Breaking Free: Chains Broken, Darkness to Light, with Steven Perez

Join me for an unforgettable conversation with Steven Perez as he shares his remarkable journey from the depths of addiction, anxiety, and depression to the freedom and redemption found in Jesus Christ. 

With unflinching honesty, Steven recounts his struggles and the transformative power of God's love that broke the chains of his past and brought him into the light.

This episode is a beacon of hope for anyone struggling with addiction, mental health, or feeling lost and alone. be inspired by Steven's story and discover the power of prayer, surrender, and God's redemptive love.

Links to connect with Steven Perez:

Steven Perez Website and Music

Facebook Page

IG Page

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Transcript

Israel Caminero: 0:04

Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. I'm grateful for your support and for being part of this community. If you've been enjoying the podcast so far, I'd love it if you could take a minute to leave a review. Your feedback helps me reach more people and share these inspiring stories with others. Let's spread the word. Please share this podcast with your friends and family. And if you haven't already, be sure to like and subscribe for new episodes. To stay connected and up to date on all the latest news, updates, and exclusive content, head over to my Facebook page, Living Testimonies. While you're there, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter. The link is on the page. Thanks again for listening, and I'll catch you in the next episode. I'm your host, Israel Caminero, and I hope everyone that's listening is blessed and doing well today. With me today, I have my brother in Christ, Steven Perez, and it's his turn to share his testimony for everybody. And can you introduce yourself to everyone, Steven?

Steven Perez: 1:28

Yes, yes. First I just want to say thank you. It's an honor and privilege to be on here and just sharing my testimony. My name is Steven Perez. I'm out of South Florida, Golden Gate area inside of Naples, Southwest Florida. I'm just uh I'm a man of God, man, and I'm just uh going out and sharing my testimony to the broken and the hopeless, and just on uh on what I experienced in my life and how God uh radically saved me.

Israel Caminero: 1:54

Amen. Florida. We were just talking about that earlier before, and it's nice and warm over there, but nice and cold over here where I'm at.

Steven Perez: 2:04

Yeah, it's uh it's it's it's 65 right now this morning. It was in the early 50s, so that's still cold for us.

Israel Caminero: 2:12

Yeah. Well, over here is 20, like I let you know earlier.

Steven Perez: 2:15

No, man, I'll I'll pass on that.

Israel Caminero: 2:18

All right, but before we get started with your testimony, I just want to pray over us. And I want to say, dear Lord, as Stephen prepares to share his testimony, we ask that you would anoint him with your Holy Spirit, give him the words to speak, the courage to be vulnerable, and the compassion to connect with our listeners. May his story be a powerful reminder of your redemptive power and the freedom that comes through a relationship with you. We pray that his testimony brings hope to those who are struggling, comfort to those who are hurting, and inspiration to those who are seeking a deeper connection with you. We ask that you protect Stephen from any spiritual attacks or distractions and surround him with your peace and presence. May this conversation be a blessing to our listeners and a reflection of your love and grace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Steven Perez: 3:10

Amen. Amen.

Israel Caminero: 3:11

All right, so Stephen, uh, I read a little bit about your story as I let you know, but I want you to share with our listeners where you were at before growing up and where you're at now. So the platform is all yours. If you want to start with that, we're listening.

Steven Perez: 3:28

Amen. Um, so um when when people hear my story and and my testimony of of of just my life and just the obstacles and roller coasters, um, a lot of people tend to uh connect it with coming from a broken home or coming from uh a place where we don't have the fathers missing or the mothers on drugs or however that looks like or the father's in prison. But uh my reality was that um I grew up in a in a in a Christian home. You know, I was raised in church um as far as young as I can remember. And um the the choices and decisions I made was not because of of what I learned in my household. It was um it was me. It was it was just me being wild and me just uh trying to find my identity and um and trying and looking up to people that I wasn't supposed to look up to and the things that I was listening to and just glorifying a lifestyle that was never presented to me under the roof of my home where I grew up. I mean, I I was always uh always a wild, like very hyper child. If you leave it up to the doctors, they'll tell you ADHD and and and all that. Right. And um, so I mean uh my attention span is just you know you know how that goes. So in church, I just uh I was I was just uh I wasn't very I I just didn't want to be there as a young, as a child, you know what I mean. If I did go, I wanted to be, you know, doing the activities or playing around or or you know, something that doesn't involve learning. You know, I was just uh I just didn't want to learn anything. I I just I found it boring, you know, going to church, you know. And not only that, man, it was a routine where um up to a certain age, like my early teens, it was like I was forced to go. Like my parents were not gonna leave me at the house alone. So I was like, it was Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, then Wednesdays, and then Thursdays, or there's events on Saturdays, or like constantly being forced to go. Like, you know, and it was just, you know, my my parents, they loved on me and they were trying to lead me towards Christ and and speaking the word of God over my life and praying for me. There were there there still are amazing parents. They never gave up on me. They still, they're still rocking and rolling, man. They're Jesus freaks, you know. But I just, I, I just uh I just didn't care for it, man. I was just when you force somebody to do something or go somewhere, I just I wasn't receiving it. So I was plus I was too immature to understand the word of God. So a lot of the the uh the prayers that I was getting, I I felt like some type of like, you know, like a condemnation, like I, you know, like like they were just like praying for me, like, you know, like if I'm possessed, or you know, there's always constantly laying hands on me, you know. So I I just I didn't know how to receive it. Like now I realize like people were just loving on me and they were just praying for me. You know, but at that time, I I just I was just too immature and I didn't have enough knowledge and and and I didn't even know who Jesus was um enough to understand that, you know. So I'm just thinking like something's wrong with me or something, or you know what I mean? I I didn't know what that looks like. I was very disrespectful, um, disobedient.

Israel Caminero: 6:36

You just thought you were a bad kid, right? With ADHD.

Steven Perez: 6:39

Yeah, I mean, I just I was getting and I was a good kid in school, man. I had, you know, like probably straight A's or A's and B's. Like it wasn't like I was like a bad child like that. I just wasn't listening. I had no respect for authority, but in school, I mean I did, I was a smart kid. You know what I mean? I still had problems in school though, and and with like with uh with authority and stuff like that. You know, I just didn't want to listen to people. But um, like I said, I didn't grow up with any craziness under my house. I mean, my cousins and my family and everybody else, yeah. I mean, I I witnessed that, but under my house, I was never taught that. You know what I mean? So at an early age in youth group, I was just um I wasn't able to participate anymore in the youth events and and going to the and conventions and and stuff like that. Like I was always I was kicked out of like camps and stuff and and um you know cussing out the the youth pastors and and and the pastors and it was just I was just too much to deal with, man. You know, and um I I just um I I was just a rebellious kid.

Israel Caminero: 7:41

I'm surprised they uh they would kick you out.

