Testimonials 3
"From Prison to Purpose: Stories of Redemption"
Real Stories. Real Change
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The Hand Up Ministries Testimonial Campaign exists to share real stories of transformation from men who have faced addiction, incarceration, and life-altering consequences-and are now rebuilding their lives through faith, accountability, and opportunity.
These tetimonies serve as powerful evidence that lives can change, hope can be restored, and purpose can be found through Jesus Christ.
"I had nothing...no direction...no hope. I entered the Hand Up Ministries program unemployed, homeless. Now I have full-time employment and Hope"
Our Story
Every Story Matters. Every Life Redeemed. Truth, Transformation, Testimony....
A Hand Up........ONE STORY AT A TIME
Will King
I had a pretty normal early childhood. We went to church and Bible study every Sunday, and I went to Sunday school. We also went to church most Wednesdays. My dad was a truck driver, so he was gone for weeks at a time. My mom did most of the raising. I didn’t have a rough time at home. I was just a typical kid. School was normal until around my sophomore year of high school. That was when l started to go off track. I started smoking pot, drinking alcohol, and having sex. I also started playing guitar in my first band. My focus shifted away from school, and my grades dropped. I started skipping class regularly, and I didn’t graduate. I got a GED instead.
I had my daughter when I was 21. She came from a woman who supposed to be a one-night stand. We dated for about the first two years of my daughter’s life, but we were not faithful to each other. I cheated more than her. My daughter was a real turning point for me at first. I got clean, and I tried to be a dad. I ultimately couldn’t handle the baby momma, so I left. She got with one of my friends, then she disappeared. I didn’t see my daughter again for six years, when she was eight.
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I still played guitar and sang in my band. I joined the Army in 2007. I got clean for about two years. In 2009 I met the woman who would be baby mamma number two, and we had a son in 2011. We were together for four years, during which time I didn’t do any drugs other than pot. After being with her for four years, I learned she had been cheating on me for three years with 16 different dudes. This killed me. I left, and I went straight to drugs and drinking. My teeth were in bad shape by 2014, and I was in incredible pain. I began dating a stripper who introduced me to OxyContin. There was no turning back. I was nearly instantly addicted.
Over the next two years I spiraled down so fast I didn’t see it coming. I was arrested in late 2016, and was sentenced to 10 years. In prison I began doing sound for the praise team, and God started working on me. Their guitar player got shipped, and I was asked to play guitar for them. My entire view on music, faith, and the world changed. I was released from prison in May 2026, and I went to Hand Up Ministries. I have been sober for eight and a half years, and I am ready to live life for God.
Patrick Leffler
I was born in July 1991 in Nebraska, but we moved to Oklahoma when I was one year old. I went to high school in Jenks. I had one brother who passed away when he was three. I also had two sisters, one of whom passed away in 1998.
I was raised by my mom and my step-dad, but I went into foster care when I was 13. My mom was doing drugs, and she and my step-dad split up. I was in foster care till I was 18.
I went to church with a friend, and I have gone to church all of my life. I graduated from high school in 2009, and I got a job detailing cars. I wanted to start my own business detailing cars, but it didn’t work out.
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I worked at an airport. I fueled planes, and I cleaned planes. I worked at restaurants, and I also mowed lawns with my foster dad.
I had some girlfriends, but I never got married. I don’t have children. My mom finally got off of drugs, and we stay in touch.
I got arrested in Tulsa in 2017, and I was sentenced to 10 years of incarceration and 15 years of probation. I learned about Hand Up Ministries when I was in prison.
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I came to Hand Up in March of 2026, and Hand Up helped me get a job doing construction cleanup.
Hand Up gave me food and provided me with transportation. God has been keeping me safe. Hand Up has been there for me. They helped me and gave me a place to live. I have someone to talk to when I need to talk to someone.
Billy Hart
​I am the oldest of four children. My father was a career Army soldier who retired after 20 years of service. I changed schools nine times in 12 grades, and I graduated salutatorian in 1976. My parents took us on family outings or camping trips at least once a month, and they encouraged us to participate in school activities and church activities when possible. My mother ensured we went to church and Sunday school at a local Baptist church, and I have many memories of numerous churches and chapels.
