Participants: Pr. Marquis Johns (Host), Daniel McManus
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000032
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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. 00:15 I'm your host Pastor Marquis Johns. 00:17 Join us on The New Journey. 00:55 The Bible has a number of interesting stories, 00:58 none more so than the story of Daniel. 01:00 Daniel who spent a night in the den of lions 01:04 only to be rescued from that den of lions 01:06 and exalted to a high place in government. 01:09 Well, on today's program we have one such a Daniel, 01:12 one who has been in the proverbial lion's den 01:15 and who is now in an administrative capacity 01:18 helping others who are in a situation 01:20 he once found himself in. 01:22 Daniel, thank you for being with us on this new journey. 01:23 Thank you. 01:25 Well, we'd like to get into your story 01:26 by first finding out, tell us where you're from? 01:29 Where you grew up and about your early family life? 01:32 Well, I was born in Winston-Salem 01:33 in North Carolina. 01:35 The youngest of three children, two sisters, 01:40 but I was, I was actually born as a twin 01:44 but my twin brother died when we were two months old. 01:47 My mother died when I was less than two years old. 01:50 My father was an alcoholic, a bum actually, 01:54 he traveled the rails. 01:56 He came home periodically but very rarely. 02:01 So I was raised by my grandmother 02:04 and her alcoholic husband and she died when I was 13. 02:09 Mercy. 02:11 And so from there, 02:12 my sisters and I practically raised ourselves. 02:16 So we got into all kinds of trouble, 02:17 of course, but I actually ran with the gang of that day, 02:22 they called 'The Red Bandanas' in Winston-Salem, 02:25 North Carolina. 02:27 But my grandfather decided that I was just incorrigible. 02:32 So he started giving me alcohol 02:35 more and more, and he would beat us unmercifully 02:38 when he would come home. 02:40 And my grandmother 02:42 had made arrangements with her best friend 02:45 that if she died that she would marry my grandfather 02:49 who was my grandfather by marriage only. 02:51 Wow! 02:53 And so they didn't get along very well. 02:56 So it was inevitable 02:58 that I would hang out with the wrong crowd 03:01 and wouldn't go to school. 03:05 I was an 'A' student in an elementary school. 03:07 By the time I got to high school, 03:09 didn't want to go to school. 03:10 Eventually I got expelled from high school 03:14 and decided that, that was okay. 03:17 And I had a police record by then, 03:20 but then after I became a ward of the state 03:24 because I was just incorrigible. 03:26 Wow! 03:27 And I asked my grandfather one day, 03:30 I said, "You know, I want to do something with my life. 03:34 I'm tired of this." 03:35 And my grandfather said "Okay, 03:37 I'll sign you up to go into the military." 03:40 Fine, I was 16, ready to go. 03:44 Wrong move because I got in the Navy 03:47 and right at the Vietnam time, 03:50 I got out of boot camp, went to Vietnam 03:52 started using drugs drinking alcohol 03:55 while I was in the military. 03:57 And when I got out, I was 21 when I got out, 04:02 and my friends had all talked about Philadelphia so much 04:07 that I decided I just had to go to see Philadelphia. 04:10 So I want to, I want to break in here. 04:13 This story is quickly getting very interesting 04:17 because it seems as though all of the people who would, 04:22 should have loved you have died. 04:25 Right. 04:26 And so that leaves you as, 04:28 you said your grandmother finally passed out 04:30 when you're 13. 04:31 Thirteen. 04:32 And how old was your sister, your older sister was how old? 04:34 My older sister at that time was 17. 04:37 So 17 years of age. Your middle sister is? 04:40 She was 15. 15. 