I grew up in a loving upper middle class home in New Jersey, but it was not a home where the Word of God was taught. My father left my mother for a younger woman and also left behind my two older brothers and me when I was nine years old. My mom and I moved to South Carolina when I was fifteen years old. It was the same year my brothers went to college. It was also that year that I began using alcohol and drugs. My addiction to alcohol and drugs finally ended seven years later in a drug rehabilitation center, to which I admitted myself. The rehabilitation center was Christian based, and I could feel the Holy Spirit at work in my heart, leading me closer to Him while I was living there… but it wasn’t until almost eleven years later that I began a personal relationship with Jesus and began attending church regularly for the first time in my life.

I was 32 years old and I had just moved to Venice, CA, in September of 2003 to pursue a career as a documentary filmmaker, but God had other plans. I had only been in California one month when God revealed to me that my immoral behavior was not acceptable. I believe now that the Spirit led me to the Venice Foursquare Church where God delivered me from my sin-filled life. Almost instantaneously my mind had been renewed to follow Jesus, and I was no longer living the way I had in the past. I was memorizing verses in the Bible and really growing in the Word of God. Then, one month later, I learned something that would change my life; someone encouraged me to share the Gospel and lead someone to Christ.

I took the verses I learned, and three days later, during a phone conversation with my mom, I had the exhilarating experience of leading her to Christ! Then, over the Christmas holidays I went home to North Carolina to visit my family, and during lunch with my dad, I led him to Christ! I then began leading people to Christ everywhere I went, including people at work and the homeless on the boardwalk. I began venturing out at night to talk to the homeless about Jesus. This was actually a very natural transition for me, because in 1999, I produced and directed a 1-hour documentary on homelessness while attending the University of Rhode Island. In 2000, I was awarded the Volunteer of the Year by the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless for my work on the film, which was an official entry into the Rhode Island International Film Festival. But now, instead of documenting their lives on film, I was interested in winning their souls for Jesus.

After leading people to Christ for a year, I desired to be more active in my ministry work in Venice. That’s when I contacted Dwayna and asked to be a volunteer at her booth on the boardwalk. Since becoming a part of this ministry in September 2004, I have learned even more effective ways of reaching out to people using the Word of God. Just having an opportunity to be a part of the Lighting the Way International ministry is a blessing. I look forward to spending my Saturdays evangelizing on the boardwalk with other believers who are just as zealous for God as I. Every day I feel as if my journey with God has just begun! I look forward to the many thousands of opportunities I will have in my life to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.