Navy SEAL Turned Movie Star Opens Up About How Jesus Helped Him Climb Out of 'Rock Bottom'
A retired U.S. Navy SEAL turned movie star is telling the story of how, after pursuing every other method to turn his life around, the gospel saved him when he was at his lowest.
Remi Adeleke says he was at “rock bottom,” coping with a deep depression when he finally did something he had often mocked his brother for doing: Adeleke turned to Jesus.
“I hit rock bottom,” he told Fox News. “I personally had tried everything to fix myself. I realized I had issues. I tried meditation, Eastern religious practices, I tried forcing myself to change and nothing worked.”
In his book “Transformed,” which was released on Tuesday, Adeleke tells his own personal story: “A Navy SEAL’s Unlikely Journey from the Throne of Africa, to the Streets of the Bronx, to Defying All Odds.”
Born to a prominent Nigerian engineer and businessman in Africa, Adeleke’s childhood was quite the opposite of the fabled rags-to-riches lifestyle, he said Tuesday on Fox Business Newtwork’s Mornings with Maria.
“In 1987, the Nigerian government decided that [my father’s] most valuable asset is not his anymore, so they stripped it from him. So, we went from rich to poor, and then he died a few days later,” Adeleke told Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo.
“My mom, being an American, brought my brother and I to the states,” he said. “And that’s kind of where my New York, American story started.”
Adeleke said it was there, on the streets of the Bronx, New York, that he grew up stealing and selling drugs.
Yet, empowered by the perseverance and sacrifice of his mother, and inspired by Michael Bay films such as “Bad Boys” and “The Rock,” Adeleke told Fox he decided to join the Navy and commit to becoming a Navy SEAL.
Adeleke said it was a deep depression that brought him to “rock bottom,” rather than the grueling hours of survival training. And after spending a long period of time turning to every self-betterment method imaginable, Adeleke finally turned to a faith he told Fox that he “persecuted” his brother for having.
“He would tell me, ‘Remi, when you hit rock bottom, cause it’s going to happen, just remember to cry out to Jesus,'” Adeleke said. “And I would be like, ‘Whatever.’”
Adeleke says it was when he first gave in and tried prayer that he experienced the internal peace he had longed for. “I was just like, you know what, nothing else is working, why not try this Jesus man,” Adeleke said. “That’s when I cried out to Jesus, and I was like, ‘Jesus help me.’ And I began to see things change. I began to feel peace at times when I prayed.”
From there, Adeleke began to attend church regularly and fully devote himself to Jesus.
“Ever since then, everything has just changed and like the cover of the book says, just transformed,” he said.
Adeleke moved forward, throwing himself into aspirations to become an actor.
He has since worked with inspiration Michael Bay as a star in the blockbuster “Transformers: The Last Knight.” He proceeded as a film consultant and worked on a couple of screenplays and his newly released book.
Adeleke hopes that his book will serve as encouragement for those currently struggling and in need of a story of perseverance and hope.
“If Remi failed over and over and over again, because that’s what you’ll see in the book, and he still made it to where he is today, then there’s no reason why I shouldn’t make it,” Adeleke said.
“There’s no excuses. I can defy the odds.”
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