Angel’s Testimony

This post gives Angel’s Testimony. Angel was an inmate at LBJ who attended our Catholic religious service for about 1.5 years. Rick and I looked forward to seeing Angel. He always participated in our scripture discussions, and was passionate, but also respectful and courteous. There were time when he was down in the dumps, and very quiet, which was out of character for him. I would ask him “Are you OK – it’s not like you to be so quiet”. He would just laugh. But I knew from discussions that Angel had a tough life before his incarceration, and that he was dealing with his personal situation and problems.

Angel was sentenced about 2 years ago, and I have had some email correspondence with him while he is in prison. He wrote down his testimony, and asked if I would share it on Facebook or Twitter. I don’t do Facebook or Twitter, but I told him maybe I could post it on our LBJ website, and that’s what I’m doing in this post.

His testimony is long, and I didn’t edit it or polish it, except for fixing some minor spelling and punctuation errors. It’s not the writings of a scholar or well trained writer. But it is the heartfelt story of his conversion. I think it’s the same story of a lot of the guys you serve at LBJ. Angel does mention that it was while he was at LBJ that his conversion took place. This may give us a little encouragement knowing that through our ministry at LBJ, we can bring the men Jesus, and touch them in ways we may not know or understand, and that we may just be planting seeds that sprout later. I’m not saying that our services were the reason for Angel’s conversion – they weren’t. But I dare say that, through God’s grace, they were part of it.

Here is Angel’s Testimony:

“I start with a praise (Roman5:11) I rejoice in God through Christ Jesus my Lord, through whom I have now received RECONCILLIATION. This has been a quite a change for me. Before my conversion, I had no pleasure for God or his grace, though I have heard of him and Christ but I wouldn’t acknowledge or acquire acknowledgement of them or giving thought of what God has done for me at CALVARY through His Son Jesus, as my time was in a worldly way. In fact, it was only then I would forget them and not take notice of their love for me and keeping me from killing myself both spiritually and physically. However, now that I have been reconciled to God through Christ, I enjoy Him as the One who is nearest and dearest to me. I faced many challenges throughout my life, even to the point where I almost killed myself and others that were around me. I so was deep into the things that were only pleasing to me, not giving thought for others and their protection. The world I lived was all about me. I was a mess, filthy and ugly on the inside, with no thought of changing my life, stuck in a selfish world filled with anger, hate, pain, and the feeling of a void in my heart, looking for that fulfillment of complete love but at that time all hope was lost, so I thought it was. I’ve turned to gangs and the lifestyle that came with it, to fill the void deep in my heart, the lust of women, drugs, money, guns, and the wild parties that could last for some days. But still I felt that emptiness in my heart and soul. Searching for the love and the feeling of being loved in this lifestyle has only clouded my mind, my heart, my soul and my eyes to the truth. But the truth was, I was only dancing with the devil and he wasn’t going to let me go, I let him blind me to the destruction and the evilness that lay inside me giving me no clue how to stop and change my life, but only put things that my worldly eyes would seem to be the good for me. Until one day my son RJ, Mom, and Grandpa showed me something different without speaking to me (but that’s another story) but at that moment I didn’t know what it was, until I was arrested, and set free. It was in LBJ that Christ Jesus has found my heart and soul, it was three months into my incarceration that I gave my life to Christ, and it was then that Christ has put an end to all my void, hurt, hate, and the evilness I allowed into my life and has blessed me with a fresh start.

So I say this to every man, every woman, every teen, to every grandparent, HOW MUCH GREATER IS THE EFFECT OF GOD’S GIFT !!!! to save a sinful man like me? I must say, that Gods GRACE is seen greater at Calvary than all my sin.  Being right on the inside is the blessing of God’s grace, and the beginning of true happiness, not what goes around you. Grace and Peace be with you all, and don’t stop fighting the good fight. God Bless You All.”