Noel Grace

Noel thought a man gained respect through rough talk and behaviour on the southside of Chicago

On the south side of Chicago, young Noel Grace joined local gangs hoping he would find the significance and self-esteem he was seeking. “Before I reached 15 years of age,” Noel recalls. “I had been beaten with baseball bats and chains, stabbed in the back twice and driven home by the police over 30 times.”

On the outside, Noel was tougher, stronger, smarter and able to overthrow the leader of a gang and intimidate or beat up the members.

“I answered to no one!” says Noel. “I marched to the beat of my own drum, but my path was destructive.

“I had no regard for people or property. In high school I was kicked off the football, baseball, wrestling, track and gymnastics teams for fighting and my classmates voted me ‘Most likely not to succeed’. I was a racist, a liar, a cheat, and a thief.”

One Sunday morning, Noel hopped on a church bus, intending to beat up a boy who had been talking about him. However, his curiosity lead him right into the church. Despite being rude to the Sunday school teacher, Noel and his siblings were still warmly invited to the church’s youth group.

After their dad rededicated his life to Jesus Christ, Noel’s family was joyfully reunited for a few happy years, secure with their Godly, loving father and in a loving church.

Then, when Noel was 16, his father suffered life-threatening injuries during routine surgery.

“The doctors made a terrible mistake and while my dad clung to life I prayed, ‘God, You can’t take my Dad, we have come too far,’” Noel remembers.

“I truly believed God wouldn’t take him away from 11 children still at home, the youngest of which was just one year old, but the next day God took my dad to heaven.

“I reacted with anger towards God, his church and his people. I felt cheated, betrayed and my faith, along with my spirit, was broken. So I literally gave up on God and withdrew inside myself.”

Due to his anger and the burden of raising his younger siblings, 16-year-old Noel returned to his former lifestyle of fighting and stealing.

The year he graduated from college, Noel remembers realising he was not a child of God, so he began attending church again.

After marrying at age 21, Noel kept up a few religious rituals like attending church and praying at meals.

“I knew God was not happy that I was not letting Him into my heart, but I also knew He was the reason I had all that I had.”

Noel’s life began to change when his family life unravelled and he got a divorce.

“After all that mess, God sent me a miracle, my wife Stephanie. She is my partner and my best friend. She truly loves me and supports me in all that I do.”

One Sunday at church, Noel heard a sermon that he believes God had specially prepared for him.

“I realised I had skated through life long enough. I wanted to be just like my dad, which meant I had to stop running and open my heart to what God wanted from me.

“I put aside my fear that I had made too many mistakes and genuinely surrendered all of my life to Jesus Christ. In that moment, I trusted in Jesus’ death on the cross for forgiveness of my evil thoughts and actions against Him and asked Him to make me a new person.

“From that moment, the Spirit of God began to work in me and show me things I had not understood before.”

Since that day, Noel has a new desire and passion for life.

Noel Grace

“My desire for the rest of my life is to love Jesus more, love others more and be Jesus to others,” Noel says.

“Jesus has allowed me to be a friend and share Jesus with people of all ages, and it is always humbling because each time I am blessed by God and sense His presence in a real and powerful way.”

Noel and Stephanie have also moved to a new church, where Noel says he has met some amazing men.

“God has given me a wonderful men’s Bible study group, filled with amazing men who help me to take a deeper look at myself and apply God’s principles to my life so I can see what real manhood is.

“To this day I still struggle to put away the rough acting, talking and behaving of my former life, but I praise God for His healing hand. In His strength, I want to be an example to my wife, my children and my grandchildren as to what a real Christian man is.”

In all these struggles, Noel does not despair, adding, “God has blessed Stephanie and me in every way”.

“I cannot wait to turn to the next chapter of our lives, with the promise that I will see my dad again one day in heaven.”