1. Tell me your story of how you came to the Lord and to care so deeply about the issue of abortion:
It was June 2013. I had just moved back to Chicago after living in San Francisco for a little under a year. I moved out there to pursue my newly discovered homosexual identity. My parents asked me to move home and help with the family business due to my father having some severe health scares. Around that time, my older brother gave his life to Jesus, and he started to notice me living a homosexual lifestyle. After months of beckoning me to Jesus and to come to church, I finally started to attend service with my brother. One day, our pastor shared a message about the emptiness of this world. He mentioned that you could have all the sex, all the friends, and all the fame…yet somehow still be spiritually bankrupt. That message hit my soul, and I gave my life to Jesus that Sunday, September 16, 2013. I have never been the same since that day.
Since the moment I became born again, the Lord had placed a burden on my heart for the unborn. No one needed to convince me. By the Spirit, I could clearly see that abortion is murder, and it is my duty as a Christian to stand up for fellow image-bearers. I am grateful to serve at a local church that regularly preaches against the sin of baby slaughter. This has kept my heart sensitive to the issue for the near decade I have been walking with the Lord.
2. What has God done in your life to prepare you for this work?
The biggest thing that God has done in my life, which has prepared me for this work, was to remove my family’s business from my life. There was a point when I would preach the Gospel in the streets and witness to people interpersonally, but I would not regularly attend my church’s abortion clinic outreaches. I didn’t use the platform God had given me to preach the Gospel and stand against abortion. I was struggling with the “fear of man” as the Lord had greatly blessed my family’s business. We had won many awards in our city and were the highest-rated Chicago restaurant on all of Yelp.com. I was at a place where I knew that if I spoke out against abortion/LGBTQ issues, I would absolutely lose my business.
In June 2020, the Lord gave me an opportunity to choose: His glory or my glory. By God’s grace, I can humbly say I chose the Lord. When the BLM protestors asked me to stand with BLM (which inadvertently means standing with LGBTQ, abortion, feminism, and the like), I said, “No, thank you. We, as a business, stand with Jesus!”
Since then, my life has been threatened hundreds of times. Thousands of hate messages were sent to me online. I had to relocate my family across the country and shutter my business, all for the glory of God! It was worth every second. HE is worthy. I no longer have any ties to worldly success that can hold me back from sharing the truth of the Gospel and standing for life. Now, if the Lord wants to give me a business again, it will be strategically built to glorify Him, not me.
3. What made you decide finally to become a sidewalk outreach/city director?
About a month prior to finally becoming the Love Life City Director, the Lord had been greatly impressing on my heart His desire for me to be more present at abortion clinics. With my street evangelist background, I knew He was calling me to preach the gospel more faithfully outside of abortion clinics. I had told my wife, my mom, and even my co-workers that the Lord was giving me this assignment. I knew it was going to be a sacrifice for everyone I loved and worked with. However, I knew it would be worth it. A month later, I was introduced to Brian Ottinger and the ministry of Love Life. I knew at that very moment that this was the specific assignment that the Lord was preparing me for.
4. What are your hopes, goals, and dreams for this ministry?
My hope for this ministry is to see churches from a variety of different theologically sound backgrounds come together to stand for life. My hope is to wake up the city of Chicago so the world can see that there is a powerful light in the heart of Christians that will not be put under a bowl like the scriptures say. My dream is to have a Christian witness outside of every single abortion clinic in the city of Chicago at all times! Praise the name of Jesus!
If you would like to support Love Life Chicago, or any of our cities nationwide, please visit our donate page here.
