Guma Albert (Worldview student and DIT small group leader)

"I met Pastor Dave in 2014 when I was a university student, earnestly pursuing God and serving in the children’s church. Yet, beneath the activity, I was struggling. I didn’t truly understand what it meant to serve God wholeheartedly or to be genuinely loved by Him. I carried a deep sense of guilt—feeling as though I was using God, and that others were also using me. Many people who claimed to care for me only wanted something in return, and that shaped how I understood love, even in my relationship with God.

Everything began to change when I joined the DIT classes. I vividly remember attending one session on the very day of my graduation. I didn’t even go to any celebration afterward—I went straight to the Father’s House for training. The teaching I received there was completely new to me. I had heard some of those truths before, but never with such clarity, grace, and depth. Hearing that God delighted in me and loved me unconditionally was difficult to believe. I was convinced He must expect something from me in return.

But Pastor Dave and his family embodied the message they taught. They didn’t know me, yet they opened their lives and hearts to welcome a broken version of me. Their love began healing places inside me that I didn’t know needed healing. Slowly, I found myself desiring to love others sincerely and to receive God’s love without feeling the need to perform or impress Him.

Sometimes you wrestle with something for years without understanding its root. I grew up in a shame-based environment, where approval had to be earned. At home, my father rarely celebrated me unless I excelled. In the Worldview classes, my eyes were opened: I realized I had been relating to God through the lens of my upbringing—seeing Him as a Father who needed me to perform to gain His approval. My tithing, ministry, and service were all attempts to earn the love He had already freely given.

Yet the more time I spent with Pastor Dave and his family, the more that lie lost its power. Through DIT, I discovered that I could be loved just as I was. With all my imperfections, God loved me—and so did they. Pastor Dave didn’t just teach this truth; he lived it. His family carried the love of Christ in a way that was visible, tangible, and healing. Their home showed me a picture—not of a flawless family—but of a people secure in the Father’s love, and from that place, able to pour that love into others.

My entire ministry mindset transformed. I had known about God before, but now I became confident that He loved me in spite of my flaws. I began to serve not for what I could get from Him, but from a place of gratitude and purpose. God placed a burning desire in my heart to help others embrace His love. As I served in schools and later helped plant a church, my message became simple: love people genuinely and reveal God’s deep love for them.

As a child, I experienced betrayal from people I trusted—including my own father. Forgiving him was one of my greatest struggles. Yet after reading The Father’s Heart, Christ’s love compelled me to face him and say, “I forgive you.” He didn’t fully understand why, because in his mind he had done his best. But forgiving him liberated my heart. It stirred within me a longing to be a better father—one secure in God’s love and able to love my daughter well.

I often tell my wife that I doubt I would have married if God had not led me to the Father’s House—where I met a spiritual father who deeply loved his Heavenly Father and lived confidently in that love. Through their example, I learned to receive and give love in ways I had never known.

Pastor Dave later invited me to serve as a facilitator, and once again God met me profoundly. Session after session, as I listened and taught, it felt as though God Himself was speaking to me. I was carrying pain and bitterness from being betrayed by someone close to me. Anger had consumed me, but the Holy Spirit kept urging me toward forgiveness.

One day, when I was asked to lead a prayer, I broke down in tears and said out loud, “I forgive him.” In that moment, I heard a gentle whisper: “I have called you to be made whole.” I knew it was God because earlier in a session, Pastor Dave had taught on the moment Jesus was asked about paying taxes. Jesus held up a coin and asked whose image it bore. When they answered, “Caesar,” He said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” We bear God’s image. And God wanted all of me—not just fragments.

Today, as a husband, a father, and a pastor leading a home-based church and several small groups in schools and colleges, I can clearly see God’s preparation. He taught me to receive His love so I could love others with His heart. It’s not a performance of seeking someone’s approval anymore, it’s the gratitude of knowing that He has called me to be holy set apart for Him. What a privilege I have to know that He works through me to love others. Christ’s love continues to compel me. Always."