Testimony page

Stephen J. Oravec

20 May 2010

Lately, I have caught myself stuck in my mind worrying in this busy life of school, work, and play. A friend of mine who knew me a couple years ago asked me to share a little bit about the power of god that has manifested into the life I now live today. If you would see me today you would probably see your averaged stressed out nursing student, with a fifty pound back pack, laptop on my side, and dreams of graduating and having the “American Dream”: a house, a beautiful wife and family, and of course my toys. Today, I really have nothing to complain about. I am in school, have a great little truck, some cool toys, my health, youth on my side, and support from my friends and family. I have hobbies to enjoy and a bright future in front of me. I really have a lot to be thankful for. My friend, even though, seeing my life today can remember a much different time.

You see let’s take a little trip about four years back. It was the beginning of 2004 I was released from the Arizona Department of Corrections. For the past two and a half years I had sit behind prison walls. My young and lost mind during these early years was influenced by the false glamour of drugs, violence, and ultimately power. I had not yet known the power, love, or acceptance of Christ and found myself trying to find this love and peace in so many other places. I tried to find it in gangs, relationships and drugs. Upon release from prison, I found myself homeless and addicted to crystal meth. I somehow by God’s grace made it off parole but it was a matter of weeks before I lost the apartment the state set me up with and found myself again running the streets and intravenously using methamphetamine. My drug use spun my life into a life of lust and complete separation from my family and resources. To make a long story short, my addiction took me into many half way houses and homeless shelters until one day my body and mind could no longer take it. I still remember it to this day, I was kicked out of the last halfway house in the city, no place would take me in, I had a kidney infection that was untreated and was now in my blood. I remember to this day walking down a hot street in Arizona, kicked out of another half way house, dragging a hamper with my urine stained clothes in them because I had lost control of my bladder now at this point and was very sick. I just wanted rest, love, and peace in my life. I remember the feeling of hopelessness, of wanting so bad to live the life I had always dreamed to live, working and living as a father and a medical professional. I had always wanted to help people and serve in the medical community and it was my dream. It was the reason I wanted to be alive. This seemed completely unattainable now and the first thought entered my head said “Why don’t you just kill yourself? You have no place here. Nobody cares about you or loves you. You’re a felon now and will never work in the medical profession. Plus, where ever you’re going has to be better then here.” I remember thinking “Yea that sounds good this world is not for me” and in a zombie state of mind I was now walking to the freeway overpass to jump off and end my life. For some reason I looked up and there was a cross on top of a church and my own first thought was “Yea right, I have tried everything else to change like God will work.” And then I heard his voice tell me inside “Yes, you have tried everything else. Now try me.” I stopped dead in my tracks and it hit me like a ton of bricks. “Stephen, you are about to kill yourself”. God then showed me a clip in my head of my dead body on the freeway, my dirty clothes spread all over the over pass and the uncontrollable horrific sobbing of my mother. I broke down at that moment and collapsed to the ground. I looked up and said “Father if you are really up there and you can really help me, please help me.” And with those words my life began to change, miraculously, by the power of a living God.

The next thing I knew, I wandered into this church and called a suicide prevention hotline. The crisis team responded and asked me “Where do you want us to take you?” I then remembered like a video clip again being in the county jail and a pastor came in to do services and said “If you guy’s ever need a place to come and you want to get closer to the Lord we have a mission.” Just like that I asked the crisis team to take me to Church on the Street, Phoenix. I was checked into the mission that night and that same night a visiting pastor came to preach. The message was on casting off your garment and coming to Jesus. I still remember that charismatic preacher, preaching on stage with so much emotion. He, in his preaching, grabbed his own jacket and threw it off and preached about running to Jesus to get healed. It was at that moment the Holy Spirit whispered in my ear, “Cast off your addiction and come to me.” It was that night I came to the altar, and asked (begged) Jesus Christ to be my lord and savior and change my life. Over the next couple of years, God had healed my mind, body, and spirit, while at the same time working out a nasty addiction. It was about three years ago I came out to El Paso, broken yet not destroyed. You see, I had slipped up and let my addiction take over again; however, I did not give up on God and he did not give up on me. I decided, through God’s own leading, to come out here to El Paso and start my life and walk over again with him. I rededicated my life to God and entered a six month men’s discipleship program and began training to be a minister. Upon graduation, God put it on my spirit to begin college and at the age of twenty six I walked into the counselor’s office and began a new journey. It was right after my first day in college biology that I was set on fire again to pursuit a career as a medical professional. So after two years of hard work in college, I had a 3.97g.p.a., was on the presidents list, a member of the Phi Theta Kappa National Honors Society, and carried honors credits in biology. I had a long battle with the state board of nursing here in Texas to get cleared of my previous conviction to even become an RN and now I find myself here in life. I just finished up with my first semester of nursing school at the University of Texas at El Paso and I have a really cool little life today. I have been set free for over three years now and am now having the life I had always wanted. I am in school for medical as a nurse, my relationship with my family has been restored, and I am now just living a normal healthy life. The only thing I am missing now is that beautiful woman in my life which I know God will bring her soon too. It is crazy to think back now to being in prison, drug addicted, and homeless and on the streets. It all seems like a bad dream now when I look back on it and all I can think of now is how incredible the power of God is and how everything I was created to want and be this whole time was right here with him. I thank the Lord today for what he has done in my life. I know that this same love and wonderful saving and transforming power are available to any who truly seek him. So I want to thank the Lord Jesus, The Father, and The Holy Spirit for everything he has done and for the grace given to us today by the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. God restored everything and has given me a wonderful life. If you too are struggling in your own life I strongly encourage you to stop looking inside or around for the answers and look up. I can be reached at soravec1980@yahoo.com if you ever want to chat or have any questions.

Thank You,

Stephen J. Oravec