Wayne's Testimony of Salvation through Jesus Christ
Music was a part of my life since the 8th grade, but I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was 20, and it was the most powerful thing that ever has or ever will happen to me.I grew up in the hills of West Virginia in a one-streetlight town. I started playing in a band when I was 16, and the bass player's mother would go with us to night clubs so we could legally get in. My teenage life was filled with the joys and sorrows of a busy regional band, playing at clubs and schools almost every weekend. We had lots of good equipment, a tight sound, and a busy schedule. I was engulfed in every aspect of worldly sin, thinking that this was what life was all about - wine, women, and music.
I soon realized God had his hand on my life. I suffered many consequences of my lifestyle, and I'm thankful to this day that God spared my life through it all. I was threatened for my life several times by jealous drunks, watched a jealous drunk shoot at a nightclub door with his deer rifle, watched my best friend get his face stomped on by a drunk & angry bunch of locals, walked into a club the next morning after a gig to find the whole setup purposely torched and burned to a crisp, watched our lead singer get jumped and beaten to a pulp by gang of Moose Lodge men because he stood on a table during a song, stopped a close friend from jumping out of an 8 story hotel window because he was so high on acid he didn't know which way was down, and the list goes on.
The Rubber Meets The Road
I had been in electronics school for 2 years when I took another evening job at a Mining Service company. On the first night, my supervisor showed me where everything was, and told me to start cleaning some mining telephone cases. I hadn't met any of the coworkers yet, and I grabbed my first case, went off to a corner, and started cleaning. A man walked up and stood over me and said: "Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?". I responded: "Hey, this is my first night on the job, I don't know much of anything yet". That evening at dinner break, God used Ross to change my life and destiny forever. Ross witnessed God's plan of salvation to me, and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He washed all my sins away, gave me true hope, and allowed Ross to share His word through the Holy Bible.
Can U Say 'Discipler'?
Ross took me home to visit with his godly family often, and they nurtured my walk with the Lord often. They showed unconditional love and kindness, encouraging me to use my talents for the kingdom of God. I moved to Virginia Beach 2 years later, and strangely enough God put another man and his family in my life from the church I had joined there. Bill was the same exact way, showing more genuine love from God than I had ever experienced in a thousand night clubs. I went to his home often, eating and sharing with his family, and then they up and moved to Houston. About a month later I got a newspaper from them and a letter asking me to come down to Texas where jobs were plenty. God opened a door for me and I took a job at the Johnson Space Center. Little did I know that God's will was being done in a mighty way.
Bill started a small church as pastor, I met my precious wife Laurie, and together we started ministering in praise and worship - me on the keyboard and Laurie singing. Since then God has put so many precious people in our lives, encouraging us to minister His gospel. We met many special Christians like Jackie Valasquez's parents David and Diana (we taught Jackie in Sunday school as a small child!), ministered at various places in the Houston area with the band "Freedom", moved to Arlington, formed the band "Ecclesia", later joined ADVENT, ministered at various places like: Arlington stadium with Texas Rangers' players and 3,000 kids at a baseball camp, a juvenile center where the spirit of bondage was so thick you could cut it with a knife, at parks, parking lots, halfway houses, prisons, backyards, block parties, schools, colleges, convention centers, Six Flags, Wet n Wild, and many more I could list. The important thing is God's word was put forth in all of them.
For 17 years God has given us the privilege to be ministers of music in churches and with various Christian bands. We are so thankful that God has allowed us to be used of him to see thousands of people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ - and somehow I've got a feeling He's got more in store...