War Cry - August, 2014 Page 42

he searing memory of that desperate
time in my live is still fresh, even though
seven years have passed.

I considered

killing myself because I could no longer deal with
the painful consequences of sin. My desperation
stemmed from the false dream I had about coming
to the United States from Mexico. I dreamt of hav-
ing every material thing that I didn't have before
arriving here. As I set about acquir-
ing the things I wanted, a surprising
thing happened. They did not make
me happy. These "things" never filled
my emptiness. Instead, ambition de-
stroyed my life.

When I woke up from my dream

I was in a dirty apartment. I was
separated from my wife and daugh-
ter. My apartment was full of empty
bottles of alcohol. Discarded packs

of cigarettes circled my bed. I didn't
have a job or food to eat. While I was
out walking one night, I decided to
kill myself. I stopped, looked up to

God and cried out, "If you are real, please help
me." At that moment the desire to take my life
vanished, and my heart was filled with peace.
The next morning someone knocked on my door
and told me that God loves me. I didn't know
this person. She shared with me God's Word from
the gospel of John and invited me to her church.

I knew that this was an answer to my prayer

to God.

As time went by, God began to fix things in my

life. I found a good job. I was not angry anymore.

And, best of all, my wife and daughter returned

to me. I promised God to serve Him because He
made me new. I began to attend a Hispanic Baptist
church while my wife continued to attend The Sal-
vation Army with her mother.

One morning while I waited for my wife in my car

outside the Salvation Army corps, a big guy with
tattoos and in uniform knocked on my car window
and invited me to come to his church. Captain Jim,
the pastor, did this every time I came to pick up my

wife. Most of the time I tried to avoid him, but one
day I agreed to go inside to worship with them. Ev-

eryone was welcoming, even though I was the only

Hispanic in the congregation.

By that time, I felt that God had a

different plan for me. I told my wife
that God was calling me to serve Him,
but she didn't believe me. Then when
we attended the commissioning of
Salvation Army cadets in 2010, the
call for candidates for officership went
out. My wife stood up and told me,

"God is calling me, too." We made the

commitment to serve God through

The Salvation Army.

I was nervous when we

started at the College for

Officer Training. English is
my second language, and
I had not attended school

for many years. But I knew

God would help me. Since
my first day I knew that

my officer teachers had the same mission in their
hearts that God put in my heart: to preach the Gos-
pel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His
name without discrimination. I know that God is
the only one who rescues me from extreme degra-
dation in sin. Like the psalmist, I can say "O Lord
my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me

(Psalm 30:2).

Lieutenant Lopez was commissioned as a Salvation Army

officer in the Central Territory and ordained as a minister of
the gospel in June.

Cadet

Testimonies

............

Saved From A Bad Dream

LIEUTENANT CRISTIAN J. LOPEZ

The War Cry | AUGUST 2014