Hello, my name is Jeremy Stepien. I am 39 and grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago. For most of my adult life, I had struggled with drugs and alcohol. I began to replace alcohol with marijuana and was going down another bad path. God intervened. I like to call it his rescue operation.
In 2020, I had a religious experience and ended up in Hartgrove Mental Hospital in Chicago. While there, a doctor I had never met had the book Steps to Christ with my name printed on it sent to my room (A coworker had given me the same book years prior, which I hadn’t read). This practice was not customary at this hospital. As a result, I was led to the Bible, repentance, and surrendering my life to God’s will.
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
As I began to pray and delve deeper into the scriptures, I began to see that what the Holy Spirit was revealing to me was in line with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I made a notebook for every book of the Bible and would handwrite scripture to learn it better as the Holy Spirit led me. This led me to start an online ministry to share with others what I was learning in the scriptures as the Lord revealed it to me.
I often pray, asking the Lord to use me as a laborer as he says in Matthew 9:37: “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.” It has been amazing to see how He answers prayers and how He is transforming my character. I was baptized into the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in February of 2022 and worked as a caregiver until recently. In this role, I was able to share my faith and give hope to the elderly.
The past three years have been a bit of a wild ride, but I feel blessed that the Lord intervened and took me in. In this time, God has done a great deal to increase my faith and help me grow in my Christian walk. I frequently ask God to help me make the world a better place and use me to win souls to the kingdom. I often find myself sharing my testimony with the homeless and strangers and regularly handing out Bibles and copies of Steps to Christ.
I feel that God has been preparing me for missionary work this whole time. I have accepted a call as a Mission School Math Teacher on Palawan Island in the Philippines. I believe Jesus is coming back soon, and I want to share the good news of salvation with those who don’t have access to the same luxuries and resources we do in America. I am hoping to make a difference.
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).