My Testimony
Hello! My name is Gigi Renfroe and here is a condensed version of my Testimony because of course I want you to check out my book for more!!
I grew up in Chicago, an only child of an emotionally abusive mother and an alcoholic father who constantly cheated on her. Their fights were often physical as two alphas were trying to control the home so I spent a lot of time in my room reading books to escape reality. Gangs were the norm in my neighborhood, so my parents put me in private school to protect me from the public school gang violence, but they did not protect me from what I was exposed to in my own home. I don’t blame them though because the generational curses started before their existence. My concept of relationships and sexuality had no boundaries. From a young age, I had adult-like relationships that involved sex. By 17, I was pregnant with my first child from a guy who along with his brothers were known gangbangers and drug dealers in Chicago. He cheated throughout our relationship and left for another girl early in my pregnancy. His brother and girlfriend took me in and I lived with them in a home where drugs were sold. It was normal for people to come knocking at our door all hours of the night to buy crack cocaine.
My son’s father was also a gangbanger but one that was addicted to heroin. I learned first hand what drugs could do to a person. He was pure evil when he did not get his drugs and would become a different person, breaking things in our home or or attacking whoever got in his way including me. One night, he wanted to leave and I wasn’t having it. He had cheated on me before so I knew he was either leaving to cheat or get more drugs. A big fight started and before I knew it, he had pushed me out of a second story window but he was holding on to my ankles. My life was literally in his hands. Or so I thought at the time. I was so angry with him and just everything in life so I screamed and cursed at him, daring him to drop me. His sister and cousin ran to us and pulled me in but I know there was a lot more supernaturally involved with that day.
He ended up going to jail shortly after that incident and our relationship ended shortly after he got out, but my life continued with me being in and out of toxic relationships. There was more abuse and there were also relationships with women. For me, it was not about confusion about sexuality or my identity in this world. It was about my misconceptions about love, relationships and being blinded to the truth and my identity in Christ.. It was about ME not knowing who Jesus was or who He meant for me to be. My heart and soul was always searching for something yet not really knowing what it was I was missing.
By age 46, I had been single for several years but the one relationship I had managed to keep was one with alcohol. I had started drinking as a teen and it got heavier and more consistent as an adult. With a family like mine, it was normal to drink every day but for me it was more than a few drinks. When Covid hit in 2020, my daily drinks were a big bottle of wine and a half a bottle of vodka. That same November,, my daughter was diagnosed with kidney failure. She went into a Chicago hospital with a migraine and by the end of the night, the doctors said both her kidneys were working at 8% and without a kidney transplant she would die. I remember thinking when I read the text that she must have missed a digit on that 8%. I didn’t stop drinking but I did go back and forth to Chicago to take care of her. If anything, I drank more.
In March 2021 I came in contact with an old friend on Facebook. Her son and I grew up together and he had been in prison for 24 years for a crime he did not commit that was part of a big Chicago police corruption scandal. She called me on a 3-way call with him from prison and he sounded different. He was talking about hope in the Lord no matter what happened with his case. At first I did not believe him. His mom had been Christian since he was a child so I thought he was showing out because she was on the phone. Then he called more times, talking about scriptures, worship songs and a book Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer. By this time, I was having dreams about walking down a path then coming to a fork in the road where I would stop not knowing where to go then the dream would end. Then I had a dream looking down at two hands and one was bloody. I asked why my hand was bloody and I heard Jesus’ voice say to me “That’s my hand.” When I woke up, I knew I had heard the voice of Jesus. The next time I went to Chicago I went to see the old friend who had contacted me from Facebook. She anointed me praying over me. The very next week I went with another friend to his friends' home who he said had groups every week related to church. I had no idea who they were or what happened at their small groups. That first night, a song came on with the words “Break every chain” repeating over and over and I was bawling like a baby. When we sat down later, the owner of the home talked to the group about his drug and alcohol addiction and how Jesus saved him from it 30 years before. I had recently been told by a drug counselor I would need intensive outpatient rehab so all I kept thinking was. Jesus could do that? He loves me that much? Because I want that!
In that first small group, my lips were stammering. Within a couple more small groups, I was full blown speaking in tongues. I didn’t know why God was giving me this heavenly language but I was determined to know everything there was to know about Him and how to get close to Him. I was baptized by water 3 months later, going to Bible studies and spending as much time as I could in the Word, reading devotionals and listening to sermons. Yet I could not break away from the demons of alcohol completely. Then one day, I had given up and had a binge so I knew I needed to do something more. The next day, I spoke to two people. One was a man who after 30 years was still going to substance abuse meetings several times a week for alcohol and drugs. He told me “Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic” and the meetings kept him sober. Then I spoke to wife from the home where I had attended the small group. She told me about how her husband had tried rehabs but it wasn’t until he gave himself to the Lord completely that his alcohol and drug addiction was healed. For 30 years, he was teaching Bible studies and leading small groups.
Two men in the same time span of 30 years, one with the demons of alcohol still chasing him and the other who slayed those demons with the armor of God and was now helping others slay theirs. I realized that was what my dream with the paths was about. I needed to make the decision which way to go and where did I want to be in 30 years? So I threw myself at God’s mercy, read the Word all day crying out to Him to help me. I prayed and cried until I fell asleep that night. From that day forward, I have been free from alcoholism. The devil was not going to claim my identity as an alcoholic or anything else from my past. My identity is in Christ.
Months later, my daughter received a kidney from my other daughter even though the odds of them being a match was very rare. I became the Event Coordinator here at my church, started teaching Bible studies and now have an Admin role. In 2024, the Lord blessed me with a bigger home for my family and the Godly man I prayed for whom I married in a wedding in Tennessee that was more than I could have ever asked God for. I give all the glory to God for my transformation and blessings he has given me and my family.
Like I said, this is the condensed version so check out my book to read more!!