Participants: Pr. Marquis Johns (Host), Carlos Gomez
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000027
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:05 may be too candid for younger children. 00:08 Welcome to the New Journey, 00:09 a program about real life people 00:12 with real life testimonies 00:13 doing real life ministry for Jesus Christ. 00:16 I'm your host, Pastor Marquis Johns. 00:18 Join us for the New Journey. 00:55 As commandment keepers, 00:56 our endeavor is to abide by the letter of the law, 01:00 keeping the fourth commandment, 01:02 keeping the seventh commandment, 01:03 keeping the tenth commandment. 01:05 But the one thing that we forget 01:07 is what made Abraham the friend of God. 01:10 It wasn't that he just obeyed the commandments, 01:13 he obeyed His voice 01:14 and Christ never spoke clearer than when He said, 01:18 "Some of us are going to perish 01:20 because of those who are in prison 01:22 and we didn't visit them." 01:24 On today's show is a person with just such a testimony 01:28 having been in prison, 01:30 looking for an extension of the love of Christ 01:32 of being unable to find it. 01:34 Brother Carlos Gomez, how are you? 01:35 Just fine. 01:36 You're doing all right? Yeah, I'm fine. 01:38 Good, good, good. I'm glad to be here. 01:39 I'm glad that you're here. 01:41 So I anticipate that this is going to be 01:43 a very, very, good interview, and the reason why is because 01:47 I can already sense that you have a similar personality 01:49 like me, so please don't hold back. 01:52 Now here's what I'd like to do is I'll like us to start off, 01:54 just give us a little bit about where you're from. 01:56 Tell us where you're from? Where you grew up? 01:58 I was born in a city called Armenia in Colombia, 02:02 South America, and I grew up in a... 02:05 Grew up there, poor family. 02:11 I decided to abort, 02:13 because I was tired of that kind of life 02:15 and we moved back here to United States. 02:19 Oh, wow. I remember 1998. 02:22 I know a lot about what was going on in 1998. 02:25 And so you said you moved back to the United States. 02:28 So you lived here before moving to, you were born... 02:32 No, I'm sorry, I moved to the United States. 02:33 Okay. So you moved to... 02:35 How old were you when that happened? 02:36 I was 19 years old. 02:37 Nineteen years, so you had... 02:39 Still young. Yeah. 02:40 Oh, yeah, definitely I can... Don't you... 02:42 No, no, no, I got you. 02:43 So, you were living in Colombia until you were 19 years of age. 02:46 Right. 02:47 Now already there's a set of presuppositions 02:50 that are just swirling through my head 02:52 about growing up in Colombia of all places. 02:55 And then for me growing up in the early 80's 02:58 where the drug trafficking was just heavy, 03:01 America was being flooded with cocaine and marijuana, 03:05 and things of the like, 03:06 and the major contributor to that was South America, 03:09 and a little country called Colombia. 03:13 And so I would suspect that growing up from a child 03:16 or being born and then growing up 03:18 for 19 years in Colombia, you've seen a few things? 03:23 Well, you know, that's... 03:25 I learned that when I was here in the United States. 03:27 You couldn't believe me, when I was in Colombia 03:29 I didn't see drugs there. 03:30 Wow. I didn't see anything. 03:32 Maybe my relationship with people over there 03:35 were different, I was going to school, 03:36 I always loved to go to school, I love education. 03:39 Even though we were poor, my parents always 03:42 encouraged on to education. 03:45 But I never saw the drugs there, 03:47 I never knew anything about 03:50 drugs or cocaine there in Colombia. 03:52 Right. 03:53 And I learned those things 03:55 when I moved to the United States. 03:57 So you moved to the United States at 19 03:59 with no background, no knowledge, if you will, 04:02 no firsthand knowledge of drugs as would we, 04:06 those of us who are in America, we believe the mythology, 04:09 we believe the stereotypes, everybody's the little kids 04:12 and everybody's carrying machine guns 04:13 and have bells of coca leaves trying to sell them 04:16 but that wasn't your story. 04:17 That's not true. Okay. 04:19 And that's what they're trying to say 04:22 like whenever people ask me, "Where are you from?" 04:24 I said, "Colombia" And they wrinkles, 04:26 were like, "Wow. 04:27 You know, you Colombia, you're my friend." 