Steven Perez: 7:44

They they should they would they should want to love on you and Yeah, well well they were loving on me, but I was just I I was just I was just too wild. It got to the point where I was bringing weed to the camps and stuff like that. Like they couldn't they couldn't deal with that stuff, man. At the age of I mean by the age of ten, I was already listening to music I wasn't supposed to be listening to and showing the other kids and just you know the way I was talking and and and the way that just, you know, just wanting to be thugged out, thinking that I was a little gangster, you know what I mean. It was just like, you know, so they just they didn't want that, and you know, and they they and they try to pray for me and or they did pray for me and they loved on me. And um, but it just came down to the point, to the, you know, to the the results and just saying, hey, listen, like, you know, we we just can't we can't have that, you know what I mean? It was one thing correcting me and then I did better and then I learned from it, but I was just I got worse and worse, to be honest. So by the age of uh by the age of 12, I was already smoking weed. I was already um um I had uh my neighbors and everything were like you know, there were uh trafficking crack cocaine and stuff, so I'd be over there stealing their dope, selling it back to them, you know, and and just uh I was just I was just I was just doing things I wasn't supposed to be doing. And um started experimenting with drugs before I even hit puberty. Wow. You know, I started recreational and and experimenting and just sneaking alcohol and and and uh family of you know um functions and stuff like that or holidays, you know, sneaking their alcohol or their beer, you know what I mean, or stealing their cigarettes and and just weed, whatever. And um by the age of uh, yeah, by the age of 12, I just I just I was just already, I was breaking into houses and and stealing stuff and getting kicked out of school with out of school suspension. I mean, it was just it was it spiraled fast. And it was all because of what I was putting into my ears, to be honest. I mean, you know, what I was listening to, all this gangster rap and all this, you know, all this hip hop, is that I was I was trying to become what I was listening to. You know what I mean? Like I I I had this, I was fascinated by it, man, and I wanted I I didn't know who I was, I didn't know my identity. So, and I wanted to have a name for myself. I was hanging out with people I wasn't supposed to be hanging out with, so I started becoming what I was what I was surrounding myself with. I didn't get past ninth grade. I got kicked out of school, um, I got expelled from all school, I don't have a GD, no diploma. And I think that's when it really hit my parents, where it was like, okay, like I'm I'm out of control, you know, because I was presenting myself somebody different in the house, even though they knew what I was doing.

Israel Caminero: 10:26

Okay.

Steven Perez: 10:27

Um, but I was worse out, you know what I mean? Like I was worse when I was not in the house. So when I came home, you know, they they didn't think that I was doing things to that extent.

Israel Caminero: 10:36

So you wouldn't bring that stuff home. Uh you would leave like all that stuff out on the streets, the bad stuff that you were doing, and wouldn't take it home. Like you just said, you you were a different person at the house. Is that what you were doing? Or they knew that you were up, you know, doing bad things out in the streets?

Steven Perez: 10:53

No, they definitely knew. My father and my mother would catch me with weed and and stuff like that. But it was just my attitude and my character, like the little dog wannabe that I was trying to be, and and and trying to be a gangster and trying to be, you know, a little gangbanger. Like, I didn't come home acting like that. Okay. Like, you know what I mean? Like, so it's like I came home and I was I was Steven Perez, I was their son. But they would catch me with stuff, and they would obviously get um phone calls from school before I got kicked out about my eyes being red, or I'm smelling like weed, and and you know, going through my lockers, and I mean I had the police and the drug, the drug uh unit always in my lockers. They were getting reports that I was selling weed and I was smoking like at the bus stop, knew that I was smoking on the bus stop. I'd enter the bus and then the whole bus would smell like weed. You know what I mean? Like they'll get reports like this. But my parents knew stuff like that. But as far as like being crazy and wild, I was I I I leveled, you know, I went down to like a level two when I came home. Oh you know what I mean? So they knew my especially my mom, they knew, you know.

Israel Caminero: 11:59

Well, it was out of respect too, I'm sure, you know.

Steven Perez: 12:02

Yeah, well, so well, my mom gave me uh, you know, when I first surrendered my life to Christ, my mom told me a story which I don't remember. She told me that, you know, they used to have this these nights where they used to get me and my brother and my sister together, and we used to be able to talk to them and they'd be like, this is a safe zone. Whatever you say here doesn't leave, and you're not gonna be in trouble or disciplined for it, you know what I mean. Like I guess they were just trying to figure out what we were up to, and they wanted us to get real with them, you know. And um, my mom had mentioned that I said, Okay, so if I tell you guys something that you I will never get in trouble, blah blah blah, you know, am I allowed to say anything? They're like, Yeah, you know. And they said that I just straight up said, Well, I'm smoking. You know, I was like 11 or 12, and that's when they so they already knew from the first time that I started smoking.

Israel Caminero: 12:47

Oh, okay.

Steven Perez: 12:47

So that's the only reason why I remember, that's the only reason why I know that I was smoking at that age. Like I thought it was like maybe maybe 13 or 14, but my mom was like, No, I remember at the age of like 12, you told I she's like, I remember that day clearly. And it and to be honest, like when she told me that, I blew me away because I'm like, man, because I never my my whole teenage years are they're a blur. You know what I mean? Like my life is like a blur up to this, up to the point where I surrendered my life to Christ just with all the drugs.

Israel Caminero: 13:16

Okay.

Steven Perez: 13:16

So when when I understood, like, I mean, I my my son was once 12 years old, and I'm just like, man, I can't imagine my son, you know, smoking weed. That's pretty young. Yeah, man, you know what I mean? So it was just it put things in perspective. But um, it got worse, you know, with the drugs and the experimenting, and and um, and it started becoming, you know, an addiction, obviously, because the things that I was experimenting with were recreational use, ended up becoming, you know, maybe just on the weekends and it becomes on a daily thing. And I didn't know about addiction. I didn't know that I was getting caught up being an addict, you know what I mean? And um, it just led to uh a lot of anxiety, um, depression. I mean, at an early age, I remember um just not having any love, man. Like I was a hateful kid. Um, I didn't even love myself. I didn't love who I was looking at in the mirror. I was I didn't even know what life was about. I was just like, what am I gonna do with my life? I'm seeing all these all my friends still going to school while I'm not going to school. I didn't get past ninth grade and they're having all these, you know, they're about to go to college, or some of my friends are, you know what I mean, they're doing good, or they're they have a career, you know. Fast forward when I'm 17, 18, they're starting to have careers, and I'm just like, I'm here.

Israel Caminero: 14:31

Right.

Steven Perez: 14:32

Like, what's going on, you know? So I just I at the age 18, I already had like plans to take my life. You know what I mean? I was I was getting the anxiety turned to depression, and spiraled out of control, the suicidal thoughts. I had plans to take my life. I was just done with, I just I was like, I had this like thoughts in my head where I'm just like, I never asked to be born. I was never asked to be here. Why do I have to wake up and get a job and work every day, like on this earth? Like, you know what I mean? It was just the weirdest thinking ever.

