It is week four of the Bakersfield Jehovah’s Witness Convention. As people continue to take part in this year’s theme “Exercising Patience,” we learn about two men who took the phrase to a whole new level and changed their lives for the better.
Alfonso Castellon and Willy Hernandez are devoted Jehovah’s Witnesses, but it wasn’t always like that. Both are former ex-cons and spent years in prison. They say they came to the realization that they needed to change their lives for the better and that's when they say they turned to the Bible adding, it's truly the best decision they’ve ever made.
“I started using drugs around 12 years old,” said Castellon. “I’d been on drugs for 28 years and I could never break away from them. I finally went to prison and when I went to prison, I started studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Castellon says his time in prison forced him to become sober. He says he’s grateful for this as it allowed him to open his eyes to reflect on his past choices.
“The drugs really do impact how you behave and the things that you do so when I was able to get sober in there I realized that I was missing out on a lot of things and I hurt a lot of people,” said Castellon.
Castellon says once he got out of prison, his love for the Bible only got stronger and that's when he says he started making the effort to turn his life around. He says congregating with fellow believers and uplifting each other is what gave him the strength to continue when times were tough.
Member of Jehovah’s Witnesses Willy Hernandez says the congregation also helped him overcome his struggle with drug abuse. When he got out of prison in 2015, Hernandez says turning to the Bible led him to find a way to provide for his family and make up for lost time.
“Me not being there for my family and me searching for something better than the life I had in the past and getting to know god helped me with that,” said Hernandez.
Local spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses Sean Dalida says both men’s stories are a perfect example of the welcoming atmosphere that Jehovah’s Witnesses bring.
“We’re all here, we feel like it's a family and you look around the audience it's peaceful, calm, and during the lunch hour it’s exciting,” said Dalida. “We’re talking, getting to know each other, where everybody’s from. It’s just an environment like no other.”
Hernandez says one of his biggest struggles was deeming himself worthy of a second chance and had times where he doubted himself. But it’s the outpouring of support that comes from the congregation that gave him the confidence to continue and also led to his baptism.
“Learning about God, there’s scriptures in there that tells us that he really loves us and no matter what we’ve done in our past he wants us to get to know him and draw close to him,” said Hernandez.
Castellon says he credits his success to the Bible and the support he’s been given along the way and says he’s grateful to now be able to include his family as well.
“My children are now baptized, my son was also baptized a couple of weeks ago here so it’s a great benefit for the whole family worshiping together just reading the Bible and building each other up,” said Castellon.
Since reforming both of their lives, Castellon is now the owner of an air conditioning business and Hernandez is a maintenance technician. They say had it not been for the principles of the bible, they are unsure of where they would be. To learn more about Jehovah’s Witnesses, visit their website.
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