Episode 18: The Amazing Transformation of Austin Delgado, Part 2 (Drug Addiction)

Hear Austin Delgado’s astonishing transformation from addict to pastor. His past led him to a double life–by day, a trusted law firm clerk, by night, a homeless junkie. 

Part 2

Sometimes, getting caught is the best outcome, and with Austin, it’s what helped bring him to his senses and God’s mercy. Hear what happens when Austin opens up the Scriptures and starts on Page 1. Be encouraged as you hear how God changed Austin, dramatically turning him from homeless junkie to pastor. 

Where to get help: 

Transformation Life Center, NY

SAMHSA.gov

Other helpful links:

One80 Email List

Cairn University School of Divinity

Austin’s message to his church

God can use anything! Exodus, Bob Marley

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Transcript

Austin Delgado 18

This transcript may not accurately reflect the audio from the podcast.

Ryan Henry: What happens when a broken person comes to his last straw and starts the Bible on page one transformation life flashes before him a photo album sent from heaven, glimpses into the future, withdrawal from old life to renewal of the new freedom feeling complete. God, let's do this. Welcome to Austin's 180 part two. 

Austin Delgado: What I shattered Ryan D the walls around my heart shattered. I'm telling you this, scale's off my, I looked up in the ceiling. I melted, bro. You are real. You are really real. That's what I I'm dead serious. I look it up. I'm like you heard you heard

Ryan Henry: Oh my gosh.

Austin Delgado: that was it. That was the turning point. God used the inconceivable grace of this most amazing Jewish woman head attorney to absorb the cost of everything I stole for her to help me find new life.

And I shattered. That was my surrender point.

Ryan Henry: Oh, so good.

Austin Delgado: Hallelujah. I mean, God's great. His Sceptre went up. My walls went down and it was over

Ryan Henry: You asked for a Moses man. You asked for a Moses and he gave you one. That's amazing. Oh my gosh. Pardon me? I'm a little bit of a wreck over here. It's so good. You know? He who's been forgiven much, will forgive much. , You receive love, you can love now other people, you know what I'm saying?

It explains why, when I hear you and I hear the passion in your voice, you know, it's like, this is somebody who has experienced the love of God. Cause once you experienced the love of God, it's like you said, it shatters you, ? 

Austin Delgado: . Yeah.

Ryan Henry: Yeah. That's so good. Yeah, that's so good. , okay. Here you are. You've been wrecked now. What happened?

Austin Delgado: I [00:02:00] actually have a coming to Jesus story too, , which was like the next step. Like that was the start of like, I'm done now have your way now. Keep in mind , the fervent prayers of a loving mother. Under-carrying me like you, her and her Bible study were praying for me for 10 years. So like not only is God sovereign and graceful, , but prayers, prayers affect change.

Like they change. They make change radical change and God answered their prayers. So I'm surrendered my mother's friends told me about a place called transformation life center. It's a Christ centered discipleship program for men with life controlling issues in upstate New York in new Paltz New York.

So I was immediately locked to that because in that moment, I knew that there is no other explanation for what just happened. Then God is really real. And I was convinced in that moment, because looking back there were so many [00:03:00] points in my life. In my recent 10 that I should have been dead or in prison time and time and time again.

And so overdoses near death experiences, jail locked up, you know, many, many things. And so that was it. That was my break point. Now. I'm ready to go to rehab. Okay. Six months, minimum possible consideration for a second phase for a year. That's what I'm looking ahead to, but I got to go to detox first.

First is when you go to a hospital ward and they, monitor you and help you wean off this substance in which you're physically dependent it because some of that needs careful monitoring barbiturates, alcohol heroin. And so before I went to the rehab, so I'm in detox.

Now this is, a most transformative conversion point for me. Okay. You got to keep in mind two week break. They can't bring me into the detox ward for no two weeks. Okay. So I'm not changed yet. I surrendered, but I'm still a fiend. I still got, I'm still on Tik TOK lifestyle. Okay. I just don't have an income [00:04:00] now.

And , so , I went to a methadone clinic. There's a reason why I'm saying this. I start, I got on methadone maintenance. I am on a high dose of daily intake of methadone from the clinic. I'm still shooting heroin on top of the methadone every day. For those two weeks going into, going into rehab.

Now, everybody who understands being physically addicted to heroin or opiates is going to know exactly what I'm saying right here, but you can understand God's power here. This stuff is so deeply ingrained into my bones and my whole body methadone and heroin.

