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Cody Peck: It all started out when my dad met my step-mom. It just so happened she went to church almost
every Sunday, so then she started to take me. After a good while of going there I decided to give my life to Christ
and then get baptized or so I thought. Well I was a BIG BRAT and thought it was all just a game. After a while
a few years passed by and I still was a joker, I was so in trouble with probation I tried to commit suicide by hanging but
it happend to be that God sent my mom walking out when I went to step off. I went to a hospital and that's
were I realized how emo I was acting and how I was heading to the fires of HELL! Shortly after, God sent Dan my
way who led me to recommit my life to Christ by his encouragement and helpfulness. Now I try to stay in God's word and
constantly have prayer one-on-one with the Lord. I also gave up non-christian music because it played a big role in
my life. My suggestion to you is to give it all up for the Lord. Look at what He gave up for you!
Gabriel Ortiz: Hi
guys my name is Gabriel Ortiz Hernandez and I am from Costa Rica. My mom was a
Christian ever since I can remember and my dad used to be an alcoholic until the day my mom left him sleeping outside of the
house ... wow, that day was freaking awesome because my dad's life changed 100%.
I started going to church when I was like 1 day old, but I wasn’t that good I was a trouble maker kid.
When I was 9 years old was the first time I smoked a cigarette, and when I was like 11 or something like that was the first
time I got drunk. Wow, I just remember when my dad spanked my butt! We went to church but I lost faith
because at that time I didn’t like God's stuff and I was a jerk about it and I was a hypocrite. When I was
13 years old I smoked that marijuana. Then I started to be a drug addict
and more troubles came with that and one day I got busted in my school smoking cigarettes and they called my mom
and I told the truth to my family about my addiction, and they tried to helped me. A professor from my school told
us about a place for rehabilitation called “New Life in Christ” and that was the worst place I could stay in my
whole life. They made me clean the toilet with my hands with out gloves. Cleaning the other people's crap
in that place wasn’t good. One day I talked with my mom and say "Hey, I don’t like it here. Can you
find another place for me please?" and she did. They took me to the Salvation
Army where I stayed for a year and two months I finished the program and graduated. Then
I got a visa and I went to Tampa, FL to visit other family. There we went to a church and there I think I
found God in the way I always wanted but I was just visiting and I had to go
to Costa Rica and continue with my life but with God. I wasn’t that strong of a guy and fell again and worse
because I got a motorcycle, drank all I wanted and did whatever I wanted. Then
I met my girlfriend in Costa Rica;
she is from Buffalo, NY and she invited me to come to visit her so I came here to NY. I also met Dan Klebes
and I think it was God’s will to do that because my life is changing again I know God and He is driving my life. I have real friends and I do ministry in the skate parks here. I know sometimes I fall and I still being a sinner but I know I am looking for God everyday more and He
is with me and I don’t need anything else for my life and for skate. The
key to a good life isn’t going to church ... that is good but the key for a better life is going to church with Jesus!
And not just there ... go with him everywhere, but guess what, no one gonna see God next to you, so that is why WE have to share with the other people and say "JESUS IS MY HOMIE!" Please guys if you
want to ask me something, have question or comments, please send me an email because I know I forgot something like always I do and if usted no habla en ingles
y desea my testimonio en espanol yo se lo puedo escribir. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR LIFE.
Andy
Roberts: I grew up going to church with my dad. I went to Vacation Bible School and all that. When I
was about 4 years old, I was with my dad and I prayed with him and handed my life over to Christ. As I got older I guess
I still believed in God but I started to get really bored with church and stuff. When I was in about third grade I moved
to Albany with my mom to live, and that's where I still live. I used to go to youth group and AWANA (a church program
for kids), but I don't remember really following God and being serious about God yet at that time, but I'm sure I still
had some belief in Him. I remember carelessly using language I shouldn't have and I remember listening to ungodly
music and just letting myself go into the ways of the world. In sixth grade I started going to a Christian
school. It had some good influence on me, but I still wasn't that serious though. Around like maybe grade 8 or
9, I started to get more serious. I remember several times recommitting myself to God and being serious again.
About 2 or 3 years ago, I started to get more serious about reading my bible daily, praying, and attending churches and going
to youth group. God helped me with a lot of things, giving me desires to do what He wants me to do. Friends come
and go, but I believe that the friends you consistently hang out with can influence you. Remember, even if you
are a follower of Jesus, Satan is still lurking to find a way to knock you down and tear you to pieces. He has done
it to me many times. It's like if there are 2 dogs inside of you, fighting constantly, which one is going to win?
The one you feed, of course. So if you are feeding the bad dog, it will win, but if you feed the good dog, that
one will win. Trust me, the Christian walk was never supposed to be easy. Everyday you are faced with sin,
but you can make the decision of what to do. It's hard, because I currently have friends that are nonbelievers and I
currently have friends who are believers. I find that if you are around the world and kind of get away from the things
of God, then God seems to become smaller and smaller, and it becomes easy to do what the world wants you to do, and you slowly
get blinded. You HAVE to feed your mind with the Bible and TALK to God. If you walk and stray away, you're going
to find yourself falling apart. Many times, even still now, I feel myself being pulled by the world and I feel myself
being pulled by the Holy Spirit. In my mind I know what is right and wrong. The Spirit that lives inside the children
of God wants to do what is right, but the old self, the flesh, wants to do what the world does ... check out Romans 7 in the
Bible. Even today, I struggle with a lot of things. Even when you decide to follow Jesus, you're not perfect.
That's why Jesus died on the cross ... so we could be forgiven. We can't take that for granted though. We can't
make God's grace a license to sin. Satan isn't messing around. He comes to steal and kill and destroy, but Jesus
came to give life. The devil is going to throw some good punches and sometimes you're going to want to just let eveything
go and just go the world's way, but stick with God! CONSISTENTLY read and pray and fellowship with other believers.
Things just don't work if you don't include God. When you screw up, get back on your feet and keep going. Don't
let the world and the devil swallow you whole. He's the father of lies. He's going to throw an unbelievable
amount of lies at you. Thanks to Jesus Christ; in Him we have life eternal. Trust Him and never go anywhere else.
God is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. Nothing in this world will ever be greater than him. His
sacrifice and FREE gift is not describable with words. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don't lean on your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
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