When I was just 3 years old my mother moved to
Due to my severe molestation and the lack of a father figure in my life, I grew up with very poor self-esteem. I searched for love in all the wrong places, especially during my teen years. I derived temporary confidence from the approval of men but was left with only hollow relationships.
I began pursuing a modeling career. I grew up poor (at least in the eyes of the first world) and had hoped that modeling would be my ticket to a more glamorous life. I was determined to do whatever it took to become rich and famous. That would offer fulfillment and acceptance…at last! It seemed that these ambitious dreams were coming true. By the age of 18, I was dating a fitness trainer at a famous
God determined that a disciple from the LA Church of Christ’s Arts, Media and Sports Ministry would share a modeling assignment with me one day. She befriended me with unconditional love and soon invited me to come to her church. After great persistence on her part, I finally agreed to worship with her.
I was amazed by what I experienced at the church. I was elated to see such a diverse group of people who were sincere about their personal relationship with God and their relationships with one another. Later the sister offered to study the Word of God with me. I agreed. Immediately, the truth of the Word inspired and challenged me. For the first time I understood the power of the cross to heal and the love of Jesus to provide true acceptance, true intimacy, and true purpose in my life. My boyfriend was quite perplexed by the changes in my life! As an Atheist he was curious about the “religious thing” happening in my life. As soon as my new-found convictions began to affect his life, however, he was far from supportive. The man that I loved and hoped to marry broke up with me. I was devastated.
God used my break-up as a test of my own love for and commitment to God. God was asking me if I would respond by putting God first and surrender everything to Him. In my heart I knew that the man I loved was not a true believer. Still, I had to wrestle with God to surrender my hopes and dreams for our relationship to Him and put God first, above my feelings or desires for the future. I was working on the set of a Pepsi commercial, my first commercial, when all of this came to pass. While on a break, I decided to go to my car to beg God for the courage to surrender the relationship in my heart, giving it over to God’s care. When I surrendered this relationship to God, there was nothing that I did not surrender with it. I was ready to give my whole heart and life to Jesus at the foot of the cross. After that meaningful prayer time I trusted God to make his will clear for our individual lives and for our relationship. I prayed that if it were God’s will for us to be together my ex-boyfriend would become a disciple of Jesus. 
God honored my surrendered heart in so very many ways. Immediately when I returned from my Gethsemane-like prayer, a woman from the production team came and singled me out from 150 actors. Instead of merely serving as an “extra” on the set, I would have an official role in each of the 10 different versions of the commercial. More importantly, I was baptized that same week.
Soon afterward, my ex-boyfriend attended church with me. Initially he intended only to pull me away from the church, and God Himself. However, his heart melted when he opened the Bible with the brothers. He was deeply convicted of his sin and fell in love with Jesus. He decided to radically repent of his sins, including those that would have ruined our relationship had we stayed together previously. The relationship that I thought was so good in fact had no hope of true happiness and faithfulness without Jesus’ divine intervention. After studying the Word for only one week, my ex-boyfriend made Jesus Lord of his life and was baptized. Six months later we were married and proudly pronounced “Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Lucas”. During the time that we dated and were engaged I was paid for each time that the Pepsi commercial ran, giving me an unexpected 26k in my pocket. We used this money for our wedding, honeymoon, and to set up our first home together. God blessed our decision to put him first in our individual lives and now in our marriage and family. Two years later we sacrificed our secular careers to serve in the ministry full-time.
God continues to bless us as we put Him first every day. We have been married for 18 blissful years. During this time God has given us the opportunity to influence the faith and maturity of many congregations of disciples. More personally, we are raising our two children to love and serve the Lord. To God be the glory for his faithfulness and graciousness to us!