That what happens is this. They have withdrawal meds that they give you when you're going through the withdrawal. So once you start clearing out of the substance naturally, and you start going through the withdrawal and you start shaking all that, that's when these drugs that they give you Suboxone and stuff, that's when it helps pacify your body, it bonds to your nerve endings and all your receptors, and it satisfies your [00:05:00] body, brings your body into a state of equilibrium.

 But what happens here is this. am walking into detox. And I am terrified. I'm terrified because I know that I am pumped with methadone and heroin. And so when they give me that med, because I'm not like going through withdrawal, what happens is I have adverse effects. It actually sends your body into withdrawal.

It starts fighting and clashing with, with the receptor, with , your nerve receptors. And it actually puts you into immediate withdrawal. Everybody who does opiates and heroin, they'll know what I'm talking about there. So I'm rolling. I'm pulling up a detox. My mother gives me my first Bible 

I it's wrapped up. I go into detox. I get registered. They bring me into my room. They haven't come around yet with the table to give me my first dose of Suboxone. I'm terrified. I sit there and then. And brother, this is it, man. I look the window, I cracked the Bible. I open up the scriptures and I, I [00:06:00] start on page one.

This is how you read books, right? This is how you just start a page one. I started reading Genesis one, one. I looked up out the window, up into the sky and I, I just tossed up a very genuine prayer. God. I have no idea. What's about to happen in these days ahead, but please just show me the way and I don't ever want to turn back.

I don't ever want to turn back. That's all I said. I start reading, I get tired as I'm reading 'em they haven't come around. I'm in my quiet room. I laid down, I put the book on my chest. I start dozing off. You know how you're in that half sleep mode sometimes when you're napping on like the living room couch, you're like half conscious in tune with what's 

Ryan Henry: I know exactly 

Austin Delgado: sometimes if like the phone rings all of a sudden in your dream, there's a phone there you're like, kind of in this aura that I'm in this, like just entering into sleep state. And let me tell you what happens. I have a vision I'm serious, bro. [00:07:00] All of a sudden. Do you remember the old school photo albums where you like peel out the it's like sticker and you put pictures in the, on the pages and you have these old school photo album.

Yes. Yeah. Bro, my life, all of a sudden

my whole life is flipping in my head, like a photo album every and I am seeing feeling, hearing everything that God saved me from carried me through, cradled me through, protecting me from, carry me from, and then followed up with pictures of how he's going to use me. Different context, urban context, jungle context, rural context.

I'm dead serious, bro. This, could've been 10 minutes. This could have been 10 minutes. It could have been 10 full seconds. All I know is that I had this vision and it stopped and I sat up, I looked out the window and I felt this like I'm dead serious. I felt like warm [00:08:00] oil slowly coming down my head dead, sir.

And let me tell you lit up ear to ear with a smile. I am. All of a sudden I am filled with this overwhelming joy. I am. I look out the window and all of a sudden, I remember saying in my head, it all makes sense. It all makes sense. I am going to be on mission for your sake, for the rest of my life. I never knew what mission was.

We never talked about this word. I never even heard that when I looked out the window and I, I, I literally smile ear to ear and I'm like, my whole life makes sense. I am going to be living for you for the rest of my life. I'm filled with joy. All of a sudden, all of a sudden knock, knock, knock. I look at the door, oh, my heart starts pounding the woman at the table.

She's ready to give me my first dose. So I'm bugged out because now I'm going to take that. I'm going to go into physical misery. Let me tell you what happens. She gives me my first dose. I put it under my tongue, but then I took it out. I, I showed her, [00:09:00] I took it out and I put it in the closet because what happens , when you're addicted, you understand this, you wait, you're going to wait until your body is actually going through the withdrawal.

And then you're going to take that stuff so that you don't have an intense withdrawal feeling. Okay? Whatever, that's just for your 2 cents, but this is what happens. I'm waiting for my body to go through withdrawal and it never happened every hour, every like twice, two to three times a day, come around and give me my pill.

And I would stack the pill up in the closet. And I'm waiting day one, waiting day, two waiting through day three, not a single. Inkling of discomfort. God washed me completely clean of all physical addiction in that very moment. Not to mention, not to mention my five days in detox, not only did I not take a single Suboxone pill because I was completely washed clean of all physical addiction, never [00:10:00] smoked a cigarette again.

I gave my neighbor, the guy in my room. I gave him all my Suboxone pills before I left, but not to mention those five days when I was there. They hated me in detox because I was lit up from ear to ear, smiling. I was so happy and people are miserable in detox and they're looking at me, they're like, why are you so happy?

