A survivor of the Orlando Pulse nightclub mass shooting is recounting the trauma of that night and how God used it to bring about his repentance and why he now says he is no longer gay.

In an interview last week with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association on their “GPS: God. People. Stories” broadcast, Luis Javier Ruiz spoke of his journey out of the homosexual life, how the Holy Spirit continues to transform him, and how he is now ministering to people.

Now in his 30s, Ruiz explained that although he grew up in the church it was during a time when many congregations did not have the tools with which to engage this issue, and what he learned was how to keep secrets. All the while, he was struggling with his sexuality, having experienced same-sex attraction since his childhood. He finally came out as a homosexual to his family toward the end of his high school years.

On his mom’s birthday, they were listening to a radio program where someone was railing against homosexuals in an abusive manner complete with charges of “they’re going to hell” and ‘they’re an abomination.”

“It was bad,” Ruiz recalled the experience, “and we got into an argument about it … and I just ended it with ‘Mom, you know what? Your son is gay. How about that?”

His parents did not take the news well and his relationship with them soured; they often wondered what they had done wrong as parents and began to question their ministry in the church.

After high school, Ruiz joined the armed forces…