My Testimony

My name is José Elias. I was born in the City of Sonsonate, El Salvador in 1970. I am 46 years young. I was raised in a very dysfunctional household. My mother has been a devoted woman of God since I can remember; however, my father was a violent and abusive alcoholic.
My earliest childhood memory began when I was three years old. I remember my dad trying to kill my little sister Roxana and seeing my mother’s face, a picture that until this day I still see vividly. I remember my older brother, my two little sisters, and I never missed Sunday morning service at a Baptist Church. I also never missed the abuse I received from my dad right after church. In 1976 that abuse ended when my dad was killed, I was 6 years old. I felt happy because the person who made my mother and my siblings suffer was gone. I really hated my dad.
In 1980, El Salvador became embroiled in a civil war and the dynamic of my environment shifted to a different type of violence. Nearly every day I witnessed extreme violence; I don’t know exactly how many people I have seen killed. At age twelve, I witnessed the burning of a school bus with a group of children inside. Shortly thereafter, I saw the decapitated body of the individual who set the bus on fire. The whole country was under martial law. My peers and I would “look forward” to the next day to see if anyone we knew had been killed the night before. I remember hiding my allowance in a row of cars which contained human body parts. I became immune….numb to that environment. That’s all I knew. Due to my extreme violence exposure in my youth, I had a sense of a foreshortened future as I did not believe I would reach my 40th birthday.
In 1986, I decided to immigrate to the USA. However, I did not arrive here until 1988 and I lived with my brother, Israel. I began attending school, but the language was a barrier for me. So, I began hanging around a certain group and started mimicking their behavior, This was the only group who spoke Spanish, so I kind of identified with them. One thing led to another and I got involved in so many reckless things. The more wrong I did, the more they accepted me, but it didn’t stop there! Now, I wanted some validation, status, respect, control, and power; and how was I supposed to obtain that? I became a member of the gang. So on August 6, 1990, while in the company of other gang members, I cowardly attacked and killed an innocent human being. The crime sealed my full-fledged membership.
On September 21, 1990, I was arrested; and on December 26, 1991, I arrived in the prison system with a sentence of 21 years-to-life.
My early years of incarceration were very critical. I brought the behavior from the street into the system. I reinforced everything wrong I had done in the past into my new environment (prison). In 1992, I picked up my first SHU term and I was sent to Pelican Bay, a very inhumane place. While there, I picked up another SHU term. I was in that state of mind for many, many years.
In 2005, I received a visit from my mother after sixteen years. Seeing her changed pretty much everything. In 2009, I was transferred to my first Level II prison (what a culture shock)! After several months, I remember a Christian man approached me and asked me if I wanted to attend church. Even though I didn’t go, he never gave up and persisted. I remember one time he approached me and began talking to me about God. I started becoming interested; and at one point, he mentioned the Psalm 121. All of a sudden, I remembered that verse and I said, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” I remember my mother reciting that verse to me every night almost 40 years ago and I still remembered why. I came to the realization that God had been by my side all along and that He has been watching me all these 46 years. I do have a recollection of accepting Christ into my life at a very young age; however, it was not until 2011 that I surrendered my life to God. I also believe that because of God’s love, mercy, and grace for me, I am still alive. I was baptized in 2012 and I have been walking in this Christian walk proclaiming God’s faithfulness. I have to admit that since I began walking with my Savior Jesus Christ, my whole world has changed tremendously! My life has become more productive.
I am so grateful because of what God has done in my life. He allowed me to experience so many difficult moments and hardships, but He never abandoned me because His plans are greater than mine. I want to tell the whole world what God has done in my life. All the honor, glory and grace go to Him. God has been so good to me. He has kept me safe on my journey. I am so grateful for the security I have in Him.
I have been incarcerated for the last 26 years of my life. On August 3, 2016, I appeared in front of the Parole Board for the 5th time, but this time was different. By the grace of God, this time I was found suitable for parole. Yes, God provided me with suitability; so God willing, I will be home with my family soon. Thank God and thanks to all those who invested in my life.

God bless you always.

Sincerely,
A servant of God
José Elias