Ricky Ruiz

In God's Hands

"In Gods Hands", is what I call it.  Before I continue this testimony on how I accepted JESUS CHRIST, let me introduce myself briefly.  My name is Rickey Peter Ruiz and currently, I am 18 years old, PROUDLY serving my country in the world's finest Navy.  I am a male Hispanic, who grew up in the city of Monterey Park, which is located in the Los Angeles County (approximately 15 minutes south of Pasadena).  I recently graduated from Mark Keppel High, located in Alhambra, Ca., c/o 2000!  When I am home visiting, I reside at home with my mother, father, 2 brothers, and my 2 sisters, and not to mention, my best friend, my dog.

Well, that is enough about me, nothing really interesting about me.  Just wanted to state, that I had next to me a thesaurus, but I now refuse to use it.  I wanted this testimony to sound professional, but I asked myself "If I am going to tell people about my relationship with the Lord, then why do I have to try and impress anyone with my vocabulary?" So I decided to just write whatever comes out of my OWN brain.  Just for the record, not that anyone may care, but at this very moment, I am on the U.S.S. Enterprise, CVN65, cruising the seas out here in the Persian Gulf.  For those who do not know what that is, it is the first nuclear powered aircraft made by the United States Navy.  Lets now begin with my testimony of my acceptance of Jesus Christ.

It all started when I was brought into this world my parents (at least I think so.)  The day I was born, I was immediately baptized at my one time "St. Stephen's Catholic church" located in Monterey Park, on the corner of Ynez and McPherrin Ave.  Well, at the age of 5, which is how far as I can remember, my mom always took me to church, all dressed up, fancied up, which I did not like.  My father, being a Christian never attended our church.  He allowed mom to take me to the Catholic Church because I highly believe that he did not want any problems in their marriage, even though, problems already existed (I think that is why the catholic religion dominated me.)  By time I was in the first grade, my mother enrolled me into a Saturday school program called "catechism."  It was held every Saturday, at the St. Stephen's catholic school/church, which was located across the street from my grammar school, YNEZ School.  This Saturday school was the equivalent to the Sunday school for Christians.  Well, that I’m actually not so sure, but I am pretty sure that I was about 7 or 8 years old.

The first year in catechism was extremely important for everyone.  In that first year of catechism, we were scheduled to have our "first communion," but in order for us to have our first communion, each child was FORCED to learn several prayers.  The prayers that were to be memorized included THE APOSTLE'S CREED, THE VIRGIN MARY, THE ”OUR FATHER" and a few others that I cannot remember.  I remember studying and studying, until I had them all memorized.  Within a few weeks, I memorized them all, except the APOSTLE'S CREED, because it had so many verses.  Finally, I memorized it all, and I was happy.  Everyone passed except two, so they were held back, and had to do the first year over.  Anyhow, the time came for the all of us to be baptized.  My parents bought me a tuxedo, and all, and once again, I hated to dress up for something that I really didn't know why I was doing it.

But, at the time of my baptism, I was happy, because I was given a lot of money and gifts.  Now that my baptism was over, everyone was happy.  Catechism was a weekly thing for me every Saturday morning.  I got up at 6, walked to the church, learned the Bible, and a whole lot, then on Sunday's, I went to church. Time went by, and so did I.  I eventually got older, and much wiser.  Now I was capable of deciding the choices that I make, and also choosing from right and wrong.  I enjoyed learning about Jesus Christ, and going to church because I was raised that way, and I KNOW, that he is the savior.  My last year in catechism (8th grade year) was kind of happy.  Even though I enjoyed learning about the Lord, I felt that I at least needed a break from all of this Saturday school.  Well, my last day finally came and I was happy.  That day, I went home, and had a talk with my dad.  My father and I talked about how great the Lord is, and taught me a whole lot of things that the instructors at catechism did not taught me.  I started wondering.

