Introduction
At a very young age William's environment easily influenced him into a life of crime, drugs and alcohol abuse. In and out of treatment and jail until the age of twenty-seven, William rode a merry-go-round that seemed to be leading to an early death. One day he got down on his knees and asked God to help him make a real change. God filled him with a peace he'd never experienced before, a peace that remains in his heart today.William's true story is one of many uniquely featured testimonies from you, the members and visitors of this site. Each story reveals a life transformed by Christian faith. If your relationship with God has made a significant difference in your life, we would like to hear about it. Submit your testimony by filling out this Submission Form. To receive weekly messages of hope and encouragement from real-life stories of changed lives, sign up for eTestimonies.
William's Peace - I Found My Cross
I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1957. I was raised by my mother and stepfather, along with two younger brothers and three sisters. I was highly influenced at an early age by peers and my environment, which included alcohol, gangs, poverty and drugs.
By the age of sixteen I was heavily involved in gangs and the use of heroin. This resulted in continuous run-ins with the law and the juvenile court system. At seventeen I was arrested for burglary. I told the officers I was eighteen so they would book me as an adult instead of sending me to the youth detention center. I was sent to the county jail were I wanted to go because most of my friends were there.
At my trial I was sentenced to four to twenty-three months of time to serve and then sent to an eighteen-month drug recovery program in North Philly. I remained there for ten months and thought I was doing alright until I received a weekend pass with one of my roommates. We went out, got high and I robbed a guy on the streets. I was arrested and sentenced to three to twenty-three months in the county jail.
After ten months I was released on a condition that I would move down south with my relatives and finish my parole in North Carolina. It was highly unusual for such a request to be granted. Upon release I told my mother that I had to leave right away for NC, before I had a chance to go back to the neighborhood. I felt if I went back to that environment I would not make it out alive.
Upon arriving in Durham, NC, in May 1977, I experienced a different culture. People waved at me and said "hello" and "how are you doing?" The young adults in my age group seemed to have it all together. They went to school and worked. So I thought, "When in Rome, do as the Romans." I signed up to attend a technical school, especially since I was fortunate to have my high school diploma. I received it when I was at the drug treatment program in Philly.
Hope for a Better Life
So here I was in North Carolina, starting fresh with some hope for a better life. But it didn’t take long before I started to find myself associating with people involved with drugs, alcohol and all that goes along with that.Even though I finished school for the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning trade, and married a women who loved me (and still does to this day, even with all I put her through), I found myself heading quickly to an early demise.