04:43 17, 15 and 13 04:45 and you are for the most part raising yourselves, 04:48 trying to do the best that you possibly can 04:50 to become productive members of society, 04:52 but nonetheless you have a grandfather 04:56 who deans you worthy of alcohol 04:59 and he starts pumping alcohol into you. 05:01 And so you are, you... 05:04 I mean this makes for an interesting story 05:08 on a number of fronts, but most more specifically 05:10 because it doesn't seem like you had any real guidance. 05:16 I did. 05:17 And not having guidance, I mean the reality is 05:21 if we would let that analogy play out. 05:23 If you don't have guidance, you get off the pathway. 05:25 Right. 05:26 And so you found yourself in the military at 16. 05:29 You go over to Vietnam now, 05:31 at that point in the early '60s, 05:33 you know, psychedelic drug use is on the rise, 05:35 everybody is doing it, everybody is trying it, 05:37 but that is tempered with you being in Vietnam, 05:41 did you see active duty? 05:42 Were you out on in the battle, on the battlefield? 05:46 Actually on the ship and on the land 05:49 because I was part of the search 05:50 and rescue operation. 05:53 If someone got bogged down in a firefight, 05:56 then we had to go in and get them out of that. 06:00 So tell us about a 16 year old boy in the Navy 06:03 because I mean at this stage in your life 06:05 that the reality is 16 years old, 06:08 that's still a child, that's still a boy. 06:10 Tell us about the 16 year old boy 06:12 who's now in Vietnam seeing people die, 06:15 being around death 06:17 whether on the boat or in the field, 06:20 death is surrounding you and it seems like and I hate, 06:23 I don't mean to sound so gloom, 06:27 but death seems to be everywhere you are. 06:31 And it didn't faze me. 06:34 So it was just one of those things. 06:37 After a while it became part of me. 06:40 Just to be around that. Yes. 06:42 So how long do you serve in the military? 06:44 For three years. Three years. 06:46 I was what you would call a Kiddy Cruiser. 06:48 Okay. Well, explain that to us and the viewer. 06:49 That's the person that goes in just shy of the 17th birthday 06:53 and they get out at 21. 06:54 Okay. 06:56 So you're 21, you're released and I'm sure you have some, 06:59 you've been around the world now. 07:02 You know and so you come back to Philadelphia? 07:05 I actually went back to Winston-Salem, 07:06 North Carolina first. 07:08 Okay. 07:09 Because I got married 07:11 and that was an interesting story there. 07:12 I got married to the Seventh-day Adventist. 07:14 Oh! But I wasn't the Seventh-day Adventist. 07:15 Okay, okay. 07:17 But she told me if I want to marry her, 07:18 I had to become a Seventh-day Adventist. 07:20 So I got married one month, 07:23 went into the military the next month. 07:24 Okay. 07:26 And my son was born the next month. 07:27 Oh, wow. 07:28 So... 07:30 So you come back to your wife and child. 07:31 Right. 07:33 In Winston-Salem, 07:34 all your friends are talking about 07:35 this wonderful city called Philadelphia. 07:37 Yes. 07:38 And so what do you and the family do? 07:40 Well, actually I decided 07:43 that I was going to move to Chester, Pennsylvania. 07:48 And so I could be close to Philadelphia. 07:50 So I could go over any time I got ready 07:52 and I was going to send for my wife later 07:56 and then from my wife and I didn't see out 07:59 for whatever reason. 08:01 But, so I was in Philadelphia for a while, 08:04 in Chester for a while, 08:06 and when my wife and I decided to pull it up, 08:09 by this time I had three children. 08:11 But by the time that we decided to split up, 08:14 I was working every night for Scott Paper Company, 08:20 but then I actually had a breakdown 08:24 because of the drugs that I'd gotten into. 08:27 And... 08:28 So the drug habit follows you back from Vietnam? 