I filled my imagination with thoughts about the catholic religion, and how it work, and I started to doubt.  Somewhere during my 8th grade year, I decided to lose my catholic religion and become agnostic.  I came to the realization that all those years of my life, I was forced to go to this one school, where they taught for 2 hours about the Bible and its events.  Another event that made me convert from Catholicism to being agnostic was that I remembered that they talked about how "great" the Lord was, but that same year, my grandmother died, so I asked "why did God let her die?"  So I guess, in a way, you can say that I had this temporary hatred for the Lord.

Well, my high school years finally came, and only one person knew that I had stop believing in god, but I did know that a god was out there, except I was confused, cause I learned that there was Buddha and a lot more.  But, the real trouble was which religion was I going to go to be in. Was I to be a Catholic (again), Christian (like my father), Jewish, Buddhist, etc.?  One thing I knew for sure was that I knew I was either going to be a Christian or a Jew, because I attended a few churches of different religions, and let me tell you, Buddhism, is not something for me.  I knew Jesus Christ was the one, but I just had trouble finding the right religion.  I stopped going to church, and stopped reading the Bible.  All of this occurred for 4 ½ years, until I FINALLY found the right religion for me.

Before I tell you what religion I picked, and why, I just would like to mention "why" I felt that the catholic religion is WRONG (in my opinion).  I noticed that all their teachings are like some sort of hypnosis.  Every time when I attend the Catholic Church, it is exactly the SAME routine every time.  You walk inside and do the "sign of the cross" on your forehead with the holy water (which was provided at the entrance of the church).  Following, everyone sits down, while the organs are playing, and wait until the priest comes in.  As soon as he enters, everybody stands up, and waits until he gives the word to sit down. Anyhow, it goes on and on till the priest says a prayer, and everyone bows their heads down.  I can go on and on, but I will not.  I felt that the Catholic Church is making everyone in it become like robots. It is almost like a whole stage act.

During my high school years, I also found 2 great friends, that I thank the Lord everyday.  They were Joshua Taflinger (who is a Baptist-Christian) and Jimmy Li.  Both of them who were Very strong believers, talked to me about the Lord everyday, and I enjoyed it.  Even though they did not know about the search that I have been going through, they were always happy to talk to me about the Lord.  Everyday, I listened, and thought about it more.  One day, Joshua invited Jimmy and I to attend his church, and I took the invitation. I don't regret taking it.  We started the Sunday morning (9 a.m.) with an hour of Bible study where we talked about the book of Revelation.  Following, we attended church, where a few hymns were sung, and the pastor talked a little.  After that was over, we were invited to the house to have a little Brunch.  This was THE best time I had in my life.  And never did I feel as comfortable that day. Well, anyhow, at that moment, I believed that I found what I was looking for the past 4 years, a religion I was comfortable with.

Well, I started attending the Baptist church, called "First Baptist Church" of Alhambra (located on Atlantic blvd, south of main Ave.)  Continued this routine the rest of my senior year in high school.  Now, Jimmy Li also invited me to this high school organization called CYF (also know as "Christian Youth Fellowship.").  It was every Thursday, during our lunch period. Yes, I had to give up my lunch every Thursday, but it was worth it.  Anything for the Lord is worth it.  At these gatherings, we talked about God a lot. It was another Sunday school type of meeting.  Other than the fact that I loved talking about the Lord, the thing that I enjoyed about the gatherings and the clubs members was that we always started the gathering with a "group" prayer. I will never forget all those faces, even the people I never knew in high school since they became my friends.

