Testimony
Ray Segrest,
I was raised in a Christian home. My father was a
circuit pastor for several small churches in west Georgia. I was an extremely
rebellious teen. I was in and out of trouble most of the time. At seventeen I
left home with a duffle bag of my stuff and basically did not look back for
almost twenty years. During that time I did not realize or care that I left a
path of destruction everywhere I went. I was a ruthless participant in several
criminal businesses. I lived a life of self-indulgence, abusing drugs and
alcohol regularly. I was incarcerated several times over the years for my evil
lifestyle. After seven years in the military and three tours in Southeast Asia I
obtained a job in Richmond, VA where two of the businessmen that I worked with
were members of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Association. They loved me in
spite of my life style and would not abandon me. After attending several
meetings with these guys and seeing the miracle that God had done in their lives
and in the lives of other men in the group I surrendered my life to Christ and
His calling. Gradually, over time and by studying, making right choices and
applying God’s word to my life, my walk with Him and my personal relationship
with Him became stronger. In 2005 I became an ordained minister and have been
active in Nursing Home, Prison and Street ministry. I believe that through the
blood of Jesus the Christ my sins are forgiven and that through my belief in his
death and resurrection, for my sake, my future with Him in Heaven is assured. I
believe that as a Born Again member of God’s family, that my purpose here is
to serve my fellow man as Jesus did, and to love God above all and my neighbor
as myself. Scripture says in Romans 5:8 that while I was still in my living in
my own sinful ways, totally disregarding and ignoring Him, He, The Creator of
all things, loved me enough to die a horrible death on the cross, to save me.
