Amy & Seth Drew

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8

Seth: When I think of my life before Christ, words like messed up and not normal come to mind. I was nine when my parents went through a horrible divorce (my mom and dad have now been involved in seven different marriages). To say we were stuck in the middle is a complete understatement. I remember my mom hating my dad so much she wanted to take his life. She would carry around a loaded shot gun and tell us she would kill my father if she ever got the chance. This left us utterly terrified. My father went to jail from about 1990-91. While I was in junior high school I went to a spiritual retreat, and I heard a “cranking” sermon on hell. I knew I didn’t want to go there. I prayed Jesus into my heart that day and “got saved,” so I thought. In high school I partied hard, experimented with drugs and fought all the time. Drunk driving and living a sexually active life lead me to deep insecurities, depression and thoughts of suicide. I struggled to know the meaning of life. Through all this I carried with me a deep sense of God.

After high school I joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard. I came home from basic training still feeling empty and needing change in my life. I quickly moved to Madison Wisconsin with the idea that change would do me good. I thought a clean slate and a fresh start is what I needed. Yet I quickly fell into the same sin. Sex, drugs and selfishness consumed my life. I remember praying, “God, show me the priorities in my life.” God answered that prayer by sending me a disciple by the name of Heidi Ladwig. She invited me to a church service and I was blown away! I had never experienced the love for one another and the sense of family that I saw. The preaching was so simple but so powerful. I was so convicted by what I experienced. The first brother to walk up to me, Brian Wisniewski (Heidi’s future husband), who boldly asked me to study the Bible. Alex Hamilton joined in and for the first time presented the true gospel to me. He put before me what it meant to be a true man of God. I made the decision to make God’s word the standard for my life, and to make Jesus the Lord of my life. On August 27th, 2000 I was baptized into Christ and was pulled out of this world. I was in awe of my new found freedom in Christ and I wanted the world to know! Within a year I had led a few men to Christ, including a childhood friend named Jonathan Klaas. It was then God sent me Amy. Amy was God focused and spiritual, but I was paralyzed with fear to pursue a relationship with her because of my past. Through the help of brothers like Tom Reber I asked Amy to be my girlfriend on May 26th, 2001. Our courtship lasted a little over a year and on July 13th, 2002 by the power and grace of God, we became man and wife! What a day, it was amazing! However, nothing could prepare us for the struggles that were soon to come.

Amy: I look back on my life and all that God has rescued me from, I can’t help but be incredibly grateful. Without God, I was completely lost and filled with such emptiness and pain. My father is a strict catholic, so I went to a private catholic school my entire life. We were required to attend church and religion classes, so I had an awareness of God as far back as I can remember. However, I could never really connect with God on a deep, personal level. I felt frustrated by all of the meaningless tradition and the hypocrisy that I saw, and I just knew there had to be something more. I was definitely a bit of a rebel growing up. I started hanging around a much older crowd and began to drink and do drugs at a very young age. The alcohol and drugs started distorting my view and I felt out of control. I had forgotten about God or any plans he may have had for my life. I desperately looked for love, but without God, I found destruction. A string of very emotionally and physically abusive relationships was creating a pattern of high intensity and excitement mixed with complete torment and pain. Time and time again, I found myself in the middle of destructive relationships. I would rather be with someone and miserable then be alone and empty. I cried out to God to save me from my mess, but I was so far away from him.

During college I continued to do drugs and my experimenting eventually become a lifestyle for me. Drunkenness was almost a daily routine and my weekend life consisted of all night ecstasy raves mixed with cocaine. I thrived off of excitement and a willingness to do just about anything. However, while studying abroad in London, I felt like God was really tugging at my heart. So I drew close to Him and started reading my Bible. I even prayed him into my heart-many times in fact, thinking I was changing my life and making a fresh start. I was deceived. I kept living the same destructive life with no real power to change. By this time I had done everything that I said I would never do. I no longer had any standard in my life. I felt bitter and angry towards God because I thought he abandoned me.

As my life spiraled downward, a woman in a grocery store invited me out to church. This happened right after my brother started praying that I would find a church that would hold me accountable. Not until I sat down and personally studied the Bible and saw that it was my sin that put Christ on the cross, was I able to complete my faith. I saw the incredible forgiveness that Christ offered and wrestled through forgiving my father and all the other men who had hurt me. I was able to repent of drinking, drugs, smoking and sex. In fact, I told the boyfriend I was living with for two years that he had to move out. All of these challenges were very hard to overcome. I struggled with what the scriptures said about what it took to be a disciple of Christ. Many times I wanted to give up, but I knew there was no other way. I knew that no matter how difficult it was to leave my life of sin, it would never compare to what Christ did for me on the cross. I was baptized March 19th, 2000 and his incredible spirit has mended my heart and made me complete.

The Lord’s hand has radically transformed by life. He has blessed me with such a security and peace that words cannot describe. I have a loving husband who treats me so wonderfully and we put God first in our marriage. I have been a witness of many miracles! God does not promise a life without trials however. Shortly after we got married in 2002, I found out my mom had terminal cancer. In my entire life, my hugest fear was losing one of my parents. I always thought that I would never survive the pain of that reality. Not only was my mom dying of cancer but at this time Seth got activated to report to fulltime duty in Iraq. Only through God’s strength and his promises, along with the help of my amazing sisters in Christ, was I able to endure such a hard time. I was able to take care of my mom and share scriptures with her, and really help her see God more clearly. I now see how those trials created such an intimacy and trust in my personal walk with God, and I’m eternally grateful for his love. I truly don’t know where I would be without the cross.

Seth: During my year in Iraq, Amy was left with a world crumbling around her. I was faithful though that she was in God’s hands. Our best friends the Alexanders really helped carry her.

However, my life soon got out of control. While in Iraq I started smoking. I loved my fellow soldiers and reached out to them with the message of Christ, yet I also grew to hate them. This was due to the pressures of war. I took my eyes off of God and trusted in myself. When I came home, things continued to spiral out of control. My anger led me to get arrested for battery, disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property. My marriage was failing and I started verbally and physically abusing my wife. I reached out to a dear friend of mine, Jay Shelbrack. He told me I was in sin and needed to be brought back to the conviction that Jesus was Lord of my life. I made my decision to come back to Christ.

Then Amy and I joined the church planting in Chicago to be with people who wanted to make Jesus Lord of their lives and have discipling relationships. At first we were very unsure about such a huge move but we desperately wanted to be a part of a thriving ministry again. It didn’t take long for Amy and me to realize that we made the right decision. God has blessed us in incredible ways. Because Christ and his mission are once again first in our lives, God has brought a love and refreshment I didn’t think would ever come back. New relationships are being forged, and old ones are being rekindled. We are meeting new people who want to learn about God, and we are reaching our families like never before. We truly have been snatched from the fire and God has once again lavished his grace upon us.

Seth and Amy Drew

Categories: Testimonials
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