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Igave my life to Christ 24 years ago. That Sunday I gave my heart to Christ, I was in Dorm 4 at the Bossier Parish Penal Farm in a little town called Plain Dealing, La., serving a three-year sentence. I was literally broken. I was at the point where I was like, “Look, I can’t do this no more.” I told my mom, “I can’t do three years.” She said, “Baby, you have no choice.” But when she said that … I was done. I wasn’t raised to do crime. I took my last step with the world and I took my first step with God, and I’ve never looked back. I got saved and from that moment on I started doing Bible study in prison and stayed close to the Lord, got out, and got right into the church and got baptized. I was 29 years old then.
After getting out of prison, my whole life changed—my wardrobe, everything. I worked as an electrician in Bossier City/Shreveport for about 33 years and got to a point where the Lord started blessing me in the trade. I also started a ministry called A Way of Escape Ministries, from 1 Corinthians 10:13. God gives a person a way of escape through Jesus Christ. Christ was my way of escape from the world and from repeating the negativity and the toxicity in my life. I was preaching on two radio stations in that area, sometimes preaching for local churches, and my wife, Patricia, and I spoke on building a strong marriage. All this while raising eight kids.
I was tired—we were tired—every day trying to work and take care of the ministry. My wife was working night and day, taking two or three shifts in local nursing homes. I was just working night and day, sometimes doing videos online, because we’re on Facebook. I’d work on the videos and fall asleep while I was doing that. I’m sitting at work eight, 10 hours a day doing electrical work.
“My heart’s desire is that those who don’t know God will know the God I know and serve.”
Well, God sometimes just speaks out of nowhere—this is the highlight of my testimony. He spoke to my wife one day back in Louisiana and she said to me, “We got to go.” And I was like, “Go where?” She said, “We need to go to Texas. God said go to Texas—God is saying we need to move.” And I said, “Well, I need to go in prayer.” So after 90 days in prayer, we picked up everything. We started for Greenville but ended up finding a house for us in Sherman instead.
I’m building my business here, but it’s not been crazy busy yet. I have some good contacts, and many of the people of my church [First Baptist Sherman] have given me work. I couldn’t have dreamed of this. I can’t tell you [all that] God has done in the year we’ve been here. It’s been a blessing. It’s been a journey. Sherman is great for us. Our family and children are happy. God has allowed me to make enough on the jobs I get so that our needs are met. My wife works, but she just works regular hours. She’s not tired. I’m not tired, and He has blessed us. He’s just so good.
I’ve been changed, refreshed in my relationship with God—the same God who told Abraham to get up and leave the Ur of the Chaldeans, leave what you are familiar with and go to a land that I will show you. That’s the challenge, to really see where your faith is. It’s one thing to teach truth and to teach faith, but it’s another thing to live it. The Word of God is more than just ink on paper. This move has strengthened my faith. I’m refocused. I’m better than I was.
It’s changed my children’s lives. We tell them, “We’re not here to make money, but we make money. You’re not here just to go to school, but you do go to school. We are here on assignment. We are here because of God’s kingdom.”
Now I own a radio station, a gospel station, and it’s called Blaze. God blessed me with that. We’re on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I’ve got some contemporary Christian music on there, and then my messages. And then we’ve got messages with our children, Bible studies for the entire family. In other words, God has really blessed. I’m also continuing my prison ministry, preaching a few times a month in different facilities.
My heart’s desire is that those who don’t know God will know the God I know and serve. To those who know Him, I’d say be refreshed and know that God is good. Don’t become complacent with God, but know that He is going to take you higher and ask bigger things of you. Give Him what He wants and enjoy the ride.
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