Delivered from gang life

The area that I grew up in was very challenging, with many young people turning to a life of crime from an early age. I had become accustomed to violence and criminal activity and adopted a "survival" mentality from a very young age. When I was in year 6 (aged 10/11), for example, me and some other children from my school had trouble with some children from another primary school, so I decided to bring a pocket knife into school. This was an instinctive reaction and an obvious choice for me, which should demonstrate just how numb I had become to the dangers of such a lifestyle.

Interestingly, I had been raised in a Christian household as had most of the guys that I was hanging out with. We knew about God and would be the first to defend Him if you said he wasn't real but all of us lived as though He wasn't real in our lives.

As time went on, I began to get involved in gangs and built a reputation for myself in the area and surrounding areas. Violence became second nature - in fact, I thrived off it because I loved the respect and fear that came with it. From time to time, I would also drive cars and I would constantly reach for the side compartment as if I was getting a gun any time someone cut me off in the road or did something to irk me. It continued this way until I got into a situation that I couldn't handle. One day, I got set up by a friend that I had had an altercation with. Given that he was my friend, he knew lots of details about me including the bus stop that I normally used when travelling to and from school. One day, on my way home, I found him waiting there with 10 other boys who were all wearing balaclavas. I was angry and immediately started to think about how I could get revenge but one of the older members of the gang that I was in convinced me to forget this battle and move on so I did.

Some time later, I ended up getting into a disagreement with a rival gang and they were all out to get me. Members of that rival gang were in my school too, which meant that I had to stay indoors at lunch, leave lessons early and keep as low a profile as possible so that I wouldn't get caught (for those of you who know, things could pop off at any time). Attacking people from rival gangs was almost like a game. People would get kudos for attacking people like me who had a reputation.

The other members of the rival gang would often wait for me outside of my school too so I had to arrange to leave school at different times and run home so that they didn't get me. I was living in complete fear and began to develop paranoia. I couldn't let people walk behind me, I slept with a knife in my room and I couldn't concentrate in public. I knew I couldn't go on like this. I would have never admitted this publicly back then but I was terrified that I could end up losing my life. It was at this moment that I first reached out to God. Honestly speaking, I called on God because in those months, He was the only person that I could talk to. My family was scared and my friends were either part of the gang life or couldn't do anything to stop those who were out to get me. My prayer every day was simple.

"God, if you are real, help me!"

A few months passed. I was walking down the street one day and saw the leader of the rival gang riding on a bike towards me with his hood up. I froze. I thought I was about to die on the spot. He rode up to me, looked me in the eye and rather than attacking me, he made it clear that we had no more issues and rode off. I was confused, relieved and still paranoid at the same time but from that day forward, any time I saw any of the other rival gang members in school, they would all act as though nothing had happened and would show me a lot of love. It might not sound very meaningful to you but I knew this was supernatural. If you knew how deep I was in this lifestyle or how motivated these people once were to kill me, you would understand just how in awe of God I was in these moments. God literally saved me. I rededicated my life to Christ shortly after that. It's now been a few years since and I'm a very different person to who I was back then. I actively pursue my relationship with God and I'm involved in a number of ministries in and outside of my church in an attempt to get others to experience what I have experienced.

I am forever grateful and now live life with so much more purpose, conviction and hope for the future.