04:29 And they try, you know, 04:30 they treat you really, really nice. 04:33 But that's not the true there that, you know, 04:35 my personal life that it didn't happen that way. 04:38 And it's a shame that, you know, 04:42 we have a bad reputation and, you know, all of us, 04:46 we went through the situation. 04:48 You know, my life it was kind of different life, 04:51 I mean, it was a different people 04:53 maybe there were people around me 04:54 that they were involved in drugs because... 04:56 But not you? 04:57 In Colombia is, if you are drug addict, 05:01 I mean, you know, you are now nobody. 05:03 But then I learned here in the United States, 05:05 you can be a lawyer, you can be a doctor, 05:07 you can be anybody. 05:08 Mercy, mercy, mercy. 05:10 They do drugs and it's fine. 05:12 Right. 05:14 You still should be the same person. 05:15 Recreational use, the way they call it. 05:17 And it's just fine. Okay. 05:20 But in Colombia, no, if you were an drug addict 05:22 and you don't. 05:24 I mean, you don't and that's basically. 05:26 So, Carlos, you get here, 05:27 you get to the United States, 19 years of age. 05:30 For all intents and purposes, 05:31 this is a new world, new society. 05:33 Tell me about your introduction into American society, 05:37 where did you move to? 05:39 We came to New York. Okay. 05:42 And I stayed there for a few months 05:44 because we have family here in the Maryland area. 05:47 And I like this area around here so I stayed here... 05:52 In the Maryland area. 05:53 Yeah, in the Maryland area. 05:55 I moved here and I since that 05:59 I have been here in Maryland 06:01 and that's when I start doing different things 06:05 that came from my country because I wanted like 06:08 everybody came from different countries I know... 06:12 We came for different... 06:14 We wanted to have a better education, 06:16 nice car, a nice house. 06:19 So the interesting thing is there was a stereotype 06:23 that those people in Colombia have of America. 06:27 That everybody, you know, go there, get the better job, 06:30 get the better car, get the house, 06:31 get the two-car garage but was that 06:33 what you experienced when you got here? 06:35 So walk us through 19 years of age, 06:37 you come from Colombia to New York, 06:41 stayed for a couple of months, moved to Maryland. 06:43 So you walk the straight line for the rest of your life 06:45 from that point on? 06:46 Right, you know, I saw my family 06:48 but all my family, my mother's family 06:50 they live here in the United States 06:51 for a while so we see pictures all the time. 06:53 I say, "Oh, man, that place looks like a heaven. 06:56 It looks beautiful." 06:58 You know, nice cars and everything, 07:00 even they sometimes is not their car, 07:03 they take the picture and say, "This is my car, you know." 07:06 And send it back home and you say, 07:07 "Wow, I wanted to have one of those." 07:08 Right, right. And that's how... 07:11 You know, I was so tired of that... 07:14 My father was a alcoholic, he was drinking all the time, 07:17 he was hitting my mother, and I don't want to be, 07:20 you know, I was tired of that. 07:22 So one time, one of my aunts that came to visit us 07:25 and she asked me, 07:26 "Do you want to go to the United States." 07:29 And I said, "I would love to get out of this." 07:31 'Cause I don't want to be, you know, 07:32 my father is like this, I don't want to live like this. 07:35 And bingo, I didn't crossed the border 07:39 or anything like that, I'm not whip back. 07:43 That's a blessing from God. 07:45 We came here, you know, legally, 07:47 we came with the green card, 07:49 I turn into a pink card now but it was fine, okay? 07:54 It was legal, you know, because Colombia will do 07:56 all their bad things out there. 07:59 And finally we get, we were here 08:01 and I moved to Maryland and I started doing, 08:05 I was young and I wanted a lot of stuff. 08:09 So, you know, it's like when you walk, I play soccer... 08:11 Do you play soccer? No, I don't. 08:13 No? I'm sorry. 08:15 You're missing something good. 08:16 And, you know, walk into sports authority 08:20 and see a soccer shoes that you never had in your life, 08:22 I was like, "Whoa! 08:24 Wow! I want this." Right. 08:25 A nice soccer ball. Right. 