Left to the Streets at Age Two

My name is Mez. My mother ran away with the best man in my parent’s wedding. My father was an alcoholic and a gambler who abandoned me and my disabled sister. I was left to the streets at age two, and then left to foster and children’s homes until my teens. I was back on the streets when I was sixteen and in prison at twenty-one, and I was a drug addict for six years.

A group of young men from a local church presented me with the gospel when I was living on the streets. They started playing football in our area and told us about the Lord. At the time I was dealing drugs outside the community center. They talked about God’s love but also my rebellion and God’s wrath. I kicked against it.

Later, men came to see me in prison. Once out of prison, they gave me a place to live. Their witness was crucial, but the moment of conversion came when reading a Matthew Henry commentary. I realized I had to take responsibility for my own rebellion against God and not blame it on my terrible childhood. For the first time I believed.

By God’s grace, I went back to school and Bible college, and am now married with children. I planted a church for street children and prostitutes. I recently finished my second church plant and am now looking to train other men to do likewise.

Praise God for those men who brought the good news of Jesus Christ to me. Don’t underestimate the power of the gospel!

Mez — Originally published in June 2016