And I don't even know, man, I don't even know yet. I'm just like, because I'm free. That's all I kept saying. That's all I kept saying. I didn't even know what that fully means. 

Ryan Henry: Yeah. 

Austin Delgado: and so when I got to re I said that because that's my conversion story, when that is the point where I attribute to God that he.

 Took my heart of stone, put within me a heart of flesh and filled me with his holy spirit made me new born. Again. I, when I walked up that driveway, six days later to my rehab, I remember pulling in that driveway and I was like, God, let's do this. I [00:11:00] am on a mission. And, and that is not normal. This is God.

He just took over

Ryan Henry: it's incredible. I mean, there's no words, but you keep saying I'm telling you the truth. I'm not lying. I'm for real. And I completely believe you. Because that is just who he is

Austin Delgado: it's supernatural, man. 

Ryan Henry: There's no explanation except for Jesus period.

Austin Delgado: amen. Hallelujah. 

Ryan Henry: Able he's beyond able and, you know, and I think that's the thing that, and when you hear stories like this, it does something in your heart and it builds faith.

And it provides a launchpad for you to say, if he did it for Austin, he can do it for me. So for those people who are listening right now, who are caught up in this or caught up in any addiction, no matter what it is, you know what this right now is an invitation for you to, to stand on Austin shoulders now, and to stand on what God did for Austin and be like, Jesus, would you do it for me?

Send me a [00:12:00] Moses.

Austin Delgado: he wants to, he 

Ryan Henry: come on. 

Austin Delgado: men.

Ryan Henry: So good man. Oh, I just, I man, I got no words. I just want to go home and just worship Jesus, 

Austin Delgado: Uh, that's it. That's it. That's what it's all about, man. And so , I remember opening the Bible. I'll hold back from rambling but I remember when I opened the Bible on campus, you gotta understand all senses, completely awaken in ways that the age of 27, that I have never felt before I opened that book, bro, in the morning, it was life.

I, it was as if I was living in a desert for 27 years and finally found an oasis. And I had a straw three inches in diameter and I was just sucking the life out of that Bible to fill me up,

Ryan Henry: Wow. Wow. So good. Oh man. It's crazy. It is crazy, but it's God, you know? And uh, so, so after that, you know what I mean? What is the fruit, what [00:13:00] would you say? What has God done, you know, 

Austin Delgado: Amen.

Oh, man, . Not only was, was TLC a most transformative place and the best place for me to be. But God just showed me that he, he has just begun. So step one. The word of God, experiencing the word of God in that place was I was the, I've never experienced something. So life-giving, and, and I could, I could actually see and take it in, and I did not want to stop reading the letters for the first time in my life.

I remember every day I would, I would, I would start early in the morning and late at night in the midst of classes throughout the day. And I could not wait to get to the next letter because I was so excited about what was in w what was in store for the next letter, that the next page that I would turn, everything was brand new.

There were two things that I remember very specifically rocking my world. Like when I came, when I, when I [00:14:00] first read, I remember keep in mind, I'm just going letter to letter to letter every day. And I'm just, . Gulping it in seriously. And I remember two things happened.

One when I read first Corinthians one, and he's like, and Paul's like, Remember where you were when you were first called brothers, not many of you were of noble status. You were, this is what God does. He chooses the lowly things and the shameful things and the despised ones of the earth to bring down, that, which is wise and powerful and honorable on earth, bro.

When I saw that, I remember running through the dorm, these little cabins and I was like, this is it. This is us. This is us. Don't you see? Don't you see like I'm now starting to see my identity. It makes sense. Why you chose me? And I'm like, this is it. This is this. I remember them looking at me like what in the world get out of here, bro.

Like, you're crazy. Cause let me tell you not everyone has a vigor [00:15:00] like that. And again, I attribute that all to the grace of God, the spirit of God at work. But like I remember them looking at me. You are nuts, like, all right, just get out of here, bro. And I would just run through, into the next another one was Galatians two when I got to Galatians and I read. , Paul speaking, my old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Therefore I live in this earthly body by faith alone in the son of God who loves me and gave himself up for me. And I was like, that's it? Yes, yes, Lord.

I don't, I'm dead. I am dead. I am yours. That guy who I'm telling even you today, Ryan, this story about like my, well, my wife tells me she's like, it's so I don't even like to hear about it. Sometimes it makes me feel, cause like I can't even, and I'm like, let me tell you it's bizarre. Cause I don't even know that guy.

it's like, I'm telling a story about a guy [00:16:00] that I knew!

