As a troubled teenager addicted to drugs and on the brink of suicide, Joseph Rojas could’ve never imagined the stunning turn his life would take. In fact, had God shown him then that he would become a Dove Award-winning recording artist, a successful music business entrepreneur, a loving husband of two decades, and a devoted father to three sons, it’s likely Joseph wouldn’t have believed it anyway.

These days, Joseph doesn’t shy away from sharing his powerful testimony, whether it’s from the concert stage or on television programs like “The 700 Club.” “I didn’t have a concept of what a father was,” he admits. Raised by a single mother in Victoria, Texas, one of Joseph’s earliest memories is of his father leaving after abusing his mother. A string of abusive caretakers left Joseph and his brother traumatized and coping however they could. “I just wanted the pain to stop. Even at 12, I was thinking about suicide.”

That desire to numb the heartache led to a life of drugs and crime. By the end of his teenage years, Joseph was addicted to cocaine, had been convicted of his first felony, and was spiraling downward on the fringes of society. His mother—desperate for healing in her own life—visited a church with a friend and began a personal relationship with Jesus. From that day forward, she fervently prayed for her son’s salvation. Her prayers would be answered after she walked in on Joseph overdosing on cocaine in an attempt to end his life.

“In the back of an ambulance, I felt the hand of God, and I gave my life to Jesus,” Joseph remembers. The experience would root a deep passion in his heart for the outcasts of society.

Joseph’s prayer-warrior mother continued to pray him through two years of becoming fully clean, a journey that brought him to a Bible college in Dallas—and to his wife, Lori. The two met in the early summer of 1999, helping a mutual friend move. They quickly struck up a friendship, spending more and more time together. “One day he said, ‘what are you thinking?’” Lori recalls. “And I said, ‘I don’t know, what are you thinking?’ And finally, he answered, ‘I’m thinking I could marry you.’ And I said, ‘me too!’”

Joseph and Lori married in August, just three months after being introduced, but Joseph says without hesitation, “I knew she was my wife the minute I saw her.”

That same summer, Joseph’s band, Seventh Day Slumber, was gaining momentum. Lori, however, was completely new to the music world. “Sometimes girls will like you because you’re in a band,” Joseph laughs. “But I just wanted someone who loved me for who I was. I didn’t want someone to love me because I was in a band. And it was almost like she loved me in spite of me being in a band.”

Finding true partnership, the couple worked together—Joseph on stage and Lori behind the scenes— to grow the ministry of Seventh Day Slumber. Today the Dove Award-winning band is approaching sales of nearly half-a-million records, and they have five #1 singles to their credit. The couple’s 18-year-old son Blaise now serves as Seventh Day Slumber’s drummer, ushering a new generation into the “family business.” 

In fact, Joseph and Lori’s middle son Kaden (15) helps with lights, while youngest son Sage (12) pitches in to load and unload gear each night on the road. Everything the Rojas family has achieved is the direct result of the purposeful unity Joseph and Lori share. “She and I are one,” he says. “Both our hearts are in it. Both our blood, sweat and tears are in this ministry.”

In addition to the band, the couple has become successful music business entrepreneurs. They founded Nashville Label Group last year, quickly signing a stable of talented rock, hip-hop and pop artists, while continuing to facilitate a series of popular Christian rock tours that canvass the nation each year. Lori serves as tour manager, overseeing multiple bands on tours with thousands of attendees. “She has no idea what she does for not just me, but for all of these bands on a daily basis on tour,” Joseph shares. “They will all tell you there’s nobody that serves like she does and works as hard in this industry.”

For Joseph, the added joy of working alongside his sons has built a unique bond he never had with his own father. “I told my kids, ‘I never want you to feel like you have to do what daddy is doing or be a musician to make daddy proud of you. Whatever you want to do, just do it with your whole heart, and mommy and daddy will support you.’”

With that freedom, Blaise has embraced his own ministry calling. At the age of 10 he began playing drums, and he was on stage with Seventh Day Slumber a mere three years later. “For as long as I can remember, I always knew music was what God had for me,” Blaise says. “I knew God was going to use me through music to teach people about Him and to help hurting people. I just didn’t always know exactly what I would be doing in music.”

“I know people always say you shouldn’t work with family, but it’s honestly not difficult at all to balance work and family time,” Blaise adds. “We still find time on tour to do fun things together and not just work all the time. I love it, and I wouldn’t change anything about it.”

If anything, the unique family dynamic has strengthened the character of everyone involved. “You don’t realize how much they’re soaking it in behind the scenes,” Lori shares. “Seeing Joseph interact with people at concerts and hearing their stories—nothing shocks our kids, and they have such a heart and compassion for people.”  

Joseph echoes that same pride in the individuals his sons have become as they’ve grown up on the road. “Our kids are well-rounded. And they have a work ethic that’s amazing. They get up and they do their job. They know that their daddy takes pride in what I do, so they take pride in what they do.”

Simply put, the Rojas family’s desire is to share God’s love with people who are hurting— much like Joseph was as a youth. “Music speaks to people in ways that other things never could,” he shares. “We want to write lyrics that let people know that they’re not alone. Even though they may be in the darkest place they’ve ever been, this is not how it ends.”

“God has us out here to spread His Word, to be there for hurting people, to show His love and be a light in this dark world,” Blaise adds. “I want people to know they aren’t alone, there are people out there— including us bands—going through exactly what they’re going through.”

“To see how Joseph—or now even Blaise—can write a song lyric, it’s amazing how they’re able to relate to people,” Lori echoes. Being part of that mission has ultimately changed her life as well. “It moves me to see how this ministry affects people. It opens my eyes to have a greater understanding.”

Joseph’s honesty and vulnerability is a hallmark of his ministry, and one of the reasons he’s able to connect so authentically with fans. “We’re flawed individuals and we know that. But even though I’m flawed, there is a perfect God in heaven who loves me perfectly. I can rest in that when I’m writing lyrics to people who are hurting.”

Although he’s worlds away from the broken, troubled teenager he once was, Joseph can’t forget the desperation that not only drove him to rock bottom, but ultimately brought him to Christ. And while the old Joseph would have likely been surprised to see himself as a husband, father, musician and entrepreneur, it’s his family’s unity in ministry that might have surprised him most. The Rojas family has a true passion for the least and lost, and together, they’re leaving a legacy of Hope.  

Mary Nikkel