08:27 'Cause we would play with just paper balls 08:29 that we create ourselves and now I can see 08:31 all these beautiful things here and I want it all. 08:35 And this country can give you so much good things 08:38 and bad things, you know. 08:39 So you come to the States, you moved to Maryland, 08:43 and you're enamored with all of the good things 08:46 that you see, and you set out trying to get those things. 08:51 So what did you do to try and get the nice soccer shoes 08:53 and soccer balls? 08:54 Well, let's start go all out, because, you know, 08:57 coming to this country and be in a different culture 09:03 is like you are lack there, you wanted to learn new culture 09:06 and I start going out a lot. 09:08 I started going to discotheques a lot, 09:11 that was my kind of life that I started getting, 09:14 I have nothing else. 09:16 I play soccer in Colombia for second division 09:18 that was, you know, I wanted to be a soccer, 09:20 professional soccer player. 09:22 But here I started going a lot to, 09:24 I was playing but soccer was not a big thing 09:27 back in those years. 09:30 I started going out a lot. 09:32 Going to discotheques and then meeting people 09:35 and that was part of my life. 09:36 Dancing and drinking when, you know, 09:38 I hate when my father was drinking 09:40 and I that was starting being part of my life. 09:42 So my life started changing drastically 09:44 because now I have a car, now I can go out, 09:47 I have money in the pocket, 09:48 my mother cannot tell me what to do 09:50 because I'm working now, 09:52 I got money in my pocket and I just took a car and go. 09:55 So you end up going out, you meet some new people, 09:59 some new friends 10:00 and they begin to introduce you to some things. 10:03 Tell us about your introduction to things 10:05 that you never saw growing up in Colombia 10:08 that you get here to United States 10:09 and you become acquainted with? 10:11 I can see your eyes there, yes, what do you want me to? 10:12 You know, I want it, I want it, give it to me, give it to me. 10:15 And, yeah, that's when I started meeting people 10:17 and I remember, I recall one time 10:19 a guy asked me if I wanted to... 10:23 In Colombia, we would call it something perico, 10:26 that's cocaine in Colombia. 10:27 But also it's a nice little cup of coffee. 10:30 Really. 10:32 And, he asked me out 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning 10:35 if I want some perico. 10:37 And I said, "Okay, yeah, that's fine." 10:39 But he was asking me in the bathroom. 10:40 Right. 10:42 And that's where he pulled these white bags 10:44 and stuff like that. 10:46 And I did it for the first time and I started meeting people, 10:53 I'm going in personal 10:55 and I start meeting a lot of people. 10:57 Everybody for me is my friend. 11:00 And they were using in the wrong way. 11:02 Mercy. 11:03 And I start, you know, people 11:06 I was very straight in my things, 11:09 so people just start trusting unto me 11:11 and they started introducing me to these business. 11:13 And they told me how to do it. 11:16 So the business. Let's be clear. 11:18 So you go from... 11:20 Your first introduction to cocaine was as a user? 11:23 Just a taster. 11:24 Just a taster. Okay. Yeah. 11:26 So you had your first taste of... 11:27 I was scared, believe me. I believe. 11:30 And so you have your first taste of cocaine, 11:32 and now you find that you are being introduced 11:35 to cocaine as a commodity 11:37 to buy and to sell, is that what I'm hearing? 11:39 Right. 11:40 Right, and so walk us from that point, 11:42 when now it's no longer a recreational, 11:45 I'm out with my friends having a good time, 11:47 take a bump or two because I know a little bit about that. 11:50 You know, you find yourself in some situations. 11:53 I remember, and it was just the wildest thing for me 11:56 the first time I ever actually did cocaine. 11:58 I grew up with a mom and a dad 12:01 who have both succumbed to crack addictions. 12:03 And so for me cocaine was the absolute enemy 12:05 in the form, in the rocked up form. 12:08 So one day I was out at a club with a big, 12:12 a well-known at the time, very big pop artist. 