tell us where you're from and just begin to share your life story from uh i'm from here from pasco
from washington and uh i grew up here and stuff and as i was growing up i kind of grew up in a
broken home so my mom was always chasing my dad because my dad was always leaving the house so
in that mix of that like i kind of had uh no eyes on me so i was able to come home whenever
i wanted to so i started going out and started getting kind of into drugs and stuff like that
so at the age of 15 i became a part of this gang here and uh i kind of uh the same at that same
time i also got arrested for the first time i went to uh jubi for a possession of a firearm charge
and then from there on like for the next couple years it was non-stop incarceration i just kept
going to jail every year every year i was in jail it was a cycle that i was kind of beginning to
get stuck to at the age of 17 i uh i have a kid with this girl and i end up having another kid
with this girl but i don't know how to uh i have a good relationship because i never had that example
ship so i messed that up and uh at the age of uh 20 i go to prison i get uh charged for felony
possession of a firearm and uh felony writing with the weapon and uh when i get out when i'm
in there i have all this like great master plan of how when i get out everything's gonna work out
like good for me and stuff like that but um when i get out i get faced with all these
uh problems and stuff and uh i get a job and i get my license release and as soon as i get my
license released uh everybody knows where i'm at everybody starts garnishing me and like life's not
going as i planned it and uh life started getting hard and i started thinking about giving up
and uh so this girl that i know and stuff uh from back then uh she kind of comes into my life again
and she comes and she's talking to me and sending me these invites to go to church and uh i didn't
really want no no nothing from church i just got out of prison and we don't do church in prison you
know and uh so um as uh i continue and stuff like that like um i'm kind of uh in a situation where
everything just starts getting worse and worse and worse i get an altercation with my baby's mom's
new baby's dad and stuff like that so i get a restraining order and then so i follow
the parenting plan and uh i kind of get uh back into drugs because that's my escape i'm already
thinking of giving up and going on the run i'm on probation i don't really care anymore you know
and uh as i go through this uh this girl just keeps on like bugging me she's just non-stop
like bugging me you know and uh so i'm like um i get to this point where i get my ankle monitor
cut off my leg like i'm i'm free to go out i get uh with some friends we have a meeting there's
been some stuff that's been going on and a friend of ours got shot so in the midst of all this uh
we have friends uh on both sides that uh we each lose and stuff like that and uh so
i'm driving down um court street and uh there's a rival gang that's next to us and i have my kids
in the back i got a chance to have my kids with me and uh i didn't tell nobody i didn't tell my
mom nothing like that because they would be mad and so uh they actually pointed guns at us and uh
i uh i ended up telling my friend to take me home we got taken home
and stuff and uh then i i remembered that when i got out that i made a promise to myself that i
wouldn't be the person that my dad was for me and i would be there for my kids so i didn't want them
to uh to not be there without their father and if they would have shot that car i would have lost
my kids that would have been dangerous to my kids and i didn't want that for them so i didn't know
what to do i was desperate i didn't know how to leave i didn't know how to stop doing what i was
doing and god just kind of just sent this girl again and she invites me to church and i'm like
all right like i'll go to church you know so i go to church and i kind of do this prayer i
do kind of don't really believe in god because the whole time my mom and i was growing up she
was always praying to god to kind of restore her marriage and god never did it you know so i was
i was raised catholic so i don't know if it has anything to do with it but uh
uh yeah so that happened and uh so i go to church and while i'm at church she uh starts telling
they start talking in the message and stuff the message kind of hits me and stuff so i go up to
the altar and i tell god god if if you're real you got to show me that you're real because i don't
believe in you and uh but if you but if i promised i was like if you show me that you're real that uh
that i will serve you and i will do everything that you want and uh so i i meet this guy there
and his name's uh tony and uh he kind of becomes uh the guy that i kind of connect with throughout
the week and uh i was so desperate that i gave it just one week in prayer and everything and and
god didn't move and stuff so uh i kind of go back and try to give him his bible and i'm like hey um
hey tony this isn't working for me and stuff like that so before i could say anything he
just recommends the fast he goes uh you should try fasting and stuff like that so i go on this three
day fast a gangster fasting yeah i was desperate so uh i started uh fasting i do this fast i kind
of keep away from everybody i don't want nobody bothering me i lock myself in my room and i take
it serious and three days pass by nothing happens i'm already still thinking of giving up you know
and uh i have like one week or everything kind of falls in the order and stuff like that and i have
court for my restraining order because i got an altercation with my kids
with their stepdad and then uh also i have my parenting plan i had just gone through mediation i
was gonna come and finalize my parenting plan and i had messed up and i had to go see my probation
officer which i hadn't remembered yet and so i end up uh going in like i don't know where
i thought i was on this lucky streak and i end up just uh winning i get my case dismissed for my uh
for my restraining order and then i don't know where i get my uh
