Testimony

By Jerry Harmon

I was not raised in the church.  I was raised in a loving and caring family, but there was no relationship with God in it.  This allowed me to get into some very bad habits.  Selfishness, laziness, procrastination, and drug use just to name a few.  At the time, I could not see anything wrong with my behavior.  This led to many more bad decisions that eventually led to me committing the crime I am in prison for today.

While in the county jail, I started praying to God to let me know He was real.  I was looking at 24 years for a robbery and shooting.  I prayed that He take just one year off my sentence to show me He is real.  I ended up taking a deal for 19 years.  When I went to court, the judge sentenced me to 18 years.  That is one year less than the deal I accepted.  I knew God took that one year away; and from that day forward, I started searching for God.

After attending many different services and faith groups, the Protestant services were the only services to speak to my spirit.  In Soledad State Prison, I was placed in a cell with a Christian man who was raised in the church.  As he explained the bible and the story of Jesus Christ to me, I started reading and studying the Word.  This is where I came to my belief in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

As soon as I became saved, the devil started his attack.  His attack was not directly at me, but at my family.  My grandmother died and my mom, my niece, and my nephew became homeless.  My sister who was on drugs lost custody of her kids.  My niece went to live with her dad who ended up molesting her.  I knew there was nothing I could do to help my family, so I just prayed to God that He would take care of them for me.  Once again, God showed up and took care of them.  My sister got sober and got back custody of her kids.  The shelter my mom was living in helped her get SSI; and eventually she was able to furnish the house that she and my sister started renting together.  God took care of my family when I could not.

After all that God had showed me and did for me, I was still was not living right for Him.  I was still in my addictions and in the ways of this world, but I kept reading the Word and praying for God to take care of my addictions.  I knew I could not do it on my own.  God placed many sincere Christian men in my life to fellowship with; and eventually through the work of the Holy Spirit, I became sober.

After eight years as a Christian, my relationship with Him had not changed very much; but as soon as I became active in the church, my relationship with Christ started to grow.  I was no longer ashamed to talk about Jesus.  I started sharing God’s story with my family which led to my mother being saved.  Thank you Jesus!

It was through the work of the Spirit and other Christian men letting the Spirit work through them that molded me into the man of faith I am today!  I’m sober, involved in ministry, and an active member of the Chapel of the Good Shepard here at Solano State Prison.  I encourage you to let your old life go and become new in Christ.  He will never let you down.