My name is Marcal DaCunha, a.k.a New Creation. My heart is set on proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ through music, testimony, and preaching. I am currently the Executive Pastor of Middletown Assembly of God, husband to my Godly wife Krystal, father to my awesome son Caleb, friend to our miniature schnauzer Sully, a Teen Challenge success story and owner of Proclanation Apparel.
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I was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe then moved to America when I was 13. Although I grew up in the church, I never understood what Christianity really was or that I could have a relationship with God. Trying to adjust to a new country was difficult because the most important thing to me at that age was acceptance. Significance was defined by what I listened to and what I saw. I was heavily influenced by the music I listened to and people I idolized. Before long, I was headed down a dark path of rebellion, addiction, and destruction. At 14 I had already been to a Juvenile detention center, and by 17, I was serving my first jail sentence. I spent the next 7 years of my life in and out jail and rehabs.

Eventually, I lost everything including my friends, my family's trust, and hope. I felt like the stereotypical high school drop-out drug addict. I believed that I would never get out and that I would end up like the older men I lived with in the rehabs who encouraged me to get right while I was young so that I didn't end up like them. The consequences of my lifestyle accumulated like a snowball and I almost accepted that it was impossible to get out. There was so much guilt that all I could do was harden my heart because the slightest acknowledgement of what I had done to myself would break me down. I was desperate for a savior. Finally, I could sense it was all coming to an end. I was on the run with warrants out, my car broke down right before leaving for New York for a drug deal, my parents house got raided by the police, and I had no where to go. The weight of these events lead me to the conclusion that suicide was the only way out. I would never have been the person to consider suicide, but I literally thought I couldn't take life anymore and chose to end my life by overdosing...
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The next day when I woke up, I felt like my insides were burning. I felt so relieved to be alive but afraid of what was going to happen to me. I felt so grateful and determined because the experience was such a reality check. It took me losing everything and actually breaking to finally look to God and ask him to rescue me. I remember saying to God, "If you're real, you're the only one who can help me. If you save me, i'll serve you for the rest of my life." My life changed over night. I was so hungry to know God and so willing to leave everything behind. I had no idea that three months later I was going to have an encounter that would change my life forever. I was at a church service at the Vailsburg Assembly of God. Pastor Jermel Mayo was preaching a message called: "The Three Truths of the Cross." That whole service I understood the gospel like never before. Every word I had heard with my ears made sense in my heart. For the first time in my life, I understood why Jesus died for me. And it broke my heart to acknowledge why he would do what he did for someone like me. I remember running to the alter and falling on my face and crying harder than I had ever cried. I was flooded with visions and my communication with God was at the speed of thought. All these questions were coming to mind and they were being answered instantly. I remember asking God why I went the route I did when I came to America when my sister went to Valley Forge Christian College. Why it took so long for me to understand. And I remember Him saying to me, "There are people who you're going to speak to who your sister can't because she hasn't seen or lived the side of life you have." God didn't make me go down that path, my choices did. But all things work together for the good of those who love God.
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I am overwhelmed with remorse for what I have done, but I have no regrets. The reason I don't do the things I used to isn't because i'm forcing myself not to out of fear of God, or whether I will go to heaven or hell. The reason I don't do the things I used to, and now live my life for God, is because I love Him and my actions now come from love. Living by the Spirit is more than a claim, it is a lifestyle that is the result of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
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I am a New Creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

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