Israel Caminero: 15:00

Right.

Steven Perez: 15:01

And um, it it just spiraled out of control, man.

Israel Caminero: 15:04

Can you describe a moment the moment when you realized you had a problem with addiction?

Steven Perez: 15:10

Um I remember the first time, and this is and this is gonna sound crazy. The first time that I realized that I had a problem with addiction, like when I knew that I was an addict, was like the age of, I think it was like the age of 21 or 22, is when I caught a um I caught a drug charge, uh, possession of marijuana charge, you know. And um I couldn't do drugs no more because I had to take a drug test.

Israel Caminero: 15:38

Okay.

Steven Perez: 15:39

You know, so I'm just like, I'm like, man, like I gotta, I can't do any drugs, like, you know what I mean? So I was trying to figure out I was I still did the drugs though. I found out a way to do the urine test and pass it and and you know, and manipulate the testing and stuff like that. I think it started hitting me around that time where I'm just like, you know, I'm like, there's no way that I can be sober. Like I'm I'm trying to self-medicate out of my mental health, you know. And at the time I wasn't putting that in perspective where I had mental health. Like, you know what I mean? Like I was dealing with these things, not understanding that I was dealing with these things, if that makes sense. Like, you know, fast forward, fast forward, I understand that I was dealing with those things, but at that moment, like that's how I operated. So it was just the norm for me. And it sucks to say it like that, man, but that was the norm for me. That was, you know what I mean, and I hid it very well. Like you would never have known that I was dealing with these things if you looked at me or you spoke to me. Like this was something that I was dealing with inwardly and in and you know, in in my mind, psychologically and emotionally, things that I was battling privately that you know I never expressed to anybody because um, you know, society has taught men and even as a at a young age that you're soft, you know, and you got a man up. So there's no way that I was gonna talk about feelings and emotions at that age. There's just no way.

Israel Caminero: 16:58

That's true, you know. So were you basically like chasing to get high every day?

Steven Perez: 17:04

Not like chasing to get high. I always just had the drugs around me, and if I didn't have them, yeah, I would, I would, I would find them. But for the most part, I was uh I was always around people who were selling certain drugs, like people in my in my in my uh my circle. And then with me too, like you know what I mean, like I was selling this and selling that.

Israel Caminero: 17:28

Yeah. So you would get enough to sell and have your own supply.

Steven Perez: 17:32

Yeah, I'd I'd be I'd be making money, and then at the same time, I'm I'm getting high for free. And I just made sure that whatever what I was selling wasn't what I was doing at the time. So I was making the money off of the drugs that I was selling at the time. And then um, if I noticed that I was starting to get into the product or whatever, like I'd stop selling that and try to sell something else, but I would still do trades with people that I knew that were in my circle that were selling the other drugs that I wanted. Because I I mean, at least in my brain, like I try to justify certain things, like if I have it, then I'm gonna do it all and I won't make no money. This is how I need to make money. Gotcha. So I try not, so it's just it's it's just it's messed up, man, the way the thinking was.

Israel Caminero: 18:15

Well, you were doing logical thinking, but in the wrong way.

Steven Perez: 18:19

You know, but yeah, and and I had and I had and I had people around me, like how we have mentors now and people that disciple us.

Israel Caminero: 18:26

Right.

Steven Perez: 18:26

Well, I had people around me at that time that were showing me the robes on the street life and and the and and dealing the drugs and stuff and how they did it and what I should do and not do, and and looking up to people, and you know what I mean? So it's like I was getting the game, you know, and and and understanding the the the street life and applying that to my life. Like, you know what I mean? Because I was trying to and and to be honest too, man, at that time it was not cool to do drugs. Like right now, it's very cool to do drugs. Like if you hear it all over the radio station, they're glorifying being junkies. You know what I mean? I was doing I was doing cocaine for like three or four years before a lot of people that were in my circle even knew I was doing cocaine. Because it wasn't a cool thing. Like you you it was it wasn't cool to be a junkie, right? You know, it wasn't cool to be a coquette, you know. That's right. It was it was a time where um where I just didn't care, man. It was just a lot of self-hate. Now that I reflect on it, I see that I just didn't love myself, and how can I love anybody else? And I just spiraled out of control, man, and and um I just remember man hitting uh uh a wall when I got uh I got arrested for a DUI out of county, and I was on like outer county probation with outer county um doing weekend jail, and plus I was in my county, I was on another drug charge. A lot of things, man. We got raided. It was just a lot of things that just happened all at one time. I was just I was at that time I was getting really addicted to painkillers, like opiates and stuff like that, and and uh And smoking crack on on um on on blunts. Like I was sp sprinkling crack cocaine until the weed started getting smaller and smaller and the crack got to get bigger and bigger. So I was just smoking crack by itself, eliminating the weed. My wife now at the time, she we we ended up moving to Georgia, and uh and that was my we had an opportunity, she she knew her friend or whatever, like, hey, let's move to Georgia, and I just took that as a chance, like, okay, let me let me get away from these people, let me get away from everybody, let me start brand new in Georgia and and get off these drugs. And I went through a withdrawal, man. Um, at that time, that's when I really knew that I was that I was addicted to uh painkillers, man, because I had a I I I really hit like a like a nasty withdrawal. And that was probably the first time I ever experienced a crazy withdrawal like that. I mean, years of taking painkillers and Xanax and doing all these drugs. When I got to Georgia, man, I ended up just bringing my lifestyle that was down here in Florida to Georgia because I found it over there. It didn't matter. It it the environment didn't matter. I didn't change.

Israel Caminero: 21:05

Right.

Steven Perez: 21:05

So I went so I went up there and I found it. You know what I mean? So it didn't, so it that didn't do anything for me.

Israel Caminero: 21:11

You mentioned your wife. You were married when you were doing all these drugs.

Steven Perez: 21:16

She was my girlfriend at the time. So she we wasn't married yet.

Israel Caminero: 21:20

Okay. And she was with you throughout all this hardship that you were going through as far as drugs and all that?

Steven Perez: 21:27

Yeah, well, she met me. When she met me, I was I was on outer county probation. I was doing weekend jail, I was on um probation. I mean, I was I mean, when she met me, I had guns and under the mattress, and and I mean I had guns everywhere, and and uh the people that that were around me were no good. You know what I mean? So she met me like that. You know, she it it all started off with me and her where she I was her weed connect and now we would smoke weed together.

Israel Caminero: 21:56

Oh okay.

Steven Perez: 21:57

But um, but she was never a drugie or a drunk or anything like that. She smoked weed here and there, but but by like year two or three together, she stopped smoking weed. She just didn't have any interest in it. Yeah, she stood next to me, man, during all that, all that craziness. I mean, I I I can't explain what she was going through or what she was thinking, but I can imagine that I, you know, it wasn't nice. You know, I put her through hell.

Israel Caminero: 22:19

Right.

Steven Perez: 22:19

You know, it was it was it was pretty it was pretty intense.