08:30 It did. It did. 08:32 And this probably or most likely affected 08:34 the relationship between you and your wife? 08:36 Oh, I'm sure it did. Okay. 08:38 And so the drugs, 08:39 the drug habit has kept up with you, 08:41 it's still on your back and so you get to Chester, 08:44 Pennsylvania. Yeah. 08:45 And so pick up, pick up the story from there? 08:48 Well, after she decided 08:51 that she didn't want to move to Pennsylvania, 08:54 then I started experimenting with other drugs. 08:58 And one morning, I actually woke up in New York City 09:03 and my sister, my older sister lived in New York, 09:06 but I woke up in New York City 09:07 and had no idea how I got there. 09:09 And you were at that time living in Chester, 09:11 Pennsylvania? 09:12 I was living in Chester, Pennsylvania. 09:13 And just, do you remember what happened the night before? 09:16 I have no idea. 09:17 So you just wake up one morning in New York City? 09:20 In New York City and the strange how, 09:23 I have no idea how I got there. 09:24 Okay, okay. 09:26 And so, you know, of course, I called my sister 09:30 and said "Okay, I need to get back to Pennsylvania." 09:33 And I had no money and my sister said, 09:35 "Okay, I'll give you to get back to Pennsylvania. 09:38 And so I went back to Pennsylvania, 09:41 but by this time I'd been in New York too long, 09:43 I'd been in New York three days 09:45 and didn't even know I was there. 09:46 Wow! 09:48 So I lost my job 09:49 and so I just turned to drugs completely. 09:54 My cousin Kenny who is dead now moved up to Pennsylvania. 10:00 He had a girlfriend in Philadelphia, 10:02 we moved to Philadelphia 10:04 and we became terrorizers of Philadelphia. 10:11 My cousin and I, we were just, 10:15 we would open the bar in the morning 10:16 and close the bar at night. 10:18 And not because you were working there? 10:19 I wasn't working. 10:21 Yeah, you were just there first thing in the morning? 10:22 I didn't work anywhere. 10:24 My cousin didn't work anywhere. 10:26 In fact, I hate to say it now but we were getting welfare. 10:29 Wow! 10:31 Pennsylvania welfare and using it on drugs and alcohol, 10:34 above we were also robbing people 10:37 and robbing banks and whatnot. 10:38 There it goes right there. 10:39 So the kid 10:43 who grows up where mom dies, grandma dies, 10:48 everybody around him seems to die 10:50 who goes into the Navy, 10:53 just becomes desensitized, 10:55 completely desensitized to death, 10:57 gets out of the Armed Forces, 11:00 one failed marriage at 21, 22 years of age, 11:03 move up to Chester, Pennsylvania. 11:05 This drug habit that you started in Vietnam 11:10 follows you back to Winston-Salem, 11:12 follows you up to Chester, Pennsylvania. 11:15 You wake up after a three day binge obviously, 11:18 not even knowing where you are, but you're in New York City. 11:22 And so then the game is a foot, you bring your cousin out, 11:25 you guys just began as you said to open and close bars 11:28 and not because you were working there. 11:31 And there has to come a point where with this drug habit, 11:36 you have to support it 11:38 because a drug habit can grow beyond 11:41 what the means of welfare can provide and take care of. 11:44 So what are you doing to meet your ever growing drug needs? 11:49 Well, at that point I decided to start selling drugs. 11:52 And it was easy to supply my own habit then, 11:57 but after a while that got the best of me. 12:00 And so I had to go back to the situation 12:04 that I knew best that I had to steal and rob 12:09 in order to keep up the habit. 12:11 Now you said you robbed in stores, 12:13 but I heard you also mentioned robbing bank. 12:17 Yes. 12:18 Oh, talk to me about... 12:20 Now how old were you at this point? 12:21 I'll be 66 in about 10 days. 12:23 How old were you when you begin robbing stores 12:26 and this drug habit? 12:27 How old were you at this point? I was about 23, 24. 12:30 So 23 years old. 12:31 You and your cousin are going to start robbing banks. 12:36 Do you ever rob a bank? 12:39 We robbed one bank. 12:41 Okay, and what happened in that incident? 