“I cried out to Jesus—and He saved me.”

Ben Budde grew up in a Christian home in small-town Ohio, the youngest of eight. Though he heard the gospel as a child and even prayed to receive Christ, his heart craved something else—belonging, attention, identity. He found it, for a while, in music.

What began with a hand-me-down bass guitar at church eventually led Ben into the heart of the rock-and-roll scene: playing bars, using drugs, and chasing the approval of crowds. But behind the music was a soul in crisis—grieving the loss of his mother, drowning in addiction, and searching for something real.

Broken, alone, and lost, Ben rediscovered the Bible his mom had once read. Through God’s Word, and the unwavering love of a woman who would become his wife, Ben encountered the grace of Jesus in a life-changing way.

Now free from addiction and walking in new life, Ben shares his story of hope.