12:16 He was a member of a boy band 12:19 and it was the biggest boy band in the country at the time. 12:23 And I had been introduced to him by some other people 12:26 and he said to me, "If I'm going to trust you, 12:28 you've got to get down." 12:30 And I'm thinking, "You know, no, 12:32 I don't really want to but you know why not." 12:35 So we find ourselves similar to you in the bathroom 12:38 passing under the stall to one another, 12:41 and that was the first time I'd ever done cocaine 12:44 and I just figured, "Wow. 12:45 I never thought I'd be here." 12:46 But because you get in the wrong situation 12:49 at the wrong time with the wrong people, 12:51 you find yourself doing things you never thought you'd do. 12:55 And so it seems that that was the situation for you. 12:57 You get introduced recreationally 12:59 and now you've been introduced to the business 13:01 or to the trafficking side. 13:03 Tell us a little bit about that? 13:06 I was seeing people making some money of that 13:08 and I don't want to be part of that 13:10 but because they were my friends, 13:12 I was in the group and I can see it. 13:13 This is what every, you know, this was Fridays nights, 13:16 Saturdays night, Mondays night, Wednesdays night, 13:19 Thursdays night, every single day. 13:22 You know, I start getting curious about it 13:26 and I say, "Well, how you do these things?" 13:29 And then they start telling me how to do it. 13:31 You know, we carried the drugs with us into the discotheques. 13:36 Our bartenders, they were our friends, 13:38 they were the ones who were selling inside the drug, 13:41 inside the discotheque. 13:43 And I've become very popular within the people really quick. 13:47 Especially with the ladies. Absolutely. 13:48 I know my wife is here in the audience 13:50 but she knows all these. 13:52 But she knows you have a past? Yes, she knows that. 13:54 And if I have time we can tell you 13:56 a little bit about that. 13:58 And we start very quick, very fast, 14:03 I stuck it in the business 14:04 and I didn't want to work anymore 14:07 'cause I was having money and I get at them, 14:10 but the funny thing is the money 14:11 was going very fast too. 14:13 And we started getting cocaine from New York 14:18 and we would bring to here to this area 14:21 and we basically distribute all that in this area 14:26 and I did that for probably 13-14 years. 14:32 So for 13-14 years. 14:34 I got to paint this picture because this is remarkable, 14:37 that you grow up for 19 years in Colombia, 14:40 you never see cocaine, you never experienced cocaine, 14:43 no one around you is touching cocaine 14:45 that you know of. 14:46 You get to the States and within what? 14:49 A year, six months maybe of your being here? 14:52 Probably two years. 14:53 Two years, within two years time, 14:55 you now find yourself in a business 14:58 that your primary product is cocaine. 15:01 How ironic is that? 15:03 That is just almost unbelievable. 15:05 I don't think we could have written a better script. 15:07 And then you, what you do is you begin trafficking cocaine 15:11 for the better part of a decade. 15:15 I just, I mean, 15:19 you sometimes hear stories that are so remarkable 15:22 as to be almost unbelievable. 15:23 Unbelievable. 15:24 So tell me how did, where did, 15:28 when did you begin to see that 15:32 you needed to disconnect yourself? 15:33 And I'm assuming because I've learned that 15:36 there are only two things that await a drug trafficker 15:39 and that's jail or death. 15:42 So obviously, you didn't die. 15:47 Yeah, I'm here. 15:49 Yes, yes, yes, yes. 15:50 So tell us, I mean, and again it is a foregone conclusion, 15:54 there has to have been some drug, I mean, 15:56 some jail time attached to a 13 year run 15:59 in the cocaine industry. 16:01 Tell us what landed you in jail? 16:04 You know, you'd think that when you're a drug dealer, 16:10 you are a smart person, you know what are you doing, 16:13 and I thought I was that kind of person. 16:15 You know, I was very careful. 16:16 I can smell undercover police, and I was very careful. 16:22 But I got crazy, you know, I was not selling, 16:25 I was just using it too. 16:27 I got in bad relationship with ladies 16:31 and I was in mess well after that, you know, 16:34 because that's no life, there's no happiness there. 16:38 Right. 16:39 Is an empty life. Right. 16:41 And I was keep doing that but I got, 16:43 my life was out of the control. 