Ted Cruz is opening up about how religion has transformed his life.
The Republican presidential candidate tells members of a New Hampshire congregation that his family's religious devotion is due largely to his father's conversion to Christianity decades ago.
The Texas senator says his father was a drunk who abandoned Cruz and his mother when Cruz was a toddler.
Then Rafael Cruz met a pastor who challenged him to stop resisting Christianity.
Ted Cruz tells worshippers at the First Assembly of God in Auburn, New Hampshire, that his father "literally fell to his knees and gave his life to Jesus."
Rafael soon returned to his family and raised Cruz as a devout Christian.
© Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.