and aware. I am a Russian-American, a nationality that you probably never heard before. I was born August 23rd, 1988 in a small city named Chernogorsk, Russia. We migrated to the United States in 1989 through Italy.

 I was only an infant by the time we made it to the United States, I was about one year old. Our first home was in Hesperia, California, The Golden State. It was always hot over there from what I remember. In Hesperia we didn’t live glamorously, you know, being fresh off the boat immigrants and all of that jazz. My Mom was quick about getting into school for dental assisting and still is to this day a dental assistant! Praise God!  My dad started to work in auto sales. We didn’t have much but we had each other.

 We lived in a small Californian style rambler, and for us it was enough even though it wasn’t much bigger than an apartment. At least we had a garage and a large property. Somehow, we got an awesome German shepherd who we named Buck. We eventually had to leave him to someone because we were planning on moving to Washington State which had seemingly more opportunity and for my mom’s sake, less sun stroke. When I was about 3yrs old I broke my femur bone jumping on the bed, so that whole thing is not a myth about breaking legs jumping on the bed (for all you bed jumpers and non-believers out there). I spent some time in the hospital for 2 months or so. I have 3 siblings. I have two sisters and one brother, of which I am the youngest. I was constantly teased by them, but I did my fair share too. I remember my first day of school; my Dad took me. There was a funny moment where the teacher opened the drawer where they kept the students lunch boxes and she said put your food in here so I put my foot there instead. My Dad was proud. What can I say? In my defense I didn’t hang around people who spoke English, so I couldn’t speak it very well yet and didn’t understand much. My brother is the oldest of us four kids and I’ve always looked up to him. I don’t tell him that much. My sister after him is a sweetheart; she always took care of me when I was little. But my sister after her, we always beat each other up. I remember one day at school when we had to be broken up during recess and told not to do that in school anymore. I grew out of that and I didn’t get my felony charges that way so don’t worry. She is a sweetheart also.

At the time I was around 5 years old we moved to Washington State. We lived in Auburn in a small apartment on the second level. I sometimes still drive by the area just to remember where we have been. We moved around a little, from Auburn to Covington and from Covington we eventually lived in Federal Way, which is where I grew up. My parents bought a brand-new home!! A four-bedroom home with two stories, a two-car garage, and a nice yard. The Russian-American dream. At 16 I met a beautiful girl. The most beautiful girl in fact and at the age of 19 I was married to her. Years later I had an encounter with God and couldn’t deny the power and was forced to believe. I take no pride in my past and only mention my troubles and past life to bring glory to God today. My testimony is of addiction; an addiction I was able to cast away only by the power of Jesus Christ. I would like to share about the forgiveness of our sins. I would like to share about married life and the problems we faced. How God guides and restores to overcome that which seems impossible. About a path that was difficult, but by God’s mercy and grace I was able to make it through. Isaiah 43:2 (NKJV) says "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor should the flames scorch you."  This verse I hold close to my heart and will never forget the day I first read it. My mom sent it to me on a birthday card while I was in King county jail facing up to 5 years in prison in 2010. When looking back at it I’m only reminded of God’s message to me that day.

At one point in my life I cried out to God, and he answered. I was heavily addicted to heroin, but today I can say that God has set me free from that addiction and many other chains keeping me from His presence. In Matthew 2:15 it is written of what the prophet Hosea said, Out of Egypt I called my Son. God calls each one of us to break free from our own Egypt. Our shackles and chains that bind us. At that point in my life I heard the calling of God to follow in His Way. I lived my life as a vessel of wrath and had a choice to continue living in such a way or to live another way. When I turned to God, He made me a vessel of His mercy. God gives us two choices "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse". There are only two choices. God’s promise is great to those who return to Him. He is faithful. But there is another promise. Promise of a curse, death and destruction. It’s a long promise and He is faithful. Before I scare you off, my testimony is one of mercy. I had to make a choice. I answered God's call and didn’t look back. Today He is calling everyone. He is calling you, your brother, your father, mother, neighbor, friend, anyone and everyone.  The question is at which point will we choose? I have been a Christian all my life. There is nothing wrong with that word, but I have always called myself a Christian without knowing what it means. Only recently I have found that there is meaning to every word I speak. Power behind words, power to build or destroy, bless or even curse. Today I would rather that others see my deeds or hear my words and name me a Christian instead of calling myself one.

Calling myself a Christian while living in a life of drugs, alcohol and fulfilling sinful desires isn’t a good representation of the Christian identity. I chose to write this book to bring glory to my God. I once lived in sin, but now I strive daily to live a life pleasing to Him. I was once blind, but now I see. I’m ashamed to say that throughout my life I have caused the people I love most much pain and broken hearts. I pray that it wasn’t in vain and have faith. I pray that these words on these pages may help even one person who is in a dark place, who thinks there is nobody there with them. God is with you. When we submit to God, we can be sure that he will be faithful to His promise to us. I can relate to you whoever you are. God Saves, restores and heals our hearts. Have you ever wondered, ‘Lord, why me? What have I done deserving of this?’ Sometimes we find ourselves in a dead end, pulling on our hair from our heads wondering how we could have led ourselves into such devastation. Or maybe we are completely lost in the current events of our lives. Whatever it may be, there is nothing too big for Him. In my life I have been stuck in a cycle of heartache, anxiety, stress and a burden to the people I love.

