Going in to training camp I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was it was going to be a week where I would be stretched in ways I had never before. When I arrived at Atlanta Airport I began to be filled with an immense amount of nervousness and worry. What would everyone think of me? Am I Christian enough to hang with all these people? Will they see my flaws and who I really am? What will everyone think of my testimony? I sat on a bench by myself in the airport wondering, worrying, and contemplating the question; can I do this?
My life has been filled with a lot of heartaches, pain, broken promises, shattered dreams, dysfunctional families, absent father figures, and self made mistakes. After never meeting my birth father, being abandoned multiple times by my birth mother, and living in an orphanage I was taken away by the state and adopted by a family in Indiana. After being adopted I would go on to see three divorces that left deep wounds. Both of my fathers after adoption cheated on my adoptive mother. One of them was a heavy drinker coming home drunk often and threatening our family. The other father secretly put our family in a lot of debt and was arrested for sexually abusing my sister. He is now serving out the rest of his life in prison. I accepted the Lord in to my life when I was 16 at the youth group I attended. Sadly the youth pastor took advantage of my need for a father figure and manipulated and lied to me and sexually abused me. I remember crying out to God for it to stop but it didn’t seem as if He was there. When I came out with my accusations every Christian friend I had left my side and I was alone. I began to run fast and far from God. I wanted nothing to do with Him nor any Christian. I started to get heavy in to drugs, drinking, and sexual sin. For a long time the last thing I wanted was to trust anyone especially someone in a church and anybody that proclaimed to be a Christian. Up to January of 2014 I had put myself in such a deep pit that I had nowhere else to go but to attempt to trust God again and see what He had to offer. So I rededicated my life to the Lord and was called to the World Race.
Fast forward to Saturday July 19 sitting at Atlanta Airport nervously thinking if I can do this training camp thing or not. I didn’t want to tell people about my past because I had been burned so bad before and if they didn’t accept me I didn’t know what I would do. I remember contemplating buying a plane ticket back to Indianapolis. Finally I decided to trust Him and I went. The rest can only be described as GOD IS LIVING, LOVING, AND LIFE CHANGING AND HE IS MY DAD!!
The walls I had put up for so long were torn down in the name of Jesus. For the first time in my life I heard God tell me “Michael you are my son and I am your dad and I love you!” He said it three times! The years of pain, burdens, chains of bondage, anxiety, and depression were broken and I was free!! I physically felt lighter! During the week of training camp God would go on to speak in to my life multiple times and refill me with the Holy Spirit!
I write this not to tell some sad story of what happened to me but to encourage everyone to put your trust in the Lord and He will take care of you. God blessed me with so many wonderful friendships last week. He told me for every friend I lost he replaced ten fold!! Seeing Christ in my squad mates and truly feeling loved by them allowed me to open up parts of my past that hurt so bad and softened my heart making way for God to come in and change my life forever! I am so excited for my testimony to be used this next year and believe great things are to come! Thank you Adventures In Missions for being obedient to the Lords call on your lives! This life was changed because of it!
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