Once again, all of these great people, even Jimmy, did not know the disaster that I was facing. I needed a religion.  I don't know if it is a wrong thing to "need" a religion, but I could not be without one.  A religion to me helps me out to follow the proper things in life, and also, helps me to understand and also follow the Bible in many ways I never knew possible.  Well, school finally ended, and I graduated, class of 2000.  I always wanted to serve my country in the great military, so I signed up with the Untied States Navy. I left for boot camp a week and a half after graduation.  Attending church in the military was very difficult, no matter what one says, and I speak from experience.  During my 2 months of boot camp, they only allowed us to attend church was the last 3 Sunday.  A lot of us were so upset.  But one thing that cheered us up was that every night before taps, we all got around together and said a prayer every night and that made me felt a little better.  Anyhow, I met a guy by the name of "Steve".  And he believed in Wicca.  Anyhow, he tried to convince me to switch over to Wicca.  Of course, I refused his offer.

Well, time went by, and I finally graduated from boot camp, and off I was to Pensacola, Florida for my schooling.  Well, during my time in Florida, I did not attend any church, due to the fact that I did not have a religion and I still was not done searching for the truth out there.  The time came that I was done with my schooling and now I was heading for my duty station out in Whidbey Island, WA.  I arrived there not knowing anyone, and the first person that I met was a gentleman in his late 20's, by the name of Dennis Flannagan.  Well, the two of us hanged out a lot, and at the same time, he talked to me a lot about God.  Like Josh and Jimmy, Dennis also made me think a whole lot.  Not a day goes by that I regret meeting these great people.

Well, finally, it is time for me to come home and visit for the first time in December.  When I arrive home my family was happy, and so were my friends.  I don't want to really mention all the stuff that I did back at home, cause its not really important and anyhow, it isn’t important.  Well, I called my friend up (Josh), and I asked him if I was still invited to attend to church, and he said with a very happy tone of voice, "yea dude, always".  Anyhow, I started to attend his church often.  I enjoyed the Bible studies we had, and especially, the people there.  They made me feel comfortable the very first day I was there, and they invited me to their homes. The worship service was exactly what I was looking for.  We sang hymns, talked about the Bible, watched some skits done by the kids, and all.  I had talks with Josh about Christianity and about me converting.  He gave me the best advice by saying that to do what my heart tells me to do.  The time was due for me again to head back to my duty station. I went on that plane, with something new in my hand, a Christian (NIV) Bible given to me by my  "ex" girlfriend.

Anyhow, I still wasn't sure if it was the right religion for me, but I still reading the Bible every night, and talked to "A GOD" and asked him to help me out and find the best one.  Well, time came, and I had been sent out to my aircraft carrier for my six months cruise, and that was where the entire miracle occurred.  While I was working a collateral duty in the mess decks (T.A.D. time), I met a wonderful MS chief, by the last name of Daily.  He himself was a Christian and he always talked to me about God.  Even though in the military it was wrong to do so if your not an RP, he did not care and he was willing to get in trouble for God, and that made me respect him a whole lot more.  Well, he pulled me everyday after work, and talked to me about trying to convert, but if you do, make sure I did it for the right reason. Finally one night in my rack, I lay in there, just staring at darkness, where I accepted Jesus Christ, and was a Born-again Christian.

I started crying that night.  I actually realized all the sins I have been committing and all the hatred I had in me with all the anger inside my soul, and the lying that I have been doing.  I asked the Lord that night to forgive me for all my sins that I have ever committed, and to make me a whole new person.  It was so amazing, I had never felt something that great that night, not even surfing felt as good to me as being held by the Lord’s hands.  After all these years (well, only like 4), I went from one religion to not believing anymore, to being born-again.  Well, I have learned a lot, and all of these events were an act of God.

Being born again, feels great. I see a lot of things very differently now.  Lets just say for example, recently, I found out my girlfriend have been cheating on me and what did I do? Well, I cried the first Day but then on the second day I got over her. I needed to forgive her, because I am not the God who judges.  I believe that if I were not a Born-Again Christian, I would have been hating her right now, and seeking for some revenge somehow.  Anyhow, I am a changed man, and I owe it a lot for the names mentioned above, and especially God, for giving me the strength to believe. THANK YOU LORD, FOR EVERYDAY GIVING ME LIFE!!!!!!!!!