In the story of a blind man that was born blind (John chapter 9), the people asked Jesus Teacher, who has sinned? Him or his parents that he was born blind? Jesus answered neither this man nor his parents sinned. But that the works of God be revealed in him.  Another example is the story of Lazarus (John chapter 11) whom Jesus loved and wept for, became extremely sick. Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus sent a message to Jesus Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick When Jesus heard that, He said This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.   Through these healings the power of God was made known to the world and many were saved because of it. Sometimes we do not understand why certain things happen to us. We are not aware of God's much bigger plans for our lives. Is it possible that God has chosen us to live the paths we have to bring glory to His name? When we choose God, we become His chosen.  He calls us out of our life of sin to follow Him and produce fruit. Fruit being our life and how we live it and the blessings that come with it. This also means bringing fruit for His kingdom. When we are able to speak of God’s mercy to others and shine His light into their lives. When we have lived a life of death and destruction for so long, does this decision prevent us from obtaining life and prosperity? Yes and no. Yes, only if we continue to choose to continue in the same life. No, if we choose to return to God the Father through forgiveness of our sins in Jesus Christ, His Son. Romans 9:22 (NKJV) what if God, wanting to show his wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory Praise God! Is it possible that the path we are on is meant to bring glory to God when we finally submit to His will and repent? Only by the power and mercy of God was I able to overcome my addiction to heroin. Only by His mercy and grace do I still have a family that loves me. I would like to share my story of car accidents, near death experiences and other hardships to bring praise to the name of God my savior. It is a miracle that I am alive today. Join me as I guide you through the story of my life and the day that I met my Savior.

Not that I have already attained or am already perfected; but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus

-Philippians 3:12 (NKJV)

Chapter 2 rebel

From an early age it has always been appealing to me to live a rebellious life pleasing only to myself. Although my brother didn’t mean to, I began to follow his example when he was a teenager. At one point he grew out of it and became smarter and more mature, but as for me I’m more of an ACT NOW: think later person. I was a kid not knowing Jesus and desiring the things the world has to offer. Money, cars and all other vanity.

I remember in elementary school I would make a pretend pack of cigarettes and pretend lighter. Pretty dumb. I would constantly get into fights, shoplift, throw eggs at houses, break windows and shoot bb guns. I remember I would place an egg in between the doorknob and the door casing, ring the doorbell and run away hoping it would fall on their hardwood or tile inside and break when the door opened. Our neighborhood had a bunch of kids, even three Slavic families on our street.  So, I wasn’t lonely and had lots of other kids to play with. At the age of 12 I drank ¾ of a fifth of vodka and suffered severe alcohol poisoning. I remember my brother came into my room and said to me with tears in his eyes I was so worried, you almost died. After three months of punishment from my parents I was allowed to go out with friends again. When I was in high school, I discovered weed, listened to Tupac thinking I was a gangster even though I was not. I tried hard. I have always been drawn to doing the opposite of good. Not yet knowing of the invisible battle for my heart and soul. At the age of 15 I would constantly get into fights over racial disputes, even having 20-30 people to settle our problems. I was expelled from school for assaulting another student and had the police pull me out of class. It was the end of the school year, so I didn’t flunk but my parents were heartbroken and ashamed. They expelled my buddy also, but they let him go back to school since I was the one who was instigating the whole thing. I thought I was cool, I guess.

In my tenth-grade year my parents made a deal with me that if I made straight A’s that they would buy my first car for me as a gift. Of course, I tried hard and made the grades. So, my dad bought this ’92 Honda Civic CX hatchback. My dad and I put so much work into it and made it into a nice car. One of those fast and furious looking cars. Bright BMW red color, black 18" Enkei rims, carbon fiber hood and other aftermarket parts. Full exhaust and air flow system, I was blessed. I helped buy some things with my own money which I earned selling candy door to door after school. I made about $50 per day cash which was a good amount for me.

In my 11th grade year I passed my competency test for the running start program in highline community college. As I was going to college, maybe about three months in I noticed the construction boom that was going on in 2004-2005. The industry was exploding and seeing friends and family prosper, it tempted me to drop out of school to make money. That’s exactly what I did. I dropped out of school and hopped into the booming industry. I started an entry level job at a construction company.

After starting my new job, I had money to hang out with my friends. Not much time passed when I caused an accident drinking and driving. At that moment my heart was racing. Knowing that I was in trouble I started to think about the problem. After only a second’s worth of pause, I put the car into first gear and took flight. Running red lights, I drove onwards on the icy December road. Approaching a bridge, I didn’t see the black ice that covered its surface. Driving around 50 miles per hour I raced on to the on ramp, going too fast I slid into the barrier. My friend Oleg and I sat there in the car for a moment. I tried to start the car, but it wouldn’t start. I didn’t hesitate to climb outside to reconnect the battery. The car that I hit followed me and was on the phone with the police. Quickly I sat into the driver seat of the car and turned the ignition. The car fired up and I drove off in a hurry. I didn’t know where to go at first and drove towards Puyallup to stay at my sister’s, but my friend convinced me into driving to his parents’ house which was much closer.

The next morning, I drove the car (hung over) with a busted radiator, burning my motor. I don’t know how I made it home without being pulled over with my car the way it looked. Things were quickly getting out of control for me. In an attempt to cool my parents down, I decided to take water baptism. This was not the best thing for me. Not knowing or rather ignoring the commitment this was supposed to be for me. When I started the classes for baptism, I met the most gorgeous girl I have ever seen. I’ve met her once before at church camp but more on that in a later chapter. During these classes I was still living a sinful lifestyle. There were a few friends of mine in there that I got along with too well. We decided to rent our own apartment together. Three 16-year-old kids and one 19-year-old. It didn’t last long. We had good intentions getting started with this thing, but it didn’t take long before it