Jerry Mast (Lovina's Son)
February 3, 2017
Lovina (mother): A year ago, I sent you my testimony and told you that I wanted to send you the story of one of my sons, Jerry, that is in jail. I am finally doing that now. But first, I have some good news to share: I have two other sons, both of which got saved in 2016. Praise and glory to God!!
Below you will find the testimony of how God has worked in the life of my son, Jerry.
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As I sit here in my cell, I am actually happier then I have been life. So many don't see or know what their purpose is in this life. If I think about it, if a person doesn’t have Christ in their hearts, they probably do have trouble finding purpose. I look back on my life, and the only thing I wish is that I would have become a born-again believer sooner.
I entered into this life as an Amish child. Growing up, the religion that surrounded me taught me that God existed, but it never showed me how good and loving God really is. I was constantly told that if I didn’t follow the rules of the Amish church, I would burn in Hell forever with the Devil. The thought of spending forever in torment scared me.
My Dad left the Amish when I was just six years old, and I was told that my Dad was following in the footsteps of the Devil because of his decision to leave and live a life in the “English” culture. I remember crying myself to sleep one time after being told that he was going to burn for eternity.
Every other Sunday, I would go to church and listen to the preacher talk in German; I didn’t understand a single concept that he explained.
As life went on, I started to help my mom feed the veal calves we raised as well as take over various chores on the family farm. My older brother had just finished eighth grade and was ready to start working at age fifteen. He went to work in the stone quarry and brought home a paycheck to help out the family as well.
I was in sixth grade and about to turn twelve years old when I finally reached out to my dad and told him that I wanted to leave the Amish and be with him. I had thought about this decision for quite some time before asking to leave. My dad asked me if I was sure and mentioned that my older brother and sister had talked to him about leaving the Amish as well, which was a big surprise to me.
On March 11th, 2002, a week or so after talking to my dad, my older brother left the Amish. On March 12th, just one day later, I followed and left as well. My older sister would then follow a short time later.
The whole experience of leaving the Amish was a bit overwhelming for me at first. I felt guilt for abandoning my mom and two younger siblings at home. I did enjoy my new life outside of the Amish, though. I got to watch television, listen to music, ride in cars, and so much more. I also began attending school in the 5th grade (they held me back a year).
As I started school, I began to feel very lonely. I didn’t seem to connect with anyone and had trouble mingling with other students. I got laughed at because of my accent and the way I pronounced certain words and definitely felt like an outsider throughout all of 5th and 6th grade.
When I was at home, I would sit and watch television. My older brother and sister were in high school, so I didn’t see them throughout the days while at school.
The summer after 6th grade, I got to have my first beer at home with my dad. I felt so cool!
7th grade started out on kind of the same note as 5th and 6th grade, but then I started to make a few friends and intermingled with other kinds in my grade more. I started smoking weed thinking I could fit in with my friends more that way. Shortly after I began smoking weed, I began to test other drugs and fell in love with the way they made me feel.
I became friends with some older kids that I met at the lumber yard where I worked; these friends would buy me alcohol and gave me more connections for drugs like marijuana and cocain.
I eventually began selling cocain during and after school. I felt like I had friends. I would show up at parties, and everyone would flock over to me. I had a job and a vehicle, so I eventually began providing the alcohol, drugs, and music for most of the parties.
Drugs quickly began to take control of my life. I began stealing from my work and lying to my dad and everyone else in the family.
I always did well in my classes; everything seemed like a breeze for me when it came to lessons and homework. When I applied myself, I made honor roll. After I graduated high school in 2009, though, I just didn’t care any more.
I eventually lost my job at the lumberyard because I was caught stealing money for my cocain addiction. I bounced between a couple of jobs and finally landed on a job at the local township.
I argued with my dad all the time because he wanted to know where all my money was going. Eventually, I moved in with a friend and began drinking a lot more. I bounced around with a couple of girls and made some bad decisions at the bar.
I had a lot of one night stand relationships because I didn’t have time for a relationship. I was very busy selling drugs like cocain and weed, which I was getting shipped from California in five pound increments; I was getting these shipments from my best friend, who was going to college there.
I met a girl that was married, but I didn’t care at the time, so I ruined her marriage. That relationship, of course, didn’t last long.
I then met Sarah through a friend who had been dating her at the time; she cheated on her boyfriend with me, which should have indicated right away that it was going to be a bad relationship. Instead, I fell head over heals in love with her. We moved in together at the beginning of 2011, and everything seemed great at first. She would still hang out with her ex-boyfriend from time to time, which bothered me, but she always said that she loved me and was just friends with him.
In February of 2012, we found out that Sarah was pregnant, and we were having a baby boy. I was shocked but also very happy at the news. I could hardly wait to be a father and figured that if we had a child together, all of our relationship problems would be fixed.
I broke my ankle in August of 2012, two months before the baby was due. At this time, I was prescribed a large amount of narcotic pain pills. This opened the door for us to start selling prescription pills that we got from people all over Pennsylvania and New York.
We had our baby but continued to sell drugs like they were going out of style. We ended up getting highly addicted to opiates and many other drugs that we had access to.
