Jason Schmidt of Scottsbluff did a lot of drinking and partying while growing up. His focus began to change, however, late in his college years, thanks to what he says was the Holy Spirit working on his heart. He eventually stopped drinking and partying and instead put his full attention on going to church and learning about God. He even developed a passion for sharing the gospel with others, which is why he decided to get involved in ministry. He’s now in his 18th year as the pastor at Valley Bible Church in Scottsbluff.
JEFF FIELDER Editor
SCOTTSBLUFF – Looking back, Jason Schmidt is glad he attended church as a kid. He just wishes he would have gone to church for the right reasons.
“I didn’t necessarily go to church to worship God,” he said. “Going to church was considered good, so I mostly went there because it was looked upon as the right thing to do. I basically did it to check if off my list, so to speak.”
When Schmidt entered high school, he and his brother were given the choice of whether to continue attending church. Schmidt decided to stop going to church.
Instead, he started drinking and partying – a lot.
“I wanted to live life in a way that pleased me – not God – so I started indulging in activities that weren’t good,” he said. “To me, drinking was fun. I wasn’t addicted to alcohol, but that’s what I looked forward to doing every weekend – partying and bar hopping.”
Schmidt, who graduated from Scottsbluff High School in 1985, continued to drink and go to parties his first few years at the University of Wyoming.
His wild lifestyle began to change, though, his junior year at UW.
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