Kurt's Testimony
I was born in Houston, Texas and grew up with two brothers and two sisters. My parents were very hard working people, and my father was a very strong man that taught us about respect, responsibility, hard work, and to live conservatively. As a child I had it pretty rough for my father was a man of harsh discipline. I remember going to church a few times when I was very young, but religion was not really part of our home.
My Family
At 21 I married my gorgeous wife Mary and together we have two beautiful daughters.
Contrary to my family, Mary came from a strict Catholic background. Desiring to go to church with my wife, I converted to Catholicism. I can remember several of our friends admiring us saying we were the “perfect family.” It is often believed perception is reality, when in fact that is far from the truth.
I became an electrician in 1987, ten years later Mary and I started our own electrical business. We were an average American family trying to succeed in life. I had a lot going for me, a loving family and a successful business. Yet I quickly bought into the lie that the world had something better to offer.
After 16 yrs of marriage I found myself on the other side of the fence separated from my wife, my children, and all the things I had loved and worked for. One morning I arrived at a job site located at a Church. In regards to repairing all the site lighting, everything I could have imagined went wrong, my equipment quit working and my electrician was not performing well.
In the midst of my trouble, I began to question so many things in my life. Suddenly, right then and there, in the middle of a parking lot, God gave me a vision like a movie playing in my head. I saw vividly every secret thing I had ever done, and at the end of that vision I was terrified.
Can you imagine if a computer chip was implanted into your brain and downloaded all the dark secrets that you thought no one knew about? What if that same chip was then inserted into a device and projected on a big screen for all your friends and family to see!?
That is exactly what had happened, God revealed my secret sins and brought them out in the open.
It became a reality that If I was to die at that moment I would be in Hell. Immediately I fled the parking lot and went into an empty classroom where I thought I could be alone. In the past I prayed to God in times of trouble, but I never received any answers. At times I felt conviction about my sinful life, I remember praying in the past feeling sorry for myself, but I always ended up back where I started. This time was different; I felt the presence of God in that room all the way from the parking lot, I could not escape Him. In desperation I got down on my face and wept. I cried out to this God that I had never known. As I was trembling and weeping in His presence, I told Him I was not worthy for Him to hear my voice, I was a hypocrite, in addition I had never followed His ways but mine. As I told God these things I was terrified of his judgment, for in that vision He revealed to me that I was not a good man. I pleaded with Him for mercy and asked Him to forgive me of my sins and change me. At that very moment I went from feeling the judgment of God to a peace that was beyond my understanding. It seemed as if God had reached inside of me and took my troubled heart. I knew without a doubt that I had encountered the living God and that my life would never be the same.
In years leading up to this moment, I had heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ from my brother Rick. As he questioned my beliefs and shared with me the word of God, I eagerly defended myself letting him know I was fine in my Catholic religion. Little did I know, the seed of the gospel that my brother and others had planted came to life that day. I came under conviction of my sins, repented, and put my trust in Jesus Christ. That same day, He restored me to my family, and it is by the grace of God my wife and I have been married now for 30 years. From that day forward Jesus began a work in me, changing me into a new man.
The Lord put a desire in me to watch certain preachers on television, after watching an old Billy Graham Classic I felt compelled to send an offering to his ministry. One week later I received a book called “Knowing Jesus Personally,” it was actually a new testament Bible with a thorough Bible study on a multitude of subjects. I immediately started to read the introduction, which turned out to be a really good Gospel presentation. With perfect clarity I began to understand the Gospel and how
Jesus paid the ultimate price for my sin.
The encounter I had experienced with Jesus Christ changed me for eternity. My wife and children were confused yet curious as they began to see the new man that Christ was transforming me into. Shortly after I was saved we left the Catholic Church, the Lord led me to a local church where my wife and children came to follow Jesus.
Since my encounter with God I am compelled to tell my testimony of how God saved me and how I have come to know Him. Whether at home, work, or at play, the Lord has called me to be a bold witness for Him. I have shared my testimony and the Gospel in people’s homes, and there have been families crying proclaiming that God had sent me there that day. So many things have happened and there are so many stories of how God has used me in ways I could have never imagined.
Shortly after I was saved the Lord led me to a ministry called Living Waters, this ministry produced a television series called “The Way Of The Master,” teaching Christians how to share their faith. I enrolled in their online School Of Biblical Evangelism where God connected me with other local evangelist in Houston. Together we spent about five years in this ministry doing street evangelism and learning how to effectively witness one to one and open air preach.
Next, the Lord led me to minister in Texas prisons where my wife has joined me for the past five years. This ministry is different than ministering on the street, for we have a captive audience while we teach the word of God. We have witnessed God do the miraculous, saving souls, healing many diseases such as heart problems, back problems, eyesight, deafness, stroke victims, HIV, arthritis, seizures, skin conditions, toothaches, earaches, fibromyalgia, and many more.
The Lord opened opportunity for my wife and I to partner with a ministry called The Elijah Challenge. We have traveled overseas to Brazil, East and West Africa training disciples in evangelism, preaching evangelistic crusades and conferences.
When I reflect on the past I stand in awe of my Great Savior, full of gratitude and thanksgiving. In October of 2001, I trusted in Christ. Today I have nothing to boast in but Jesus Christ Himself.
He is The Great I AM.
Galations 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.