Sixteen and a half years ago, we packed up and left everything and everyone we knew to come to Albuquerque for what we thought was going to be a 2 to 2-and-a-half-year max stay. Coming from small-town Oklahoma, we suffered quite the culture shock. At 21 and 23, we were newly married and on our own for the first time. Our idealistic view of church work and the ministry was quickly shattered by the sheer number of hours I had to work. This, paired with the first year of marriage, was a recipe for disaster.   

One night about a year into living in Albuquerque, we had a particularly big fight which ended in my wife grabbing her car keys and getting in the car to drive back to Oklahoma. Thank God, after going in circles for some time, she came back. We sat down and had a much-needed discussion and decided that we believed God had called us here, so we were going to put our heads down and work as unto the Lord. We quit complaining. We started creating relationships with more people. We devoted our lives to what we believed God called us to be a part of Legacy Church.  

When I started working here, I was a punk kid (literally… I even had a two-toned mohawk for a while) who worked as a worship leader who assisted in the main service and led worship for our youth and college ministries. Four years into working at Legacy, an opportunity for a promotion presented itself. The head worship leader position opened up—only one problem. Pastor Steve said he didn’t even want to hear my name suggested for the job.  

I was discouraged, to say the least, but I decided that I believed God called me here. I may not be Pastor Steve’s guy, but I know what God called me to do, so I kept working unto the Lord. I talked to one of the executive pastors and started working on some things I needed to fix in myself; after months of filling in as the head worship leader, Pastor came to me and offered me the job. He told me he didn’t think I could do it, but if I wanted it, I could have it. I gladly accepted it, and I proved him wrong. He’d tell you I proved him wrong too, and he was glad I did. 

Over the next several years, we devoted our lives to Legacy and the ministry of the church. I made it my number one priority to help Pastor Steve achieve God’s vision for Legacy Church. I learned everything I could from Pastor. I listened to every word he said, and I watched him like a hawk.  

In 2016 I got the opportunity to become an executive pastor. That was never even on my radar, but it is amazing when you devote your life to something just how far God will take you. I spent the next several years helping Pastor Steve develop the culture of our church and identify exactly who we were.  

I truly believe there is no other place like Legacy Church. And now, 16 and a half years later, once again, we are getting ready to leave everything and everyone we know to move from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City. Back then, we left home to come to Albuquerque, and now all these years later, we are leaving home again to go to Oklahoma. God is leading us to start a church in OKC. We have devoted our lives to Legacy, and now God is calling us to go and take everything we have learned from here and reproduce it. To bring everything that Legacy is to Oklahoma. I never thought I’d do this, but when you devote everything you have to God, you never know how far He will take you. 

Thank you, Legacy. Thank you for allowing us to grow up here. For shaping us into who we are. We can’t do this without you. We love you.

I was raised in a strict home with constant family feuds. With physical and emotional abuse, I grew up believing I would never be good enough for anyone. My relationship with God has always been there, but I wasn't always consistent in following Him. Throughout my life, man after man, I would always try to seek love from every single one of them. My last relationship took a serious turn when I took God out of my life for this person, seeking self-worth and thinking this person would love me for what I had given up for him. That relationship ended with me in a hospital bed after trying to end my life. My thoughts were so overwhelming and deadly, and my self-worth was utterly non-existent. I was at my breaking point until, one day, I decided to go to church. I cried after every single word that was preached. Little did I know God would take my hand, lift me from rock bottom and change my life forever. My church family welcomed me with open arms and has consistently supported me. I received God's love again. I have finally found myself again.

My God has a love for me that surpasses all understanding and continues to show His love for me daily. God has blessed me with a loving husband who puts God first every day, and I am living a life I could never have imagined. I have never been more consistent and driven for a relationship with God. God has shown me a love that no one can, and I will love my God endlessly. Thank you, Legacy Church, for never judging me or making me feel like I am not good enough. You have shown me the complete opposite. You held your arms open wide, guided me, and cared for me even in my darkest times.

-Mieranda S.

I am a type A, organized, control freak to the max. In August 2018, we found out we were pregnant with our second child after trying "all the things" to conceive a girl. Very early on, things didn't feel right, but my healthcare providers kept telling me everything was normal. At ten weeks, my midwife struggled to find a heartbeat, but she assured us it was there. I had an ultrasound at 13 weeks, and we were told that our baby was gone and that they had stopped growing at eight weeks and five days. I was devastated. Through failed healthcare, I did not miscarry until 14 weeks and still required a medical procedure. 

Just because your baby is gone does not mean the experience is over. Just because I know I will see my baby one day in Heaven doesn't mean it is easy. I cried, I grieved; I, unfortunately, had feelings out of fear and insecurity. I want others to know you're not alone. It's okay to suffer, it's okay to cry, sometimes at the most inexplicable times, but it's okay. You are not to blame for things that are out of your control. You don't need to feel ashamed. 

Most of us won't know on this side of Heaven why I went through a miscarriage, but I cling to two things I heard preached at Legacy during the season of my miscarriage; "live or die, God be glorified" and "faith isn't faith until it's been tested." In my grief, I dove into the Bible and learned a lot about giving up control and trusting God. Today, God has blessed me with my incredible rainbow baby boy.

About six years ago, my parents divorced, and we did not attend church regularly. We had some family friends who went to Legacy and invited us, and they kept asking us until we went. My mom loved it, but I wanted nothing to do with God or church, but as a good parent should, she made me go again. The next time we went, we started taking the Next Step class to start serving; though we did not know what serving was, we just knew we had to do it. 

As we continued to go to church, my mom started tithing and supporting our family, and paying for our home without help. She was all on her own, and we saw God provide for us every time and never went without. My mom would always say that when she got paid, she would sit down to give her tithes, look at her bills, and think, "I don't know how I am going to make it this time, but here you go, God." My mom was either terrible at math, or there truly is a faithful God who provides miraculously. By my mom displaying her trust in God when she was going through one of the most challenging situations in life, I got to see firsthand the miracles that can happen.

I remember I could not wait to get a job to give my tithes and offerings because I wanted to obey God and see what He could do with it. Now that I work and provide for myself, I cannot brag enough about what God has done in my life since I was able to start obeying Him and acting on His Word. God has been so faithful. I went on to graduate high school, and I am going to college, two things in my family that not many people have done. Also, God softened my heart to forgive my parents for the past and helped me let go of bitterness, and through serving, God helped me grow into my calling of becoming a teacher. Now that I am living my life for God, generational curses of drug addiction, alcoholism, and poverty will stop with me. My future children will have a completely different life and won't have to fight the curses but will have generations of people praying for them.

I am living proof that there is a God who heard a little girl crying out for help. I want to thank Pastor Steve for being sensitive to his calling, appointing great leaders, and building a church where everyone feels welcome, anyone can come and serve, and anyone can receive the gift of Salvation.

-Alyssa G.