Hello Friends! Today, we are looking at John Hill Jr.'s Testimony, "From Darkness to Light." John Hill Jr., formerly known as Boonk Gang, now known as Holy Gabbanna, is working for God's Army instead of the Army of Darkness. He is using his social media platforms to usher other lost souls to Jesus Christ.
John had a tumultuous childhood. After his father passed, his mother buried herself into work to keep up on the family's finances. John was often left alone, so he found himself chasing trouble to keep himself entertained. John noticed another social media user was getting a lot of views from posting their antics, and he thought he could do the same. So, his social media stardom began with him filming the worldly things that brought him joy.
John's sister shared his video on her Facebook account, and his video hit a million views. At the time, he thought he hit the jackpot. He thought, "Now I've got to do this 100 more times!" John had 10,000 followers when he started, and he started posting videos of himself stealing and creating disorder. He thought, "How can I go to jail today?" each time he created content so he could go viral. In John's heart, he really wanted to make his name known; "Boonk Gang." Looking back at things now, he said God was using that fire to make his own name known.
John was searching for a better life, and he didn't know how to do it on his own. He realized that God had so much in store for him and that John didn't have the skills to do it alone. John remembers getting out of jail with no bus fare to return home, and his mother didn't want to come get him. His mother would drive past him while he was walking in the street, and all John longed for was a comfortable life.
John's examples in life were basically "If I want it, I've got to take it myself." No one ever told him to surrender and go to God. That, if you lay it down to God, he will give you all the desires of your heart. John notes that once you ask God for your heart's desire, he will give it to you, and that it won't fill you with pride. He will never give you something you want that draws you away from him, but rather, he will give you whatever you want as a relationship tool to bring you closer to him.
From the outside looking in, John had everything he asked for. He started to have fame, he started to get all the attention he felt he missed as a child, but inside he was still lost, left hurting and empty. He said "Money just amplifies who you really are.. If you are a bad person, it will make you more evil." He said that who he was on the inside was a broken, angry person. After all this fame, he found himself in jail. In Jail, John met our Father, Jesus Christ.
John found he was very popular in jail, too popular that the security guards had to move him to isolation and then found him a new cellmate. His cellmate named Joshua, asked him, "Do you believe in Jesus?" And John answered, "Yes, I believe in Jesus." As a kid, he was taught about Jesus, but was never taught as an adult how to LIVE for Jesus. The example he had a kid was they went to church on Sunday morning, believed in Jesus, but then came home, and he was beaten and yelled at all night.
Like many of us, he felt repelled by "Christians" who look fake and do not bear the fruits of the Spirit. His cellmate Joshua was always talking about Jesus, and John started to ask him questions to get to know Jesus more. John said that even though the seed was planted wrong, it was still planted, because when his cellmate asked if he believed about Jesus, he said yes. (Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old, he will not depart from it.)
John found himself singing "Jesus loves you, for he died on the cross for our sins..." His cellmate poured Jesus into him and showed him so much love. Jail has no love inside the walls. John started singing about Jesus' love to fill the cells of the jail with hope. John would sing to others to keep his spirits up, but at night he would cry himself to sleep. One night as he was crying, he felt a peace wash over him. His cellmate Josh told him "You just had an encounter with the Holy Spirit"
For now, I will leave you on that note, and encourage you to watch his full testimony as it is ALIVE with God's promises. I hope his testimony reminds us... we aren't meant to come to God as the perfect Christian. We are meant to come to God in our Truth. God will meet you in your broken place and restore your soul to peace! Just call out to him. He loves us and wants us to walk with him as beloved children.
I hope you have a blessed week and remember, I LOVE YOU ALL!
