When I was a little boy, I was curious about the things of God. I did not understand everything, but something within me wanted to know who God was and why Jesus mattered.

One day, while riding with my father, I asked him a simple question:

“Who is Jesus?”

My dad pulled the car over.

He did not give me a religious speech or tell me that I needed to become a better person. He opened the Bible and told me who Jesus was, why He came, and what He had done.

Jesus came because humanity could not save itself. Sin had separated us from God, and no amount of goodness, religion, or human effort could repair what had been broken. But Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, came to finish the work of salvation for us. He died in our place, was buried, and rose again, overcoming sin and death.

Salvation was not something I had to earn.

It was a gift I could receive.

I wanted that gift for myself.

My father helped me speak to God. As simply and sincerely as a little boy could, I declared my faith that Jesus had come for me. He had taken my sins upon Himself so that I could be forgiven, set free, and brought into fellowship with God.

The Bible says:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Romans 10:9, KJV

That day, I received Jesus Christ as my Saviour. I was not trusting in a prayer, my father, or my own goodness. I was trusting the promise of God and the finished work of Christ.

I was only a child, but I had found the greatest treasure a soul can possess: peace with God through Jesus Christ.

Something began to burn within me. I wanted other people to know what I had discovered.

I remember sharing my faith with friends. On one occasion, I went by myself from business to business, asking people if they believed in Jesus. I did not know how to answer every question. I did not have years of training or experience.

I was simply a little boy who believed that Jesus was real, salvation was free, and everyone needed to know.

But as I grew older, other voices began competing for my attention.

During my teenage years, the cares of this world slowly captured my attention. My heart began to drift from God.

The change did not happen all at once. Distance rarely announces itself. It grows quietly as fellowship is neglected, other desires become stronger, and the voice of God is buried beneath the noise of life.

As my heart wandered, doubts began to settle over my assurance of salvation.

Had I truly believed?

Was I really saved?

What if I had misunderstood everything as a child?

When I was fifteen, my father suffered a heart attack that nearly took his life. Suddenly, eternity was no longer a distant subject. Death had come close enough for me to feel its breath.

I began thinking deeply about my relationship with God, but pride kept me from honestly facing my doubts. I tried to push them down, but they would not remain silent.

Then I began dreaming about hell.

Night after night, I would awaken in terror. The thought of eternal darkness, eternal torment, and eternal separation from God overwhelmed me. There would be no escape, no second opportunity, and no morning after the night.

Finally, when I was sixteen, I could run no longer.

I was alone in our living room when I finally decided to face God with my doubts.

I cried out to Him. At first, I went through the plan of salvation and declared each truth as it came to my mind. Every time I would confess a truth God kept directing my thoughts back to that moment when I was a little boy. He reminded me of the day I had heard the gospel and trusted Christ.

I knew I had believed.

So I asked God another question.

“Why, then, am I filled with doubt? Why have I been dreaming about hell? What do You want from me?”

I wept until I had exhausted my words and tears.

Then, in the stillness, the Spirit of God gently pressed one word upon my heart:

“Surrender.”

I understood.

God was not showing me that Christ’s work had failed. He was confronting the direction of my life. I had received Jesus as my Saviour, but I was drifting away from His heart. My doubts had driven me back to the foundation of my salvation, but God was now calling me forward into a life fully yielded to Him.

That night, I surrendered.

I did not know where God would send me or what obedience would cost. I simply placed my life into His hands.

Soon, God began stirring my heart to reach the world with the gospel.

I had no idea how literally He would fulfill that calling.

After high school, I attended Bible college to prepare for ministry. But after my first semester, I was financially withdrawn. I could not return until my debt was paid.

I came home discouraged and uncertain about what to do next.

At that time, an Army recruiter attended our church. He encouraged me to consider military service as a way to pay my debt and provide for my future education. After seeking wise counsel, I believed this might be the path God had provided.

I still had to choose a job.

