My Origin Story
My testimony is a funny one. I grew up in Southeast Washington D.C., born and raised in that area. I came into Christ in an unorthodox way, or what have you. My father, who had a terrible drug addiction to crack cocaine, made me go to church. He made me go to a church that was a converted grocery store. He would make me go, and I would hate it. I just didn’t want to go.
Eventually, I felt the call of God on my life. God had called me, and I knew that I was embraced by Him.
Falling on Bad Times
I always felt like a black sheep. I felt like my dad didn’t want me because of the drug habit. I didn’t understand his struggle or the things that he had gone through. There was always contention in the house. We were always getting evicted and moving from one house to the next in the projects.
I had questions, and I was looking for answers:
“Why me, God?”
“Are you out there?”
“Do you love me?”
It seems as if you don’t care because in my neighborhood all I’m seeing is murder.”
Most of my friends were getting shot, and even I had been shot at, the neighborhood was just terrible. In the midst of that is when I came into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
I Found Answers to My Questions
I was at a church service, and a man was talking about how Jesus the Christ had died, and that there was nothing too hard for him that the blood of Jesus couldn’t cleanse.
I found myself in front of this preacher and all these people at an altar crying, and in that day my life was changed. I had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then I found the father I always wanted. I found the family I always wanted. My life had meaning and purpose. Because I was trying to find it in everything else, but when I came to know Jesus my life was
completely changed.
Knowing God is a Process
A couple of years later I’m sixteen years old, and I’m what I would call a shotgun Christian. I’m just shooting off at the mouth at people with the gospel, very self-righteous, very high strung, thinking I know it all. What I learned in that is that salvation is an event, but sanctification is a process. God is continuing to work on my heart and my life, and the gospel is transforming me daily.
So I’m here to let you know, regardless of where you are, where you may live, that God loves you. I know you may have a ton of questions, just like I had been as a young boy in Southeast D.C., but God’s hand was on me, even though I didn’t know Him. He helped me, He protected me, and He kept me because He drew me to Himself.
My Encouragement
So I encourage you if you don’t know him, trust Him today. There’s nothing too hard for God. He’s loved and embraced me, and there’s still room at His table, and He wants to love and embrace you. I just pray that you would trust Him today the same way I did.