favor and i get half custody which wasn't supposed to happen i'm supposed to work wait and kind of
work my way through it you have custody and i pass the way that i'm not supposed to pass
and uh from that uh way uh i'm taking off and i'm i'm kind of my sister's taking me home
and uh in the car there was uh she was she was a christian she tried to get me to church too but
i didn't go with her and uh so she is listening to this radio station called caleb banda
there's this guy on the radio named luis polon and he's talking about uh he goes did you know that
in the hebrew language that there's no word for coincidence that everything that happens because
god's ordained it that way and the sooner that we start saying that it's uh not a coincidence
but start acknowledging uh that it's him that the more we'll see the blessings poured out upon us
and uh man let's put our hands together for jesus yes god can even speak to you in the car through
her radio yes so um i'm in the i'm in the car and uh to my sister doesn't seem like anything but to
me like god was i felt like god was telling me he goes no it's not a coincidence it's me
so i look out the window and we're driving down the highway and uh i started kind of like
god's reminding me of all the stuff that happened throughout the week and i'm broken
and i know that god's been like telling me like no that's me it's not your coincidence it's me
and uh so i get home and stuff and uh i lock myself in the bathroom where nobody
could see me because i'm still embarrassed of praying and stuff like that so uh i get
on my knees and i pray and i and i tell god like all right god i see you you know and um
what do i do next you know i don't know what to do next and stuff and uh god's perfect timing
and diana calls me again it's a it's uh this uh night service that they're doing on fridays and uh
so now i'm excited i'm like all right yeah pick me up i want to go and uh
you go to the service and uh man the service just wrecks me and i'm just all over god's all over me
and they do an altar call and god's telling me to go and to go to the altar so i go to the altar and
i give i do the sinner's prayer i give my life to christ and i just remember opening my eyes
and i was crying and i didn't want nobody to see me crying so i walk out of there and uh
so tony um becomes my mentor he kind of just kind of guides me and teaches me
but something changed inside of me like i got this fire for god now i knew god was real and i
knew he was looking at me so i was always like on making sure that everything that i did was uh what
he wanted me to do so i started cutting stuff out my pride was one of the hardest things to cut out
because i didn't want none of my friends see me but they were doing an evangelism thing and
i was like you know what god um i want to be sold out i don't want to do this thing halfway
so uh i end up going and doing this stuff and i'm on fire for god and um
god's just pruning me and it's i'm just broken at the altar constantly and uh i get to this
point three years like on fire and i get with this girl and uh kind of pulls me out again i kind of
wanted god to to bless something that was in my will not his will and so he posed he pulls me the
devil pulls me back out and i end up going to jail and uh i end up going back to jail for a crime
and um god gets me alone just me and him in the jail cell and i have a bible
and uh i just remember that i was looking at it felt convicted and i started repenting started
asking god to forgive me and uh i rededicated my life in a jail cell and uh so when i get out from
there i cut off everything i don't want i don't want nothing so i was tattooing back then too
i cut out tattooing um and it was a hard thing for me to do because i was making really good
money so i cut that out i cut out unhealthy relationships everything and uh i kept pushing
forward i was like it's not what i want it's what he wants and uh that's what i'm gonna decide to do
i'm doing this all the way he doesn't want half my heart he wants my whole heart so
hallelujah today he has people that he brings every service
money service second service spanish service can you begin to just tell us just a little bit
more what god is doing through your life we know that it's not you it's him just
from your obedience to his to surrender to him what is he doing in your life now okay
so um now that i've uh kind of been like rededicated my life and everything and uh
now my kids are have a good relationship with my kid's mom and i'm able to bring my kids to church
and my kids come to church my kid actually gave his life to christ here on the stage
as uh as well as my nephew my nephew came a couple services ago and he gave his life to christ
he's bringing his mom today and his family so they're coming i have friends from the gang
that i was from that are coming to church now as well and um yeah god's just uh using me and i'm
just trying to be that willing vessel to bring people amen from drug dealer to gospel dealer
amen so we're so excited and what is your advice that you have for people that are
maybe constantly backsliding or are into drugs and gains what do you want to tell them today
um just one thing that i that i kind of uh noticed in my life was uh god wanted me to surrender some
stuff and i was still trying to hold on to him most of the time i think what keeps us going back
is uh is that we don't fully surrender we kind of want god to bless uh what we want and it doesn't
work that way god wants us to uh give that up you know with obedience come surrender and um
you have to surrender so every time i've ever came to the altar i was coming to surrender something
and to um turn away from it and then i go back to it because uh that one little foothold that
i gave the enemy it just pulled me right back and uh this time i'm i'm watching everything and i'm
i'm taking advice from everybody so i'm surrounded by leadership and i have a good leadership here as
well and you know i'm just gonna push forward and uh make sure you guys surround yourself with some
good people um christian people that are doing good no delilah's in your
life boys thank you so much we appreciate your sharing let's put our hands together for jesus