War Cry - August, 2015 Page 46

hen

I was about five years old,

my family moved to Wilmington,

California, where I lived until I was

about 15. It was a rough childhood. There was
abuse, violence and the challenges of grow-
ing up in a gang-infested environment. I was
exposed to most of the emotional trauma
that those experiences produce. At 14, I was
expelled from the entire Los Angeles Unified
School district. By sheer grace, a judge allowed
me to move to Phoenix, Arizona--under strict
probation until I turned 18.

I moved to Phoenix because I had tracked down

my estranged biological father and he was living
there. When I arrived, my father decided we all
needed to attend church as a family, so
he forced me to attend a small church
almost every day of the week. I was
very reluctant and argued about going,
but my father remained insistent.

The church had an active youth group. The

members seemed very happy I was there. They
made me feel welcome, like part of the group, even
though I did not know God the way they did. They
would call and invite me to events throughout
the week, like going to the park and Bible studies.
Pretty soon I was hanging out with this youth group
on a daily basis. The youth leader, Mario Ruiz (who
later also became an officer) was the pastor's son,
and he would offer to pick me up and drop me off
every time there was an event.

After hanging out with the youth group a few

times, I started wondering about their excitement
toward God and their ability to pray to God and
read the Bible so fluently and understand it. I grew
curious about what it meant to know God and how
that was even possible.

Every church service would end
with an altar call. After about

a month I started going up to
the altar every service. I would
pray for God to meet with me
and prove that He was real.

After three months of this,

one night God revealed

Himself to me. It was the
first time I experienced
peace. I had lived in
my childhood storm
for so long that I
didn't know there was
anything outside of it. On this night Jesus spoke
into my heart and told the storm to be still. This
introduced hope, joy and a life I didn't realize was
possible for me. I knew that I was changed forever.

A year or so later, I received a call to ministry. I

was told I would spread the gospel and my job was
to share it regardless of the outcome. I knew the call
was to full�time ministry, but I tried to fulfill it by

chasing a career in business
administration, attempting
to answer the call halfway
by writing checks and help-
ing in ministry when I was

able. I was successful in business but miserable in
my heart. I knew I wasn't doing what I was made
to do. I tried as hard as I could to straddle the fence
of keeping my job, income and freedom while being
involved in ministry, but God required nothing less
than total surrender. I finally accepted the call to
fulltime ministry through officership.

In my role as an officer, my wife and I hand the

reigns over to God and say, "Where you send us

we will go, what you task us with we will do." It is
ironic that in our total surrender we have felt the
most freedom to do what we were created to do.

We have just reached the starting line; the real

adventure begins today.

Hector Acosta was commissioned as a Salvation Army

officer in June.

Cadet

Testimonies

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

I Was Made
For This

LIEUTENANT HECTOR ACOSTA

The War Cry | AUGUST 2015

I would pray for God to

prove that He was real.