16:44 Okay. 16:46 And you don't think anymore. No. 16:47 And one undercover police came to my life. 16:52 And I sold drugs to him twice in Virginia. 16:58 If you're going to do 16:59 something wrong, never do it in Virginia. 17:01 Do not do it in Virginia. Zero tolerance. 17:02 Zero tolerance, firsthand experience. 17:04 I learned down horribly. 17:07 And that's how they, you know, they stop... 17:11 So, Carlos, real quick. 17:12 You said this undercover came into your life. 17:15 Now, the way you articulated that, 17:17 the way you worded that is very interesting to me. 17:20 Was this someone that started that made their way 17:23 into your inner circle, I mean, 17:25 how did this person come into your life? 17:29 But some of my other friends that they got in trouble, 17:31 they got caught by police and kind, they were released. 17:34 So when somebody is released, they say, "Okay, wow." 17:37 Be careful with this guy, he's a snitch. 17:39 Right, right, right, right. 17:40 So they come to me and they say, 17:42 "Carlos, you are on the list." 17:43 I say, "How do you know I'm on the list?" 17:45 They say, "Your name is on the list." 17:46 They say, "Because, you know..." 17:48 And believe me I was a very angry person. 17:51 I was not nice. Okay. 17:53 I can fight with anybody anytime 17:55 and I was very mad about it and... 18:00 Your name was on the list of known drug traffickers 18:02 or of snitches? 18:03 No, the drug trafficker. Okay. 18:05 They have a list of group people that they knew 18:08 they were dealing drugs in a big quantities in the area. 18:12 And my name was there according to these guys. 18:16 When you say big quantities... 18:17 I'm sorry, I mean, because for those viewing, I mean, 18:20 to them someone who's never interacted with cocaine, 18:22 a big quantity could be an ounce or two. 18:27 No, we have a three keys, two, keys, 18:32 we would handle more than that. 18:34 That's one of the things, when I was selling 18:35 to these undercover police on one count, 18:40 he asked me, "Can you give me more?" 18:41 And, you know, sometimes we talk too much, 18:44 that get you in trouble. 18:45 And I say, "Yes, I can get you whatever you want." 18:48 So he got me and, you know, and the thing is that 18:51 this undercover police was patrol group. 18:54 He was drinking with us, he was coming now, 18:56 he was like a friend. 18:58 We took him to the apartment, we took him to all the parties 19:02 that we have after we were, you know, 19:05 when they close the clubs, he was there, 19:07 he was doing drugs with us. 19:09 So I never thought this guy was gonna do. 19:11 He was in the court police. 19:12 So bottom line is, he was the undercover police. 19:15 You got caught. 19:19 How much time did you do in jail? 19:21 Well, I traveled back to Colombia. 19:24 Okay. 19:25 Because I had a bad relationship with a lady 19:27 and I was really broke down, it was really bad. 19:31 And I went to Colombia to cool things down 19:33 and everything and come back. 19:35 For my surprise, when I was coming back 19:36 after two months, I got arrested in Miami. 19:41 But when I was working in and showing my green card 19:44 and everything, they brought two police. 19:46 One of the two police and they say, 19:48 "You are arrested." 19:49 Because I was in their screen, they were looking for me. 19:52 So they knew that I left the country 19:56 and they already had those two counts of drugs 19:59 that I sold to the undercover police 20:01 that they were looking for me. 20:03 I mean, they were trying to find me 20:05 or got me with more drugs. 20:06 Of course. Because now... 20:07 Because they were trying to set me out for more. 20:09 The stereotype. 20:11 He's gone to Colombia, 20:12 he must be coming back with more drugs. 20:13 Actually, at one time I was so drunk, 20:16 I wasn't drugged so much there that I said, thank God, 20:18 it was like that because I had a meeting 20:22 with these undercover police to bring more drugs 20:24 that were going to be two keys. 20:26 And believe me, 20:30 if I would have sold these two keys of drugs 20:33 to this police guy, I think I wouldn't be here. 20:36 Right, and so you again, you get taken into custody. 20:39 How long are you in jail? How long of the time you do? 20:43 They gave me a 25 year sentence. 20:45 Twenty-five years. 20:47 But thank God, I did only three years. 20:49 So on 25 you get three, now that is incredible. 