God uses a hymn to draw a man out of life on the streets.

During our growing up years, my grandmother always took my four younger siblings and me to church, whether my parents attended or not. But I was still influenced by their life choices. When I was seven, my parents decided to legally marry and return to church, and I made the decision to be baptized. We were a humble family with good values, and I wanted to do the right thing. But five years later, my parents stopped attending again. I grew discouraged and left the church as well.

When I was 17 years old, I wanted to be popular with my friends. They told me that if I didn’t take drugs and drink alcohol, I wasn’t a man. At first, this dangerous lifestyle didn’t cost me money, since my friends supplied me with the substances. But it did cost me happiness and peace. Eventually I was miserable, addicted, and had to work to pay for my vices.

My goals each day were to drink alcohol and consume drugs. Many times, I woke up covered with bruises, on the street where I had fallen. My mother spent entire nights in anguish, wondering where I was, and then, when she did see me, she cried. Providentially, she returned to God in her distress and had faith that He would work in my life. Oftentimes during the next five years I heard her say, “God takes time, but never forgets.” 

My mother kept inviting me to church, and I finally decided to go. At a youth event a young man sang a beautiful, special song called, “Take Your Cross, My Friend.” It touched my soul, and its message began to work in my life.

Then I attended an evangelistic series, but hesitated to respond to the altar calls. I wondered if I could really break free from my addictions. “What am I doing with my life? I am lost, finished. I have no way out of this world.” I lifted my eyes to heaven as I cried out to God to help me escape the darkness and work a miracle in my life. By the end of the week I was ready to surrender my old life.  I knew that I needed to find redemption at the feet of Christ and be baptized.

Many changes in my life followed: I gave up alcohol, drugs, smoking, and bad language. Even the way I dressed changed. As a result, I lost my friends because I was not like them anymore.

This process has not been easy. There are daily tests and difficult moments, but I thank God for inviting me to return to Him. Today, my mother, little sister, and I attend church each week, and we pray for the rest of our family’s conversion.

I hope you are inspired by my testimony. If God could use my mother’s prayers and the message in a hymn to turn my life around, He can change your life and the lives of your loved ones as well. 

 

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Location
Honduras

Author
Told by Milton Hernández to Marcos Mendoza, a district pastor in La Ceiba, Honduras.

How You Can Help
Pray for Milton as he begins his new life connected with Christ and as he witnesses for Jesus to his former friends.  

Pray for the radio and television programs in Honduras to continue reaching people who otherwise might never hear the truth!

Give to broadcast the Three Angels’ Messages in the Catholic country of Honduras by sending your donation marked “Honduras” to: 

Mission Projects International
PO Box 151
Inchelium, WA 99138

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