My name is Will Rogers and this is My Life:
My name is Will Rogers. I am 20 years old and live
in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Here is my testimony...
As far back as I can remember my mom and father
fought. So it really didn't come as a surprise when
he kicked us out when I was 7, 13 years ago last
February. We finally got back on our feet and my mom
had men coming in and out of our lives. I really
became attached to this one named Rodney that my mom
was engaged to. He was my only friend. In ‘95, when
I was 9 years old. My great-grandma passed away.
That same year in September, less than a month after
my 10th birthday, Rodney decided that he just
couldn't take life anymore and shot himself in the
head. My mom wouldn't let me go to the funeral; she
said it would be too hard on me. Well, life just
kinda went on after that. More guys would come in
and out like usual until I was 13. I attempted
suicide by taking a handful of pills on my father's
birthday, June 15th. I spent the night in ICU and
ended up receiving counseling for about 6 months
after that. I spent two weeks in a psych ward in
Tulsa that January. I got out on the 14th
of January and started going to church with my
cousin. I still remember the day, January 23rd,
2000. I received Christ into my heart. I had given
everything else a try so I thought that I'd give God
a try too. That was my best decision ever. I felt
this weight lifted off of me and I took a deep
breath of the freshest air I had ever breathed
before. Sure, it's not been all peaches and cream
since then. The guys still came in and out, so I had
to move in with my grandmother and start a new
school right in the middle of high school. The
reason I believe that I adjusted so well is because
I had a great church family in that town. I started
going on mission trips and to church camp. I
actually felt like I belonged somewhere. I still
remember the day my senior year when I was part of
the team that organized See You At The Pole 2002. I
got up and gave my testimony in front of over 300
students and staff. Then, I lead them in the song,
Amazing Grace. I know that in my life I was lost and
blind, but with Christ, I was found and could see.
I praise God every day for that. I've been hit with
over 6 different deaths of people I knew in the last
2 years, two of them being my age. I questioned God
why He would do this to me. When I met my friend's
parent's and she introduced me as "the only one at
school that lives their life for God." I have
strayed so much since then. I started school in
October 2005 to be an LPN and started smoking pot to
“calm my nerves.” I had been drinking for a while
and that didn’t really help much; it just made
things worse. On March 11, 2006, I went to a youth
revival that my friend’s mom organized. I don’t
really remember what the guest speaker said; all I
remember was he asked who all wanted to be an
apostle for Christ. I went down during the
invitation and just fell to my knees. I was just
sobbing like I hadn’t in a long time. I used to come
into God’s presence and wouldn’t be able to hold it
in. I asked God to deliver me from my addiction to
weed and to give me the strength to go each day the
extra mile that He would have me to go. Halfway
through the hour-long invitation, I went back to my
seat, relieved that I had received such forgiveness
from God. I thought my night was over. I thought God
was telling me that He wanted me to be a missionary
to Job Corps, the school that I go to. All of a
sudden, the guest speaker walks up beside me and
says, “God told me to come tell you that He knows
you’re struggling with something. He says that He
knows you know what He wants you to do and He will
give you the strength to do it and that revival will
break out because of you. This is your calling. I
just wanted to pray with you.” I told him after the
service what God had been telling me and that his
words just confirmed what I had been thinking. We
prayed even more and I know that God is with me and
that if He can take my hardened heart, break it, and
still want to use the pieces to do His work, then He
will use anybody. I’m
working on starting a bible study group here and
hope that it will flourish. Keep me in your prayers.
God will prevail!!!
Will Rogers, CNA/CHHA
