I grew up with my dad and step-mother after my parents divorced when I was three. My dad was a Christian, and I figured "so was I." Around the time I turned twelve, my mother disappeared and so did my will to do good. I started to turn away from everything and everyone good in my life. I started a life of lies and deception, and soon I learned I could fool everyone.

I started hanging with the wrong crowd and soon joined the Danzig Satanic Cult, but no one ever knew. You see, you can't always tell who's in a cult, because it usually does not show on the outside. Yes I looked like a Christian, but on the inside I hated everyone and my rebellion was beginning to show.

When I turned fifteen, that hint of rebellion turned into a whole lot more. I robbed my friends and my dad so I could get enough money to run away and live with other cult members. That lasted for a month, then I got caught and was taken to juvenile detention. There was an emptiness inside me, a need to feel loved.

I stayed in juvenile detention for three months, then I was taken to Wayland Family Center (a group home for troubled kids in Phoenix, AZ). There I was still able to stay in the cult. I continued high school, but there was a difference between myself and the other teammates... I made pacts with the Devil.

While in my senior year, I met Patty and we fell in love. We had so much in common. She hated her parents and everyone else, and so did I. I took off with her and fathered two boys. But I got arrested again and put in jail for shooting at a crowd. That's when Patty said, "I have had enough of your lies. You wouldn't know how good you had it until you lose it!" With that she walked out of my life and left me empty and suicidal. Even to this day I still love her deeply, but I didn't have the link in my life to keep her.

This is when I started to realize my life was going nowhere fast. Being a servant of Satan wasn't getting me anywhere except into a lot of trouble. Then one day in jail, a friend of mine said, "Hey Jon, why don't you come with me to church. There's going to be a cool speaker. It's the 'Catch Me Killer' dude." I was like; OK, if nothing else I'll get out of my cell for awhile.

I went to the jail church and Bob Erler (The Catch Me Killer) was telling about his life before and after prison. The guy was a cop who went out one night and killed innocent people, then called the police and said "Catch me, I just killed someone." This guy was on a one way trip to hell, and so was I. He started talking about how he got saved in prison and he said, "You can get saved too." I don't know what came over me. When he asked if anyone wanted to get saved, I jumped up and ran to get the greatest gift of all... Eternal life in Heaven.

I got sentenced to two years in prison, but I felt more free that I ever felt before. Once released from prison I went to work for The Rock, a Christian Prison Ministry, as a prison outreach correspondent.

If you would like copies of this testimony, write me and ask for the tract "Go to Hell" and state how many you want.

Write to:

Jon Jarosh
c/o The Rock
7408 E. Calle Arturo
Tucson, AZ 85710

©1992 Jon Jarosh