GEORGE HENRY, STAR Writer

Pastor Michael Dixon was once a girls' man, or to use a Jamaican slang, a 'galis'. He was so violent that at one point his Christian mother shed tears because of his behaviour. Today, 17 years on, that violent, womanising man is now a 'God man' who has been head of a congregation for the past seven months.

Dixon is head of the Ballieston branch of the Church of God in Jamaica, located near Spaldings in Clarendon. It is a position he has held for the past seven months. Though he has only three years pastoral leadership experience, Dixon, who surrendered his life to Jesus Christ in 1996, confessed that he loves God and he loves to lead His people as well as help them grow spiritually.

"I was a person known as the 'galis'. I was a girls' man; a very violent young man who did a lot of stuff. I remember one time when my mom cried for me as a Christian woman because I put her in trouble. However, she was always a praying mother. She was always praying for me and as children, she would encourage us to go to church and to give our life to the Lord," said Dixon.

Dixon shared that his salvation started one night in 1996 at a crusade. It all began after an altar call was extended by the preacher and he responded. He added that he and others were prayed for before being asked if they would like to receive the Lord as their personal Saviour.

"At first I said I did not want to because I was on the non-responsive end. When he asked all of us to go back to our seats, I was still standing and crying. I did not know what was wrong, but I was standing there crying. And from that time until today, I am walking with the Lord," said the young pastor.

Dixon said he believes in having praying parents. He said this is important because whenever things get rough, parents continue to pray so that the Lord will act. He said whenever children are out of control and parents do not know what to do, they pray and call out to God for help and that help always comes.

answered prayers

"When my parents prayed, I realised that her prayers were being answered. My mother prayed a lot for us, and today, I can say thanks be to God, I am a product of her prayers," said Dixon.

The pastor declared that life for the Christians comes with several challenges and that he has had his fair share. However, according to him, he has his way of dealing with them as they come.

"A lot of challenges come, and there are times when I feel discouraged. I remember at one particular point I felt so discouraged and challenged that I wanted to give up, but I went to God in prayer and the Spirit allowed me to go through the Book of Job for 15 days, reading three chapters each day to strengthen me," said the pastor.

He pointed out that he was aware that Job went through many problems, including losing all he had. However, he acknowledged that although Job lost everything, his trust still remained in God. This, he said, showed him that no matter what happens in the Christian's life, whenever the challenges come, the greatest thing is to pray and trust God.

"The Bible says 'Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He will strengthen our heart'. It (the Bible) says, 'If we ask Him for fish, He will not give us a serpent. If we ask Him for bread, He will not give us stone," recited Dixon.

Dixon's favourite Bible verse is Philippians 4:13. His favourite song is 'When I am low in spirit I cry Lord lift me up'. He has been married to Simone for six years and the union has so far produced one son, De'andre.

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