Stephen Arruda:
CLASS OF 1990
Wood Elementary SchoolClass of 1990
Fairhaven, MA
Tulsa Community CollegeClass of 2002
Tulsa, OK
Oral Roberts UniversityClass of 2001
Tulsa, OK
Fairhaven High SchoolClass of 1997
Fairhaven, MA
Hastings Middle SchoolClass of 1993
Fairhaven, MA
Stephen's Story
Life
As most of you know, I grew on the waters of Sconticut Neck Rd. in Fairhaven, MA. Living there for 16 yrs. then having to move to New Bedofrd was a change, but it gave me adaptiblity. After not seeing a future in vocational education I decided to attend FHS. Best decision of my life. I enjoyed getting involved as much as possible. I did well in most of my classes and loved playing and watching sports. I remember getting into a fight as the Blue Devil during my senior year on Thanksgiving. I loved to make people laugh and a lot of times it was at the expense of my teachers. Some probably deserved it. When asked about my future at the time I thought I was going to end up going to UMaine. I had a lot of friends up there from a bible camp I used to attend in Bridgewater of Rt.1. But something happened...
In April of 1997 my mother bought me a ticket to visit Tulsa, OK and the campus of Oral Roberts University. My sister was attending here (pre-med) so I was more excited to see her. I came on a weekend just after the big college weekend for pre-frosh. My flight here was also my first flight ever. It was unforgettable for the wrong reasons. I was in pain. At least my right knee was. I had been experiencing some constant pain in my knee in the middle of my senior track season. Some may remember, I loved track & field especially long and triple jump. Here I was trying to define myself through athletics and my body was letting me down. So needless to say, I brought a lot of aspirin and ibuprofen along.
For those of you who don't know, I am a born again christian. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior in the summer of 1995. Some people may remember me doing some "un-christian-like" things even after that time. Well God has shown me that it is a process. So as I am on the campus of ORU I try to run, over and over and over again. It hurts even to walk. I went back to the dorm room that I was staying in and hung out with 2 of my sisters friends. I explained to these guys what was going on with me physically and without a second to lose we were joined together in prayer. One of them laid hands on my knee, still hurting of course, and the other my head. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all. These guys weren't yelling at the top of their lungs trying to make the heavens pour down or anything. They were genuinely asking God to heal my knee. I remember first asking God to forgive my sins. I was going through some stuff. Then I remember that receiving healing is just as easy as receiving the Lord into your heart. You have to use your mouth. So I began agreeing with these guys in prayer and after maybe 2 mins. we thanked the Lord for what he has done and said Amen. I thanked them and we carried on normally.
The next day was my flight home. On that flight my knee was screaming. It was as if my mind was trying to tell me I was crazy for praying, stupid for this, dumb for that... That continued all the way home and it was hard to ignore 'cause it hurt. Now there is a gap in my memory because I started thanking God for what he has done for me. Thanking Him for his healing even though it still hurt. Well I guess I did that so much that I don't even remember that exact day or moment it stopped. When i got back I had some very important meets ahead and competed with no problems. As a matter of fact I ended up triple jumping to the conference, state, and state relay championship on a "bad" knee. Now unfortunately I didn't do very well at All Sates. My prom was the night...Expand for more
before and I danced too much and then had to ride to Tewksbury crammed in an '84 S-10 with pops. My legs...well I had no legs left.
My experience during my visit to Oklahoma was the catalyst to get me to ORU and out of Mass. I love Massachusetts however I felt it was causing a lot of strongholds in my mind and limiting me to do the things God wanted me to do. There is not a day that goes by were I miss people and friends. That's what classmates.com is for I guess right?
Well, at ORU I competed in soccer, indoor, and outdoor track completing one of my life's goals; to own an NCAA Div IA school conference champioship ring. I still have that ring even though they left an "R" out of Arruda (I got that fixed in 2003). It seemed I was a little too social in college that year becasue the following fall (1998) I wasn't allowed back (credits earned). With my head held high I turned to my musical talents to get me through. I stayed in Tulsa, OK for the next 5 yrs. There along with my sister Cece I started to find out where my life was going.
I played saxaphone in a ska band for 2 yrs. and enjoyed evey moment of it. The bands name was the Ivy League and we one about a dozen band competions to help generate money and popularity, We've played with P.O.D. on more than one occasion, the W's, Third Day, and Philmore. We produced a single and an EP and toured twice. I traveled from Estes Park, CO. to Houston, to Jacksonville, to D.C. and spaces between. It was fun but...
I knew that I was supposed to be doing other things as well or instead. I focused on my education again at Tulsa Community College majoring in Business Administration, started playing in church again, and maintained a solid work ethic at my fast food job (shift manager). I raised my GPA, recorded 2 worship CDs with Michael Gungor (look him up on iTunes), and found a job that had more of a purpose.
Throughout my college life a picked up a new talent... DJing. I am not referring to just pushing buttons on CD players, even though I did that in college as a morning DJ. That job was fun because I got to write all of my jokes and skits. I attributed one to my Nana and her forgetfulness. Guess you had to be there. I started buying records from Salvation Army and Goodwill and playing with them on a record player stereo system I got from Salso's. I later begged and burrowed to use professional equipment and learned minor repairs in order to "borrow" higher end gear. I joined a group of MC's from ORU called Mass Reality and was their DJ for the next 5 yrs, competing in competitions and even opening for Kirk Franklin at one occasion at ORU.
That night I was invited to Oneighty (180). This is the youth ministry of Church On the Move. The following Wednesday night I DJ'd in front of 3000 teenagers at an commercial park on the east side of Tulsa. It was unbelievable. That night I was offered a job working for the TV & Film ministry of Church On the Move. I later met my new employer, Willie George. This is starnge (in a good way) because whe I was little I went to a children's meeting in Springfield, MA with my sisters. The speaker was Gospel Bill, the fictional Sheriff of a town called Dry Gulch. (AKA Willie George). At the end of the service I thought he pointed at me but he pointed at my oldest sister and gave her the only prize of the night. I still couldn't believe I came that close to meeting him.
Now almost 15 yrs later I am shaking his hand and thanking him for the opportunity to serve him.
(Updated 3/13/09)
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