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David Holland arrived at Cornerstone International Church as a carpet cleaner, hired to help spruce up the building before the church’s launch on Easter 2007. Notoriously known as a drug dealer and in trouble with the law in Norwich, David was worn and searching when he arrived to work at Cornerstone that day. Never one to pass up an opportunity to build relationship, Shaun stayed with David as he worked and spent the afternoon talking and sharing with him, ultimately inviting him to Cornerstone’s launch that Sunday.

“David was in the congregation that Easter Sunday when we launched our church,” recalls Pillay. “As we were wrapping up, he came forward and accepted Jesus Christ. It was a huge moment in his life and the life of our church.”

Just last year Holland became the first deacon at Cornerstone International Church and is working alongside Pillay to reach the city of Norwich for the name of Christ.

“God put Shaun right there in my life,” Holland says, “and he’s seen me through so much. He’s a good man, a man of God. And everybody I introduce him to just falls in love with him and his passion for the people and the city of Norwich.”

Holland’s transformation has not only been a testimony to the power of God but also the influence of Pillay in the city. Weeks after Holland’s salvation, the two ran into a group of policemen who knew Holland as the drug dealer and troublemaker he was before his conversion to Christianity. They hadn’t seen him in months and Holland took the opportunity to explain his absence from the legal system as the direct result of his newfound presence in Christ.

“The men were obviously moved,” Pillay recalls. “They said, ‘I wish all the drug dealers in the city would come to know your Jesus if this is the result.’ They knew for sure that David was a changed man.”