55 Inmate: Rommel Deang

Name:

Ronnel Deang Age: 27 yeard Sept 1973 Prison Number: N97-P0328

Crime: Kidnap for Ransom

Sentence: Death- now life Family address: 2000087 Pulong Bulu, Angeles City, Pamp.

August 2001

PRAISE THE LORD !

I am Brother Rommel T. Deang, and I am presently serving life imprisonment here in New Bilibid Prison, B.O.C., Muntinlupa City.

I praise the Lord for this chance to write my personal testimony as to why I am here and how the Lord has changed me, shown great mercy and moved mightily in my life. I have learned so much and am thankful (as I trust you are) that he has a plan for everyone, including me

Way back on July 5th, 1995, 1 along with a couple of friends were involved in a kidnapping case that involved homicide. We are all now serving time for this crime we committed. This is how it came about: 1, together with my co-accused, was desperate at the time because we needed money to pay our debts. We had applied through an agency to work in the Middle East, but after getting passports, paying the agency, using some of our own properties as a pledge so that we could borrow the necessary money for our placement fee, we discovered that the agency wasn’t registered. In short - it was fake!

To pay our debts we first of all planned to hold-up a gasoline station, but fear gripped us so we did not pursue that plan. Instead, with no weapon at hand, we kidnapped a boy for ransom. The boy’s family paid the ransom, and we were able to pay off all our debts, using the rest of the money just having a good time. It was easy money, easily spent for nothing!

But things didn’t end here. We learnt that the boy we had kidnapped was able to identify us, so now fear caught up with us and we decided to kill the boy. This was the worst moment of my life, to take a life that God had given, but there is nothing hidden that shall not be disclosed.

In July of that same year the police, tortured, and put on trial, caught us. We were found guilty ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ and were sentenced to the

221 death penalty. I served time in the Provincial Jail and in February 1997 was transferred to Death Row in the Maximum Security Compound of Bilibid Prison.

I was already a Christian before the crime took place, but I had been blinded and led astray by the desire to have more. I was active and being used by the Lord then. I was a Youth Volunteer Worker, leading Bible courses for the youth who had been entrusted to us by the Lord.

Then there came a time when my family was facing financial difficulties, so I worked harder and harder to support my family’s needs. I was so caught up with the work that I neglected my duties as a Youth Worker and hardly had any tune to attend Sunday worship service. I was unaware that I was drifting, falling apart and falling away from the Lord. I trusted in my own understanding and not in the Lord’s. That was when one of my co-accused asked me to apply, along with him, for work in the Middle East. The rest you already know.

At the time we were caught and tortured, my body ached so much that I cried out to the Lord seeking and asking for forgiveness for what I had done. I know that the pain I felt at that moment wasn’t enough to pay for the sins I had committed, but God is so merciful. He heard my cry and forgave me and cleansed me from all my sin, as it says in I John I v 9: ‘if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He cleansed me, washed away my sin and accepted me as his child once again.

Since this time I have devoted myself to serving God in prison. I have been persecuted, accused of using God’s name to cover up my guilt, but in spite of the ridicule I have persevered and continue to serve the Lord. When I was transferred here to N.B.P. I continued serving God, studying his Word, taking courses in order to be more equipped for God’s work, and have dedicated myself to God’s call on my life.

In August 2000 it was confirmed that I should be executed by lethal injection. If I hadn’t been committed to the Lord I would have lost hope or any interest in living, but I had God with me, a mighty God, who can do all things, and it is in him that I put my trust. Life went on as usual for me; I attended my lessons and continued to do God’s work. Having received comfort from the Lord I was able to comfort and encourage my fellow inmates who were also confirmed to die, just like me. Although there were times when I felt weak, God gave me enough strength and courage to face whatever lay ahead. I kept strong in the Lord for he is my strength and he was true to his promise never to forsake me. I prayed for the chance to prolong my life so that I could go on serving him.

The deadline was April 2001. By this time, if God had not moved in my life, I wouldn’t have the chance of writing this testimony to glorify the Lord. But in December 2000 1 was one of the inmates commuted to life imprisonment instead of execution. Once more God showed his awesome, mighty power in my life.

I thank the Lord for this gift he has given me. Although I am still in prison, I can continue to serve him. God’s plans always prevail. As it says in Jeremiah 29 v 11: “1 know the plans I have for you, for good and not for evil, to give to you a future and a hope.” I believe that my fife will not end up here. Since he has taken me from a sure grave, he can also flee me from the four comers of this camp - in his time.... Amen!

The Lord has given me so much blessing in my life so that I can continue to serve him. And as a reward, he had sent me a wonderful, precious gift - an angel who has accepted me in spite of my present situation. It is one who has weathered the storms of life along with me, who has stood by me in my most desperate hours; who has prayed with me and who loves me for what I am. She is a strong Christian who has withstood persecution just to be with me, who has accepted criticism and stayed with me. This woman, Virgie, became my wife in September 2001, and now she stands faithfully by my side, serving God. Being a prisoner has not been a hindrance for a man like me to have a good family. As I have delighted myself in the Lord, so he has given me the desires of my heart. Amen!

One thing I have really leant during my time here is to be content with what I have. As an encouragement to all who will read this, let me say, contentment with godliness is great gain and that the love of money is the root of all evil. What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet forfeits his own soul?

I’ve paid such a high price for that moment of folly. I hope and pray that those who are in the outside world will also come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and not wait until they are behind bars before realizing that only Jesus can give true satisfaction.

To all readers: continue to live by faith in the Son of God. Keep on trusting him for everything, for he is faithful.

May God, richly bless you.

Keep in mind Proverbs 3 v 5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.