In the summer of 2008, Tyshan Knight was a popular, albeit regular teenaged boy, who thought drinking, partying and girls were just about all there was to a good life. He had just graduated from high school, and he and his friends were headed to Wasaga Beach to celebrate their newfound emancipation. Their mission: party as hard as possible and snag as many girls as time would allow.

Although raised in the church and blessed with immense musical talent, Tyshan at the time preferred singing R & B and indulging in all the otherworldly distractions that most young men his age freely embraced. On this particular trip, his intentions were no different, although, at the week’s end, his view of life would undergo a radical shift.

By the 3rd straight day of partying, Tyshan had consumed so much alcohol his body decided it had had enough. During an impossible cocktail of vodka, rum and other drinks whose names were a blur, the room suddenly began to spin endlessly around him. He staggered into a nearby bedroom, where he lay until the contents of his churning stomach came spewing up, once, twice…and a third time which lasted so long he could barely breathe.

As he struggled for air, Tyshan was gripped by the cold certainty that he had reached the end of his life. Flooded by fear and panic, he silently called out to God to spare him from death, swearing that if he survived, just to take another breath, he would serve the Lord for the rest of his days.

Mercifully, his prayer was answered; the wave of retching subsided and was replaced by the conviction that he was now bound to God by the vow he had made not five minutes before. This was not the life he’d been called to live, and he knew it. It was time to change. He drove home from Wasaga that very night, leaving puzzled friends in his wake. Tyshan could explain to no-one, least of all himself what had come over him – the only thing he knew was that he owed God for his deliverance, and he meant to make good on his promise.

Back at home, Tyshan immediately began to undergo a transformation. Old friends were dropped and bad habits were shed, as his pure gratitude to his Savior emerged. He went from being the life of the party to a virtual loner, yet none of it mattered; his goal was Salvation. He began to write about his life’s change, and the results found him putting together a CD in just under a week. Promotion of his new love and life – Jesus – followed; Tyshan sang at churches, sharing the beauty of God’s grace and mercy. While performing at a function for a mutual friend, one listener who would be pivotal in Tyshan’s career connected strongly with the sincerity of his heart. Higher Intel’s co-founder N.I.F.T.Y. saw great promise in the warrior for God’s Kingdom, and together they embarked on a new chapter in ministry. The rest, you already know