A man who was released from prison and the bondage of addiction shared his incredible story of redemption.
Bondage of Addiction
Tony had a troubled childhood. From an early age, he was taken into foster care. He went through a lot of abuse and that affected him deeply. “She made me believe that everything was my fault and I was just a bad kid. I told lies, and no one would believe me,” he recalled. That’s when he realized that there was no point in being afraid of the abuse because it was going to happen anyway.
He was later adopted by a family but struggled to become part of them. Growing up, he was trying to do things on his own. As years went by, he treated prison as his second home. “What began as a low-level cannabis dealing soon became more and more serious. I was pretty good at sniffing out the opportunities as they came along,” he said. Then, he moved into bigger deals and traveled to different countries.
His life seemed good in his eyes, but it didn’t stay that way. “It seemed like every time I built myself a new world. I just wanted to escape from it again,” he highlighted. And he felt weak, desperate, and became homeless. He thought that there was nowhere else to run. So he went back to his safe place, prison. But in his most devastating moment and darkest season, Jesus made a way.
GODTV (Screenshot). (2021). GODTV, Through His eyes. Retrieved November 13, 2023 from: https://www.god.tv/video/film-ef-the-mp4/zype
Story of Redemption
While Tony was in prison, he experienced the turning point of his life. He saw a vision with two figures. “One was my adopted mother. And the other one, and even though I didn’t know who it was. There was something telling me that this was Jesus Christ,” he shared. Then, his adopted mother told him that he had been given everything. But he insisted that his life was a mess.
What happened next changed his life. “I saw that I’d been given something that was really precious. I’ve been given so much, I’d been loved… I was so angry with the world and now I was trying to shut the door on life itself,” he explained. As he sat in the prison cell and experienced the presence of God, he never felt more alive.
“My life has meaning. You know, and my life has purpose… There is nothing greater, there is nothing the world can afford. It means more than the presence of God,” he testified. After that encounter, Tony dedicated his life to helping other prisoners experience the freedom he found.
Watch the full testimony here.
Reference | GOD TV
Header Image: GODTV (Screenshot). (2021). GODTV, Through His eyes. Retrieved November 13, 2023 from: https://www.god.tv/video/film-ef-the-mp4/zype
