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Hi, My name is Richard Valerio. I am 43 years old. I am an evangelist, but though I grew up in church, and knew about Jesus, I didn’t know Him personally.

I spent my childhood watching everybody spend money they didn’t have, to buy things they didn’t need, to impress people they did not like. Then I got into the martial arts to try to be somebody. I knew that to really be somebody, I would have to win a world title. It took about 2 years, but in 1987 I made it! I was sitting on top of the world for a few days, but then what? I found out that there has to be more to life.

About two months later, I lost the title and found that my friends were not really my friends. I mean I just wanted someone to talk to, but I had let everybody down, even my parents. No one cared about me. I could say that I gave it my best and that I held a title for a short while. I did learn that there is always someone better than you. I also learned it is really hard to please everybody because the media and my “friends” turned on me in a heartbeat.

By this time I am in High school and now playing football. Again trying to be somebody, but now I’m popular in school because of football. I was sleeping with different girls as a game. My friends would say I had it made because of everything I was doing. I would act like I had it all together, but late at night when no one was around, I would cry myself to sleep, wondering what I was missing in life! I would often think of God, but if serving God meant watching the priest get drunk with the nun, forget it. I can do that at home.

So now I started selling drugs. By this time I have a lot of friends, but only when I had drugs or money, or my car, which was my God. I mean to tell you that you could hear me coming about four blocks away. I did not have a back seat at all, because I had a wall with four 18-inch woofers with the works: $3,500.00 of nothing but sounds. But every time I needed gas money, all of my friends were broke!! And one of my friends liked my sound system so much, he stole it!

I was really surprised to learn that some Tejano singers on their way to a “say no to drugs” rally used drugs. I had been living like this for almost a year, and one of my friends set me up. When I got to jail, I was allowed to make three calls. The responses were as follows: “I don’t know him,” “Will not take the call,” and the last one just hung up the phone. Now I am really praying hard, “God, is there anything out there?” Would you know that my P.R. bond went through!

Out of jail, and looking for a job, I started working at a hotel where my hours were from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm. Day after day at 6:00 am, there is this one guy telling me that Jesus loves me just the way I am. So I started to cuss him out in English and in Spanish. But I knew there was something different about him, because he would not look at the other girls, and he was always happy. As I would cry myself to sleep, I would say, “God If what this man is telling me is true, show me and I will give my life to you.”

God would use this guy to tell me things that nobody knew except God and me. So, one morning at 6:00 am, I prayed a simple prayer and trusted Jesus to save me. I didn’t have to stand in front of everybody and tell them how messed up I was. The best part is, God took me just the way I was. I HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN!! I’m not saying that I don’t have problems, but life is a lot easier when God is on your side!

I really want to thank God because I could have gotten killed selling drugs, and nobody would have cared. Or, I could have died from AIDS by sleeping around, or I could have been in the pen right now. As you can see, I have a lot to be thankful for!

I am now in my right mind, and God has blessed me with a good Job. I have a loving wife, and just the fact that someone else loves me for me, because she knew I was not rich, was a blessing. But wait, it gets better: we have two daughters and one son. Is God awesome or what?

Now for the best news you will ever hear: I am not someone special; God wants to do the same in YOUR life! “How,” you ask? Good question. Call out to Him now and ask His forgiveness for your sins. Don’t just be sorry and go do them again. Turn to God and put your trust in Jesus Christ, who died for your sins and rose again. Turn your life over to God. You’ll never be sorry!

God has promised to save everyone who calls out to Him. Put your trust in Him today and ask Him to save you. You might pray something like this:

Dear God, I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed his precious blood and died for my sins. I am willing to turn from sin. I now invite Christ to come into my heart and life as my personal saviour.

If you trusted Jesus as your saviour you have just begun a wonderful new life with Him. Here are some things you should do next:

1. Read your Bible every day to get to know Jesus Christ better.

2. Talk to God in prayer every day.

3. Worship, fellowship, and serve with other Christians in a church where Christ is preached and the Bible is the final authority.

4. Tell others about Jesus Christ.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

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