Hi Phil,
What else can you say then, "praise God."
Vinny
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 11:12 PM
Subject: Yet Another Testimony


>      Another testimony was shared last Friday night by a new comer
> to our group.  His name is Mark Ortiz.  Mark is Spanish, that is,
> he was born here and not in Mexico.  Mark is 39 years old,
> married, and has two little girls.  Sixteen years ago, he was not
> only a drug addict, but he had worked out a smuggling routine with
> the Mexican Mafia.  this group is known as M13 now and they are
> very very dangerous people.
>
>      Mark was on a seven day crack cocaine binge.  At the end of
> the week, he decided his life was worthless and wasn't worth
> living.  He loaded his hand gun with six hollow point bullets and
> pressed the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.  The hammer
> fell but nothing happened.  For some reason, he walked to the
> television set in his room and turned it on.  A Christian show was
> just closing and he saw and heard the preachers last words before
> the program went off the air.  "Jesus can meet your need wherever
> you are at any time."  Mark turned off the TV and said, "Lord, if
> you are real and if you can rescue me like the man said, you can
> have my life."  suddenly, a bright figure stood in the room.  Mark
> was shaking but Jesus touched him physically and said how much He
> loved Mark and that He had heard his prayer.  The figure
> disappeared and Mark said something indescribable suddenly changed
> inside of him.
>
>      As Mark thought about all this, a dark figure walked into the
> room, sat down in a nearby chair, and struck up a cigarette.
> Satan said, "I told you, when you were a little boy, your life
> belonged to me.  So you won't get out of this."  Mark told him to
> get out of his room because he belong to Jesus now because Jesus
> said so.  Mark was shaking and pleading for the blood of Jesus to
> protect him.  The dark figure left through the door.
>
>      Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.  Mark opened it and
> it was a drug friend.  "I came over to get high, man," he said.
> Mark told us that the Mexican mafia often just gave them extra
> drugs to sell for themselves, or to use for themselves, so he had
> an apartment full of dope.  He invited the man in but before they
> could do anything, there came another knock at the door.  Mark
> opened it and to his surprise, it was his mother.  She was not a
> Christian at this time.  She is now.  Mark asked her what she was
> doing over at his house this late at night.  She said, "I heard a
> voice a few minutes ago tell me that if I didn't get over to your
> apartment to see you right away, I would never see you again.  So
> what is going on."  Mark said, "Mom, I just tried to kill myself,"
> he was still holding the gun, "but it wouldn't fire."  He told her
> he had just asked Jesus to be his Lord and Savior.  The other man
> in the room said, "Hey, I came to get high."  Mark said, "Get out,
> man.  I don't do dope any more."  The guy said, "I ain't leaving
> until I get high."  Mark pointed the loaded gun at the man and
> said, "Get out now."  He left.  His mom about had a heart attack
> when her son pointed the gun at his friend.  Mark said, "Mom, you
> don't understand.  That's the only way you can deal with those
> types of people."
>
>      No sooner had his mom left to go home, than Mark heard the
> squealing of tires.  Worried his mom had just gotten into a wreck,
> he looked out the window and down on the street.  His sister, who
> he guaranteed us, was the meanest Mexican woman in Denver, came
> screaming down the street in her sports car, slammed on the
> breaks, bumped over the curb into the grass in front of the
> apartment building, threw open her car door, and came pounding up
> the steps to his apartment.  She literally, he said, kicked open
> his door and stomped into the room.  "What is going on up here?"
> she demanded.  Mark said, "What do you mean?"  She said, "A few
> moments ago, I heard this voice in my head say, Get right over to
> see your brother or you will never see him again.  So what is
> going on?" she demanded again.  Mark told her the story.  All of
> Mark's family is saved now.
>
>      There is a lot more detail to this story he told us but next
> time I will record it because we are going to have Mark and Troy
> tell their stories again.
>
> Phil.
>