Don

I was raised in a Christian household by my dad and my grandparents. I went to church and at 5 years old I gave my life to Jesus. Life was great for the next couple of years. When I was 8 years old my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and given 6 weeks to live, my mom left the state, and I was diagnosed with a visual impairment that has no cure. Because of these trials I formed a very warped view of God and became embittered towards Him. I pretended to be a Christian, but I was not serving Him from my heart. My relationship with God dissipated quickly.

By the age of 13, I was doing drugs and drinking. At 14 I was selling drugs. Over the next couple of years I became depressed and even suicidal. Even though I hated God at this point in my life, He was faithful to draw me to Himself. Eventually my grandfather told me about a Christian conference for young m

en and convinced me to go. At the conference, I was assigned a small group leader who helped me to see that I was believing lies about God. I rededicated my life to Christ there and returned home on fire for Jesus.

I began to pray for a home church and for a group of people to fellowship with. I was struggling to find a place for about two years and was becoming discouraged. However in October of 2019, two campus ministers with Cornerstone Christian Church approached me on the USF campus while I was waiting for my bus. They offered to pray for my eyesight to return and they proceeded to preach the gospel to me and invite me to church. I then asked them if they were with Cornerstone because I had heard of them a few times from my grandfather and best friend. They said yes and I started studying the Bible with them. In January of 2020, I became a member of the Church. Recently, I was trained to teach Bible studies on the campus and preach the Gospel to my peers. I have had the opportunity to share my faith with many students and have been a part of seeing some students come to know Christ. I have grown tremendously in my faith since God led me to join Cornerstone. Weekly I am seeing God’s ever flowing grace in my life and those I am meeting on the campus. I am continuing to grow in God’s grace and I am excited to see how He will use me in the future!

~Don