Xavier Torres remembers the day he was saved.

Growing up in El Paso Texas, Torres’ upbringing was difficult. With an abusive father who used alcohol, his parents divorced in the 1990s, leaving a void in his life from his father. As a result, Torres struggled in his youth.

“Because I didn’t have a father figure growing up, I knew that I lacked accountability,” Torres said. “I was in trouble a lot as a young boy.”

That led to poor choices for Torres.

He experimented with drugs at a young age, as well as hanging out with the wrong crowd in school because he wanted to find a place to belong.

Fast-forward to middle school, Torres started to get in trouble with the law.

It was one faithful day that he will always be thankful for. When he was 15, he and his group of friends that he hung out with wanted revenge on a rival group after one of Torres’ friends was beaten up. Dressed in all-black with a ski-mask and a tire-iron, Torres was looking to hurt someone.

After the plan went awry, Torres was on the run from the cops.

“I ended up in a ditch… trying to run away,” Torres said. “But the cops ended up catching up to me. A cop pulled a gun on me.”

At that moment, Torres was tired … tired of running, tired of living with depression, tired of the life he had. He was ready for it to end.

“I just felt like I didn’t have anything to live for,” Torres said. “I felt like I had no purpose, no meaning.”

But God had different plans for Torres. He was arrested and put in juvenile detention for the second time. It was there where he heard the gospel. Sitting alone in his thoughts, pondering his actions and eventual consequences in this life and next, he wondered what would await him when he met his Maker.

“I feared for my life, for my soul,” Torres said. “Not only did I feel dead inside, but I feared the afterlife. What if I die and suffer for eternity?”

The moment that changed for Torres was the fact that he couldn’t run away and hide from his problems any more.

“I felt that because I was in that place, a dark depressing place, I needed someone to save me,” Torres said. “Someone to help me.”

Torres began to pray and ask for Jesus to save him. To save him from the life he was living. And to save his soul. And He did.

Torres prayed to be back in school, to meet a Godly woman, to help him live a better life. Slowly but surely, his life began to change for the better. Torres received his high school equivalency, then received his bachelor and masters in college.

“Over time, it’s been a walk with God,” Torres said. “Just trusting in Him.”

That trust has led Torres to where he is now. He is the new pastor at First Methodist Church of New Iberia, where he will lead by example. He moved from California at the start of July to begin his new journey in the Teche area.

“The community has been welcoming and loving,” Torres said. “I felt the southern hospitality from the people and the church and the community.”

One of the missions of First Methodist Church of New Iberia is to worship passionately, love extravagantly and witness boldly. Torres is excited to help make disciples and preach God’s work and scripture.

“I will be a living representative of Christ to my church and my community,” Torres said. “It’s my calling.”

Torres has been with his wife, ChrisAnn, for seven years. They have two boys Camael, six, whose name means one who stands with God and Jaziel, one, whose name comes from the grandson of Jacob from the Old Testament and his name means God apportions.

With two sons of his own, Torres doesn’t fear his sons going down the same path he did. Because he is committed to his wife and his faith, he knows Camael and Jaziel will have a great support system with their parents.

“They will have the father figure they need,” Torres said. “I do not have that fear. They are going to be OK”

Throughout his life and his day to day struggles as a lost teen, until he was saved almost 20 years ago, Torres didn’t know what to believe in as a center. But his faith has grounded him. His faith is believing in the unknown but knowing that God will show him the way.

“Trusting who you are believing in and that He is the one who can help you in any difficult time,” Torres said.