Ryan Henry: Yeah. Somebody 

else. Yeah. 

Austin Delgado: just it's who I was. It was me that that man is dead. And so I remember when I saw that, that rocked me too. So during that year, the Lord built me up, use the camp, powerfully, use the brotherhood, the fellowship, the word to transform me.

And I remember even one month in one month in less story than I'm done one month in, I, I was so disgusted. You gotta keep in mind I'm a snake was a snake for 27 years since I was a little boy, I was a deceitful mischievous, conniving, little snake. That's who I was one month born again, and I am so angered by the snakes on campus and the snake, like behavior, the guys in the second phase smuggling in substances and this and that.

And I remember the Lord told me one time. He was like, and now for the first time, I'm spiritually sense of all this. And I had this prompt in, [00:17:00] like, I want you to bring a word and I'm like, boy, what are you talking? Like, what? And he's like, I want you to share your heart. and it wasn't anything audible.

Like I was just like, I felt compelled like a strong, compelling, I need to say something. And I look back, I'm like, wow, the grace of God.. I remember standing before we had just, we called all the residents. , no staff members, just all the residents together. And the Lord had me. I wrote out this like , 10 page sermon, 30 days into being born again.

I wish I had that more than anything.

It probably wasn't loving as much as it could be.. It was just like, it was just like prophetic doom. Like I was calling out unrighteousness.. This is, please hear me out here. This is not to elevate anything of my own doing here. This is just like, I look back and I'm like, why it's like, what were you doing with that guy?

Lord, like 30 days in, like I had to make [00:18:00] serious decisions. I remember while I was writing, I was like, I can't do this. I can't do this. God, what I can, what about my reputation here? I just got started. The guys are going to hate me. And I remember him saying. You need to choose, you need to choose who are you going to live for?

Is it the guys and your reputation, or was it me? And that was a significant turning point in my development because when I chose, okay, use me, I'm going to be your mouthpiece , to just, address , the prevailing un righteousness and wickedness on the camp. had to make a choice because I was despised, as you could imagine

from that day., but like develop loving relationships and the Lord, he maintained great relationships with guys who were, on a good path. So,

Ryan Henry: man. That's so good. It's so good. It's so funny. Cause I feel like in, so in so many ways what you're saying, I can relate to personally, you know, especially the zeal, like when, when God grabs a [00:19:00] hold of it and you're like, whoa, you'll wake up and you're pulled out of it. And you just want to tell everybody like, guys look at what 

Austin Delgado: Yes. 

Ryan Henry: good.

Like there's a better way, you know? And that's a, it's a good, it's a good actual prayer. Like, God, take me back to that first love, you know, it talks about revelation, you know, that we would not forget our first love, you know, how passionate we were, you know? And so that's just so good. It's a good

Austin Delgado: You're absolutely right. And I need, and I need to regularly remind myself of those days because at 10 years later there's been much development. The Lord has, has been so good. And in that development and growth, it is so naturally easy to remember how just a few days ago, you know what I'm saying?

It's just too natural, too easy.

Ryan Henry: yeah. You're right. You're right.

Austin Delgado: All right. Cool. So you asked me what happened like right after coming to Christ, being spiritually born again, new, new heart, new nature, new [00:20:00] perspective. I would say that, that there are, there are two things that stood out to me very quickly.

One is that I was finally complete. I was fulfilled the empty cup. That was my soul for 27 years is now filled to the brim overflowing satisfaction, my soul thirsts no more. And so all my pursuit of all the pleasures and all the satisfactions that the world had to offer, which left me fleeting empty handed in desolate, I no longer needed to even consider those things paled quickly in comparison, to being satisfied and fulfilled in the love of Christ 

and so, you know, I think about, some 22 where Jesus recall some 22, [00:21:00] when he's on the cross,

you know, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But at the end of that song, he knows where he's going at the end of that song. You and I'm paraphrasing here, but I want to touch on one verse, which I love.

You will receive praise among the great assembly. They will come from every nation to eat and be satisfied they will remember and turn to you. And then in verse 29, it says it literally in Hebrew, it says. All the fat ones of the earth will eat and worship. Amen. Hallelujah. I love that. I love that stuff.

