Brenton Winn, a former drug addict had vandalized Central Baptist Church in Conway, Ark., 6 months prior. Then the miraculous happened!

Winn is now sharing his miraculous encounter with God and how he found redemption through Him.

Winn had a history of drug addiction. He was high on methamphetamines after he relapsed from a faith-based recovery program. Feeling desperate, he broke into the church and destroyed $100,000 of church property, the Baptist Press reports.

One of the reasons he felt desperate was because he was angry at God. He had completed a two-week recovery program in 2016 and managed to stay clean for a year. He even got a job at a local Lowe’s store. Then, in September 2017 he relapsed following his cousin’s suicide. Following this he was homeless and upset with God.

Then something incredible happened. He received the sacrament of Holy Baptism at the same church he caused major damage too. He believes God guided him to the church knowing the transformation that would take place.

“As I’m starting to understand how God works, I’ve realized I didn’t pick the church that night. God picked me,” Winn told Baptist Press. “If it had been any other church, I think I’d be sitting in prison right now.”

Don Chandler, the church’s senior pastor met with the prosecutor on his case shortly after Winn vandalized the church. Chandler felt it was vital that he show Winn forgiveness.

“You can’t preach something for 50 years without practicing it, especially in front of your whole church,” Chandler told Baptist Press. “Had we not shown some grace to him, everything we’ve talked about and encouraged, would have gone by the wayside. It was simply the right thing to do. This was not a hardened criminal. This was a young man who had made some mistakes. He was on drugs and alcohol when he did what he did. But he was redeemable.”

Pastor Chandler opted to show Winn mercy and this very thing is what helped facilitate Winn’s transformation. He let the prosecutor know that he wanted to help with his rehabilitation. Winn was then connected with Renewal Ranch, a Christian recovery ministry.

God really does work in mysterious ways – the judge on Winn’s case, who was also a board member of Renewal Ranch have Winn two options: to go to jail for up to 20 years or complete Renewal Ranch’s 12-month Bible-based recovery program. Winn decided to enter the rehabilitation program which was the beginning of his transformation.

Winn regularly attended Bible study. It wasn’t long before he decided to accept Christ into his heart after one of the Bible studies. Soon, he decided he wanted to be baptized at one of the church’s night services.

“I gave my heart to Christ that night,” Winn said. “I used to think it was a coincidence [that I chose to break into the church that night], but now I call it confirmation that God is real, and He answers prayers. What was weighing on my heart was that I needed a relationship with Jesus Christ.”