God rescued and redeemed my story so I could help bring redemption to others. I grew up with a mom who was pursuing Jesus and a dad who was running from him. My dad struggled with mental health and drugs, which led to instability in our home.
My parents loved me and did the best they could, but I often felt lonely and confused. I found my identity in sports and escaped through video games. I lacked purpose, meaning and hope.
When I went to college, I defined a purpose, meaning and hope for myself and started pursuing the world and success. The success I achieved became like a drug that always left me empty and wanting more. I had money, good friends, the “perfect” girlfriend and a kickstarted career, yet I felt lost and empty.
I found myself gripped with a pornography addiction and longing for the next party or next big thing I could set my heart on. I knew God existed and even called myself a Christian, but I didn’t know what it was like to follow or truly rely on Jesus. He felt elusive and unattainable to me.
After I finished college, the Lord began to pursue me and invite me to follow him. I vividly remember the things of this world—money, partying, worldly achievements— starting to lose their appeal. After a hard breakup shook my identity, I came to the end of myself.
That night, I got on my knees and said, “Lord, I am done doing this my way; I want your way. I have no idea what it looks like, but I am giving you the keys to my life.”
I asked for two things: that God would make his Word alive to me, and that God would deliver me from pornography.
The next day, everything shifted. I started reading the Bible, and it came alive. For the first time, I felt God was speaking to me directly from his Word. He also set me free from a desire for pornography. Praise God for grace!
Since I surrendered my life, the Lord has taken me on the adventure of a lifetime. He transformed me from a person looking for meaning and hope to someone who knows the Author of all meaning and hope. He has been gentle and faithful in giving me the grace to take each next step.
At first, I sensed God was asking me to seek him as I continued my corporate accounting career. Next, I pursued vocational ministry and started a church, which I would have never imagined or dreamed of doing. He has blessed me with a beautiful, godly wife and three wonderful children.
Most importantly, God’s Word is still as alive to me as it was the day after I surrendered my life to God. He has redeemed my life and shown me that I am never alone. He is my purpose, meaning and hope.
When God called me to plant SouthLife Church, he invited me to be a witness to our Redeemer, Jesus, who has the power to redeem all things and all people. I am living proof that our Redeemer lives!
Kevin Friedberg is, first and foremost, a son of God. As God’s son, Kevin is a husband to Kendra, a father to his three kids, and a pastor at SouthLife Church in Wichita, Kansas. He married into the Mennonite Brethren family as his wife, Kendra, graduated from Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas. Kevin and his family recently embraced God’s calling on their lives to be a missionary in South Wichita, where, by the grace of God and in partnership with others, they planted a church in 2023.
