**Introduction**

First off, I will start by thanking the good Lord in heaven for everything He has done for me and thanking Him for all the blessings He has given me in my life. What I am about to share I have only shared with a close circle of friends and family I hold dear.I’m sorry, Lord, for holding it in for so long.

**The Event**

It was  2001 I had just turned 18, I was outside in front of my house drinking a Vanilla Coke soda, talking to the neighbor kid and my little brothers about how it tasted different but kind of the same, when I was struck with nine bullets from an AK47 by a very angry person who was looking for my neighbor and shot me instead.My dad ran outside and dragged my body inside the house.The events after that, I do not know because I was no longer part of this world.

**The Transition**

I remember taking my last breath as my father held me in his arms, thinking how I never thought my life would end this way. As I lay in my father’s arms, unable to breathe, I closed my eyes and waited for the end. Soon, my mother and father's crying grew further and further away, and little by little, I started to hear the most beautiful chanting coming from what seemed to be everywhere. It was the most beautiful singing I have ever heard in my entire life, and it seemed to get closer and closer to me. I closed my eyes out of fear because I didn’t know what was going on. Then, from behind my eyelids, I started to see light. I opened my eyes, and what I saw was truly amazing. I was in a beautiful room of white light with gold symbols written on the walls. I couldn’t believe it. The other amazing thing was I could move, I could breathe, I was whole again. I was scared because, being an atheist, I finally realized I was wrong all along.

**The Experience**

When I sat in this room, on this white bed, I felt as if I had awoken from a dream, as if my whole life up to that point had been nothing but a dream. I was barefoot, and I walked up to a window and I could see small planets, each different from the other, and I wondered, is that where I had come from? As I stood there, the beautiful chanting grew louder and louder until it sounded like a roaring orchestra. That is when I first heard from God. When God spoke, nothing else mattered. Everything stopped for Him. His word is universal, and He speaks to your soul. He asked me, “CHRISTIAN, YOU HAVE NOT BELIEVED IN ME, YET I HAVE SENT SO MANY TO SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT ME.” I started to cry because I knew I had done wrong. The Bible was true. I had sinned thinking nothing would happen, yet here I was with God Himself in His presence.

Then the Lord said, “THE LAWS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE VERY MUCH THE SAME, AND BY WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, YOU WILL BE JUDGED.” I started crying because I didn’t know what was to come, and then the Lord spoke again, “CHRISTIAN, YOU HAVE SINNED MANY TIMES IN YOUR LIFE, BUT BY NOT BELIEVING IN ME AND NOT ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS, WAS YOUR BIGGEST SIN.YOU WILL LIVE IN A PLACE APART FROM ME, YOU WILL BE IN THE FIRST HELL,” and the Lord pointed to a dark planet, a very dark place from what I could see.

The Lord showed me the first, second, and third planet in front of me, then the Lord said, “THE FIRST PLANET IS OF DARKNESS, NO LIGHT ENTERS HERE. THE SECOND PLANET IS OF DISEASE, WHERE ALL DISEASE COMES FROM. AND THE THIRD IS OF FIRE, WHERE NO SOUL SHALL LEAVE.” I cried and cried, for I was being sentenced to hell, the first hell would be my new home, and I cried so much I thought I was screaming. Then the beautiful room started to shake, and I started going down, down like an elevator going to the ground floor. I was crying, closing my eyes on the way down, and it finally stopped. I opened my eyes, and I was in a different room. This room was old with stone walls, it  had two doors located on each side. The walls were dark and it felt so gloomy,I was scared so I sat on one corner of the room.

As I was sitting there, I heard a door open, and all of a sudden, people of every shade and color started walking into this room. Some I couldn’t understand, others I heard crying and cursing. I overheard this older lady speaking. She said, “Why have you done this to me? I went to church every day. Why have you sent me here?” Then she started cursing and swearing to God like I’ve never heard before. I was frightened by the tough crowd that came into the room. I was in the corner by myself when the spirit of the Lord came over me, and I fell to the floor and started praying, praying for the Lord to come save me.

**The Turning Point**

As I prayed on the floor, crying and asking the Lord for forgiveness, I realized the room had become very quiet. Everyone had stopped talking. I looked up for a second, then went back to praying on the floor. By the time the people knew what I was doing, they started yelling and screaming and spitting on me and cursing. “He can’t save you here,” they said. “You’re wasting your time.” I ignored them all, I was crying and praying for salvation, for a chance to redeem myself, to become a better person, to follow His laws, to spread His word so that all humanity may learn that He is the truth, that GOD IS REAL.

