Ryan's Story:
Secret Struggles

Shame had its talons in Ryan from a very young age.

From being abused and molested at a young age, Ryan always questioned his sexuality, but out of shame, he kept his struggles a secret. He felt he couldn't tell anyone about the turmoil going on inside of him. Was Ryan created gay? Bisexual? He sure didn't think so. He simply had attractions he didn't know what to do with. Going through life he had the occasional sexual encounter, until, sadly, ultimately, all of that shame manifested itself into something tragic and unthinkable.

In the midst of a budding ministry as a traveling Christian speaker, singer, and performer, Ryan's life was set fire to, and laid waste in a matter of days.

For a decade: 10 long years, Ryan lived under the shadow of shame and stigma, unable to find a good job or a place to connect. Smoking, crying, swearing and yet believing, he pushed on through four years of therapy and accountability - and kept believing. And God proved faithful. He ultimately provided self-employment, a million-dollar multimedia company, success in local circles, a supportive church home, and finally, in the best redemptive stroke yet, the love of his life, and two beautiful children of his own.

That wasn't the end however - deliverance came, yet Ryan still had to deal with the ghosts of his past, and there were those who would still seek to make he - and his wife - pay.

Ryan's story is an incredible story of triumph over stigma, success in the midst of failures, perseverance, and...

Hope over Shame.

Check out Ryan's autobiography, penned under a pseudonym to protect individual identities, here.