I started working when I was 10. We were living in independent housing in a three story apartment in Regensberg, Germany, and I discovered people would pay me take their trash down the stairs to the collection area. We moved to Texas when I was 12. I put in an application to sack groceries at the base commissary, citing two years of experience, and I was shocked when I was told to come back after I turned 16. My father loaned me the money to purchase a lawn mower, a wheelbarrow, a shovel, and an edger. I had fifty customers by the end of the month, and the park manager used me for vacant lots on the 100 acre trailer park. My mom pointed out that God answers prayers.
Many years and many jobs later, my wife and I were raising seven adopted children. Our biological children were already grown and on their own. Our 15 year old daughter accused me of molesting her. I was convicted, and I spent six years in prison. In prison I heard friends brag about how much Hand Up Ministries had touched their lives. I applied to Hand Up, and I was accepted to the program as part of my release package. Hand Up provided me with a clean, maintained, and private living space. Hand Up also helped with employment and provided food, clothing, transportation, religious services, and counseling. The staff assisted me in restarting my life.
The adjustment would have been much more stressful without the compassionate, empathetic, and sincere assistance I received from Dalton, Greg, Derrick, and the Hand Up administrators. As my mother pointed out many years before, God answers prayers. I am thankful and blessed that a program like Hand Up is there to fill the hole that would be there without them. I thank Hand Up for all they have done are still doing to ensure my transition is successful.
Mark Pestel
​I had a good childhood. I was raised in a Baptist church setting. I had a normal childhood. I had an older sister and a younger sister. We were raised on the west side of Tulsa. My father left when I was six years old, so I was raised by a single mother. We struggled, but I don’t remember doing without the things we needed. My mother remarried when I was 12, so I had a father in the house for my teen years.
My teen years were normal. I dropped out of high school in the tenth grade, and I started working for a brick mason when I was 17. I got a girl pregnant, and I got married when I was 18. My adult life started early. We had three children together, and we had what seemed like a good life.
I got involved with drugs, and our marriage fell apart. We got divorced when I was 27. We got back together, and we had two more children. We split up five years later.
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I grew up knowing the Lord. I was not in church as much as I should have been, but I have always tried to put God first in my life.
In retrospect, I believe I went astray because I wasn’t involved in my church. I was convicted of assault and battery with a deadly weapon when I was 63 years old, and I was sentenced to two years in prison. I learned about Hand Up Ministries when I was in prison. I was told Hand Up would help with my reentry process.
My life now is promising. Hand Up helped me get on my feet. They provided me with housing, and they helped me get Social Security. Hand Up has helped me learn that by putting the Lord first I feel better about myself.
Cortez Elston
I was raised in Kansas City, Missouri. There were three boys in my family, plus my mother and father. My mother was a single mom for many years. She was a CNA since the age of 16. My father was a head cook. He was very strict, but he was loving. He took care of his boys. I am the baby boy of three boys. I played a lot of sports. Basketball made me very happy. It was my passion as a child, but I also liked music.
My family was very big on church. My papa was a pastor, so were at church Sunday through Saturday.
My grandmother was very caring, and she took care of the whole family. My aunt was the oldest of seven, and she was the victim of a hit and run when I was six. She was left bedridden, and her son had to take care of her at a very young age. This ended his childhood early.
My family also dealt with drug problems, but music was our escape from the darkness and hurt.
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I grew up always knowing who Jesus was. Revered by Christians as the Son of God and the Messiah, He taught me about love, forgiveness, and the kingdom of God.
Drugs took me down a path that was altered. I never stopped praying or worshipping. I had my own understanding about my relationship with God. The hardship and rocky road I went down brought me closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I lost my granny, my brother, and my mother all in the same year. This led me down the path of confusion, hurt, and loneliness. No one could tell me God cared about me, and I went deep into the street life. I had no direction, and I committed my crime with no knowledge I was hurting people I said I loved. I was in county jail for over a year.
I learned of Hand Up Ministries through conversations in prison. God chose this path for me. I am doing great now. I have a job that pays good money. Glory be to God! I have a girlfriend who really cares how I am doing. My family stuck by my side, and they are still motivating me to keep pushing.
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Hand Up has given me an opportunity to focus on getting to a better place. I am thankful to have a sober environment around me.
God has done it once again. He has changed me from within and renewed my mind and my body. My soul belongs to Him, and He continues to show me the way and do great things in my life.