By 2013, we had moved four times and eventually had our son taken away from us. Sarah went to rehab and then eventually to jail for some crimes she had committed as well as a probation violation. I ended up leaving Sarah and getting clean. I met another woman who had her own house, vehicle, job, and clean life.
Sarah eventually got out of jail, and I was told that my son would be going back to her. For this reason, I ended my current relationship, and I joined back with her and my son. We stayed clean for a little while until she introduced me to synthetic marijuana or spice. We started smoking spice because there were no drug tests that could detect it in our system.
At this time, we had our son, I still had my job, and Sarah also had a job as a security company. All was going well as far as we could tell, but then we relapsed on opiates once again.
Probation caught Sarah during a drug test, and children and youth caught me. Once again, they took our son away.
When they took our son away for the second time in the beginning of 2014, I fell into a deep state of depression and addiction; things spiraled downward quickly. By June of 2014, we were both full-blown heroin addicts and lived for the needle. Our relationship was falling apart; Sarah had guys in her life that would give her money for heroin and other drugs.
In January of 2015, I lost my job from the township after being there for five years with my CDL license and years of experience; this was the final straw for me. At this point in my life, I had lost my house, income, son, and basically, my life
We talked about robbing a friend of Sarah’s to get funding for drugs, so we could overdose and kill ourselves. We also talked about killing the man that we robbed, so he couldn’t call the authorities on us, but this whole idea was absurd.
Finally, we decided to go for a ride with the guy that we eventually planned to rob. At the time, we had just planned to smoke weed and figure out what we fully wanted to do. We did bring knives with us, though, just incase we had an urge to act on our plan.
As we were on a dirt road, the guy started telling me about all of the fun he had with Sarah the day before; they were hanging out together and doing meth. Hearing him talk enraged me, and I struck; Sarah struck also. Because of our addiction and anger in the moment, this man lost his life.
Two days later, right after dropping off suicide notes at my mom’s house, the police surrounded us. Right before they took us into custody, we took a handful of pills that should have been enough to kill us both. Also, Sarah was pregnant yet again at the time, but we weren’t planning to be alive to meet the baby if it survived.
Two days later, I woke up in a jail cell, and I was alive. I was allowed to make a phone call to my mom, so I did. She was so happy that I was in jail. At first, I didn’t understand her happiness, but I know now that she was just happy to see I was safe.
I couldn’t sleep at all through the nights due to nightmares and anxiety; I was depressed, hopeless, and at the end of my rope. I thought that my life was officially over.
After about two months of being behind bars, I decided I would go to church at the jail just to get out of my cell for a while. That evening, I got my first full night of sleep.
The second time that I attended church, I met a man that I knew from the outside. After church, he and I had a one-on-one meeting, and he led me to Christ.
Salvation was new to me, and I was still not a nice guy on my block. I was locked up with rapists, child molesters, and many other criminals, and I was constantly still judging everyone. It wasn’t until about three weeks after I asked Christ into my heart that I actually grasped the truth and let Christ begin working in my life.
I was writing a letter to my mom about a guy that I didn’t really like and was saying that I wanted to smash his face in. In the middle of writing this letter, it dawned on me how wrong I was. I really began to grasp what it meant to be born again. I realized that I am no one to judge.
John said, “If one is born of the Spirit, he is a new creation and old shall pass.” Matthew 7 also says, “Why do you judge your neighbor for the speck in his eye when you have a log in your own eye.” Wow! I thought about how true these scriptures were.
I then realized that my life wasn’t over and had in fact, just begun! I was born again!
I am still not sentenced for my horrible crime, but I am content. I have confessed the truth because the truth is the only thing that will set me free.
They have a Bible here in prison called “Free on the Inside,” and that saying is so true. Freedom isn’t being out of jail, living in a very materialistic world, going to parties and making money. Freedom only comes from inside of you.
I am truly free! I am free from depression, guilt, anxiety, and this very sinful world. The Lord said, “If you lose your life, you will gain your life.”
I have figured out my purpose in this life. I want to lead other to follow and worship our Lord and Savior. God has answered many prayers of mine and has blessed me in many different ways. My family is very supportive and is there for me in every way. Both of my sons are very healthy and very well taken care of, which is a big praise to the Lord.
I have many Godly people behind me, and all I care about now is bettering myself and helping others by serving the Lord. Yes, I am looking at many years in prison, but all I can do is take this very moment, and live it to the best way that I possibly can.
I wrote this testimony in hopes that someone out there can relate to my story in one way or another and, in turn, start following our Lord Jesus Christ a well.
When I do get relocated to the state prison, I plan to continue my mission of ministering to the hopeless and lost.
If you have any questions or insights to share, my name is Jerry Mast, and you can look me up at inmatefinder.com.
I love you all, and God bless!
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Jerry has since been sentenced to eighteen years in prison. He has been in prison for almost two years now, and that counts toward the sentence.
Love in Christ,
Lovina (Mom)
To read the testimony of Lovina Mast (Jerry's Mother), please click HERE.
This testimony has been published with permission from the owner.
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