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Luis
Carrera, 45, is founder and executive director of |
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EVANGEL:
You started using illegal drugs and alcohol as a child? |
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CARRERA: I
grew up in a poor neighborhood in lower |
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When I was
9 years old I was sexually abused in one of the buildings. I felt ashamed and
humiliated and thought I couldn’t tell anyone about the attack so I started
looking for a way out and found it, at least temporarily, by smoking
marijuana. |
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EVANGEL:
What other changes occurred in your life? |
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CARRERA:
My mother used to take me to church, but after I was abused I stopped going because
I blamed God for what happened. I used to say, "If God were really the
God of love and mercy, why did He allow that to happen to me?" |
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EVANGEL:
Was marijuana your drug of choice? |
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CARRERA: For
a while, but I eventually shot heroin for the first time when I was 11 years
old. That high lasted a long time and seemed to take away the pain, hatred
and anger I felt. As my drug abuse escalated I started stealing and was
arrested when I was 13 for stealing a car. |
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EVANGEL:
What was it like being jailed for the first time? |
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CARRERA: I
was petrified. The only thing I knew about prison life was what I had seen on
television. I kept to myself while I was incarcerated, but when I returned to
the neighborhood there was an unexpected surprise waiting for me. All the
neighborhood kids hailed me as a tough guy. |
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In a
strange way I felt like I got some of my manhood back because I had gone to jail
and survived. I decided that if I couldn’t be a man in a good way then I was
going to be a man in a bad way. |
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EVANGEL:
Besides trying to forget your abuse, why were drugs so appealing to you? |
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CARRERA:
At the time, drugs were cheap — I could buy a $2 bag of heroin with my lunch
money. It seemed everyone was getting high. I’d go to a local park and see
college students and middle-class men and women getting high, so I figured
there couldn’t be anything wrong with it. |
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EVANGEL: Did
you ever realize the drugs were leading you down a dangerous path to either
the grave or prison? |
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CARRERA: I
didn’t care. As long as I could stay high I didn’t have to deal with the
torment I felt inside of me. I worried constantly that the guys who abused me
would tell people in the neighborhood and I would be labeled a homosexual. I
was always trying to prove to myself and others that I was a man and if that
meant I had to do drugs, commit crimes and go to jail, I was willing to do
it. |
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EVANGEL:
You were sentenced to the state penitentiary for three to five years when you
were 18. What were some of the realities in prison? |
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CARRERA:
One day as I walked in a tunnel the prisoners called |
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EVANGEL:
What did you do to survive? |
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CARRERA: I
didn’t talk to anyone. I would come out of my cell and sit in front of it and
not say a word. Eventually, everyone just thought I was crazy, which is what
I wanted, so no one would bother me. |
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EVANGEL:
Did you ever call out to God? |
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CARRERA: I
had a Christian friend who always talked to me about the Lord. Many times he
would come to visit me. Each time he’d bring the book The Cross and the
Switchblade and tell me that if God could change Nicky Cruz He could change
me. Though I didn’t want to hear it and wanted nothing to do with God, my
friend’s words always came to mind. |
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EVANGEL:
How did you come to trust Christ as your Savior? |
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CARRERA:
While in the Manhattan House of Detention I worked in the infirmary. There, I
met a man who held Bible studies for prisoners. He always talked to me about
the Lord and told me I needed to attend his church when I was released. I had
no intention of going, but after getting out of prison I almost got hit by a
car. The driver got out and to my surprise it was the nurse from the
infirmary. He took me to church the next Sunday. |
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EVANGEL:
Did you commit your life to Christ at church? |
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CARRERA:
No, I didn’t think God could change or love me because of all the things I
had done and been through. But I met my mom’s pastor and he talked to me in a
way no one ever had. The love and grace of God seemed to emanate from him.
After meeting with him several times I felt convicted that there was a God
who loved me and wanted to reach out and touch me. |
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My mom’s
pastor told us about Youth Challenge [a program similar to Teen Challenge]
and said if I wanted to change I had to give God a chance. As we drove to the
center [which is located in |
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I went
into a classroom where men were studying Teen Challenge curriculum and
reading their Bibles. One of the counselors came over to me and said,
"Luis are you ready to allow God to change your
life?" |
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I started
crying and shaking and fell to the floor calling out to God. I asked Him to
forgive me. The more I cried and asked for forgiveness, the weaker I became.
When I got up I knew I had changed. The weight of the world had left me, but
the junkie in me wanted that feeling again. But drugs never gave me the
feeling I felt that day and I realized Christ was what I had been looking for
all along. |
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EVANGEL:
How did you kick your habits? |
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CARRERA: I
cried out to God and asked Him to deliver me from drugs. My prayers were
always, "God, I don’t ever want to go back to putting a needle in my
arm." The Lord said, "As long as you serve Me, you will never go
back to using drugs again." |
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EVANGEL:
How did you find peace from the abuse you suffered? |
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CARRERA:
While in the program I was asked to share my testimony at a youth prison. The
Holy Spirit told me that it was time to share what had happened in that
abandoned building. I shared with the teenagers the story of my abuse and
that the devil destroyed my life because I never reached out for help. Many
of the teenagers came forward for prayer. The Holy Spirit told me my
testimony would help others, and that if I shared it others would be spared
from going through what I went through. |
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From: http://www.pentecostalevangel.ag.org/ |