Like that's me, that's us. We're the fat ones filled to the brim with the joy of the Lord overflowing. I mean, the funny, the irony in that is after I came to Christ, I lost 75 pounds. So 

Ryan Henry: Oh my 

Austin Delgado: I, lost my [00:22:00] physical because I blew up spiritually. I mean like, so filled to the brim, satisfied, complete and fulfilled in Christ. That was it. I knew it. I felt it. I was convinced I was, I was done the second thing that stood out to me, , immediately and still remains today is. That I am no longer left to myself. The exhaustion of needing to make a life for myself, the exhaustion of needing , to try to figure out a way that that's some hell tomorrow might be better than today.

And that, that the weight of that laying completely in my hands is over. It's over. I am not my own my days have been written out before they've ever come to be. He is mine. I am his, [00:23:00] he will show me. I only gotta rest in his provision and being faithful to him and receiving his love today. And he's going to show me tomorrow and it's going to be better, greater and more fulfilling than I could ever achieve for myself.

That is something that I immediately found great rest in and still rest in this day.

Ryan Henry: Yeah, man. That's so good. That is so good. , if we can go into, like, , how did you get into becoming a pastor? I mean, what happened to get there?

Austin Delgado: Yeah, I. I know exactly what I was gonna say. I'm not really sure I know exactly what happened and step by step. This is just the unfolding of what God put in my heart. That first day in detox, the day of conversion, I'm telling you mission like global Mister. I saw things. I saw pictures. I still have these, these little pictures in my head from that [00:24:00] day.

And so I had these pictures, I had an idea that it's going to have to do. It's going to consist of, of, of a variety of contexts and it's going to be for you. And so I, I, from what I saw, it looks like it's going to be around the world in ways. And so I kept that vision before me. And so missions, missions, missions.

That was my, I was in hot pursuit of long-term missions, even when I was in the program. So from there, I went every, every step of the way I thought this is it, I'm going to go straight from rehab into India. Honestly, I said to God, I said, you know what? I want to go to the poorest slum village, the most poverty-stricken city on the face of this earth and live in singleness, the rest of my life.

Talk about like meeting to draw back and, and remember the purity of the calling at first. Cause I'm like, oh man, where's that guy. Oh, well, know what I'm saying? And so, [00:25:00] and so, so, so that was what I would commit to. And I was like, I want to go to India because I started learning about some things in India and that's not even, I didn't know any better.

So that's what I thought. But then God told me. Just take the next step and any, show me an opportunity to go up to camp of the woods in upstate New York in the Adirondacks, a huge Christian family resort camp and conference center. It's amazing there. And I went there just to work for a summer. Digging a ditch on maintenance.

I'm here for three months then am I going to India? Lord? No, the, the personnel director comes out and says, Austin, the president of the woods wants to meet with you, go home and clean up. I got muddled over me. It's raining. He says he wants to know if you want to be his executive assistant. I said what? No, no, .

I got this, this view of myself still. I'm a low life. No one can trust me.

I sit down and in the meeting with the president and I explained to him, he's like, look, my executive, sister's leaving. He starts asking me questions. And I spent, I took every opportunity to convince him [00:26:00] for every reason why you should not trust me. You should not hire me. I cannot my hands won't allow checks to pass through them cleanly and fully. You don't want me. And he looked me in the eyes and he said, Austin, I believe that God has so taken hold of your heart, and has so transformed your life.

That the way that you view you is no longer how God views you and no longer and is not at all how I view you. It would, I would consider it an honor and privilege to work alongside you. And God showed me very quick. All right, I'm going to stay up here in his Backwood north country, population 200 in this little village on the top of a mountain.

 I'm a city boy, Northeast Jersey, New York city. And so I was up there for four years and that was, that was transformative on, in many ways further developing, you know, , my gifts for cross-cultural mobilization, bringing people from the Backwoods down into the city of Albany and Schenectady. I used to work in the rescue [00:27:00] missions and I was still witness into the guys in the streets down there, strong heart for homeless drug addicted.

And so I would mobilize them and still on my pursuit of going India. So I had to a specific place still, and I can't put the woods. I met many, many people up there, so I had a network now. So I'm coming up on the end of my three-year contract and I'm like, Lord, is this it? Are we going to go now? I got it.

Now I got mission agency connects president. I thought, you know, of like different agencies. So I thought, I thought I had connections and I was going to go. then I was invited to preach at my old rehab TLC. The spring of 2013. I drove down that random Thursday night and. Preached at the ceremony. I started preaching at this time.

It was a new gift that I saw the Lord implanted within me and given me, and everybody cleared out and there was a man and his son left and they started talking to me, encouraging me. And then, and then the guy offered me a card and said, Hey, would you want to ever consider more education? And I said, education.

