Biography
Aleksandr Voronchikhin became one of Jehovah's Witnesses in the USSR, when believers were repressed by the authorities. Today, after a short-lived freedom of religion, he again faces persecution.
Aleksandr was born in 1965 in the city of Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk region. As a child, he was fond of competitive orienteering. After finishing school, he served in the army, after which he graduated from an industrial technical school with a degree in steel production. After the deaths of his father and stepfather, Aleksandr invited his mother to live with him; she is now retired.
At various times, Aleksandr worked as an assistant steelworker, a boiler room mechanic and a communications electrician. Now he works as a cable-splicer of linear-cable lines. In his free time, he likes to watch soccer and to do crossword puzzles.
Aleksandr met his future wife, Galina, in 1982, and in 1985 they got married. The couple raised a daughter—Irina. She shares the religious beliefs of her parents. In 2008 the family moved to the city of Simferopol. Galina works as a nurse.
Along with his wife, Aleksandr became Jehovah's Witnesses in 1990. Aleksandr recalls that he always thought that everything surrounding him must have been created by someone. Thanks to knowledge from the Holy Scriptures, he found a reasonable and logical explanation for the emergence of all life on earth.
The Voronchikhins maintain a positive attitude. Aleksander and Galina's friends and relatives support them in every possible way.