Hello, my name is Jesse Romero. When I was 14 years old, just after the Nicaraguan war of 1980, my single mother moved my four brothers and I with her to South-Central Los Angeles, California. It was rough.
My actual given name was Jesus but when I got the USA, I got picked on a lot and beat up once. Many people used to say, "Look, here comes Jesus!" so I changed my name to Jesse.
Because I was a non-English speaking new kid to America and I was getting picked on so much, some guys came to me and said they could help me out. I did not know it at the time but they were in a gang. I soon got involved in the gang myself and things turned bad fast. I started doing drugs, selling drugs and was in a lot of trouble all the time.
At one point, I was put in juvenile prison in the USA for graffiti (3 days) and then again for strong armed robbery (1 year). As soon as I got out, I had one good month on my own and that was it, I was back to my old self. I was the leader of the pack and a heavy cocaine and pcp addict for 25 years and was in complete bondage to drugs, like many in my country today.
I was deported a few times and came back illegally. I finally got caught and spent 7 years in Folsom Prison in California, the worst 7 years of my life.
When I was 22 years old, I returned to Nicaragua and got involved in illegal immigrant trafficking into the United States of America and saw and participated in many things in those years that would shock most of you. I am not proud of those years but they are a part of my story.
I can remember in June of 2011 when I was being used as a translator for El Puente (The Bridge, which is also Athens Church's partner church here in Granada, Nicaragua) and the team continued to love me and talk to me about Jesus. They made an impression on me and I decided to follow Jesus at that moment and gave my life to him. All of my addictions have been surrendered and I have never returned to them, praise Jesus! I have been delivered!
Since then, I have found God's loving embrace and I am joyfully serving the Lord for the rest of my life. I am now working with El Puente ministries and I have never been satisfied like this before.
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A lot of people say that you shouldn't speak of recent testimonies such as Jesse's because it is just "too soon" for his story to be "valid" and "hold much weight" because He has to hold up to it, but let me tell you this, Jesse is not the cornerstone, Jesus Christ is. Jesus is constantly doing a work in him and Jesse is in-step with the Father's plan for his life – to know Him. Jesse can not be described. He was more than a blessing to the Athens Church group and God's redemptive story is ringing clear throughout the streets of Granada, Nicaragua through Jesse as children flock to him, teens open up to him, and adults follow him. Glory to God!