He says [00:28:00] seminary. And I said seminary, but my first thought monks in a monastery monks in robes, I'd never even heard these words before. He's like, no, no. It's an end date. I'm like, em, what, what are you talking about? I never even heard these things before these categories of education. And, and so he's explaining to me and I go home, I type it in and I'm like, wait, what?

For years? I'm like Greek Hebrew. Absolutely not like I was a cheat. I cheated my way through everything. College, no way I can. I never applied myself. Lord made it very clear. This is your next step. So I applied and I got accepted. That's what brought me down here to Langhorne PA Karen university started my master of divinity program 

and one year later I was working down in north Philly, Kensington section, dense dense it's one of few places in the country that are like as open and widespread of a drug market. It's a shooting gallery. You go down there and it's just. It's a zombie land. , it will rock your [00:29:00] world. The amount it's a hub of, of heroin addicts.

So I was working down there when I got here and the church. So, you know, something to me that they thought could be good for mobilizing the people there. They offered me a year later to be the director of outreach toward the long-term goal of being a full-time pastor outreach. Now the Lord showing me step-by-step. Oh, okay. Maybe it's not me going, maybe it's mobilizing and equipping and sending missionaries and that's it. I mean, that's what I've been doing. Mobilizing the people and resources of this church to advance the gospel locally, regionally, globally working in our communities, working in Trenton, working in Philly, working in New York and working in places like the middle east and Europe and south America.

And some of those visions that the Lord gave me, he's already kind of confirmed, like, and this is it's. And so, that's where I'm at right now. That's how I got here. And I'm still the full-time pastor of outreach, 

Ryan Henry: man. Praise God is so good. [00:30:00] Oh, man. I love to think of of it is like God, you know, taking you like what you would say, at one point you refer to yourself, like we were on the scum of the earth and now you are a trophy in the kingdom of God, you know, a trophy in the house of the Lord and it's all on, on display to give him glory, you know, it's, it's just beautiful, man is so good.

Austin Delgado: Cause he put his name on us and set us apart for, for his purposes.

Ryan Henry: yeah. Yeah. When he can

Austin Delgado: And I think one of the things that, that one of the things that I have seen for that I've seen that I would encourage anyone listening as well, that that's still, you know, is wrestling through. At least this is how I've come to understand like resting in the will of God for your life is like, , his commands are very simple.

He wants us to love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, which begins with receiving his great love for us and in so doing, if you are striving to [00:31:00] love him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, you're standing in his will, you're standing in it. So look to the left, look to the right and see what he's got around.

You maximize the platform where he has you. And he's going to show you that next step 

Ryan Henry: yeah. It's come 

Austin Delgado: in the right way. And he's going to make it clear because you are his, he is yours and he's got your days.

Ryan Henry: Come on, man. It's good, man. Appreciate that. That's good. I feel like that is such a good thing for for our young people, especially really for anybody. But I talking to a lot of young people, , we're always like, what's the next step and what am I going to do in my life? It's like, you know what I liked when you said standing in the will of God, if you're loving God and you're loving people, you are exactly where he wants you to be, and he will show you the next step.

That's so good. So encouraging. Well, Austin that's restful, you know

yeah, 

Austin Delgado: you find rest. 

Ryan Henry: It absolutely is no striving, man. [00:32:00] It's so good. So we have, a last question that we would like to ask our guests. 

Austin Delgado: Yeah.

Ryan Henry: How about this? So take us back. What do you think would have happened if you didn't get caught?

And if you didn't go to rehab.

Austin Delgado: Yeah. I think that's a very easy answer. There would either have been one of two things that were certain in my near future death or in prison. Long-term imprisonment,

Ryan Henry: Hm

Austin Delgado: For other stuff like that was it. Those were the two paths in my life at that point. And they were certain because I had no control over judgment decision-making or physical capacities.

Ryan Henry: Wow. Wow. Well, I am so thankful for your life and just the testimony that was shared. I'm just like, I just need to think about it and just, it causes me to want to worship God you know, aside from what God has done for me, when I hear about what he's done for other people, [00:33:00] it's just so good and it just makes it so fresh again.

And so I'm so blessed to have you and it's been such an awesome honor to have you on 180 Austin. And we just, pray that God will continue to use you in ways to just be an extension of his heart his hands, his feet and call the loss back home.

Austin Delgado: I appreciate that brother. 

Ryan Henry: Amen, man. Thanks for coming, man.

Austin Delgado: Thank 

you.