Born in San Francisco and raised in Oakland, California, I got saved at the age of 34 as I prayed with a man called "Preacher Larry" in his car after an E.A. (Emotions Anonymous) meeting. Throughout most of my teen years and into adulthood, I used alcohol and drugs. Upon surrendering my life fully to Jesus, He transformed me from the inside out.
I was in mental hospitals at least five times, was diagnosed first with Schizophrenia and later as having Manic-Depression (which is now called Bipolar Disorder). Doctors said that I would be on Lithium medication for the rest of my life, but through a process of renewing my mind to God's Word, and obedience to Him, I was freed from all psychotropic medications in 1983.