How God Change My Life.

Before I received Jesus Christ as Savior I was in despair and suffered depression.

My dad was a long haul truck driver and was not around much. When he was I heard him and my mother fighting all the time. During one of those fights my mom had enough and divorce him and move us as far a way as possible. She later married again myself and younger brother & sister moved in the back room of a dinner. Needless to say not ideal living conditions. Then my mother went to the hospital because she was born with only one kidney and had to go have kidney stones blasted so she could pass them. This time was different the doctors were looking for kidney stones and did not notice her pancess was swollen. It ruptured and released portion throughout her body and died while we were at school. Leaving us with our step dad which I did not get along with. My grandmother was eventually awarded custody of us but not before my step dad had me arrested for being beyond parental control. I did not know there was such a charge. I was place in the foster care system and was arrested for a run away because my foster parent did not know they were suppose to come and pick me up from my part time job which is only 20 mile away from them. I told my caseworker my story and she assured me she would take care of it and get me out of juvenile detention and place back in another foster home. So when we went to court to hear my case she proceeded to tell the judge how Independent I was and she did not think she could place me in another foster home. The judge after hearing this said since I can't be placed in another home sentence me to the state department of juvenile corrections. To say the least I was really P.O. ed. But the lord had a different plan in mind. After arriving in Juvenile corrections I told my caseworker there my story and he was floored by the way I was treated. So he worked on my case and was able to get me sent to a Private Christian Boarding school where I finished my High School education. Shortly after getting out of High School I joined the Army and was on deployment in the Panama when I received word my grandmother was in a bad car accident. I tried to get word on her condition but only told she was in stable condition. Every time I ask the Red Cross about her I received the same response. I became worried and begin to work on away out so I could return home to be with her an take care of my brother and sister. She recovered but died 2 years later to lung cancer. I drifted from job to job and my brother and sister later married an left the area leaving me with no real family to support. I was working at a job as an assistant manager at a convenience store when the owners son moved back home and harassed his father for my job. I decided to move back to the area where I grew up and where my brother now lived. My brother and his wife let me stay with them till I was able to get on my feet. They attended a local church in the area an ask if I would like to join them. I did not have any thing else to do so I agreed to go. After going for a while god started to work with me an I knew I needed something else in my life. I went forward an accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior an I have not looked back sense.

After accepting Jesus as Lord of my life I lost my job and was once again homeless. My brother was not able to help me so I lived in my car for 3 months. I donated plasma for extra money to buy something to eat and to put gas in the car to go on job interviews. I also visited local shelters to bath an get a hot meal. I was parked under a bridge asleep in my car when someone from the church noticed my car and let the church know about me. They approached me and found my a place to stay and help me get back on my feet. I was later able to find a job and continued to attend church.

I found a family I did not know I had. A heavenly father who is still at work in my life even now. One who is always there ready to listen to me and help with any problem I have to simply love me unconditionally.

Shortly after I was able to recover from being homeless that same church ask me to help out with a new children's ministry. One that at first I did not think was going to work out. The new youth minister that had ask me to help him with this ministry did not tell me what it was that I was to do or how to get started. When I ask him what this ministry intelled and what was I supposed to do. He told me to go to the local christian book store for that info. so that is what I did. I started working with my group of kids which was 1st thru 3rd grade he said he would work with 4th thru 6 grade then about 6 months later he took a position with another church leaving me with both groups. I continued with both but because of the age group I was not able to keep their attention and slowly over a few months our group of 7 kids of varying age groups dwindled down to 1 kid but that was all I needed. We meet for the next couple months and when we could not encourage anyone else to join us I ask him if he wanted to continue. I told him I was willing to go on even if it was just him and me or if he wanted to stop and go no further we would. He looked up at me and stated he wanted to continue. So we continued and the lord provide 2 missionary Pilots to come to our church and I ask if they would help and they agreed. And our group of one boy became 15 boys in a short time. Because I now had the help of two missionaries we were able to do so much more and reached many boys for the lord. Ain't God Good!

Since then I have had the opportunity to work in so many more ministries and with so many more kids. Just because God placed one young man in my life to encourage me not to quit when things looked bleak. That is not the end of God's encouragement in my life. He later blessed me with a wife and 2 young girls of my own to love and care for. And they are a true blessing. They are both college grads and one is working as a school teacher in a local private Christian school encouraging an influencing young lives herself. The other is working with our church daycare.