20:52 In California you get what's called a county lead, 20:56 which is you have to do 70% of whatever time 20:58 you're hit with. 21:00 And so God was obviously on your side in that 25 years, 21:03 you only got three. 21:04 The thing I say, we have to explain is fair on, 21:07 if fair on same things you had to do the whole year, 21:10 if you get sentence by the fair on, you have to. 21:12 If you've got 10 years, you got to do the whole thing. 21:14 Yeah, yeah, but mine was in States. 21:17 So in the States it's kind of different 21:18 'cause you just partial, you do partial sentence, 21:22 you become... 21:24 The English that I'm speaking right now, 21:26 I learned it while I was in prison. 21:27 Mercy, mercy. So now three years in jail? 21:31 Three years in jail, now I want to know, 21:33 had you encountered Christ before going to jail 21:35 or was it in jail that you encountered Christ? 21:37 Tell me just real quick? 21:39 This is something that going to impact a lot of people. 21:43 I was raised as a Seventh-day Adventist. 21:45 Mercy. 21:47 Every Saturday night, every Saturday 21:49 I was in the church. 21:51 Every Saturday. 21:53 Every Saturday in church, 21:54 and where were you every Saturday night? 21:55 I was in the club 21:57 and I saw some of the young guys, 21:59 they were going to church and the club. 22:01 And I say, "What are you doing here? 22:02 They say, "What are you doing here? 22:04 Right, right, right. 22:06 We're not preaching, right? 22:08 We're not doing evangelistic meetings here. 22:14 You know, I was new, I wouldn't know about tithes, 22:16 I was not a part of, but I was going 22:18 because it was a custom on my family going to church 22:20 every Sunday but I had no relationship with God. 22:23 I didn't know what God was, I didn't know if God is real. 22:25 I didn't know, God can help me in things. 22:28 I don't know God, I really can trust Him 22:30 and I didn't have that relationship 22:32 because I was on the other side. 22:36 That was my life. I was going there... 22:39 So let me just jumpstart you a little bit here, 22:42 in that grow up, grew up your whole life in the church, 22:47 Saturday mornings you're in the church 22:49 and Saturday nights you're in the club, 22:51 you coming back from Columbia, get not, 22:53 you get sent to prison 25 years is the maximum sentence 22:58 you're serving three years already with 23:01 a cursory knowledge, if you will of Jesus Christ. 23:04 And an extended church family who should know about you 23:08 but for three years did you ever get a visit? 23:11 I never get a visit when I was in prison. 23:14 I never saw any Seventh-day Adventist person 23:17 come to see me. 23:19 I request the pastors to come and visit me, 23:20 they never visit me. 23:24 Besides my family, nobody else, even then I requested 23:27 there were people about this church, 23:30 there were Pentecostals, 23:31 there were from different denominations. 23:33 But I was always asking myself, 23:35 why is Seventh-day Adventist doesn't come to see me? 23:37 Why do you think they didn't come to see you? 23:39 I think because they are too busy 23:41 keeping the Sabbath. 23:43 Mercy, mercy, mercy. 23:45 So how did that... 23:48 And I want to know and that is exactly 23:50 the hitting the head, the nail, excuse me, on the head. 23:55 How did that make you feel? 23:58 Made me feel that 24:01 God has a plan for everybody here in this. 24:04 And the reason that He called me 24:06 and the reason He brought me to this church 24:10 is to make a difference. 24:12 Mercy. 24:13 And that's what I've been doing it 24:14 in the past years. 24:16 When I was in prison, you know, I knew that I was in trouble, 24:20 and I knew that the only person who could help me was God. 24:24 The first night, I was taken to shower 24:26 and I was dressing myself with the clothes 24:28 that they give you there 24:30 because I have pastors came to visit me. 24:32 I have many people that wanted me to change 24:35 and I didn't change. 24:38 The only one I knew, I realized 24:40 the only one can change me was Jesus Christ. 24:43 Mercy. 24:44 He started working in my life while I was there 24:47 because I start reading the Bible, 24:48 I start getting to the Bible and I say, "I need you." 24:52 And I start going to every single person 24:56 that were talking about religion, I was there. 