Israel Caminero: 22:22

Well, you know a good woman when they stay with you when you're going through all those trials.

Steven Perez: 22:26

Yeah, no, absolutely. Absolutely. Um, we just just wrote it out, man. So fast forward, so I'm like 24, 25 years old, and I moved to Georgia. I started uh trying to contact one of my friends that I grew up on the street since I was a kid, man. I mean, we we did music together, you know, secular music together, and we were in groups and we were on the same, we were in the same um same area in Golden Gate, you know, where we were at with all our people with all the, you know, doing all the same craziness. And and I remember talking to him on the phone, and he was trying to send me this Christian rap music. And he uh he actually was he caught a charge and he was looking at five to ten years in prison. And um, instead of going to prison, they they gave him an opportunity to go to teen challenge. And it's uh it's just a Christian-based program. And uh he was just uh preaching to me about Jesus. And I'm just like, I'm just like, man, this guy, bro, like he's one of them now, you know? And he just uh and I didn't understand it, man. I I didn't want to hear from him, man. I didn't want to talk to him about it. But you know, I knew who he was, and then all of a sudden he's talking about Jesus, and I'm just like, you know, this guy should not be at a Christian faith-based program. He should be in a mental institution, man. What is he talking about? He's talking about all this God stuff and Jesus stuff and sending me music, you know, Christian hip-hop, and I was just like, I didn't want to receive it. But, you know, I ended up moving back down to Florida. Some things had happened, and it's a long story, but so I ended up moving back down to Florida, and uh he was still a Christian, man. He was still he was still moving, and and he was uh part of this thing called uh uh part of a ministry called the Harvest Recovery Ministry. He just kept on loving on me and praying for me and and just kind of like reaching out and and just trying to like just loving on me, like, you know, just uh never condemnation, never guilt, no shame, no nothing. Didn't care if I was drunk or high, still loved on me. They never pushed me away. I'd get frustrated with him and and and just be like, man, like I'm I'm just I'm just annoyed by him, just about everything that he is, you know what I mean? Just that whole I'm thinking that he thinks he's perfect, and you know, because he has Jesus and all this. And I I didn't know nothing about Jesus. You know what I mean? Only what I knew when I was a kid that you died, he died for our sins and and took the cross and he resurrected and and you say the prayer, accept him in your heart. Like I didn't know nothing about the Bible, no nothing. He just kept speaking to me about little things here and there. I just never wanted to receive it. At that point, I was already a non-believer. I just I just wasn't buying the whole Jesus thing, man. I was just I blamed everything on God. You know, I try to give God a chance, but then when I try to rub that genie lamp and get my three wishes and it didn't come true, I ran away again. It's kind of the relationship I had with God at that time.

Israel Caminero: 25:22

Okay.

Steven Perez: 25:23

And uh and he kept kept praying for me, kept loving on me, kept checking up on me and and and being uh concerned about me with my with my mental health, and like he kind of saw it in me. There were times where I had things that I was dealing with and I didn't know where to run to, and I didn't want to run to my parents with it, so I ran to him because he came from the same lifestyle I came from, and he would understand and he would pray for me. And my wife was secretly going behind my back and contacting him saying, Hey, you need to see Steve, and he's spiraling again. And you know what I mean? So I would wonder why he kept popping back into my life, but my wife was reaching out to him, you know, and and and and and my wife wasn't even a Christian, she didn't believe in Jesus either.

Israel Caminero: 26:03

Well, God was using her.

Steven Perez: 26:05

Yeah, absolutely, man. And he just and he, you know, he was he me and him shared a testimony together about that, man, where where he was just like, Lord, like, you know, I'm I've been chasing him for I don't know how many years now, man. It's like eight years. And he's like, he's like, you know, he doesn't want to receive it, he doesn't believe in it. And the Lord just kept telling him, like, no, I want you to pursue him. I don't want you to give up on him. He's like, Well, you're stopping on my pearls, and he's like this. He doesn't, like, it's almost bordered. It's like, it's like blasphemy at this point. Like, he doesn't want to receive it. He's laughing at me, he's mocking you, and the Lord just put it on his heart, like, no. Like, I want you to, I want you to to to keep chasing him, keep pursuing him, keep loving on him.

Israel Caminero: 26:44

Amen.

Steven Perez: 26:45

And that obedience right there is what brought me to Christ. Like the love of Christ is what brought me to Christ. Fast forward, man, October of 2020. I found myself in that church, man, and um I just had I just hit like a wall of of depression and anxiety, man. Like I was I was ready to check out, man. Like I was I was like to the in the height of my like my mental health and my suicidal thoughts. I just hit a place of like exhaustion and and I was just desperate um for a change and and just something new, something different. I wanted to just be different. I wanted to get away from the drugs, and I was just tired, man, just exhausted from everything. So I found myself in that church, man. I don't even know how I got there or how I went there. I ended up going up to the altar and asking for for forgiveness and and just repenting and and saying, Lord, come into my life. And um at this time, it was different this time because this time I understood it a little bit more versus when I was a kid, I was just repeating everything they were telling me to repeat.

Israel Caminero: 27:49

Right.

Steven Perez: 27:49

So this was actually like the first time where it meant something. And I remember like just feeling this feeling where I'm just like, like, I I I want this. Like I I see the freedom in my in my friend, and he's uh his name is Pastor John Huffman, and I was at the recover recovery uh ministry, and and I and it felt good to be there because I can be myself. I can go in there with a hat on with my tattoos on me and and and just dressed how I am, and and they wouldn't judge me. Because in my head I had this like this idea like you can't go to church looking like that, like they won't accept you, you know what I mean?

Israel Caminero: 28:22

You have to wear a suit and tie, right?

Steven Perez: 28:25

Yeah, like I grew up Pentecostal, man. So it was it was so yeah, so it was it was uh it was, you know, I just had I just looked at things very differently. So so I I I accepted Jesus and all that, but it didn't matter, man. I I right when I left there, I went back to my old self, still getting high. So it took about eight months um till I fully surrendered. So I gave my life in October of 2020, fast forward to 2021 in June. And um a lot of people when they hear my testimony, they can't, they can't even like they don't even bel they can't believe how fast God's been working in my life because it's been this short minute period of time. But for me, it feels like forever. You know what I mean? Because what I've tried to do in a in in 10, what I what I try to do would take me 10 years, God would do it in a day. You know what I mean? Amen. And um, so my cousin had passed away, he got killed in an accident, and and his father was going through some things, and I'm he and I'm like, hey, listen, let's go to this church. And he's like, Well, I'm like, this is church, we can go in like this, we can come in how we are, like how we look like it doesn't matter. Like, we can get you some help. And I know that he was spiraling with his mental health and his depression, with losing his son, blah, blah, blah. So I brought him to that church, and when I pulled up to that church, the pastor, John Huffman, he he meet, he like he saw me in the parking lot and walked up to me in my door. When I opened the door out, weed was smoke was coming out everywhere. I had just did some powder, I think. I know I was on pills, I was on Xanax and Adderall, and um, I mean, I was lit out of my mind, man. I was I was high, like high, high. And usually when you're going there under the influence to that to that church, they have to escort you out because they don't want you to trigger anybody else who's in recovery. But he let me in. You know, he's he's like, come in, you know, and and we went in. And little did I know that God used the death of my cousin and and bringing him to that church to to snatch me. You know, I was sitting in that church, man, and it was uh June of June 11th of 2021. He had a sermon called All In, Going All In. And you can't do it, stop trying, and just surrender in your life to Christ and putting down, like surrendering the drugs and this. Like, I felt like I looked around, man, and there was nobody in that that building with me. It was just me and the pastor, and I felt the Holy Spirit. Like that was like my first real encounter as an adult. I mean, I know that I felt it as a kid, you know, through the motions or whatever. I don't maybe I didn't, maybe it was I don't know. But I know that as an adult, I felt it this time like so powerful. Where um I I heard like the I felt like I heard God just telling me like I can like you can feel this feeling all the time. Like I can set you free. You know?

