A product of the radical 60’s and 70’s, my life as a Black Panther was marked by drugs, alcohol, street crime and violence. Arrested and imprisoned more than a half- dozen times eventually led to my faith in Islam. However, the void inside remained … until I stepped into an Apostolic church and felt a power greater than drugs, guns and violence. God delivered me and filled me with the Holy Ghost. I now hold General License and assist Pastor Daniel Smelser at Life Challenge UPC in Odessa, Texas. Rev. James Barnes, CPF Western Zone Coordinator

The teenage wild life of drinking, drugs, promiscuity, and crime led to a charge of armed robbery and facing 35 years in prison. Sentenced to seven years hard labor rather than 35 years, I witnessed a rape while in jail, and because I did not report it, I was charged with accessory after the fact.

While sitting in a jail cell, God was dealing with my girlfriend, Zanobia. She began attending an Apostolic church and God filled her with the Holy Ghost. Fasting and praying that God would give me the same wonderful salvation that he had given to her, Zanobia brought her Bible to jail and showed me that we had been living in sin and that she could not live that way anymore.

While God was doing a miracle in Zanobia’s life, God was also doing a work in my life. I was released from prison on November 9, 1990, after only serving four years. The day after my release, I was in church being baptized in Jesus Name, and God graciously filled me with the Holy Ghost that same night. Zanobia and I were married on January 5, 1991 and have five beautiful children together. God has called me into the ministry, and I have been preaching this wonderful gospel since 1997.

Breaux Bridge, Louisania

Drugs, alcohol, and petty crime were a part of my life as an adolescent. My first arrest came at age 18 which was the first of over 20 different charges and arrests leading to my incarceration. In 1983, God filled me with the Holy Ghost and changed my life. I have been involved in prison ministry since 1992, and a licensed minister since 1999. In the past four years, I’ve seen over 1,100 people receive all or part of the Acts 2:38 experience!

Rev. Gerardo (Jerry) Menchaca, Southern California District Chaplain, CPF

Six months after facing a charge of first-degree murder which would result in my death in the electric chair, my charge was reduced to second degree murder, with a sentence of life in prison without parole. Kneeling at my prison bedside, I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.

After spending twenty-two years in prison, my sentence was commuted from life without parole to sixty years, and after spending twenty-eight years in prison, God miraculously opened the door for my release. I’ve been out of prison for eight years, and I am now a licensed minister and full-time evangelist with the United Pentecostal Church. I serve as an assistant to my pastor. At the request of our District Attorney, I regularly speak to juveniles sentenced by the courts, and share my testimony in schools and prisons.