My dad decided he didn't want to be married anymore and he didn't want to be a father to his toddler son. So he got on a plane and flew to Texas. I don't remember those lonely months without my dad in the home, but surely they were stressful on my mom, as she turned to drinking even more.

Thankfully, after living several months in Houston, a colleague from the oil and gas business invited my dad to come a Bible study. The Bible study met at the home of a local life insurance agent. And for whatever reason my father went to the Bible study and he sat and listened. And what struck him more than anything else was the peace that everyone there had. He said they all had challenges, they all had problems. He remembers one woman in particular who described how her son would beat her to try to get money for drugs, and yet she and the other people at that Bible study had what the Scripture calls "a peace that passes understanding." And my father couldn't understand it, couldn't understand where that came from, but he knew he wanted it.

So he kept asking questions and they said: "You know what, our pastor's coming tomorrow night to the house. Do you want to come back tomorrow night, and you can ask our pastor these questions?" So my Dad said, "Alright," and he came back the next night.

Now my father at that time was a young man. He was an atheist. He was a scientist. And he was convinced he knew everything. He spent four hours arguing with the pastor. "What is this religion nonsense?" "Only the weak-minded would believe that." And he argued over and over and over until 11 that night. Finally my Dad said, "Alright what about the man in Tibet who's never heard of Jesus?"

Very wisely, the pastor didn't take the bait. He said, "Rafael, I don't know about the man in Tibet. But you have heard of Jesus. What's your excuse?" My Dad said that hit him like a sledgehammer, and he dropped to his knees in that living room and he gave his life to Jesus. He was baptized that next Sunday, and then he went and got in the car and drove to the airport and bought a ticket and flew back to Calgary.

He flew back to my mother and me. You know, a lot of people ask if faith is real. I can tell you, in my life, if it were not for the transformative love of Jesus Christ, I would have been raised by a single mom without my father in the house.

After my dad became a Christian, we all moved together to Houston. And seeing the amazing transformation in her husband, my mom became a Christian within a year as well. Thus, by age 4, I was blessed to be being raised in a Christian home with two strong (but new) Believers as parents.

I was raised in the church. Each night, my dad would read with me from our children's Bible. We'd memorize Bible verses, and compete to see who could do the best. We'd act out scenes from the Old Testament. We attended Clay Road Baptist Church, pastored by the same Brother Gaylon Wiley who had led my father to the Lord.

When I was 8 years old, I went to our church's summer camp, along (with) my cousin Bibi. At the invitation, tears streaming down my face, Bibi and I both walked down and gave our lives to Jesus.

And it changed my life. To have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to know that God's only Son died to pay for my sins, that I was fallen that I am redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, nothing is more important to me. I am a new creature in Christ, and it (is) central to who I am today.

I couldn't run for president without relying heavily on my faith. When I have doubts, He comforts me. When I am weak, He gives me...

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