{"id":339435,"date":"2023-09-29T16:20:16","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T20:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.universalchurchusa.org\/en\/?p=339435"},"modified":"2023-09-29T16:39:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T20:39:43","slug":"i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.universalchurchusa.org\/en\/post\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"“I Got\u00a0Involved in Illicit Activities”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before:<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\""I“Growing up, I had a happy childhood, although my father was often away working in Johannesburg. My mother raised us single-handedly and she was very strict. I got\u00a0<\/span>involved in illicit activities like selling cigarettes at school without her knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

I envied my friends, who seemed to have a carefree life, smoking and enjoying themselves. They appeared to be the popular guys who had control over the situation. Eventually, I gave in to peer pressure and joined their group. I became addicted to dagga and cigarettes and managed to hide this from my mother. Whenever I failed in school, I would make up excuses to divert attention from my substance abuse.<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew I had to make a change and not be involved in illicit activities. Although I managed to quit cigarettes, I could not break free from my dagga addiction. Being addicted made me feel foolish, and I experienced physical and mental discomfort. One day, someone asked if I could sell dagga at school, and I eagerly agreed, thinking it would be an easy way to support my habit. My life spiraled out of control. After finishing school, I continued smoking while looking for a job in Johannesburg. Money made it easier to fuel my addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, when I got married, I could not fully support my family, and my marriage was in jeopardy due to my addiction and excessive drinking. I was on the verge of destroying everything precious to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before:<\/span><\/h4>\n

However, everything started to change when I began attending services in The Universal Church<\/a><\/strong>. I stepped into the church determined to change, I felt an overwhelming sense of amazement, realizing it was the right place for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

From that day forward, I became a new person. God helped me to overcome my addictions, and the pastor advised me to regularly attend church services, praying for my spiritual well-being and deliverance. I clung to the Word of God and started attending Wednesday and Sunday services for my spiritual development. My faith became the driving force behind my transformation.<\/span><\/p>\n

My family is now a blessing, and I have achieved things I once thought were impossible. I could send my children to university, and my marriage was restored. I realized God was waiting for me to change before taking over my life. By using my faith, I was able to turn my life around for the better,” said Thabo<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before: “Growing up, I had a happy childhood, although my father was often away working in Johannesburg. My mother raised us single-handedly and she was very strict. I got\u00a0involved in illicit activities like selling cigarettes at school without her knowledge. I envied my friends, who seemed to have a carefree life, smoking and enjoying themselves. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6063],"tags":[282,42,6126,93,94,1545,6151,6161,6158,6160,133,285,210,6121],"site":[],"class_list":["post-339435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-transformation","tag-addiction","tag-anxiety","tag-bible","tag-deliverance","tag-depression","tag-family-problems","tag-friend","tag-health","tag-healthy","tag-heart","tag-holy-spirit","tag-marriage","tag-testimony","tag-the-holy-spirit"],"yoast_head":"\n"I Got\u00a0Involved in Illicit Activities" – The Universal Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/test.universalchurchusa.org\/en\/post\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theuniversalchurch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-29T20:20:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-29T20:39:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/test.universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-27-at-4.36.57-PM-1.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"divya\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"divya\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/post\\\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/post\\\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"divya\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2c324ceabfd679397fe217b98c3b39a4\"},\"headline\":\"“I Got\u00a0Involved in Illicit Activities”\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-29T20:20:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-29T20:39:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/post\\\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":407,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/post\\\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Screenshot-2023-09-27-at-4.36.57-PM-1.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Addiction\",\"Anxiety\",\"Bible\",\"Deliverance\",\"Depression\",\"Family Problems\",\"Friend\",\"Health\",\"Healthy\",\"Heart\",\"Holy Spirit\",\"Marriage\",\"Testimony\",\"The Holy Spirit\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Life Transformation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/post\\\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/post\\\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/post\\\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\\\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"I Got\u00a0Involved in Illicit Activities\\\" – The Universal Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/post\\\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/post\\\/i-got-involved-in-illicit-activities\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/test.universalchurchusa.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Screenshot-2023-09-27-at-4.36.57-PM-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-29T20:20:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-29T20:39:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Before:\\\"Growing up, I had a happy childhood, although my father was often away working in Johannesburg. 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