My Testimony

When I first gave myself completely to the Lord, I remember it like it was yesterday.  I had just been arrested for a shooting incident and was brought to Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez, California where I was awaiting my fate for the crime I had committed.  I was arraigned on the 21^st of February and asked the judge for a deal right then and there.  The judge told me due to the seriousness of the crime I would need an attorney and no deal would be given that day.  I was returned to my housing unit, which at that time was Administrative Segregation because I could not be housed in the general population due to the seriousness of my crime.

While waiting to be appointed an attorney, which takes some time, I began to read every book I could get my hands on except for the Bible.  I remember that someone had written on the wall in my cell a passage of the Bible.  That passage was John 3:16, and I remember staring at it every day and then I started to memorize it.

Finally, one day I got a visit from an attorney who told me he would be representing me.  The first thing I asked was, “How does it look?”  He looked at me square in the eye and said, “Not very good.”  With all the charges I had, it amounted to a life sentence of 102 years.  My jaw dropped and I was at a loss for words.  By the time I got control of myself, my lawyer was packing his things getting ready to leave.  I told him, “There must be some kind of mistake.”  He said that we would be able to get some of the charges dropped, but I would still be facing 25 years to life.  I have never felt so alone in my life.  I was escorted back to my cell.  I didn’t know what to think or how to act.  I was in a state of shock when finally I realized what was really happening to me.  The dam burst and the tears just flowed and flowed.  All I could think about was my family and my children and who would raise them.

As I sat there thinking, I kept hearing a voice inside of me telling me not to worry that all I had to do was believe and trust in the Lord; and, He would guide me.  I still remember that voice, clear as a bell.

The first thing I did was ask for a request form and wrote the jail Chaplin asking for a Bible and a “Daily Bread.”  It usually takes a couple of weeks to receive these things, so I started praying like I had never prayed before asking for complete and total forgiveness for all of my sins.  As I prayed, the tears fell and I felt like I was releasing all the stress, anger, rage, and hurt that I had accumulated since childhood.  I had never prayed like that in all my life.

The next day at dinner, I saw the server pushing the cart my way.  I also saw a Bible sitting on the cart and before he could even pass me my dinner, I asked him who the Bible was for.  He passed me my dinner and then picked up the Bible, but couldn’t pronounce the last name correctly; but, it was my last name.  I received my Bible in one day and to me that was the sign that God was calling on me to read His word and trust in Him.

I was so happy to have my Bible and began wondering about the “Daily Bread” that I had requested.  I was still standing there holding my Bible when I asked God where He wanted me to start first, and I kept hearing Proverbs.  So as soon as I opened the Bible to Proverbs, there was my “Daily Bread” sitting at the beginning of Proverbs.  That was a sign from God.

I have been reading and studying my Bible faithfully since then.  God gave me grace when all was said and done with the criminal charges that were against me.  I ended up with 8 years in state prison, instead of a life sentence.  I give all thanks and all praise to God every day for the blessings He has bestowed upon me.

Since being in prison, I devote my time to Bible studies and a class I’m been taking called “Life Above Reproach.”  This program has really opened my mind to so many wonderful truths about God and how we are to live our lives following Him.

I hope whoever reads this gets inspired to give themselves to Christ and let Him lead and guide you on your journey called life.

Sincerely,

Richard Ludlow