from gang banger to God chaserBy VANESSA ROLLE Guardian Lifestyles Editor

There may be many people with stories of survival and overcoming challenges, but some are not nearly as powerful as that of Arthur Duncombe.

Now the pastor of The Lord's House of Faith, located on Flemming and Market Streets, he likens himself to the apostle Paul once a persecutor of the Christians, who was stopped on the road to Damascus when the Lord called him.

"Life's journey sometimes is predestination. Christianity was never something in my mind to do, but I feel that God brings us into a situation where he predestines and calls us. He said that 'before I formed thee, I knew thee.'

So I feel that my life has been prepared of God before my mother met my father and my grandfather met my grandmother. Circumstances led me to where I am today and I gave my heart to the Lord. Such decision was the best choice that I have ever made in my life," Pastor Duncombe said.

Attending the Walking in Victory Conference which was held in Greensboro, North Carolina, in May, was in itself a miracle and a testimony for Pastor Duncombe. At the age of 15, he had his first encounter with the legal justice system and was subsequently sentenced to serve time at Her Majesty's Prison.

He said while many of his classmates were preparing for graduation from high school, "I was preparing for graduation from (H.M.P. Her Majesty's Prison)."

Pastor Duncombe, 37, who has been a Christian for over 12 years, admits to not only going to prison many times, but also being a chronic drug user, for about 14 years.

"I've been there in the streets, toting guns and stuff like that. I know what it is, to be bound and I know what it is, to be a baser. I based cocaine, smoked it, snorted it, smoked dope. I have been in all types of gangs. I know what it is to be shot at kidnapped and all type of stuff. But I believe that God spared my life for such a time as this, so that I can be in the kingdom. This is my time to not only live life but also to be a mentor, so that God can use me in this hour," Pastor Duncombe said.

He said that one night he was at his Freeport apartment, through Drumfish Street smoking a "big spliff" and "if you never had it, don't try it."

He said that sometimes after smoking a joint like that, one would get "over high" and would need to take a shower. This is what happened to him that night and he jumped into a shower to come down.

"But it wasn't a high. It was the spirit of n From 1B

the Lord upon me and I didn't come down. I was afraid and I fell into a sleep. When I fell asleep, I was in a trance and the spirit of the Lord came to me as if He came to pull me out of the world. I pleaded with the spirit and said God, just give me one more chance and when I woke up, there was this big thick death sweat on me. I thought I was going to die that night and I turned on the television to the Christian station. I repented of my sins that night. I have been in wars; I've been stabbed; I've been shot at before; I was on death's door many times but this was the furthest I have ever been in my life," said Pastor Duncombe.

He said that although he was afraid to fall back asleep, he fell back asleep and the same thing happened to him.

From that day, he said he totally surrendered his life to God.

The slogan "Walking in Victory" he said has a deeper meaning for him, because he knows what victory is all about.

"I know what it is, to be bound to so much stuff – women, drugs, your past and the Lord has totally freed me. I am so grateful to the Lord for it. So when they say Walking in Victory, I say thank you Jesus," he said.

Pastor Duncombe said that from his encounter with God, he never smoked again or touched any kind of drugs, never drank again, stopped his promiscuous lifestyle, never "robbed" anyone.

"The hand of God was so strong on me. I thought I was high on dope but I was high with the anointing of the Lord. I can say like Paul that I was not just called but I was chosen. I didn't go looking for Christianity but the Lord came to me at my residence and I guess He came to me because He had something for me to do," he said.

When he became a Christian he said that many of his friends did not believe him and judged him based on the lifestyle that he once led. They told him that they gave him a month, two months, maybe six months, to be back to his old ways. But now 12 years later, Pastor Duncombe has a ministry that is four years old with a membership of some 150 persons, which is increasing daily.

"A lot of my friends came to our house the next day, after I got saved and saw me watching the Christian television. They wanted to know what was going on with me. Something came on and I wanted to lift my hands. I was a little afraid because I wondered what they would think of me. I am suppose to be this bad man. But then the Lord spoke to me and said these fellas can't do nothing for you. So the next day I couldn't wait until they come around to tell them I'm a Christian now," he said.

He said that if God could do it for Him, he could do the same for anybody.

"I was like Paul, who was the chief of sinners and there was nothing out there that I wouldn't have tried and there isn't nothing out there that I never did. But the Lord's grace and mercy brought me to the kingdom for this time," said Pastor Duncombe.

There might someone behind the bars of prison or who may be struggling with some of the same problems that he faced during his youth, or who may have other issues that are keeping them from seeing the fullness of God, he said. But the grace of God is sufficient for everyone he said.

"I'd like a prisoner to know that your life isn't over until God says it is. My life looked like it was going downhill from the age of 15, when I was in prison. When everyone else in class was reading, I wanted to be the class clown. I wanted to feel up girls and stuff like that. I thought my life was going downhill but it just shows that God can take a nobody and make him somebody.

He can turn your life around in a positive way. So to be here at Walking in Victory, is a great testimony and it's only confirming what God has done in my life. Through his power solely I am truly walking in victory."