A few weeks ago, a man named Victor Marx visited our church, and his story blew me away. Victor is a master of martial arts, a former U.S. Marine, and he has trained over 30 world and national martial art champions in addition to United States Special forces. He did an awesome karate demonstration on stage and made some moves that seemed impossible. But, more importantly, his testimony was incredible.
You see Victor grew up enduring so much abuse, neglect, rejection and pain that it will make most of us thank God for our parents, even though they were not perfect. What's even more incredible is how God got ahold of this man, healed his damaged, wounded heart, and turned his life around so that you wouldn't recognize him today from the boy of his past.
And now Victor is the head of a wonderful ministry called All Things Possible ministries and he and his wife visit youth in prison. Not just the mild cases, but the kids who have murdered and raped and done more horrible things by the time they hit their teens than most of us could imagine. Some of the stories of how God used Victor to reach these lost young people and give them the love and hope they've been searching for their whole life will change the way you see the love of God.
Victor has written a book containing his life story. It's called With God, all things are possible. He hands this books out for free to kids in prision and he's seeing dramatic results as they read the tale of a boy who suffered many of the same things they have, but who stands before them transformed and full of hope. I purchased 2 copies of it from him at our church and read through the book in just a couple of nights.
If you know a young person struggling with the lure of this world, or some kid who's had a rough childhood and suffered abuse or neglect, I highly recommend this book. I'm giving away one of my copies here on this blog. Just leave me a comment and tell me what you intend to do with the book. (And remember to leave me your email. I'll draw a name next Saturday, the 14th)
And here's a link to Victor's website. I encourage you to check it out: http://www.atpministries.org/index.html
We had our 12-year-old daughter read this book so she would get a glimpse into life that is so foreign to her. She made a big display of not wanting to read it, but eventually read it in one sitting.
ReplyDeleteAnd she loved it.
She even corresponded with Victor by email and he was incredibly encouraging and generous.
This book can inspire kids even before they might be tempted to get into trouble. It's that good!
This sounds like a great book to send to my brother. He is now 25 years old and has spent a lot of time in the last 12 years or so in and out of rehab, juvenile hall and jail. He professed to be saved while in prison about 7 or 8 years ago and with no discipleship quickly reverted back to his rough life on the streets. He now has a child to take care of and from what I have heard he is dealing drugs again and doesn't actually have a place to live, just wherever he finds to rest his head that night. He has cut off all contact with my parents, but my mom has limited contact with a friend of his. There are currently 2 warrants out for his arrest. Its a very sad story and my family is not saved and he doesn't have anyone to turn to. They are in PA and I'm in GA, so there isn't much I can do.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. I love to hear about stories where God has saved people from similar situations and is using them immensely. I know my brother could have an amazing ministry with youth if he just knew how to and worked on getting out of his current lifestyle.
sweetpea.hull@gmail.com
Kris, thanks for sharing that about your daughter. I agree that all young people should read this book. Maybe it will help Keep them out of trouble beforehand.
ReplyDeleteJulianna, I'll pray for your brother. His story is not so uncommon these days. Don't give up. Keep praying for Him. We serve a mighty God!
I would love to read this and share it with a couple of teen's i know.
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