12:44 Well, the stats of limitations ran out a long time ago, 12:47 then we got caught. 12:48 Yeah, yeah, okay. 12:50 So I'm sure that this type of drug habit, 12:55 this type of lifestyle is going to lead 12:58 where most drug habits lead, either to death or in prison. 13:03 You're still here. 13:05 So I'm assuming at some point 13:07 you had a run in with the authority 13:09 or maybe you've been having continual, 13:11 at this point continual run, run-ins with the authorities. 13:14 Tell us about, a little bit about? 13:15 I had continuous run-in with the authorities. 13:17 Frank Rizzo was the... 13:19 Wow! 13:20 Was the police commissioner at that time. 13:23 And so we had plenty of run-ins with him. 13:28 So I was in and out of jail. 13:31 And then one day I got really high 13:35 and full alcohol and to this day 13:40 I don't know what happened, 13:41 but I end up taking a life, I beat a person to death. 13:47 My baby sister came up from North Carolina 13:52 and tried to convince me that I hadn't done it. 13:56 And she almost had me convinced, 13:58 but then when my lawyer came and said 14:02 that I should plead not guilty 14:04 and he could probably get a deal for me. 14:06 I said "Okay, fine." 14:08 So I go back to the jail to await court. 14:13 While I'm there, 14:17 I run into this lady Alice A. Humph, 14:21 the mother of Auldwin Humphrey. 14:23 And for those who don't know, 14:24 Auldwin Humphrey is currently the vice president 14:31 of the South Central Conference 14:33 down in Tennessee, Alabama. 14:38 Yes. Yeah. 14:39 And so she's coming into the prison 14:42 and doing prison evangelism. 14:45 And she's bringing these young girls with her. 14:48 So I'm not interested in what she's talking about, 14:51 I want to see the young girls. 14:53 Right, right, right. So where were we? 14:54 You're already sentenced, you've been sentenced? 14:56 No. Okay. 14:57 So... I was awaiting. 14:59 Awaiting! I'm awaiting court. Okay, awaiting court. Okay. 15:01 And so as she's coming in. 15:03 She's just going to the chapel passing by the cell block area. 15:08 And so I'm standing on the gate 15:10 just looking at the women and one day... 15:14 Excuse me. 15:15 She came over to the gate which was against the rules. 15:18 She came over to the gate and she says to me, 15:21 you're not a criminal, you don't belong here. 15:24 And I'm saying to myself "Who's this lady, 15:27 this lady don't know me." 15:28 But she persisted and she said, 15:31 "I want you to come down to the chapel, 15:32 to the church service." 15:34 And I said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." 15:36 And so she walked away. 15:38 I go back to my cell and the officer, 15:43 the guard, they call him guards at that time, 15:45 the officer came and said, "I heard you tell a lady 15:47 that you was coming down to the church." 15:49 I said "Yeah, just get out of my face." 15:51 And he says "Well, you shouldn't do that." 15:53 And I said "Well, who are you telling me 15:55 I shouldn't do that?" 15:56 And he says "Well, I'm the same guy 16:00 that you're going to have to deal 16:02 with the rest of the night." 16:04 And I said "What does that mean?" 16:05 He says "I'm a Christian. 16:07 You've got to deal with me 16:08 because I'm going to talk to you about God 16:09 if you don't go down to that chapel." 16:11 And I said "I don't have to talk to you, 16:13 I don't have to talk to her." 16:14 I went back to my cell, slammed the door 16:17 and I laid on my bunk. 16:19 But then in Acts 12:7 hit me, 16:23 and a light shined in the prison. 16:25 And a light actually shown through that window, 16:28 that slit in that wall and I heard this voice said, 16:32 "Get up, go to the chapel." 16:34 I got up and I started looking around, 16:36 nobody else was there but me, but it has scared me to death. 16:40 I got up and I said, 16:42 "Well, I think I better go down to the chapel." 