My name is Tomas. I was born in Michoacán Mexico on September 30th, 1993. My Mom and Dad brought me to the USA when I was three months old. I grew up in Riverside, CA with my mother, father and half-brother. When I was eight or nine, my Mom was diagnosed with liver Cirrhosis. The doctors told her she had six months to live and the waiting list was long for a transplant but she lived until I was fourteen years old, she passed away in 2008. I had to take care of my half-brother, he had schizophrenia. When I was twenty years old my half-brother passed away from kidney failure and an enlarged heart. Then it was just me and my Dad. I got addicted to cocaine, alcohol, and marijuana. Then one year later, my Dad passed away. He had diabetes and they amputated both of his legs. He was in a convalescent home for three and a half months when he got his legs amputated. I got hooked on crystal meth. I would go visit him at the convalescent home every day, sometimes two times in a day; but I was high and drank all the time. After he passed away I went to live with a friend in Las Vegas for a year. The person I was with did cocaine everyday and I was trying to stop, but since it was there all the time I would snort it and go and drink all night. Then I and was homeless for five years, back on meth, sleeping on the streets. Then one day, I got jumped by four guys and had to go to the hospital. The next day, when I got released, I was lying on the grass side of a donut shop and some cops pulled up next to me and started asking questions why I was there. I told them what had happened. They picked me up and took me to the place where they held the homeless. They gave me a few options, but something about the name God’s Ranch made something in me say:”Yes, that’s the pace to be.” I know it was Jesus Christ who told me that’s the place to be to get sober, stay sober, and learn more about our Father God and His Son Jesus Christ. I was saved by their Holiness and they blessed me with a bed, a roof over my head, food and most importantly to learn from the Word. I thank God every night for taking me off the streets and taking my addictions away. I have given my life to the Son, Jesus Christ, the Father God, and the Holy Spirit and because of that I know I am saved and will have a place in His Holy Kingdom. I was lost before being here and finding out Lord and Savior.
–Tomas Perez
