Testimonies

My name is Ricky Nebinger Jr., and if you saw where my life started, you would never imagine where God has brought me today.

I grew up believing that my destiny was to become a criminal. My father went to prison for murder when I was only five years old, and I thought that was the only road I was meant to follow. I was locked up for the first time at 13 years old. By 17, I found myself in prison. Over the years, I would return to prison nine different times, spending a total of 20 years behind bars.

But prison wasn’t the thing that changed me—Jesus was.

During the darkest seasons of my life, I began searching for truth. For 30 years, I studied the Word of God. For 20 of those years, I tried everything in my power to disprove the Bible. I didn’t want to accept it, so I tried to tear it apart.

To challenge Scripture, I studied every major religion and belief system I could find:

Norse mythology

Hinduism

Islam

Buddhism

Atheism

Philosophy

Science and evolutionary theories

Spiritualism and comparative religion

I even learned Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek so that I could read sacred texts in their original languages. I went to college for ministry, expecting to find answers in someone else's theology. But the more I learned, the more I realized that what I needed wasn’t another person’s interpretation — I needed God Himself.

No matter how hard I tried to disprove the Bible… I couldn’t.

Every path I followed—even the ones meant to lead me away from God—brought me right back to Him.

Eventually, I surrendered.

I gave my life to Jesus.

And in that moment, something supernatural happened:

The compulsion to commit crime? Gone.

The urge for drugs and alcohol? Gone.

The mindset that drove me toward destruction? Gone.

God didn’t just improve my life — He transformed it.

Today I stand free, not just from prison, but from the chains that once controlled my heart and mind. What once defined me became my testimony. What once destroyed me became the fuel for my purpose.

Now, every single day, I see God’s fingerprints on my life — in every conversation, every opportunity, every connection, every miracle big and small. He took a man the world counted out and gave me a mission I never expected.

That mission is Sanctuary Without Walls Ministry.

This ministry was born from the very grace that saved me. I created it for those who feel forgotten, overlooked, or hopeless — the homeless, the incarcerated, the sick, the struggling, the ones society pushes aside. Because I know what it feels like to be unseen. I know what it feels like to wonder if God cares.

But He does.

And I’m living proof.

I believe with all my heart and mind that the Bible is the living Word of God — not a myth, not a fable, not a storybook — but the true, powerful, life-changing voice of the Creator.

And the same God who redeemed me can redeem anyone.

My testimony is simple:

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I spent 20 years in prison.

I spent 30 years studying the Bible.

I spent 20 years trying to disprove it.

But in the end, the Bible proved itself to me.

Jesus changed everything.

If God can transform my life, He can transform yours.

– Ricky Nebinger Jr.

Founder, Sanctuary Without Walls Ministry