Israel Caminero: 31:14

Amen.

Steven Perez: 31:15

And I just heard that just speaking over my life. And um, I just like I I I broke. I broke and I was crying and and I was just like, man, I'm ready, I'm ready to surrender. But still, when I left there again, man, I didn't I went right back to the drugs. I went right back to the drugs, and it took about two weeks after that, and and and the day after Father's Day. Um, my only prayer during the whole eight months from October 2020 to June 2021, my only prayer was, Lord, if it's not sent from you or by you, if it's not part of the plans you have for my life, eliminate it from my life. And I don't care if it's everything. And I didn't even know what that prayer was looking like. I didn't even know how I got that prayer, to be honest. Like I just I just know that I was saying that because I was in a place of just the desperation, just exhausted with the lifestyle that I was living. I just wanted to do better and I just wanted to love myself and love my wife properly and my kids properly. I understood that it was more important for God to have see my heart change for him versus bringing me out of the addiction. That's good. You know what I'm saying? Like he just he just hit me in a way where like he touched me and he met me right where I was at. He met me in the height of my addiction, the height of my mental health. Like I didn't even have to get it all together to kind of like I came how I was. You know what I mean? And I just said that prayer. And the day after Father's Day, I woke up, I started flushing all of my drugs like five in one 4:30 or 5 in the morning, and I started flushing all of my drugs. I started flushing all of the pills, all of the powder, all the weed. I started dumping everything, all the alcohol in my fridge, anywhere, all the liquor. I was flush, I was dumping it all down the sink. I broke my cigarettes, I was throwing it in the trash. I'm talking about like I the Xanax, the Adder. I mean, I can get into the list of drugs, it doesn't even matter. But I was just, I was dumping everything, and my wife was like, What's going on? And I'm just like, I'm done. And she's like, What do you mean? I'm like, I'm like, I'm I'm getting rid of everything. She's like, Well, you just can't do it like that. You got to go to detox or go to, you know, get get some help so you can wing off these meds. Like, you can't just do that. Your body's gonna go through a shock just with alcohol alone. You know, I was I was drinking every day, like hard liquor, you know?

Israel Caminero: 33:22

Right, right.

Steven Perez: 33:22

She was and um, yeah, and my mom was scared for me. They were trying to trying to make her act me, and they're trying to like, you know, they were trying to get me like into a facility. They were constantly on the phone with me on on the on the hour, seeing if I'm okay. I just looked at my wife and I was like, this is what I'm supposed to do. Like, I heard God telling me to to flush everything, and she's like, You're crazy. She's like, You're crazy. She's like, I know you're crazy. You you need to get real help. She's like, I don't know what, and she wasn't a believer, you know what I mean? So she didn't understand, and I didn't even understand, to be honest. I just knew for some reason, like, I'm going through the motions of of doing all this, and I'm telling you, it was not on my own strength. It was all God. Because Steven Perez wouldn't have flushed all those drugs. There's just no way. Stephen Perez would have probably tried to sell them all really quick and say, okay, let me, you know what, let me let me get right first, you know what I mean? Let me smoke the rest of this weed first or drink that, you know what I mean? So that so for me to flush everything and I could have made money off it, and I was a, I was just, I was addicted to making money and getting money, like, you know, and hustling and all that, like, I wouldn't have flushed all that money down the toilet. You know what I mean? So I know it wasn't me. And I just was telling everybody, like, this is like God is speaking to me. And they're just like, you're crazy. Like you just didn't, you didn't even believe in God, and God is speaking to you. I'm like, yeah, I'm like, God told me to do this. I stood by that, man, and I just um started going through withdrawals and and detoxing in my room by myself with door closed, man, slimy skin, smelling like crap. It was all these toxins coming out of my body for weeks and weeks at a time, maybe a couple of months. I was going through psychosis, withdrawals. I wanted to relapse, man. I was fiending. I was outside of my house like at three in the morning with a shotgun, thinking people were trying to rob my house. I was hallucinating. Like my body really like went through a shock. You know what I mean? And and um I bet I I was I was losing my mind. I lost my mind. Like I I literally lost my mind. And and um, but during that time when I lost my mind, all I kept doing was saying, Lord, I surrender, Lord, I surrender. Like you sorry, I don't want to cry.

Israel Caminero: 35:35

No, it's you're you're perfectly fine. That's what it's about, man. The realness.

Steven Perez: 35:42

But I I remember I remember just saying, Lord, I surrender this, I surrender, and I just kept hearing him just telling me, like, just keep surrendering. I don't care if it's by the minute, by the hour, by the second. Keep running to me. Keep running. If you do it on your own strength, you're gonna fail. I I'm giving you my strength. Keep running to me, keep running to me. And I was just like, I didn't understand it. Like now I understand it, but at that time I was just, I was just going through what I was hearing in my head, and and I was even questioning it myself. Like, am I just, am I really crazy? Like people are telling me I'm crazy. Am I really hearing voices in my head? Like now I'm starting to second guess myself to think I'm thinking I'm crazy for real, for real. You know what I mean? Because I'm doing things that I'm not, I wasn't like I I wouldn't normally do.

Israel Caminero: 36:30

Right.

Steven Perez: 36:30

I just kept surrendering and and and just and just leaving it in his hands and just, you know what I mean? And and I remember just the Lord just telling me, like, you know, I got you. I got you. And I didn't even understand what that was at that time, but I just remember just um just going through it, man, and just uh, you know, wanting to relapse and wanting, you know, that I and I constantly calling my my my friend Pastor You know John Huffin for prayer and and reaching out, you know, to to my dad and letting him know my dad be praying for me, my mom's praying for me. All of a sudden, fast forward, man, my wife is a bigger Jesus freak than I was. She saw what God was doing in my life, so she was just like, she's like, you know, all of us I looked at her, I'm like, I'm like, what's going on with you? She's like, I know there's a God, because look at you.

