Wade Morris shares his journey to faith in, "Sudden Conversion"

At the age of 14, I began to question my father about the Nation of Islam; —the religion I had been raised in. It had been my religion all of my life. My father did not give me satisfactory answers so, in my heart, I stopped believing in the Nation and in God. Now I no longer had a God.

My goal as an African-American Muslim had been to kill a white man by the age of 21. I vowed to kill gang-bangers—, and anyone else who became a threat to me. I was already planning my first murder of a rival gang member in our neighborhood. I planned to get a gun and to take karate lessons. I figured that if I decided not to kill the person, at least I could beat him up.

I didn't know it at the time, but Raymond, my karate teacher, was a Christian preacher. He began my first lesson with a prayer. I remember laughing as he prayed. But when Raymond invited me to church, I started attending the Avalon Bethel Foursquare Gospel Church. For some strange reason, I felt at home. I knew this was the place where I belonged. I didn't know much about Jesus—I just knew I belonged here.

Two months later, while I was playing basketball with Raymond's nephew, Tulam, he explained to me Jesus' love for me and how he gave his life for me. As I walked home that day, something felt different. As soon as I reached home, I knelt down in my room and gave my life to Jesus.

Up until that time, I had wanted to become a murderer— but after that, I wanted only to be a Christian.