Anonymous
I have five brothers and a sister, and my parents stayed married until one of them died. They both passed away recently. My early childhood was spent in a small farmhouse in Texas. We lived just outside of town. We did not have any neighbors nearby, so we became very close. We depended on one another for everything. Dad worked at a printing press, and mom stayed home with the kids. It was a very simple life, but it was good. My grandmother took the kids to church on Sunday.
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Life began to be not so easy in my teen years. My parents decided to move to another town so they could make something better for the kids.
We didn’t go to church after we moved. My parents were not religious. I didn’t attend church again for a very long time. I knew of God, but I wasn’t religious, nor did I follow the path He laid out for me.
The move from a small town had unforeseen impacts. Everything cost more, and there were more bills. My dad got a second job, and my mom had to get a job outside the house. She worked in data entry. The kids ran the house.
Even with both parents working, we were behind on bills. We moved more than once over the next four years.
I joined the Air Force after I graduated from high school. I just wanted to get out of the house. I only intended to spend four years in the military, but I spent almost 24 years in the Air Force. Life was not easy. I was divorced twice before I left the service, and once more after I left the service.
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I found unhealthy ways to deal with my broken dreams. Alcohol almost killed me, and I watched porn. My life was on a crash course, and I went to prison in 2023.
I knew nothing good could come from my lifestyle, but I did not know how to change. I was at my lowest in prison, but I found God once again. My cellmate in jail put me back with God. We did Bible talks every day, and I got a desire to reconnect with God.
God heard me. In court my sentence was reduced from 120 months to 40 months. The DA wasn’t happy, and I knew a higher power had helped me.
My probation officer arranged for me to reside at Hand Up Ministries, and Hand Up has given me a chance to succeed. A week earlier I had nothing, and I thought I was going to be homeless. Now I have a place to stay, plus clothing, transportation, chapel services, and a network of professional individuals who care.
They amplify every opportunity for everyone to succeed after prison.
God has not only steered my course in life, but He continues to open doors for me.
Shawn Groves
I have five brothers and a sister, and my parents stayed married until one of them died. They both passed away recently. My early childhood was spent in a small farmhouse in Texas. We lived just outside of town. We did not have any neighbors nearby, so we became very close. We depended on one another for everything. Dad worked at a printing press, and mom stayed home with the kids. It was a very simple life, but it was good. My grandmother took the kids to church on Sunday.
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Life began to be not so easy in my teen years. My parents decided to move to another town so they could make something better for the kids.
We didn’t go to church after we moved. My parents were not religious. I didn’t attend church again for a very long time. I knew of God, but I wasn’t religious, nor did I follow the path He laid out for me.
The move from a small town had unforeseen impacts. Everything cost more, and there were more bills. My dad got a second job, and my mom had to get a job outside the house. She worked in data entry. The kids ran the house.
Even with both parents working, we were behind on bills. We moved more than once over the next four years.
I joined the Air Force after I graduated from high school. I just wanted to get out of the house. I only intended to spend four years in the military, but I spent almost 24 years in the Air Force. Life was not easy. I was divorced twice before I left the service, and once more after I left the service.
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I found unhealthy ways to deal with my broken dreams. Alcohol almost killed me, and I watched porn. My life was on a crash course, and I went to prison in 2023.
I knew nothing good could come from my lifestyle, but I did not know how to change. I was at my lowest in prison, but I found God once again. My cellmate in jail put me back with God. We did Bible talks every day, and I got a desire to reconnect with God.
God heard me. In court my sentence was reduced from 120 months to 40 months. The DA wasn’t happy, and I knew a higher power had helped me.
My probation officer arranged for me to reside at Hand Up Ministries, and Hand Up has given me a chance to succeed. A week earlier I had nothing, and I thought I was going to be homeless. Now I have a place to stay, plus clothing, transportation, chapel services, and a network of professional individuals who care.
They amplify every opportunity for everyone to succeed after prison.
God has not only steered my course in life, but He continues to open doors for me.
Xzayvair Cobb
When I was growing up, family was one of the most important connections in my life, besides God. I am blessed to say I had both parents in my life, and they were great parents. I didn’t have any problems at home. I only had problems at school, whether it was dealing with racist teachers or being picked on by the other kids.
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I figured out how to deal with it in a healthy way in my teen years, and I figured out God was preparing me for something better. I was mostly around females in my family. I was the last male with the Cobb family name.
