John was very young when he was saved. He doesn't really remember his conversion experience very well. Instead, he shared something else that he thought was appropriate.
It all started one evening when he was watching television and saw a commercial for a computer college. He told his wife that he wanted to be a programmer and leave the car fixing business. He added that he was tired of being persecuted for his faith. See, his co-workers used to ban together and leave pornographic cutouts on his family photos, in his toolboxes, and in his locker. He also recalls their purchasing donuts by the dozen and throwing them at him. He recalled that it seemed to happen almost daily.
Anyway, he thought that life would be much better if he could get away from all that and start doing something that he really liked. So his wife took it upon herself to place a call to the college and surprise him with an appointment with their enrollment staff. They picked a career path together and John was on his way.
The next 20 or so months were very difficult. John had to hold down his current mechanics job, go to school full time, and he and his wife were blessed with their first born son all at the same time!
Laughing to himself, John recalled that he wasn’t all that great in school – auto mechanic, Duh! But he was determined, and God blessed him once again with time and the ability to understand logic. He aced every class and graduated Suma Cum Laude and class valedictorian with a 4.0GPA. The dean of the college even wrote a letter of recommendation personally. John gives all the credit to God. He seems to know something more than he lets on, but good luck figuring out what that is.
Once John graduated, he started his job search. He had only a few interviews, it seemed that no one was interested in hiring him; until he got to an interview with an insurance company in Annapolis. It wasn’t the dream job of game programming that he wanted, but it would pay the bills and enable him to work closer to home and get away from the persecution he hated so much. All the while God was working out his plan and John didn’t even know it.
After a year with the insurance company, John got a call from a technology firm that was interested in him. He interviewed and got a job in Columbia MD. God was using John in Gamers4Christ and John had learned all about networking in his time at the insurance company. He said “You know, you never know why God puts you through something until you can see the fruit it produces on the other side. God allowed me to be persecuted at the auto garage to remind me that I am his servant and that I will not be treated any better than he was. God equipped me for ministry at the insurance company. God is using me now. He never gave up on me, he just needed to mold me into something he could use first. That's not something you see until you pass through the fire.”
Several years later John is still at Gamers 4 Christ doing what he loves to do – showing God’s love to a fragged generation.