Chad (Adelaide) : Delivered From Addictions

During my last years at school I started going to rave parties and discos. This led to taking social drugs such as alcohol, marijuana, LSD, ecstasy, speed and cocaine. I became even more involved in the drug-taking lifestyle; but I was fast tiring of it…

The drugs affected my health, and I suffered from a back complaint. The ecstasy tablets dehydrated my spinal fluid, and some mornings I had difficulty just bending over to wash my face. I was becoming dependant on drugs, and couldn’t go out socially unless I was under their influence so I realized that there must be a better way to live.

When I was 19, I injured my ankle playing Rugby Union and went to the gym for rehabilitation. My instructor told me about miracles that he had experienced and that I needed to receive the Holy Spirit. I kept thinking about what he’d told me about being ‘born again’ and that there was a way for old things to become new.

I attended my first meeting and saw people who were happy, singing and glad to be in church. I was baptized right under the water. I felt a weight lift from my shoulders and felt extremely clean, I knew that I had made a good decision. Soon after that I prayed for the Holy Spirit and started to speak in a different language. I felt a power go through me and I knew that I was never going to be the same again; I knew I’d been ‘born again’.

I was healed from back pain and the desire for alcohol, drugs and my old music left me, and I saw the vanity of rave parties and discos. The Lord gave me a new way of thinking and a hope that I could share with other people. I never thought that the Lord could change my life in the way that He has.

I am now married and have children of my own that I can parent with confidence because the Bible is my guide in life. The Lord is my foundation and my guide in all my decision-making, and He has blessed me so much.