Cover Story Testimony of Faith Sujey & Alex Diaz

Editor's Note: Alex and Sujey Diaz have been faithful members of Revival Church all the way back to 2002. Alex leads our men's ministry and Sujey, our KREW children's ministry. Their three daughters: Natalie, Alexis, and Caitlyn are all involved in serving the Lord. It's interesting to note that neither Sujey not Alex were raised as children in church, but each found their own pathway to God. Read their fascinating journeys as they struggle to yield to God's bidding.

Sujey's Story

Sister Sujey's Apostolic roots go all the way back to her grandfather, Elder Lappo Escalante, and farther back yet to the Azusa Street revival in the early 1900s. A woman from that revival, traveled to Mexico, preaching about the amazing experience of receiving the Holy Ghost and baptizing many converts. It was through one of her contacts, that Sujey's grandfather was converted. But the chain of faith was temporarily interrupted by Sujey's mother.

Although Sujey's mother was raised in church, she later backslid when, at 18 or 19 years of age, she married an unbeliever, much to her grandfather's consternation. Sujey, unfortunately, was not born into a church-attending family. Her parents later divorced. Sujey and her siblings were introduced to Sunday School by her aunts and uncles who brought her to a Spanish speaking Apostolic Church in Hanford, a small town in Central California. She remembers at nine years of age praying for God to bring her family back together. "I always wanted to have a family attending church together," she said. She would look around the church and see families sitting together in church. "I wanted my family to be like that," she said. It was a fervent prayer of hers as a child."

After the divorce, Sujey found herself and her siblings being raised by a single mom. She remembers moving a lot when she was in elementary school and junior high. Finally by the time she entered high school, the family had settled in Fresno, California. They were living on the Westside, a tough neighborhood, and she was attending Thomas Edison High School.

It was at age 15 she felt for the first time God drawing her. At the time she was attending West Fresno, United Apostolic Church, pastored by Mike Perez. However, once she graduated from high school, she started drifting to worldly things. "I was not doing good," she said. "I was doing bad things." At the time, no one in her family was going to church. It was then at age 19 that a frightening, vivid vision shook her world.

"One night, as I was falling asleep I had a vision. It was very real. In that vision I could see three rooms, and I was in the first room. In the first room, I could see the Grim Reaper. He touched my thigh with his fingernails. It was disgusting. He told me I needed two things: you need to be clean, and you need to be clean. I didn't understand that. All of a sudden I was in the next room. The next room had an altar, and the altar had a book, and the book was speaking. There was a voice and verses coming out of it. I knew it was the Bible because of the verses. It said you need to obey your father and your mother. I thought just my mom because I don't have a dad. I looked to the left and down, and I could see a funeral procession happening. And at that moment I realized, I realized it was MY funeral. And I realized where I was. Verses started coming to my mind like the verses that say it is common for man to die and then the judgment. And as I looked to my right, I knew there was another room coming. In that room there was like smoke all over the room and the floor like fog or smoke. There was a throne, and I could see the feet of the king sitting on the throne, but I could not see him. But I knew it was God, and I knew what was coming next: that it was judgment coming for me, and I knew I wasn't ready. I looked to the right, and I screamed, God give me a second chance! When I said that my soul came back to my body, and I jumped out of my bed. It was like it pushed me out of bed. For the three days, I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. If I closed my eyes, all I saw were demons all around me. I felt like they were going to grab my soul and take it. It would even happen during the day. It was so vivid. I was like a zombie for three days. Finally, after the second night, I told my mom I had a terrible dream. I can't go to sleep. She said you need to pray. Let's pray. So we got on our knees and prayed, and I felt a little better, but not completely. She told me, you need to read your Bible. I opened a dusty Bible from somewhere. When I randomly opened the Bible, I read the verse about out of the pit, I called your name. I cried and cried. I thought it's true, this vision really happened. I had been telling myself that my vision was just a dream. The heaviness was so overwhelming that on that Wednesday, I called my friend, Angela Vasquez, who had been inviting me to church. I asked her if she still went to church, and she said, yes, of course. She asked me if I wanted to go to church with her, and I said yes. She picked me up, and that Wednesday night I went to church. I went to the altar, and I felt like a whole sack of potatoes fell off my back, like the whole world was lifted off my back. I felt so relieved. And I dedicated my life to God that night. I said, God, I'm never going back. I'm going to serve you no matter what."

Two months later on December 15, 1996, Sister Sujey was baptized in Jesus name. It was another two years until she received the gift of the Holy Ghost. She had already met a college student, named Alex Diaz, at a party, about a year before she was baptized. She was attending City College, and he was majoring in Chemistry at Fresno State. Both of them at the time, had no idea how this encounter would eventually alter the courses of their lives.

Alex's Story

Alex Diaz, the youngest of 8 siblings, was born in Madera, a small town near Hanford. Sadly, both of his parents, drug addicts, died when he was very young. His aunt and uncle took him in until he was adopted with he was five years old. His adopted mom was a teacher's aid, and his father, a correctional officer. He spent his childhood in Manteca, and later moved with his family to Ripon where he attended high school. He was raised in a very secular home as the Diazes had no church affiliation. All he knew about God were casual references on TV and in culture. Although he lived in Ripon, a town north of Modesto which has many churches, he said, no one ever invited him to church. He mused the people there were "underground Christians."

