A Restored Life

This summer, we sent a church plant team from Fresno to the Evangel School of Church Planting at the Oaks. The team leader was Jacob, a radically committed Jesus-loving evangelist. His story is an incredible testimony of God’s grace. His father was an alcoholic and his parents’ divorce brought him “shame, hurt, and embarrassment.” At fourteen, Jacob was already experimenting with alcohol and drugs. Two years later, Jacob found his dad dead of an overdose and his life went into a 15-year spiral. 

“I put the pedal to the metal, running from my pain,” Jacob laments. He became part of a white supremacist gang called, “Peckerwoods,” or “Woods” for short. He lived the life of a drug dealer and thief to support his addictions. Eventually the chaotic life of crime and drugs caught up to him and he was convicted of 13 felony crimes, including 4 felony accounts of grand theft auto. 

God’s fierce mercy reached him in prison. Totally broken, he fell to his knees beside his bunk and surrendered to Jesus, crying, “I can’t do it anymore!” After yielding his life to Jesus, Jacob had insatiable desire for the Word of God. In his zeal, he even started a Bible study with a group of “Woods.” By the grace of God, Jacob was offered an alternative sentence at the Salvation Army after just six months in jail. This is where he joyfully grew in his faith while continuing to recover from his addictions.

In the program, Jacob’s gifts of leadership and evangelism developed as he organized a group of guys to go witness to the homeless. “If God could do this for me I know he could do it for anyone,” he said. He recognizes that this intense discipleship was essential in helping him to restore his life. Jacob thanks God that he is now six years clean, sober and following Jesus.

He looked to get training to pursue a call to ministry but the schools were impossibly expensive and he didn’t have the educational background they required. A mutual friend introduced him to me at World Impact, and for the last three years Jacob has been taking classes with The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI). “TUMI is giving me the training to be a leader that I was not able to get anywhere else.”

Jacob started a ministry called Soldiers 4 Christ; the vision is to start a men’s discipleship home in Sanger and spin off house churches. Jerry Whitney, our Fresno TUMI site coordinator (also a TUMI grad) had opportunity to coach Jacob and his team through Evangel. Jacob reflected on how helpful the three-day conference was in getting their vision on paper.  I am thankful to play my part on his advisory committee and to mentor him in TUMI. Jacob and his team planned a soft launch this fall. The goals of his ministry are to train disciples to disciple others, restore broken family relationships, help members find employment, and start house churches. Please pray for Jacob and his team!

Read more about our Evangel Schools.