{"id":339435,"date":"2023-09-29T16:20:16","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T20:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/?p=339435"},"modified":"2023-09-29T16:39:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T20:39:43","slug":"i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/post\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"“I Got\u00a0Involved in Illicit Activities”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before:<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\""I“Growing up, I had a happy childhood, although my father was often away working in Johannesburg. My mother raised us single-handedly and she was very strict. I got\u00a0<\/span>involved in illicit activities like selling cigarettes at school without her knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

I envied my friends, who seemed to have a carefree life, smoking and enjoying themselves. They appeared to be the popular guys who had control over the situation. Eventually, I gave in to peer pressure and joined their group. I became addicted to dagga and cigarettes and managed to hide this from my mother. Whenever I failed in school, I would make up excuses to divert attention from my substance abuse.<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew I had to make a change and not be involved in illicit activities. Although I managed to quit cigarettes, I could not break free from my dagga addiction. Being addicted made me feel foolish, and I experienced physical and mental discomfort. One day, someone asked if I could sell dagga at school, and I eagerly agreed, thinking it would be an easy way to support my habit. My life spiraled out of control. After finishing school, I continued smoking while looking for a job in Johannesburg. Money made it easier to fuel my addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, when I got married, I could not fully support my family, and my marriage was in jeopardy due to my addiction and excessive drinking. I was on the verge of destroying everything precious to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before:<\/span><\/h4>\n

However, everything started to change when I began attending services in The Universal Church<\/a><\/strong>. I stepped into the church determined to change, I felt an overwhelming sense of amazement, realizing it was the right place for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

From that day forward, I became a new person. God helped me to overcome my addictions, and the pastor advised me to regularly attend church services, praying for my spiritual well-being and deliverance. I clung to the Word of God and started attending Wednesday and Sunday services for my spiritual development. My faith became the driving force behind my transformation.<\/span><\/p>\n

My family is now a blessing, and I have achieved things I once thought were impossible. I could send my children to university, and my marriage was restored. I realized God was waiting for me to change before taking over my life. By using my faith, I was able to turn my life around for the better,” said Thabo<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before: “Growing up, I had a happy childhood, although my father was often away working in Johannesburg. My mother raised us single-handedly and she was very strict. I got\u00a0involved in illicit activities like selling cigarettes at school without her knowledge. I envied my friends, who seemed to have a carefree life, smoking and enjoying themselves. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6063],"tags":[282,42,6126,93,94,1545,6151,6161,6158,6160,133,285,210,6121],"site":[],"class_list":["post-339435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-transformation","tag-addiction","tag-anxiety","tag-bible","tag-deliverance","tag-depression","tag-family-problems","tag-friend","tag-health","tag-healthy","tag-heart","tag-holy-spirit","tag-marriage","tag-testimony","tag-the-holy-spirit"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/248"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339435"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":339440,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339435\/revisions\/339440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339435"},{"taxonomy":"site","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/site?post=339435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}