Israel Caminero: 37:20

Amen.

Steven Perez: 37:20

She's like, I she's like, I believe in God, like He's real, He's answering my prayers right now. Like I've been praying. And she told that's when she was telling me she's been reaching out to John and Pastor John and and and you know, to pray for me and stuff like that. I mean, for years, and she's like, you know, this God's answering my prayers, like you're changing, like you're a different man now. You know what I mean? And I just remember, man, just just like I said, man, just the Lord just telling me, like, hey, listen, I got you, man. And I was, I mean, I felt I I mean there was nights where I was changing out of my clothes like five times because my body was sweating out all these nasty toxins. You know what I mean? Like my body was really going through it. I got down to like 135 pounds. You know, I'm I'm 200 right now, you know, and um it was I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, man, I couldn't hold no food down. I mean, I was really going through it. And then um I just remember one day where um I was laying in bed, man, and um and the and and I just felt this peace over my body. Like I felt like like a breeze over my body. Like I felt this, like, this, this something just like a peace just hit my body that I can't even explain. And I'm laying there in bed and I start crying. And my wife looked at me and she's like, and this is about three months in. So three months in, I'm already out there testifying about it. Like within three, like in that three months when I'm going through this, I'm out there telling people about how God saved me. And I'm still withdrawing. Like it's it's it's nuts. But I remember when when everything got lifted off me, I was crying, and my wife was looking, she's like, All right, what's going on? And I'm like, I said, I finally feel the mental clarity. I finally feel the peace now. Like, I I don't my mind is at peace. I don't I don't have these racy thoughts anymore.

Israel Caminero: 39:09

Praise God, you know.

Steven Perez: 39:10

I I like my I felt this mental clarity and this peace and this love all over my body that I cannot explain. And then she starts crying, and I'm just like, why are you crying? And she goes, my prayer for these past couple months was to give you peace and mental clarity. And she goes, I've been praying for this moment, so then that's when, you know what I mean? That's when we were both crying and we're sitting there, you know what I mean. But that's when I that was that was I experienced God in such a radical way, man. I got saved so radically, man, that I knew that there was a reason why God wanted me to experience him in this way because I was in a place of desperation and I knew that I he knew that I didn't believe who he was. You know what I mean? And I came to him and I'm like, listen, if you're real, I need you to show up and show me. Like, I need I need to, you know what.

Israel Caminero: 40:00

I mean right.

Steven Perez: 40:00

So I I don't recommend anybody doing it the way that I did. Go get help, go get detox, go to a rehabilitation center, go program, whatever you need to do. I don't recommend anybody to do it the way I did it because it's dangerous. But I I know that God had me experience in this way so it can be that effective. You know what I mean?

Israel Caminero: 40:19

You know what I what I love about you've shared your story, and I love the fact that you said your wife wasn't saved, but she was reaching out to this pastor every day to pray for you. And then she radically changed too. Yeah. You know what I mean? Amen. I love that. I love how God used her to look out for you, and at the same time brought both of you in.

Steven Perez: 40:51

Amen. That's so good. Yeah, man. God is good, man. God is good. During, like I said, during that time, man, I remember the Lord telling me like just to testify. And it was on social media. He's like, I want you to use your social media platform to testify because people are gonna have your testimony in the palm of their hands on social media. You know? Like this is how you and I was just like, what? I didn't understand that. And I was just started, I just started testifying on on social media, you know, and I didn't want to. I was embarrassed. I didn't want to tell people I was depressed with anxiety and wanted to kill myself. You know what I mean? They they knew me as somebody else.

Israel Caminero: 41:28

Right.

Steven Perez: 41:29

But I just I just heard the Lord, man, in the most audible voice you can probably possibly imagine saying, Listen, I want you to testify and use this platform for my glory. And you're gonna impact people on this platform. They're your testimony and what I'm doing in your life, they're gonna go through this journey with you, and they're gonna see how I'm moving in your life. And I'm gonna use you in that way. And I was just like blown away. Here I am, fast forward, man, and and speaking and sharing my testimony everywhere, man.

Israel Caminero: 42:00

Amen. You know, I I I I firmly believe that the hardest part of people sharing their testimony is revealing their past when someone doesn't know their past. Because like look, because like you said, people didn't know you as that person. But even sometimes in this platform here, uh when I interview people, some people sugarcoat their testimony and tell me things after the fact when I'm off the air and I'm just like, why didn't you share that? You know, and it's like I get it. There's certain things that people share and certain things that they don't want to share because they don't want people looking at them in that specific way, but that's part of your testimony, that's what it's about. That's what God did, and you're not that person anymore.

Steven Perez: 42:46

Amen. Amen. You know, one one thing that I do uh make it clear to everybody is that you know, a lot of people when they hear my testimony, they they automatically come up with this assumption, like I I have it all together and figured out, which I don't. You know what I mean? Like I remember about four or five months in after I felt this mental clarity or whatever I was driving. I remember exactly where I was at, man, and the Lord. I mean, I started feeling anxiety and depression creeping in. Not the suicidal thoughts, but I felt the anxiety. I felt overwhelmed with like the wall of depression, and I started getting discouraged, man, and I started losing a little bit of faith. I started questioning God if this was the whole thing was real. You know, I started getting urges again, and I and I started crying out to God while I'm driving. I'm like, I thought you took this from me. Sorry. No, you're you're justifying. I was like, I thought you took this from me. I'm like, what's going on? Like, is are you even real? Like, I thought this was like, what's going on? Like, this is a bunch of garbage. Like, I was mad. I was yelling at him. Like I was like getting real personal with him. Like I was like mad at him. And I just and he slapped me, man. He slapped me and said, This is where I'm using you in the storm. There's people in the storm with you that have no idea where the shelter is, and I'm using you in the storm to point people to the shelter. This is where I'm using you right now, and I want you to praise me in the storm, and I want you to keep running to me in the storm, keep running to the shelter and start pointing to people that are in the storm with you to the shelter. People are relating to your testimony, people are relating to your storm, and this is the impact. This is how people relate to your story, and this is how I'm using you right now. So don't focus on the storm, focus on me. Just keep running to me, and that's all you need to do. And I'm gonna use you. Just stay available, stay in preparation. Don't worry about the calling that I showed you over your life. Don't worry about the vision that I showed you. And he gave me Matthew 6:33, seek first the kingdom of God, all of his righteousness, and everything else will be added. He's like, I will add everything else for you, the mental clarity, the peace, the love, the rest, the renewal, just the restoration. I'm gonna add all that to your life. But I just need you to run to me. Keep running to me, chase me, put me first, and stop worrying about the storm. Stop stop acknowledging the attack. Stop giving the devil the uh the um of glory and the credit for the attack. Stop, you know what I mean? A lot of these things are not uh spiritual warfare. You're still facing consequences of actions. You know, you're you're reaping things that you sold into the world before you came to me. It's okay. I got you. Like the fruit's gonna be better on the other side. Just keep running to me. And I I and I broke from that moment, it was no longer coming to God circumstantial. Now it was relational. Now it was not what he can do for me, but me being empowered to be more like Christ and just having that word pouring into me. So it changed my whole life, it changed my whole prayer life, it changed my whole perspective on how I see the how see God moving in my life. I started experiencing him different. You know what I mean? I started walking with more confidence now and more authority. I wasn't looking at myself through the lens of my circumstances, I started actually understanding how much he loved me. So I was looking looking at myself through the lens of my father now. So it was like nothing, now nothing can stop me now. Now I was like, I hit the ground running. I'm like, okay, I'm really all in now. You know what I mean? So it it it but it had it, it had to shake me in that moment, and it had it, it took me to get real because God already knows we're gonna get real, that he knows what we're thinking and what we're going through. You know what I mean? But I just expressed that to him from that moment. That's when my whole life changed as far as went from a glory to the glory moment where I understood what God was gonna do in my life, and now I'm walking in everything that he showed me. It's it's just nuts, man. I just love it. That's so good.

