David’s journey of faith began in a family with both Catholic and Protestant roots, where the foundations of biblical teaching were introduced early in life. As a young boy attending Catholic school, he learned the basics of Scripture, participated in his first Holy Communion, and developed a childlike understanding of what it meant to be a disciple of Christ. However, life’s challenges soon disrupted this early sense of spiritual grounding. After his parents’ divorce, David moved to Philadelphia, where he attended public school before returning briefly to Catholic education, however. By the age of 14 while in the 8th grade, he had dropped out altogether from formal schooling.

During his teenage years, David explored a wide range of belief systems, including Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism, Daoism, and Hinduism, as well as Islam and various Christian traditions. Despite years of searching, he found that none of these provided the clarity and truth he was seeking. It wasn’t until his time in the military that a significant turning point occurred. While in basic training, he was handed a Bible by a US Army Chaplin—a seemingly small moment that would later transform his life. Though he initially set it aside, four years later, after his service ended, he picked it up again. At the age of 33, reading Scripture brought a profound clarity that redefined his faith and set him on a new path.