24:58 I was the first one but, you know, 25:01 when I was released, 25:02 and none of them I know were there. 25:04 When I was released, immigration came to pick me up. 25:08 They wanted to send me back to Colombia. 25:10 You know, that was a whole new story 25:12 because when you come to immigration, 25:15 you know, they are powerful, you know, very powerful, 25:17 but back those days they were different. 25:19 What I want to do now is I wanna talk about, 25:21 so you get out, you have the realization 25:23 that nobody from the Adventist church 25:24 is going to visiting you, and so when you get out, 25:28 and you get yourself on your feet, 25:30 what are you now doing? 25:33 But before I answer that, 25:35 I want to tell you something, Pastor. 25:37 It's very hard, very difficult to be in a prison, 25:40 I was only for three years and come out from prison 25:43 and be part of the society is like a friend saw me 25:46 one night and say, "Carlos, when do you get out?" 25:48 I was at shame. 25:51 I said, oh, everybody knows I went to prison. 25:54 And it's not easy, and I start doing drugs, 25:58 I start doing drugs more and more because I was empty. 26:01 I was very empty. 26:03 I failed my family, I failed myself, 26:06 I didn't know what to do, I couldn't hold any job 26:09 and I start hiding in drugs. 26:11 I was not selling now, I was using, 26:13 I was a drug addict. 26:15 I've given my watch, I give everything, 26:18 I spent three four days shooting drugs, 26:20 I wanted to kill myself. 26:22 One time I asked God and say, "If I'm not worth it, 26:23 why you didn't take my life away." 26:25 And I'm glad that God didn't do it. 26:28 And one time my mother invited me to, 26:30 that's why we never get, 26:32 we never have to get tired inviting people to church. 26:35 My mother invited me to an evangelistic meetings 26:38 and that was a little guy I call him, "Little guy." 26:40 He was a pastor, bigger than you, 26:42 taller than you. 26:44 That's not hard. 26:47 He was from Mexico and I said, 26:49 "This person is not going to change me." 26:51 And I sit down there but then that night, 26:54 the Holy Spirit touched my heart. 26:56 I was crying, I was there in my knees and I said, 26:59 "God, I went to prison. 27:01 I almost died. 27:02 What else is going to happen to me?" 27:05 He came into my heart and he changed me. 27:08 From that day and on, 27:10 I'm not the same person anymore. 27:12 I have never touched drugs in my life. 27:14 I never went out to a discotheques, 27:16 I never, you know. 27:18 I have been married for 10 years. 27:20 Mercy, come on. 27:21 My wife is the one who came to my life 27:23 is a gift for me. 27:24 Now I have a beautiful son, he's six years old, 27:28 I have a reason to live 27:30 and to share the older people there is hope. 27:33 That really God works through you, 27:35 that God can change you. 27:37 I mean, I was, he's like he started putting 27:39 the pieces together. 27:41 And, you know, when my family used to tell me, 27:44 "You know, you're not worth it for nothing." 27:46 Just real quick though because we're running out of time. 27:51 And now you're working as a lay pastor? 27:54 I am, yes. 27:55 In the Maryland area? Yes. 27:58 And preaching hope. Yes. 28:01 That's what's phenomenon, 28:04 that's what I really wanted to get to 28:06 because there are people out there 28:07 who are probably thinking after jail, 28:10 there is nothing but drugs, 28:11 and they find themselves turning to drugs 28:14 and they find themselves turning to the old lifestyle. 28:16 And unfortunately, very few of them 28:19 get to experience what you have experienced. 28:21 But I believe that someone who's watching now, 28:23 who has heard your story, who has heard you talk about 28:26 the hope that you found that turned you from dope 28:29 and turned you to Jesus can glean from your story 28:33 that there is a God who can reach you 28:35 when you're at your lowest point 28:36 and take you to places that you never imagine. 28:39 And not only take you to places you never imagined, 28:42 give you a nice companion on the way, 28:44 and give you a child, and give you love 28:47 and give you mercy and compassion. 28:48 And I think that that's what this show is about. 28:50 This show, Carlos, and your life story 28:53 has taught us about a New Journey. |
Revised 2017-10-16