Israel Caminero: 46:28

That's so good. Steven Steven, you have a great testimony, and um, you know. We're not all perfect, like you just mentioned, you know, you were in the car and you felt that we're not perfect. There's only one perfect person, and that's God. And if we were and we were perfect, we wouldn't need him. But we do need him every day. Every day is a struggle. But with God, it makes it a lot easier.

Steven Perez: 46:56

Amen.

Israel Caminero: 46:57

So, what are what practices or disciplines have helped you maintain your sobriety, you know, and growing your faith after the fact now.

Steven Perez: 47:07

Being discipled is one of the biggest things. Being discipled, having men of God around me, surrounding me, to pour into me and and that I can be able to talk to when I started feeling um, you know, the urges of relapsing and stuff like that in the early stages of my walk with Christ. You know what I mean? Now, obviously I've I've I got the tools and I know that I can, you know, I can um easily pray it off or surrender that. You know, it doesn't change the fact that I still go through those moments where the five seconds feels like a lifetime, you know what I mean? Longest five seconds in my life. I just know who I am in Christ and I'm confident in that and I and I know that um my experience, I've experienced the darkness of the world and I've experienced the goodness of God, and that that just that overpowers everything. You know what I mean? So once I get that reminder, I'm like, what am I doing? Like, get out of your feelings, come to the end of yourself, like kill that flesh. You know, it's it's uh that's what redirects me back to the cross. I'm always telling people I'm always being redirected to the cross all day, every day. I'm on a I'm on a lifetime surrender. You know what I mean? Lifetime surrender. One of my biggest prayers when I wake up every day is Lord, I'm stepping out of my will to walk in your lead me, guide me, use me, what you got for me today. You know what I mean? I'm all in. Like I surrender it all. I have to keep that pouring into me. I have to keep pouring the word of God into me. I gotta keep getting into the word, you know, and spending that one-on-one with him, that intimacy, and just um just so just so I can speak to him and talk to him and hear his voice clearly, you know what I mean? Because um I'll easily start walking in my will saying it's the will of God. You know what I mean? That's who I am. I'm a manipulative person. I'll start manipulating things in my favor versus walking in the favor of God. So I have to make sure that everything is lifted up and put in his hands and nothing on my own strength, that I'm only moving on the strength of God. You know what I mean? Instead of being in the autopilot of my flesh and the autopilot of the world, I'm, you know, I'm spirit-led, which is not an easy thing to do, but those reminders that bring me right back to where I need to be and be like, man, I'm tripping. You know what I mean? Like I I gotta get back to it. I gotta, I gotta stop being, I gotta my attitude, I gotta kill my attitude, my facial expressions or my mouth or whatever. You know what I mean? Even my even in my thoughts. Right. You know what I mean? Like it's renewing of the mind. It's it's a it's a daily, hourly, by the second thing. You know what I mean? I've operated in Stephen Perez all these years, my whole life, versus how long I've been walking with Christ. So those things linger, but you know, it's it's um the adversity and and the temptation and the trials and all that, man. It's you know, and James that says count it all joy. So I know that there's there's areas of my life that the Lord is still gonna be working on me until I leave this earth. You know what I mean? I'm never gonna have it right. Like God's never done. That's right. You know what I mean? It's so it's like I know that when there's seasons about to open up for me and doors that are gonna open for me, I know it's gonna require me to leave things behind or peel off layers of me that are not meant to go with me. Like my character in Christ has to outweigh the calling that's over my life, or else it's gonna destroy me. You know what I mean? I have to walk in Christ all day, you know what I mean? And it's uh it's not easy like that all the time. You know what I mean? I know it sounds when people hear this, it's like, no, it's like the fact that you're battling and struggling with men is is a is an indicator that God is working and that you're moving towards towards you know what God is calling you to do, and the enemy is trying to really distract you and take you from that and discourage you. That's right. You know what I mean? Because even he believes in the calling over our lives, you know what I mean? But it's just it's just not not only just loving myself, it's actually becoming love. It's actually becoming peace, becoming the comfort, like becoming who Christ is in me. You know, it's no longer who I Galatians to 20, it's no longer who I live, but Christ who lives in me. Like, like I can't let the world see Stephen Perez. I gotta let them see Christ. You know what I'm saying? Like, I I have to be able to be, when when when life gets crazy, how am I supposed to react and respond to these things? You know what I mean? Like I have to be able to just go back and and and preach to myself versus listening to myself. I try not to listen to the thoughts in my head. I preach the word of God to myself and not listen to what I'm saying. Because if I listen to my thoughts, I'm gonna spiral. You know? That's right. So it's just uh just constantly pouring the truth in me, man, and staying plugged in and staying people that that hold me accountable and that are not gonna co-sign my my junk, you know, and call me out on things and pray for me and and and just uh sharpen me, you know. That's that's very important.

Israel Caminero: 51:36

Iron sharpens iron. Amen. I love it, I love that. I want to thank you, first of all, for sharing your testimony on here. I know we've been trying to link up for a while now, and it's funny because I don't remember how you crossed my path, but I was like, I gotta reach out to this guy and see if he wants to be on the podcast. And then, as you know, we scheduled it and then we had to reschedule, and then holidays came, and then I stumbled upon I was looking at Facebook and I stumbled upon your name, and I remember I'm like, wait a second. So I'm looking at your page, and by the way, I didn't know that he's a Christian rapper. I see this video, it's called 729, and I press play on this video, and I was blown away. I was blown away, and I love what you said at the beginning of the video that you don't rap, you testify.

Steven Perez: 52:34

Amen.

