Photo Credit: Lite 106.5 KBVA
Rene Martinez, nicknamed "Level", is a former notorious gang leader and MMA fighter. He spent most of his life in and out of jail, breaking into homes, stealing guns and dealing drugs. The former gang leader has now changed his life and found a new calling preaching and baptizing others in the name of Jesus as he seeks to save them from the life he once lived. He has traveled from Los Angeles to the Bronx while praying and preaching in the name of Jesus, and his mission is just getting started.
“I lived a very crazy life, I did some horrible things in my life that I know it’s only by the grace of God and His mercy that I’m alive and free,” Level told Fox News. “I was gang affiliated from the 80’s to 2012, I’ve seen a lot of people die in front of me and I’ve been through a lot."
As a young teenager Rene became a part of the gang and afterwards he even started what became a notorious gang known as the Latin Syndicate that grew to 300 members. He escaped death several times and saw many of his friends die while he was one of the most feared man in South Florida but everything started to change when he allegedly heard Jesus speak to him. After that he got baptized and he’s been doing street ministry ever since.
“When I went in the water, this was April 10, 2016, that day shifted my life,” Level said, according to Fox News. “I ain’t never been the same. Something incredible in my life happened that I can’t explain. It was Jesus, only Jesus can do it.”
So now, after that miraculous encounter with Jesus himself, and after he got baptized, Martinez, a notorious criminal and a gang leader who wreaked havoc on the streets of Miami, has become a preacher who is preaching and baptizing people he once terrorized. "I take the tub on top of my truck and I baptize them according to Acts 2:38 in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. And I do it right there in the projects," shared Level, according to CBN News.com. He is even in the process of starting a church! Maybe his experience and managerial skills he got from leading a criminal group for couple of decades are going to help him lead a religious organization.