My sister and I moved out and got our own place when I was 17. This gave me too much freedom at that time, and I got distracted and lost my way with God. I fell into lust, and this caused me to father two kids. I wasn’t ready for fatherhood yet.
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Even though I wasn’t ready for the responsibility of caring for and raising two kids, the Lord blessed me with a strong woman to help where I was lacking.
I took what God had given me for granted, and God punished me in a way I never expected. I went to prison. Even though I was locked up, God was not done with me. I was placed in an environment where I could refine my trade and where I could find the Lord again.
As the months passed, I was scared because I had no place to go when I got out of prison. The Lord blessed me with people who helped calm my mind. They recommended Hand Up Ministries, and they helped me find out how I can expunge my case.
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Coming out of prison was stressful at first. I had to figure out my legal situation and find work. I felt alone.
Hand Up Ministries helped me with registration, getting food stamps, and finding a job. At first, it was difficult to find a job because of my background and explaining my case. One of the chaplains helped me figure out how to explain my case, and it worked well.
Hand Up gave me work while I was waiting to get hired by a company. I have job skills which were useful to Hand Up. I am grateful for Hand Up doing this for me. The Lord has given me a second chance at life, and now it is up to me to do right by that blessing.
Israel Medina
I remember my older sister and I were together alot when we were growing up.
Our parents separated when we were very young. My mom put us on a plane to go be with our father’s parents. We stayed with our paternal grandparents, and they were very kind and loving to us. My dad came later, and he was the one who raised us. He always provided us with what we needed.
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I was very involved with sports when I was a teen. My sister was five years older than me, and she was finding her own way in life. She was always there when I needed her.
My dad remarried, and I grew up fast. We were a small family, but we were a happy family. I turned 18 the summer after I finished high school, and I got a good job within two weeks of graduation.
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I was ready to be on my own, and I met a good woman. She had two daughters, and together we had a son and a daughter. We had a good sized family. We were Catholic, and we always went to church.
I still don’t believe I committed a crime, and I told myself I didn’t deserve to be locked up.
My prison case worker told me about Hand Up Ministries. Hand Up has given me a second chance and a roof over my head. I believe God is showing me the way and leading me on the right path to life. He helps me to be successful and strong.
Anonymous
My parents worked in Oklahoma when I was born, and they moved to Texas a year after I was born. My sisters were born in Texas. I have a brother who is three years older than me. I am the youngest of the boys. We had a good childhood.
We lived on a farm. My dad worked for the owner six days a week. My brother started to help my dad after school when he was eight years old. I started driving a tractor when I was 12. I did my homework late at night or on the bus the next day.
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My mom cleaned houses. She cleaned our boss’ house.
I loved hunting deer and hunting hogs. I started working on the farm after I graduated from high school. I rode a tractor, and I worked with cattle, built fence, and bailed hay.
My uncle bought a farm in Oklahoma when I was 25, and he wanted my dad to come to Oklahoma and take care of the farm. We moved to Oklahoma, and my brother and I took care of the farm. My uncle had horses and cattle. My oldest sister got married, and she no longer lived with us. My youngest sister stayed in Texas. I went to work for a plant nursery when I got older, and I married a woman who had had two daughters.
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We went to church every Sunday when I was young. My dad would wake us up to go to church, and that was where we learned about the Lord.
When I was an adult I started seeing some guys looking at girls in shorts or short dresses, and I would ask my dad why even go to church. I stayed home often instead of going to church. I went to work instead of going to church. I didn’t go to church after I got married.
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I was sent to prison for a crime, and I started reading the Bible again in prison. I asked the Lord to forgive me for what I had done, and I asked him to protect me in prison. I spent 12 years in prison, eleven of which I spent working in the kitchen. I cleaned offices for a year.
My case manager told me about Hand Up Ministries, and she gave me an application. Two weeks after she faxed it I received an acceptance letter from Hand Up. I have been at Hand Up for a year, and Hand Up has treated me well. They took me to all of the places I needed to go. There is no telling where I would be without Hand Up. Hand Up will work with you.
Matthew Boyce
My dad was very rarely there when I was growing up, and my mom had a thing for drugs and alcohol. My mom used the church as a babysitter. She often sent me to church, but this was a blessing because I found the Lord.
I attended church, and I was part of a youth group. I was sent to group home when I was 15, and I continued to attend church.