Israel Caminero: 52:35

And the words that you're saying in this song is straight from the Bible, and I love it, and I had no idea that you were a Christian artist, and somehow God orchestrated this for you to share your testimony on my podcast. Amen. Sounds good, man. So you're here for a reason, and first of all, I just want to thank God for what he orchestrated. I want to thank you for sharing your testimony. Absolutely. And before we close out, I always ask my guests some questions. I know I've asked you a few questions. My first question is do you have a life verse or a Bible verse that stuck with you throughout this journey that you could always fall back on when things are tough and what that Bible verse is and what it means to you?

Steven Perez: 53:30

So I do, I do have I do have multiple, but since um my testimony is is is surrounds a lot of mental health with my thinking and my thoughts. And um you know, because I I'm just an overthinker. Like I I I my imagination is intense. So one of the ones that always speak to me because I'm uh you know, we all live in our heads, right? We gotta we that's that's our permanent residence. It's uh 2 Corinthians 10 5, casting down all imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and um holding every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. That's something that speaks to me, man, because I have to really, you know, renew my mind at all times, all day, every day. I can't let Stephen Perez sit in my head and let then hear the words of of my flesh. You know what I mean? I have to go back to what the word of God is saying to me. I can't cast away the deception if I'm not pouring the truth in me. You know what I mean? I have to be able to just stay rooted in the word of God, and that's one of the verses that really stick with me because I'm I'm I'm just I'm in my head all day, every day.

Israel Caminero: 54:41

That's good. That's good. I like that. Sometimes our head could be our worst enemy. We have an enemy prowling around, getting in our head. Amen. Yeah. But I want to thank you for sharing that. So we're gonna go to my back to the past section now. And basically, if the Steven of today, the saved Steven of today, can go back in time and talk to the younger Steven and share with him some knowledge that he knows now that he didn't know then, what would you say to him?

Steven Perez: 55:16

Um the Stephen in the past, there wasn't nothing that you would be able to say to him. So I what I would what I would do would would just be loving on him. Loving on him and and um telling him how much he's loved and how much value he has. And just letting him know that, you know, that uh that there is a purpose for him and that he might not understand it at that moment, but that he would see it in the future. But just loving on him and and just um reminding him that he is loved and that that the world wouldn't be the same without him here. That's good. Cause um I I I dealt with with a lot of self-hate, you know. And I and I I wasn't really gonna listen to anything that anybody said to me, but that's what I would do, man. I would just love on them, pop up on them, just love on them. Something, you know, it's gonna it's gonna be foreign to him, but you know, just just pouring into him just with the love, you know what I mean, and and and just uh speak life into him and and speak the word of God into him without making it too obvious that I'm speaking the word of God over him because I know he would run from that, you know what I mean, if that makes sense.

Israel Caminero: 56:26

Right.

Steven Perez: 56:27

So I would I would do it in a way where where um God would just you know just just use me as as as a as that willing vestful man just to love on him and pour love into him. And just um just you know just making sure that he understood that he's that he's loved.

Israel Caminero: 56:43

Sometimes that's all you need is love. Amen. You know. But I want to thank you again for being here and sharing your testimony. I'm hoping someone's listening that needed to hear it. Uh, but before we close out, do you think you could pray for us?

Steven Perez: 57:01

Absolutely. Absolutely, Father God, we just uh we we we thank you for this moment. We thank you for this uh this connection that's uh that's ordained by you, Father God, that right now that um that it's not about us, that it's about you, that it's about your your goodness and your faithfulness, Father God, how you uh never leave us or forsake us, Father God, that you will meet us right where we're at, and that we don't need to come to you when we have it all together, Father God, that that you are a God of restoration and a God of peace and love, Father God, that that is that anything that we are going through has nothing compared to you, Father God, that you are bigger than our problems, you are bigger than the depression or the mental health or the addiction, Father God, that that anybody who's listening to this, you know, just just open up their hearts with that good that good soil. So it's planted on good soil, Father God, that it's producing good fruit, Father God, that there's a transformation in them, that when they listen to this, it's life-changing and impactful. Not because of me, Father God, because of you. And it's it's all just giving you all the glory, Father God, that whoever is listening to this, that is struggling with any mental mental health or self-hate, Father God, that that they understand how much you love them, let them feel a love going in and just shaking into their body, Father God. Give them a peace in their body and and to have them understand that they're not alone, that uh we're all dealing with these life obstacles and roadblocks and and and and that we're all facing the the craziness of this world, but but that you are the shelter in the storm, Father God, that whoever's listening to this, if they're if they're addicted to any type of drugs, that that there is sobriety in Christ, and that there is a way to get off, and and there's a way to surrender it, and it's just leaving it, everything in your hands, Father God, that um that there is a uh there is a life outside of addiction and there is freedom. There is freedom in in Christ, and just have them just uh just just process that and just have them just feel that. Just have that, have them just come to a realization, like, man, like I'm exhausted. Let the drugs never taste the same, let the alcohol never taste the same, let the weed and the and the cigarettes never taste the same, and and have this, have it feel like in a way where they don't even like it anymore, where they're no longer interested in it anymore, Father God, that it's just not doing the same effects and they're not getting the same high, that they're actually running away from that when they come to a place of brokenness. Break them to where they need to be, Father God, so you can rebuild them to the person that you're called them to be. And um, I just uh I want to just thank you for this moment right now with my brother and and and and just everything that you're doing here. And and we know that um it's not for for our affirmation how you're gonna use this, but we know that you're gonna use this in such a powerful way and that this is gonna uh bring people to you and help populate heaven and this is gonna win souls, and this is gonna speak life into people and speak the word of God into people. And we just thank you for just uh for just choosing people like us to to be used when uh Um when you're when you're a God that doesn't need to use us, but you choose to use us, and uh we stand here as willing vessels and and we stand here available. We just thank you in Jesus' name, amen.

Israel Caminero: 1:00:11

Amen. Amen. Thank you for that prayer, my brother.

Steven Perez: 1:00:15

Yes, sir.

Israel Caminero: 1:00:16

Thank you for your thank you for having me.

Steven Perez: 1:00:19

Yeah, man. Thank you for having me, man. Thank you for having me. Like I said, man, I'm I'm always I'm always here, man. If there's anything else you want to talk about, man, and get real about, I'm I'm willing, I'm willing to do it. This is what I this is what I love to do, man. I I know um I know there's people out there that that need to hear the the the rawness and um you know and they'll get it with us.

Israel Caminero: 1:00:41

That's right. And to all my listeners out there too, I just want to thank you for the support that you've always given me. Like Steven said, you know, we're just being used by God to glorify him, and that's what it's about. That's what it's about to glorify God for what he's done in our life because we're not the same person we used to be, and that's why we have these testimonies that people come on here and share. And I hope that everyone has a blessed day. And once again, I'll also have links to Steven's music and anything else like that on the description of the podcast, so you guys can go check him out. Like I said, he's got that song that's fire, and I know that was all God that put it in his heart, probably to write it and put it out. So I just want to thank everybody for the support, and until next time, may you all be blessed.