During high school he was involved in the competitive sport of wrestling. "Wrestling," he said, "was a big part of my life in junior high and high school." He admitted he did not have good grades in high school. "I was lazy." His coach, Anthony Ramiro, asked him if he was going to wrestle in college. Alex never envisioned himself ever going to college, especially with his grades. However, he was able to be accepted at Fresno State College under a special program for minority students. "It was like a second chance program," said Alex. Once he got started in college, he realized he was smart. "I was always a linear thinker. I liked to problem solve. I decided I needed to get down to business." He majored in chemistry. This second chance program was about to change his life in major ways.

Their Story

After meeting at that fateful party, Alex and Sujey started dating. Her friends were amazed at the time that she was interested in Alex as he was so quiet and hardly said a word when they first met. But, there was something special about that quiet man.

When Sujey got baptized, she invited Alex to her baptism. He had no idea the significance of the act of baptism. After her baptism, Alex was shocked when she told him she could not have a relationship with him anymore. But love prevailed, and she couldn't bring herself to ending their relationship. "We were in love," said Sujey. Occasionally, Alex would come to church with her, but church did not line up with his "scientific" viewpoint. He told her, "Science says this. I will stay with that."

"It was an adjustment to date a Christian girl," said Alex. "I told Sujey you do your thing and I’ll do my thing." However, attending a PSR Conference with Sujey planted a seed in Alex that stuck. "I saw Pentecostals," he said. "I remember seeing in the convention center a big, long curtain. And behind it, all the women were praying. It was really different. It was a level up. I thought to myself, if I ever did this, I want to do it like them." His interest was piqued.

Three years into their relationship, Alex asked Sujey to marry him. At first the minister told them to wait for six months. They were about to have their engagement dinner, when the minister announced he could not marry her to an unbeliever. Frustrated, Alex suggested to Sujey that they asked someone else to marry them. Adamantly, Sujey said no. "I have to obey my pastor," she said. "Don't ever make me chose between you and God. God will always win."

They continued on as friends. Many times they broke up and went back together again. However in 2001, Alex graduated and announced he was going to move to Modesto with his dad. At that point, they decided not to have any more contact as Alex did not want a relationship with God. She, on the other hand, was faithfully attending church and was a Sunday School teacher and junior high leader. "Since that Wednesday night I came to church, I never stopped," she said.

So Alex moved to Modesto, got a job at Tracy High in 2002 teaching chemistry. He had a new car and thought to himself, I'm living the life. "I thought I would leave God in Fresno," he said. He was wrong.

As he was working his first year of teaching, God was still speaking to him. "I felt a prick in my conscience," he said. "Alright," he thought, "let's see what this is all about." He went on the Internet and found two UPCI churches in Modesto. "I remember coming home one day and stopping at the UPCI Revival Center," he said. He walked all around the church and decided to start attending church there. "This is when Bishop Keyes taught hard," he said. "I was learning so much so quickly. We were having revivals all the time. Bishop was just on it." Through the grapevine, Sujey heard Alex was in church. Excited, she got some tickets to a Giants' game and invited Alex to go with her. Was their hope for their relationship after all?

It was not long after during a Keith Clark revival that Alex was ready. He had always believed there was a God, but Bishop Keyes gave him the Word and faith to believe. That night Keith Clark was preaching hard. "I thought, I am going to do this," he remembers. "I was just ready. I'm tired of fighting this. He called Sujey and told her he was going to be baptized. She did not even know where the church was located. When he came out of the water, he remembers his arms feeling clean.

After he got baptized, they started dating again. They were married in May, five months after he was baptized. Sujey's youth pastor, Rick Moya, did the honors. Alex later received the gift of the Holy Ghost during a revival. He remembers being amazed by the experience. Married, the two of them both now began attending Revival Center. Sujey, always involved, with Bishop Keyes' approval, immediately began teaching Sunday School and has never stopped being involved in children's ministry. When Sister Johnson decided to start KREW due to be lack of classroom space for Sunday School, Sujey was involved and eventually took it over. In 2005, she got involved in Bible quizzing which she did for 20 years, and she sent teams to Nationals almost every year! Alex has also been very active, serving as head of our Men's Ministry since 2010. He also assists the streaming ministry and ushers.

All three of their daughters are actively serving the Lord. Their daughter, Natalie, is attending MJC majoring in computer engineering. She is planning on a missions trip this summer to the Dominican Republic. Alexis is in the process of finishing her degree in social media. She currently has two jobs: Revival Church and also Creativist where she is a social media manager. Caitlyn, the youngest, is currently a junior in high school. She is on the streaming team, both in the sanctuary services and for Revive Youth. "Having our family living for God," she said, "that’s what I always wanted."

Sujey rejoices that God heard and answered her earnest wish and prayer when she was only 9 years old, and she loves to tell the KREW kids about it. "I tell the kids if you are 9 years old and you pray to God, God is listening to you, and God will give you the desires of your heart. He does!"

The Diaz Family