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NARRATOR: Ron Perryman knew where his life as a drug dealer

and addict was leading.

He was just too high to care.

I knew I was not doing the right thing.

And I always knew that if I died I was going to hell.

NARRATOR: He knew because as a pastor's son,

he had been held to a strict standard of right and wrong.

RON PERRYMAN: I was required to do certain things

as a preacher's kid.

I had to act a certain way.

I guess I kind of started resenting that a little bit.

NARRATOR: Ron started drinking in junior high

and hanging around with older kids.

I definitely wanted their approval

and wanted to fit in with the older kids

and be able to do what they were doing.

And it felt good, getting drunk and high.

If sin wasn't fun, nobody would want to do it.

NARRATOR: By high school he was also using drugs,

skipping school, and was arrested three times for DUIs.

RON PERRYMAN: It was a very tense situation at home.

I was so rebellious that I didn't

want to hear anything they had to say.

I didn't want to do anything they wanted to do.

I just wanted to do what I wanted to do.

NARRATOR: Ron dropped out of high school,

worked various jobs, and at 19 was

introduced to methamphetamine.

Even though I knew what I should be doing, especially

from the way my parents raised me,

I just let the meth control my thinking, control my life.

So I started selling meth.

And that way I could do what I wanted when I wanted

and at the same time make some pretty good money.

I did very quickly start getting a sense of power.

It made me feel like people did need me.

They needed me for their drugs.

NARRATOR: Several years later, Ron

was indicted by the FBI for drug trafficking.

By then, Ron didn't care how his choices were affecting himself

or those who loved him.

Well, I must say it was very difficult to cope with.

And even though you spend time in prayer and trust

in the Lord to bring him back in his timing,

Ronny sort of, in my opinion, went from bad to worse.

I was working part-time with the sheriff's department during

the time that he was being in prison.

And I was the one that had to take him into jail

and sign him in.

And that was one of the hardest things that I've ever done.

RON PERRYMAN: I was just concerned

about doing what I wanted to do.

NARRATOR: He was released after 3 and 1/2 years.

Not only did he go back to selling and using meth,

he started cooking it himself.

Ron continued in that lifestyle for 14 years,

gunning between four meth labs in as many South Carolina

counties.

Then in 2012, he was busted for drug manufacturing

and given five years.

At the time, a number of his friends

had recently died, many from drug addiction.

I just felt like there was a feeling of death

all around me all the time, you know, whether I was high

or not.

And it really bothered me.

NARRATOR: Two months into his sentence, Ron

went to a jail Bible study, just to get a break from his cell.

Instead he was faced with the truth of who he had become.

All of my past, the drugs, all of my sins,

everything just kind of overwhelmed me

for some reason all of a sudden.

And I knew at that moment that all I had to do

was ask and accept Jesus and that I would be forgiven.

You know, I got on my knees in that prison cell

and I said, God, I just give it all to you.

I know I messed my life up.

And I want you to take over.

And he took over.

I had an amazing feeling of peace come over me.

The looming feeling of death that

was still surrounding me even when I went into prison

was just gone.

The desire, which I still had even though I was locked up,

to do meth was gone.

You know, God performed a miracle in my life.

NARRATOR: Ron spent his remaining time

in prison seeking what he'd ignored his whole life.

Of course I had a lot of time on my hands, being in prison.

So I spent a lot of time in the Word.

NARRATOR: Granted parole in 2014,

Ron walked out of prison with a renewed heart and mind.

He now has a great relationship with his parents.

Ron later married Lisa and says he's come to know true freedom.

RON PERRYMAN: All of my need for acceptance from other people

just was gone.

Even though I'm still not proud of what

I did for the majority of my life,

I don't have to be ashamed of it anymore.

I like who I am.

I like who God is making me.

And he's still working on me every day.

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