I experienced a difficult upbringing. I had a lot of struggles and I saw a lot of things. There was a strong influence of gangs in my environment and this led me to make the wrong kinds of choices. That was the lifestyle I knew at that time; I was smoking a lot of weed, crack, drinking alcohol, talking nonsense, partying, and other stuff. I couldn’t get up in the morning because I was too wasted, and lost jobs as a result of this. It made me feel disappointed in myself. I was getting involved with serious people and putting myself in dangerous situations.

At that time I was feeling unwell. My mind wasn’t functioning in a good way. As a result of my situation I ended up going to hospital.

When I came out of hospital I was still on medication and trying to look after myself well. I realised how the lifestyle I was living was affecting me and I decided to treat life a bit more seriously. My family encouraged me to attend a local church, and when I went to God I felt like I had been restored. I learned from my experience that if you want to change you have to start with yourself. If you want to make a difference you have to be different; in your family, in your community, in your home, in every area of your life. You have to keep yourself away from environments that are not good for you or your future. My environment now has helped me to be happy, positive, and focused on solutions rather than problems.

God has said something about your situation: no matter what it is you’re going through, be encouraged, there is hope for the future and He has a plan for you. I know it’s not easy to go through struggles in life, I’ve bee through them myself, but I just want to encourage you to be strong and be hopeful.

I want to thank God for my spiritual mother and father; for their prayers, encouragement, support, and help on my journey, and I thank God for the great work he is doing through them. I hope that this testimony has been a blessing to you and your loved ones.