SPIRITUAL TESTIMONY

My name is Jeff Domenick, I’m a sinner saved, and a soul set free… living proof that God still sets captives free.

What I want to share with you isn’t a story about how bad I was, it’s a story about how good God is. It’s about grace, redemption, and how He can take the most broken person and turn their pain into purpose.

The scripture that sums up my journey is 2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

I stand here today as a new creation, not because I got it all right, but because I finally stopped fighting the One who never stopped fighting for me.

Growing up, I didn’t understand the depth of the wounds that were shaping me.
Like so many of us, I learned early how to survive but I didn’t know how to heal.
I carried pain I didn’t talk about, shame I didn’t understand, and questions I didn’t have answers for.

Trauma became the lens I saw the world through. It taught me to distrust, to harden up, to protect myself. But when you build walls to keep pain out, you also build walls that keep love from getting in.

Deep down, I was a broken kid trying to find peace in a world that kept offering me chaos. And instead of turning to God, I turned to anything that would numb the ache inside me.

I didn’t set out to destroy myself. Nobody does.
But one bad decision led to another, and before long, what started as escape became a prison.

Addiction took everything that mattered, peace, relationships, purpose, self-respect. I became a shadow of the man God created me to be.
And the scariest part was pretending I was fine while I was dying inside.

I was running from myself, from God, from the pain I never faced.
There were nights when I didn’t think I’d see morning. Nights when I didn’t care if I did. I looked in the mirror and saw a man I didn’t recognize, and honestly, I didn’t want to.

That’s the thing about darkness, it convinces you that you’re too far gone to ever see light again.

But thank God, rock bottom can become holy ground when you finally surrender.
For me, that moment came when I realized I was out of moves. Every door I tried to open on my own ended in destruction.

On May 12, 2021, I finally cried out to God, not with fancy words, but with a broken heart. I said, “Lord, I can’t do this anymore. If You’re real, I need You to show up. Cure me or kill me.”

And He did.

It wasn’t thunder and lightning. It was peace.
For the first time in years, I felt the weight begin to lift, not because I was worthy, but because He was merciful. I didn’t just find sobriety that day, I found salvation.
And that changed everything.

Now, let me be honest, just because I gave my life to Christ didn’t mean everything got easy. Recovery is a war, and the hardest battlefield isn’t outside of us, it’s in our minds.

Winning that war meant renewing my thoughts daily, tearing down lies I’d believed for years and replacing them with truth. Scripture became my weapon. Prayer became my lifeline. I learned that I didn’t have to fight for victory, I could fight from victory, because Jesus already won.

Every temptation, every flashback, every moment of weakness, I had to stand on His promises. And the more I surrendered, the stronger I became.

Slowly, God began to rebuild me, not the old version, but the man He always intended me to be.

He didn’t just heal my addiction; He healed my heart.
He didn’t just restore what I lost; He gave me purpose.

Today, I serve as a Chaplain, a Co-founder with my brother in Christ, Joe Standley, and Executive Director of Warpath Ministries & Live Your Freedom Foundation. I help lead Pathway to Freedom recovery meetings, a place where faith meets healing and people encounter real transformation.

I also help others start their own journey, not just toward sobriety, but toward spiritual freedom. Because freedom isn’t just the absence of addiction, it’s the presence of Christ.

I’ve learned to put on the Armor of God daily because I’m still in battle. The enemy doesn’t give up easily. But neither does God.

This fight is real.
But now, I don’t fight alone.

God turned my pain into power.
My trauma into testimony.
My mess into ministry.

Now, I live to remind others that it’s never too late.
If God can raise me from the ashes, He can do it for anyone.

I’ve seen men and women come through our ministry who thought they were beyond saving, and now they’re leading others to Jesus. That’s the beauty of grace, it multiplies.

My heart is especially for those still in the dark tunnel, the ones who can’t yet see the light. The Dark Tunnel was written to show that the journey through pain can lead to purpose. There’s light ahead.

I used to think I was too broken for God to use. Now I know, it’s the broken pieces that let His light shine through.

Everything I went through, every scar, every loss, it wasn’t wasted.
God used it to build a testimony that can reach others who are still fighting for hope. I used to chase happiness. Now I pursue purpose. And that purpose is to help others find the same freedom I found in Christ.

If you’re in that dark place, if you feel like you’ve gone too far or done too much, I want you to hear me clearly:
You are not too far gone.
The same God who met me in my brokenness is reaching for you right now.

All He needs is your surrender.
When you give Him your heart, He’ll give you a new life.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

My name is Jeff Domenick, and by the grace of God I’m a sinner saved, and a soul set free.