Changed for Good by the Changeless Christ

True Life Story of Leo Mejia

It was a Friday night when an older cousin and I, along with our buddies, gathered outside the building. They paid the bouncer and got me into my first club on Broadway in LA. I felt cool and respected. Joints were being passed around as people danced and drank. Then suddenly, everyone started yelling at each other. Gang signs were flashed, and then the shouting exceeded the club music. Before I knew what was happening, we were being pushed toward the exit. The narrow path outside was lined by LAPD officers. The situation had gone from bad to worse, and I was only twelve.

I was born in south LA, just blocks from Compton, California, and life was always changing for me. My first big change happended when my dad left, just days after I was born. Both of my parents were recent immigrants from South America and the “plan” was that Dad would save money in Florida and move the family there. It never happened. One afternoon mom called him, and the woman who answered informed her that he was busy…getting married. So, I did not grow up with a father. The place where my mom, my sister and I lived, changed, frequently. During the next year my mom sought work and a roof over our heads in the worst parts of the cities around San Francisco and Los Angeles. At times, homeless, we lived in a storefront. Mom would move shelves at night to make space for the mattress she had dragged out onto the floor, so the three of us could have a bed.

Out of desperation, mom chose to change our situation again and sent us to live with the person she trusted most, my grandmother in Peru. At the age of 5, I was finally able to return to live with my mom, a stranger to me, and her new husband. Arriving back in the USA seemed like a dream, a new life, to me. Yet that dream was quickly shattered, and became a nightmare, as I entered the next few years of abuse. Eventually, the marriage crumbled, and we were on our own again, but now my mom had three more kids.

I had gotten used to change and disappointment.  That was my life. Making friends didn’t come easily to me.  I was shy and quiet. So, to compensate for all the upheaval, my behavior began to change. I started to party and experiment with drugs, smoking any chance I could, all while trying to be a “good kid” at home. I kept up the charade, making my mom think that I was an obedient son, a good student and a churchgoer. Yet at school, I was getting in trouble with friends, doing drugs, and even making some money from this lifestyle.

It took some work, but I seemed to be able to keep my delinquent behavior hidden from my mom. One morning, moments after arriving on the school property, the principal stopped me before I could get into the building. “I need to speak with you.” I agreed and calmly followed him to his office where a police officer was waiting. I had gotten away with everything else up until this point. “We know you brought a gun to school and threatened Mike with it yesterday.” That day I was kicked out of school only weeks after the Columbine Colorado shooting had taken place. I was just a kid, but all the necessary ingredients were brewing to destroy my life, as well as the lives of those around me. My double life was unraveling at the seams.

Right about that time, my mom made a friend who invited her to a little church where we all started attending.  It seemed great! The people there were friendly. I even went when no one else in the family could. There was something different about this change: the people truly loved me. They invited me to sit with them. They visited me at my home and cared about what I was doing. I really wanted to be like them and I truly wanted to change. I attended every service, went to the youth activities and memorized more verses than anyone else in the youth group.  I even asked if my mom could teach me at home, so I could escape the smoking and bad influences of those at my school.  I did make changes, but they still did not satisfy, because my heart had not changed.  I had learned much about Jesus in the few years I was going to church, and I knew all the right things to say.  I knew how to dress and walk the walk, but I still lived with the guilt from the wrongs that I had done.  In my foolish pride, I thought I could fix it all.

Until one day when I went to a special meeting at our church. The preacher preached on hell and the brevity of life. “What is your life:  It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14).  The question of what would happen to me stuck in my mind through the night, and I finally decided to give up doing “life on my own.” God loved me, in spite of my sin. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us” (I John 3:16). I realized Jesus, God the Son, died…for me, and, when He died, it was enough to pay for all of my sin. “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (I John 2:2). I believed the truth that Jesus did not stay dead but rose again! “Him God raised up the third day and shewed him openly” (Acts 5:30). “He bore our sins in His own body on the tree” and went from death to life. Talk about a change!

That night I received the gift of eternal life by faith, and that night, God changed me! “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). I bowed my head in prayer, confessing to God that I was a sinner and could not save myself, and with my heart, I believed that Jesus had died for my sin and rose again. I don’t remember every specific word I said, but I do remember saying, “Thank you for saving me, Jesus!” As I ended the prayer “in Jesus name, Amen,” I pillowed my head and slept peacefully that night. I was baptized soon after, in obedience to the Lord and later surrendered to preach.

Good changes kept happening, but now I can see God guiding through each and every one. Bad circumstances had brought my family to hear about what Jesus did on the cross, and through this, we were saved!  Many other circumstances have brought me to Indianapolis to Pastor the wonderful Charity Baptist Church.  Serving alongside my beautiful wife and raising three precious little ones, is the thrill of my life!  We are working joyfully together now to reach this city of nearly 1 million people with the good news that Jesus will save and change them too.

Are you just now, as I once was, lost in a sea of sin? You may long for change and be trying to change, but lasting change only comes through Jesus Christ. Right now, where you are, bow your heart before the Savior. Confess your dark heart and believe on Him alone to save you!  You can pray something like this: “Lord Jesus, I know I’m a guilty sinner.  Nothing I can do will save me!  I am coming right now and asking you to forgive my sin and save my soul. I believe you died and rose to save me, and I accept your pardon. Thank you, Jesus!”  Did you just call upon the Lord? If so, then He saved you (Romans 10:13). Please contact us and tell us of your decision to place your faith in Jesus so we may rejoice with you!

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