I spent most of my life in search of the ultimate high, and tried everything from drugs to witchcraft and the rave scene, but in the end it was Jesus Christ who gave me the ultimate high I had been seeking. My life was a dramatic, dangerous, and sometimes terrifying rollercoaster ride that almost got me killed many times over. I've participated in satanic rituals, I've been homeless, I've been a drug dealer, and I've stared into the barrel of a gun. But I'm now a born-again Christian who was brought to Christ by the Family International.
It's been a wild life, and as I look back, I wonder how I survived--and in fact I can't believe I survived, because the odds were so against me--but now I can see how I'd been watched over and supernaturally protected. However, it wasn't until I met some missionaries from the Family International that I understood that that the one who had been looking after me through my entire life was Jesus.
In my late teens I was addicted to the drug Ecstasy, and used to go to rave clubs and dance for hours and hours at a time. I loved the spiritual experience of taking Ecstasy, and felt like it was Heaven on Earth. Before I knew it, I was hanging around with major drug dealers and criminals, but I didn't really understand what I was involved in, and sort of treated it as a joke. However, I was soon to learn the hard way that people involved in organized crime are not friendly.
Soon, my new "friends" spread false information about me to a rival gang, who decided to murder me. This was the most terrifying experience of my life. I was only 21 and I didn't want to die, but the drug wars in Melbourne at the time had already killed over 20 people, and I was marked as one of the next targets.
I decided to leave the country, and headed to Israel, because I wanted to live a godly life. I wanted to serve God instead of being involved in drugs, so I went to Israel and volunteered for the Israeli Defense Force. However, I quickly became disillusioned with the situation there, and returned to Australia.
I landed in Sydney, hoping that I'd be safe there, but I had no money and nowhere to stay. I began living on the streets, sleeping in parks, on trains, and in homeless refuges around town. I had been raised in fairly wealthy conditions, and never in my wildest dreams did I ever conceive that I would become homeless, but here I was living on the streets.
I lived on the streets of Sydney and in homeless refuges for about a year, until I eventually got myself together and secured a job. I began making good money, and things seemed to be looking up for me, but the people I worked with were so shallow and superficial. They talked about trivial things and were always trying to impress people with what they had, and how great their gadgets were. Even though I was off the streets and seemingly successful something was missing.
After working in an office for some time I became interested in spiritual concepts and the real meaning of life. I got involved in organized witchcraft and the occult, and joined some occult organizations. However, I soon found out that the spirits in the occult were the wrong spirits, and that witchcraft and the occult certainly don't bring fulfillment. I eventually made a decision to take a break from the occult as it was becoming quite intrusive.
When God saw that I was becoming disillusioned with the occult, He sent a Christian into my life to tell me about Jesus Christ and the Gospel. His name was Chris and he was a missionary from the Family International. I found Chris a very warm man, and met up with him a few times over the next weeks.
He would talk to me about Jesus and ask me to read certain verses from his Bible, and then we'd discuss the meaning of the verse. I remember the very first verse he showed me in the Bible was, "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:5). That verse brought me comfort and peace, and it gave me hope about the darkness that seemed to be abounding in the world I was living in.
When I asked Jesus into my life, His Holy Spirit came and dwelled within me, and satisfied my every desire and thirst. Jesus gave me better thrills and a deeper peace than Ecstasy ever could. The effect of drugs eventually wears off, but Jesus never wears off. I've been high on Jesus for two years now, and I haven't come down yet.
The Family International has helped me to grow spiritually. I am eternally grateful to the Family and to David Brandt Berg, who founded the organization. If it hadn't been for the Family, I could be dead now, and might never have been introduced to my Savior, Jesus Christ. The Family showed me the love of Jesus, and it was the light that shined within them that convinced me that Jesus could touch me and change me. "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you" (Isaiah 60:2).
