Ashton Human

"When I was younger, I used to go to church with my mom. It wasn’t my decision, but it was more of a cultural thing. Eventually, we stopped going. I forget exactly why – maybe things just got busy. Now, I had a close family member that was always very aggressive. And I was kind of an aggressive kid, too. We had some good times, but also some bad times.

My parents always had to pick me up from after school care because I kept on getting in trouble. By middle school I was a believer in evolution, and I had bad anger issues. It wasn't until my freshman year of high school where everything changed.

A classmate showed me this video – it was very violent. I was shocked and disturbed. I couldn’t get it out of my head, and it made me think, “Wow, I am going to die one day.” That thought paralyzed me with fear. When I thought about dying, I thought of this cold, dark abyss. I didn't know what my purpose was in this life. I didn't know what was coming after either.

That made me wonder, ‘is God real? Is the Bible real? Is there hope?’ And so, I Googled ‘evidence for God.’ To my surprise, I found all this stuff supporting His existence. I started reading the Bible and I started praying. I prayed to be saved and prayed for a clean, pure heart.

It was in my Sophomore year that I discovered the truth about the Sabbath. That close family member expected me to work with him on Saturday but because I was refusing to, he would attack me and verbally assault me. At this time, I thought there was no Sabbath-keeping church at all. So, I wanted to create my own church.

Eventually, I found about out about the Adventist Church. I tried to go, but my parents wouldn’t let me. They thought it was a cult. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I got to visit. That year, my birthday happened to fall on a Saturday. My family asked, ‘what do you want to do today?’ and I replied, ‘I want to go to church.’

I was super excited. I brought my Bible and my swim trunks because I was ready to get baptized. I thought if I did not get baptized now, I would not be able to visit again. My mom and my dad were convinced the Adventist Church was a cult. In fact, I remember my mom saying, ‘don’t drink the Kool Aid,’ just as I got out of the car.

I had an incredible experience at church. As soon as the service was over, I asked ‘How can I be baptized?’ I was ready to go. They told me, ‘Well, let's go through these Bible studies first.’ So, I met up with the pastor and brother Bill for a couple of weeks. They were shocked because I already knew the things they were teaching me. I had been doing my own studies with Amazing Facts for a while now. I got baptized on September 26 of 2020.

Like I said, I had a turbulent relationship with this close family member. One morning, I forgot what happened exactly, but he got infuriated. He attacked me, and I defended myself. My friend’s mom had to call the cops. The police took my statement, and I had to put a restraining order against my him because I was afraid.

I was staying in my friend’s house until the court date. And every night I remember I was crying. I was just so distressed. I felt so alone. That’s when I started praying a lot; and that's when God put in my heart that I needed to forgive this person. He apologized to me, and I dropped the charges. He never attacked me again. Instead, we started forming a relationship together. And little by little, though it has not always been easy, I have been able to witness to him.

Now, my spiritual journey has been a bit of a rollercoaster – even after my baptism. I kept on getting involved with the wrong crowds that pulled me away from God. I let myself get into the wrong relationships. I listened to music that did not praise God, and I did things I should not have done.

Just before my 20th birthday things were going not so great again. At this time, I started boxing – and I actually noticed this pattern that whenever I go into combat sports, I started to forget God. Anyway, things were drifting South and I was drifting away from God. I got aggressive, and my language started to wane again.

One day, I had this terrible day at work. I was angry. I got on my car and started driving really fast on the back roads. Then, the road turned in and my front tire went off the side. I panicked. I stomped the brakes and the car started sliding. Just right before I hit a tree, I braced for impact. All the airbags deployed, and my car went up the tree and did a barrel.

I remember I was just so disorientated, and I was scared. Back in high school I had a friend who died in a car accident – the day of my crash was actually his birthday. But despite the wreck, I was okay. So, I thought to myself, ‘Why did God save me? Why did I survive?’

It was difficult to think about this because it meant I had to also ask myself, ‘If I had died today, would I have been ready?’ I knew I wasn’t. So, I started praying more and I started coming closer to God again. That car wreck was a wakeup call for me. I truly believe that God used the accident to bring me back to Him.

I’ve battled a lot of things and I’ve turned away from God time after time. But I believe that God has great plans for me. When I was in high school and had a lot of questions, He showed me the answers. When I felt alone, His presence covered me. Even when I made mistakes, He did not give up on me. I have to say, my life with God has always been about His love – every time that I've walked away from him, he's chased after me.”

- Ashton Human, from the Shelbyville Church in Kentucky.