Christopher Serpico never expected a neighborhood block party to change the course of his life.
But the event, hosted by a Baptist church that had lost its building to a tornado, became one of several turning points in a journey that led the self-described former militant atheist to faith in Christ.
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After surviving liver failure in 2019, Serpico began searching for something he had spent most of his life rejecting: faith.
The Arkansas-born father says a series of conversations, prayers and encounters with a local Baptist church eventually led him to place his trust in Christ.
Today, Serpico and his family attend church regularly, participate in weekly Bible study and speak openly about the transformation he says God worked in his life.
“That person is dead,” Serpico said of the man he once was. “The person I was is 100% dead.”
Serpico, 41, said his life before coming to faith was marked by anger, addiction and spiritual emptiness.
“I loved to argue,” he said. “I was that guy.”
Raised in Chicago after being born in Arkansas, Serpico said he spent much of his adult life hostile toward Christianity.
“I didn’t want to believe in God,” he said. “I didn’t believe in Him, and I also didn’t want to.”
Destructive choices
By 2019, years of destructive choices had taken a physical toll. Serpico said he was near death from liver failure.
“I was jaundiced, swelled. I was on my deathbed,” he recalled. “I’d already been read my last rites.”
In the middle of that crisis, his thoughts turned to his 4-year-old daughter.
“I thought, ‘She’s only going to know or hear of a drunk and a bad guy,’” Serpico said. “I didn’t want that for her.”
So, despite his disbelief, he prayed.
“I reached out to whoever,” he said.
He asked for more time — not for himself, but for his daughter.
“I begged just for a couple more years just to show her I could be good and be a good example,” he said.
Serpico survived but said the deeper change came afterward.
As he recovered, his wife, Amber, said the desire to return to church had been growing for some time.
“I wanted to go back home,” said Amber, who grew up in church. “I can’t explain it any other way than I felt like God was like, ‘Okay, you’ve messed around long enough. Come back home.’”
When she told her husband, Serpico’s response surprised her. He wanted to go to church, too.
Searching for a church
The couple began searching for a church, though they were still unsure where to begin.
Then came a neighborhood block party hosted by First Baptist Church Monette as part of Arkansas Baptists’ One Day Mission Trip.
Serpico attended with their daughter while Amber was at work.
Later that day, he called her.
“He said, ‘I found our church,’” Amber recalled. “And it wasn’t, ‘I think I might have.’ He said, ‘I found our church.’”
At the event, Serpico met pastor Jared Russell. During their conversation, Serpico told Russell he did not believe he could be forgiven.
“I told him that I didn’t believe that I could be saved,” Serpico said. “But I would like to try to lead my family to salvation.”
Russell said he responded by pointing him to God’s grace.
“I was able to share with him that God has made a way for everyone to be forgiven,” he said. “No one’s too far gone that they can’t be forgiven.”
Over the following months, Russell said he watched Serpico and his wife begin attending Bible study and asking questions.
“God just started answering questions and working in their lives in a mighty way,” he said.
‘Unmistakable’ change
When Serpico eventually professed faith and prepared for baptism, Russell said the change was unmistakable.
“You’d have to be blind not to see it,” he said.
Amber said the change in her husband was undeniable.
“The man that went up there to get baptized is not the same man that walked back home,” she said. “To see such a huge difference in him truly has been amazing.”
For the Serpicos, the church became more than a place of worship. It became a source of community.
Amber said seeing the congregation’s perseverance drew them in. The church had been meeting in temporary locations since a tornado struck Monette in April 2023, destroying its sanctuary and family life center.
Russell said neighboring churches, community groups and the local high school opened their doors, allowing the congregation to continue meeting despite the loss.
“God has proved Himself faithful,” he said. “We’ve continued to grow in that time.”
“They didn’t lose their church home,” Amber said. “They just lost the building that their church home was in.”
She believes the block party, which was made possible thanks to the Dixie Jackson Arkansas Missions Offering, changed the course of their lives.
Serpico now describes faith as surrender — choosing vulnerability instead of self-reliance.
“You have to allow yourself to be vulnerable,” he said. “There’s no other way to know God than to surrender yourself to Him.”
After years of believing he was beyond redemption, Serpico said he finally decided to take what he calls a step of faith.
“Everyone says the same thing. They say you just have to open your heart and ask for it, and you shall receive. So, I gave Him a shot,” he said.
“And they were right.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was originally published by Arkansas Baptist News.