At first, I considered becoming a chaplain’s assistant. If I wanted to influence soldiers for Christ, serving in a chapel seemed like the natural choice.

But then another thought took hold of me.

If I wanted to reach soldiers, perhaps I should go where soldiers faced their greatest fears. Perhaps I could have a greater influence on the front lines than inside a chapel.

A friend from high school had joined the Rangers. I barely understood who the Rangers were, but I asked my recruiter if there was a job that would place me on the front lines.

Soon, I signed a Ranger contract.

I entered the Army in February 2001. After training, I was given a choice between continuing toward the Rangers or joining the 82nd Airborne Division. A drill sergeant advised me to choose the 82nd, explaining that I would have more opportunities and could still attend Ranger School later.

So I chose the 82nd Airborne.

Then September 11 came.

The Twin Towers fell. America went to war. Before long, I was deployed to Afghanistan and then Iraq.

The frightened teenager who had once awakened from dreams of hell was now carrying a weapon into some of the most dangerous places in the world.

But God was doing something deeper than I could see.

During four years of military service, I fought against Muslim extremists. Yet through those experiences, God was opening my eyes to a far greater conflict.

The greatest enemy in the Middle East was not a man carrying a weapon.

It was the spiritual darkness blinding millions of souls to the light of Jesus Christ.

The people of the Middle East did not merely need political freedom or protection from terrorism. They needed to know the God who loved them, the Saviour who died for them, and the truth that could set them free.

The Army taught me endurance, discipline, courage, and the necessity of moving forward when fear demands retreat. God began taking those lessons from the battlefield and turning them toward an eternal mission.

I wanted to serve Christ with the same grit and intensity with which I had served my country.

But this time, the mission was not to take life.

It was to carry the message of eternal life.

In 2006, God gave me a wife who shared that calling. She was willing to go anywhere God sent us and face whatever obedience required.

After the birth of our first child, we went to Bible college. There, God connected me with a missionary family whose ministry had witnessed thousands of Muslims come to Christ.

The burden that had begun on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq was becoming clearer.

God was preparing us for the Middle East.

By the time I completed Bible college, we were a family of seven. In 2018, we began traveling across the United States, raising the financial and prayer support necessary to take our family overseas.

Then, in 2021, the journey became real.

We moved to the Middle East and joined a team of like-minded missionary families who shared the same passion: to see souls liberated from spiritual darkness through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We began learning the language, understanding the culture, sharing the gospel, discipling believers, and helping prepare men to carry the truth farther than we ever could alone.

In 2025, I was asked to pastor a local church.

Today, God is expanding that ministry. Our burden is to train men, strengthen believers, and help establish churches throughout the Middle East.

When I look back, I can see a road I never could have planned.

A little boy asked, “Who is Jesus?”

A father pulled over and opened the Bible.

A teenager wept alone in a living room.

A young soldier went to war.

A husband, wife, and five children crossed an ocean.

And through every chapter, Jesus Christ remained faithful.

My story is not about the courage of a soldier, the sacrifice of a missionary, or the accomplishments of a preacher.

It is about the grace of a Saviour.

Jesus found me when I was a curious little boy. He held me when doubt clouded my heart. He confronted me when I resisted surrender. He protected me through war, guided me through disappointment, gave me a family, and carried us into a land filled with people who desperately need His light.

But the Jesus who came for me also came for you.

Perhaps you are curious about God, as I once was.

Perhaps your heart has drifted, and doubt has quietly taken root.

Perhaps you are trying to become good enough, religious enough, or strong enough to save yourself.

Or perhaps you have never seriously considered what will happen when this life is over.

My story began to change when I discovered that salvation was not something I could achieve. Jesus Christ had already accomplished it.

He came.

He died in the sinner’s place.

He was buried.

He rose again.

And He now offers eternal life as a free gift to everyone who will trust Him.

I once asked my father, “Who is Jesus?”

Now I would like to help you discover the answer.

Because the next story His grace transforms could be yours.