I reread all of the thread while I did not cry I felt a burden because others took the time to write and share their stories...
Hello everyone. My name is Eric and I am 44 years old. I was born in Falls Church, VA and lived there for 38 years. Shortly after the Lord got me in 2014 I moved to Dallas. Over the past 6 years, I have lived in Texas, the Philippines, Ohio, and now I live in Missouri. After returning from the Philippines I decided to go back to school so that I can legally work in foreign countries as an English teacher. I also started teaching English online to Chinese kids and did that for 20 months and loved it. I am now within 4 classes of completing my (criminal justice and computer science) and am starting a new job in IT today. My goal is to be able to get remote work from anywhere in the world or at least be able to teach English to support preaching and teaching the word of God.
I can't say specifically when I came to faith and repentance in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was an unraveling experience for me. Going back to 2013 I was frustrated with life. The best way of describing it is that I was on a hamster wheel. No matter what I tried it didn't work and I tried everything except for Christianity. I know now that I was deeply involved in the occult. I thought believed in God but I was deceived by the god of this world who comes as an angel of light. I imagined a God that would meet my needs. In July of 2013, I planned a "soul searching" trip to Nicaragua. It was delayed 2 times and the 3rd time I left. Just before taxing the flight attendant said they have a seat for me in first class. A young girl sat next to me about 16 years old. We started talking and she said she was going to Nicaragua to preach the Gospel. Her parents just sold their house in Atlanta and were using the money to do the same. The 3 or so hour flight went by fast and just after the pilot said we were approaching Managua she asked if she would pray for me. She asked if I was ever involved in freemasonry and if she could pray for me. I said ok and all I remember is her saying in the name of Jesus as I was wondering why is she not just saying God... I know now that she was casting out demons. She wrote something down, gave me the note, and said you are going to find the truth on this trip. Upon my arrival at the place, I rented I opened my wallet, pulled out the note, torn it up and put it in the trash. I was in Nicaragua for 7 weeks or so and when I came back home I felt like I was in quicksand. I felt worse than when I left and I certainly did not find my purpose as I planned. Shortly after I was scheduled to attend a weekend seminar, I went, and I remember one of the speakers said you all are fighters if you were drowning you would gasp for every breath of air and I remember thinking no I wouldn't I want to die. A few days later I saw an acquaintance on facebook and he looked really happy. I asked him what are you doing... He said you need to buy this course. It was a 7 keys to financial success something but it was based on God's word. It had a landing page with videos one of which displayed Jesus in a way I had never seen Him before. I bought the course and there were scriptures I had never read before. Some were amazing and some bothered me as all my friends at the time were doing things that God called abominations in Deu 18. I completed the course but put it to the side and continued in my coping mechanisms. My brother's 40th birthday was coming up and our mom planned a surprise birthday party for him at a magic, hypnosis, and mind control show on December 28th, 2013. We went, I had one small glass of margarita, and I woke up 6 hours after leaving the show in the GWU hospital to the sound of an iv beeping, lights in my room quickly coming on, and a flood of nurses. I remember seeing the GWU name tag I asked am I dreaming. She said no you were found unresponsive on Pennsylvania Ave and were rushed here by ambulance - we are questioning whether you were poisoned. That was never determined, however, apparently, my blood alcohol came back at .3. I was totally fine when I woke up and upon my discharge, I asked the doctor how one can get a .3 blood alcohol from having just one small glass of margarita (6'3 200lbs) she said well you know peoples bodies respond differently to which I looked her straight in the eyes and said someone tried killing me. Everyone at the show got home safely but it was just weird. One of those things that I had so many questions but now I simply believe that the plan was to make it look like I drank too much and ended up in a gutter. I would not at all be surprised if I wasn't drugged and taken all kinds of places as DC - perhaps freemason rituals given the freemason roots of DC. Anyway... I always knew that God has a plan for me and I knew God's angels (hands) protected me. I find it very interesting that the devil tried taking me out right after God's word had been scattered at me. The guy who told me to buy that course was like yo the devil tired taking you out and he continued sharing God's word with me and kind of mentored me you could say. 2 months later I was saying that Jesus is my Savior, two months later I wanted to join a church and requested to be baptized. I got baptized I think May 25th of 2014 so I identified with the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. My old man was buried with Him praise the Lord and the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead quickened my mortal body. It was the following week someone prayed for me after service and I needed to walk out because I could tell I was going to break down. I started driving and I needed to pull off into a side neighborhood and I just broke down. I believe God gave me a new heart that day.
That is as far as I got this morning... I may or may not add more...