As the yelling and screaming became kicking and punching, I stood my ground, praying for the Lord GOD to save me then all of a sudden everything stopped. Time suddenly stopped, everything stopped. I saw a man dressed in white walk into the room he had dark fair skin, He said he was an angel of the lord and he said, “Christian, you are saved. The Lord has given you your life back. Everything will be as new. You will not feel pain or agony. When you come back, tell everyone what you saw spread the word of the Lord, for He is mercy.” I was overjoyed but scared because I was still in the same room. As the angel walked out of the room I yelled out I will tell everyone and He said remember to keep your promise, then as he left time came back, but all of a sudden nobody could see me. I saw them, but no one saw me. I sat in my corner and watched as everyone left the room through a huge door at the other end of the room and into the darkest and blackest night  I had ever seen. After everyone left the door remained open, and I became curious as to see what was outside. All of a sudden, a voice spoke to me and said, “IF YOU CROSS THOSE DOORS, YOU WILL NEVER COME BACK.” I layed on the corner and waited until I fell asleep.

**The Awakening**

When I awoke, I was in a different room that looked like a jail cell with brick walls, and a gate. When I looked outside the cell, I saw other cells like mine and an old man walking slowly between them. I did not speak I was chained to the floor and sat down, waiting for what seemed like days and weeks. I thought, “Where am I? What is this place?” Then the voice spoke again and told me, “You are between death and salvation. You will wait for the time to come for you to rise.” Every day, I waited in my cell. Every day demons that looked like ordinary people would come into my cell and beat me until I was unconscious, I thought, “Lord, please don’t forget me here.”I wanted to die but the voice told me that if I would harm myself I would stay there forever so instead I prayed for God to give me strength.Then one day I woke up and realized that every day, something would change inside my cell. One day I woke up to see writing on the walls, the next day I saw a window through which I could see only darkness. Then a few days later  I saw a tree outside my cell, and the next day I finally saw light coming  through my cell window with a beautiful tree outside . I was overjoyed to see light I had not seen it in what seemed to be such a long time, then  the voice spoke to me once more and  I realized that it was Jesus all along.

“HOLD THE GRAIL TO YOUR LIPS DRINK FROM MY CUP, AND YOUR LIFE WILL BE RESTORED.” Is what He said.I looked around my cell which was now a beautiful room,  I saw a cup on top of my door, and I tried to reach it as hard as I could. I couldn’t reach it. I tried and tried, but it seemed impossible.I was chained to the ground. I prayed to the Lord to help me reach it, and the answer came when I prayed. Jesus spoke to me and said, “BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE IT, AND IT IS YOURS.” Such powerful words. I told myself if Jesus said it, it must be true. I reached out my arm towards the cup, imagining I had put it in my lips, and drank from it.I could feel the liquid go down my throat then suddenly I woke up.

**The Return**

I saw my brothers and mom and asked them  what had happened and how happy I was to see them. My dad came in later, and I hugged him and asked him, “Where was I?” He said, “You’re at the hospital UMC Trauma Center.” I was happy to see them all, then I went back to sleep. When I awoke, my beautiful room was gone. There were no more window with the tree, and I was in a hospital room with wires everywhere and a breathing machine. I did not like it (it went all the way down my throat). I awoke and immediately tried to take it off, and the doctors came in and held me down, and I went back to sleep. When I awoke again, I started talking to everyone and asked my family about the window. They told me I never had a window, that there were no windows in a trauma center. I was awake one full day talking and laughing with my family. The doctors came in, and I asked them for water. I was so thirsty they looked at me like I was crazy, and they gave me a wet rag to suck on. It seemed odd to me, but I did as they asked. Then I kept asking for wet rags, so they asked me if I could take a drink. I said, “Yes, I feel great.” So they all looked on as I drank from a small cup, and I said, “That was the best water I have ever had,” and they all laughed. What I came to find out was that I was in the trauma center for 10 days. I had gotten shot nine times, but the bullet on my chest had damaged my lungs and exploded inside me. I was dead when I arrived, and they got my heart to start beating again, so I was on life support the whole time.

While on life support, they had told my parents I would not live, that I was brain dead for lack of oxygen and that they were going to disconnect me from the life support machine because there was no brain activity that I only had a 3% chance I would live and if I would survive I would be in a vegetative state. My parents refused to give up on me and prayed for God's mercy for me to live. The hospital met with my parents to make funeral arrangements the day before I awoke. There was one doctor in that hospital who gave my parents hope. May God bless Dr. Patrick; he gave my parents hope every day. I was in the hospital one week before I was sent home. I didn’t have anything wrong with me. Even my shoulder, which doctors thought I could never move because it was shattered, healed! The doctors couldn't believe that a guy who was brain dead had walked out alive and well. This is the power of our LORD GOD in heaven; his mercy is without end. As for me, I try to be the best person I can be and talk to God every day, for without Him I would have nothing and wouldn’t be here.

Please, I beg you all to believe in the LORD IN HEAVEN, for He is real and has so much mercy for us sinners. We are not perfect, but that’s okay as long as we pray, believe in Him, follow His examples, and above all, LOVE Him and each other. WE CAN ALL BE SAVED. AMEN.