If you met Victor - an impassioned, spiritual 36-year-old man with a wife and four children - you wouldn't believe the story of his youth. He'd tell you how he grew up in a rough part of Denver in a single-parent home. Victor had no father, no role models, and God was the last thing on his mind. He'll speak of how he dealt drugs and then began using them himself. He'll tell you about how he would rather get high than go to school. Victor would say that he "lived very fast. I was doing things most grown men haven't even thought of doing."
Fortunately, through Urban Youth Ministries, he met Mike, a Urban Youth Ministries staff member. Slowly, with Mike's prodding, Victor began taking a serious look at how he was living and where he was headed. Victor began asking questions, and Mike showed him how Jesus Christ could provide the answers and the hope.
Today, Victor's life couldn't be more different than the one he lived as a confused teen. He is now the program director for Urban Youth Ministries and is the youth pastor for Anchor of Hope church in Denver. He is married with four beautiful children, and he and his wife, Q, have implemented an "Arts N' The Hood" week-long spiritual arts camp each summer for urban youth.
Victor not only succeeded in turning his own life around, but how he's bringing Jesus Christ into the lives of kids who need the help just as much as he once did. His story represents thousands of other kids whose lives have been changed by Christ, with the help of Urban Youth Ministries.
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Did You Know...
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...that lack of support from strong parent figures or role models and having no connection with a faith congregation are factors leading to higher risk? (Center for Youth Studies)
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