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I was born and raised in a small town named
Ada in Oklahoma. I attended church as a youngster and continued
all through high school. At the tender age of 10, I invited
Jesus Christ into my heart. At the age of 17, at the beginning
of my senior year in high school, a significant event happened
to me that changed my life forever. One day, while fooling
around on the rooftop where I was employed, I came into contact
with 12,500 volts of electricity. It knocked me off the building.
I dropped two and one-half stories landing on my head. Unfortunately,
the impact of the fall crushed my face and skull.
I lay on the ground for about 20 minutes before
an ambulance arrived. They drove me to the local hospital,
but they were not equipped to treat my injuries. They transported
me by helicopter up to Oklahoma City, which was 100 miles
away. The nurses and medical staff on duty all believed I
would not survive the injuries. Later one of the nurses, a
family friend, conveyed this information to my family. To
give you an idea of how serious my injuries were my mother
was called in to the hospital room to identify me. She did
not recognize me. She said, "This is not my son." This was
due to the trauma to my face and skull. A moment later, she
finally recognized me by the shoes I was wearing.
In the meantime, when word of my accident reached
the people of my town, the church body began to pray for me.
Everyone in my church community rallied together in prayer.
They set up shifts and prayed throughout the night. One of
the ladies in my church recalled, the Holy Spirit revealed
to her that I had been healed. At that same moment, in mid-flight
to the hospital, I quit screaming and moaning.
I arrived at the hospital and the doctors immediately
began exploratory surgery to determine the extent of the burn
wounds to the inside of my body. They could see that the electricity
had caused an entrance and exit wound. It had entered through
my left hand and exited through my right hip. The doctors
believed it must have passed through the vital organs at least
once. Typically electricity will bounce around inside the
human body until it finds an exit. After examining me, the
doctors determined that there was no pathway for the electricity
inside my body! I had an entrance and an exit wound caused
by the electricity, but there was no electrical pathway inside
my body. That is an incredible miracle! They stitched me up
and prepared to treat me for my impact wounds. Some of my
organs were bleeding due to the impact of the fall and two-thirds
of my upper body had third degree burns from the flash of
electricity. The burns began healing right away without medical
intervention. In about 10 days my skin was healed. After 10
days they reconstructed my skull, face and crushed forehead.
One of my eyes had been moved out of place. During a 12-hour
operation, the surgeons removed splinter bones and wired together
the shattered bones in my face and skull. After surgery they
told me I would not have a sense of taste or smell due to
the injuries I sustained.
To make a long story short, within 3 weeks,
I walked out of the hospital with perfect 20/20 vision; I
had my sense of taste and smell. My kneecap was shattered.
I had a cast on my leg. My head was shaved, with a barely
noticeable surgery scar on my hairline and under my eye. What
a gift from God, I was alive and did not have brain damage,
I healed quickly and I did not have to go back for any follow
up surgeries. The only lasting problems I have are a little
pain in my knee and some scars.
It was not until 1989 that I decided to attend
an intensive 6-month Christian training program at Last Days
Ministry - Keith Green's Ministry, affiliated with Youth With
A Mission- in East Texas. During that time, I knew about a
friend who was starting a church in West Los Angeles and I
was very interested in the prospect of joining him. In May
of 1990 the Lord led me to Los Angeles to be available to
serve in this ministry called Metro Church. Metro later became
a Calvary Chapel and is currently known as Metro Church, Calvary
Chapel of Santa Monica. My service with Metro began on a volunteer
basis and eventually grew to a full-time staff position. In
September 1998, I was ordained as a Pastor.
I married my lovely wife Sally in 1995 and
we have a beautiful son G., who was born in 1999.
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