I bought a home with an inheritance, and I had a daughter. My home was stolen from me and my fiancé, and we moved to Oklahoma. We had our second child in Oklahoma.
I pled guilty to some things to which I had no reason to plead guilty. I did this to protect my family, and I went to prison when I was 22 years old. I spent six years and eight months in prison.
I joined the faith and character program in prison. It was a year long program that had multiple classes. I became a class rep, and I taught a class.
I got my GED in prison. I became a mentor and a tutor.
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I discharged from prison, and I got an apartment and found a job. All was well, and then I met her.
I was on probation, and my probation was revoked. I spent another six years and eight months in prison. I went to church in prison. I was very depressed for a while. I became a lead plumber at one prison, and I was transferred to another prison, where I was the records orderly and did landscaping.
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I found a job and stayed in a shelter after I left prison. I had heard about Hand Up in prison. I remembered Hand Up Ministries, and I applied to Hand Up.
I was immediately accepted into the program. God has always been guiding my path and watching over me. He has always urged me to keep going.
A lot has been taken from me, but I have gained so much more. I have a job, a scooter, and a roof over my head. Jesus has done everything for me.
Dylan Cottrell
I did not grow up in a Christian home.
I was very rebellious, and the only reason I went to church was for the girls. I got into a fight with my dad, and I ran away from home when I was 15.
I ended up in Thunderbird Youth Academy. My granny had a near death experience while I was in there. She said God told her she wasn’t finished and she should tell me I would be a pastor when I got older. Nobody believed her, because the best description of me was “hell on wheels.”
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I was selling dope by the time I was 20. I went to prison when I was 23, and I returned to prison when I was 24.
When I caught my last felony I hit my knees in the shower, crying and asking God why me. He said, “Why not you?” I gave my life to Jesus that night.
I eventually gained a hunger to know the word of God. There were still a few bumps in the road, but I had a lot more peace knowing who my Savior is. I knew what He stood for.
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I have learned peace, patience, temperance, and how to truly love and pass no judgement.
I got baptized on January 21st, 2024. I read my Bible daily. This made my mom pick up her Bible due the impact on my life. My favorite verse is Isaiah 48:10. This verse says, “See, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”
I believe God uses our afflictions to mold us into something greater than we could imagine. We just have to submit and obey.
Jason Gordon
My earliest memories are of Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado Springs.
Months later we moved to Independence, Missouri. I remember my first fight, and I remember being stung by a huge bee when I was sitting on a porch.
We moved to the outskirts of Saint Louis, where we stayed in a motel for three weeks. We moved to Eureka, Missouri, and then we moved again.
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Two years later we returned to the same house in Eureka.
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My step-dad was transferred to Oklahoma City for work in 1993. We settled in Moore, the center of the good life. I was 13, and it was hard to leave everything behind. My brother moved here a year later, so my step-dad, mother, brother, and I were back together again.
I was a mess from growing up in dysfunction. I became a product of my surroundings, and I was hell on wheels.
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I was an addict and an alcoholic, and I was lost. I just followed those who led me, but that road led me down a darker path.
I was broken and alone when I was 33, and I had an encounter with Jesus. I have changed since then. I am not perfect, but I am changed. I have prayed for direction and wisdom. That long dark road led me to what I call a long-term care facility. I have felt called to serve others.
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My prayers were answered and my life was changed when I met David Nichols at a church service in 2021. His vision was grand, and I was committed to serving.
I don’t know how, but I believed big and I believed in God. I started the long uphill climb in 2022.
In the last four years I have seen God do exceedingly and abundantly above all I could believe. He has never failed yet.
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Last year I started a transportation company, but I hit rock bottom. I found myself between a rock and a hard place, and I quit. I felt like I failed, but I didn’t just lose a business.
I now believe I was pulled out of a life structure that could not carry me forward. Life has shifted from production to preparation, and this preparation has been ongoing since I recently released it and cast all that unto my God.
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It has taken some time, but I am here. I am still in a struggle, but I am in a place where a foundation is being built for the next season.
God has saved my soul, and He is constantly rescuing me. I have been taught some hard truth about myself.
This last year has been amazing. Thanks to Hand Up Ministries and David Nichols for the opportunity to grow in love. I thank God for placing me in a position to serve Him and community out of faith.