16:44 I went down to the chapel. 16:46 Now one thing when I was in a school 16:48 that I really loved was history. 16:51 So I go down to the chapel and what is Mom Humphrey, 16:54 I call her Mom Humphrey, she's deceased now. 16:57 But what is the one thing she's teaching Daniel 2, 17:00 grab it. 17:02 And I asked her at the end of that presentation 17:05 "Is any more of that stuff in that Bible?" 17:07 And she said "Yeah, whole lot, keep coming." 17:09 And so the next week she goes to Daniel 7, 17:12 so forth and so on. 17:14 So by this time, a little later on, 17:16 I'm really hooked on this stuff. 17:19 And she says, "Well, do you write poetry?" 17:22 I said "Yeah." "Will you write some poetry for us?" 17:24 "Sure I will." 17:25 Now what made her think that you did? 17:27 I don't know. 17:28 I can't tell you this. 17:30 So give us a snapshot if you will of, 17:33 how long is this, 17:35 from the day that you're detained 17:38 until you are now going to these Bible studies? 17:43 How long? How long? 17:45 This is about three months. 17:46 So you're still waiting to be sentenced? 17:48 To go to court. To go to court? 17:49 I hadn't even gone to court to make the plea deal. 17:52 Okay. 17:53 So by the time that I do get call for court 17:58 then I'm now Christian, not an Adventist, 18:00 but I'm a Christian. 18:02 And she's talking to me 18:04 more and more about as a Christian 18:07 I should do the right thing whatever that is. 18:11 I said, "Okay, does that mean I need to tell the truth 18:13 when I go to court? 18:14 She said "Yes." 18:16 I said, "But lady, you know how much time I'll get?" 18:18 And she says, "God can take care of it." 18:21 Then I said, "Okay, I'm going to trust you what you tell me." 18:24 So I go tell my lawyer, I said, 18:26 "Look, I'm not going to plead guilty... 18:28 I'm going to go plead not guilty anymore. 18:30 I'm going to plea guilty." 18:32 And my lawyer said "You lost your mind?" 18:33 I said "No, I'm going to plead guilty." 18:36 He says "All you got to do is going in a courtroom, 18:38 plead not guilty, one or two things will happen. 18:41 We'll get a good deal for you or the judge will throw it out 18:45 because there's no witness against you." 18:47 And I said, "No, no I'm going to plead guilty." 18:50 I did it. I'm going to plead guilty. 18:52 I go before the judge, I plead guilty. 18:54 The judge said, "Young man, 18:56 I don't know what's wrong with you." 18:58 He said, "If you were here to walk in this courtroom 18:59 plead not guilty, I would've thrown it out." 19:01 Mercy. 19:02 And so I said, "Well, Your Honor, I am guilty." 19:04 He said, "Why you're pleading guilty?" 19:06 I said, "I'm a Christian." 19:07 He said, "You're Christian now?" 19:09 I said, "Yes Sir, I'm a Christian." 19:11 And he says, "Okay, I accept your plea." 19:15 He said "I will sentence you in a few months." 19:18 So I go back to the prison 19:20 and I just study, study, study and decide 19:26 that I am going to do the right thing, 19:29 no matter what happens. 19:30 And I tell God, "I'm going to serve You in here 19:33 if I have to spend the rest of my life, 19:35 I'm gonna serve You." 19:36 So we have now, so there is this kid. 19:40 Everybody dies around, he goes into the Navy. 19:44 Gets out, failed marriage, three kids, 19:46 goes up to Philadelphia, 19:52 starts experimenting with drugs 19:53 to the extent that there is a drug habit 19:55 that you're now supporting by robbing people, banks, 19:59 so forth and so on. 20:00 One night, you don't know 20:02 because you've already experienced 20:03 a couple of blackouts 20:04 when you wake up in other cities, 20:06 one night and one of those blackouts 20:08 you beat someone literally to death, 20:12 go to jail, awaiting sentencing, 20:14 awaiting the opportunity to make even a plea, 20:17 three months God intervened, 20:19 intersects with your life at that moment, 20:20 you meet Sister Humphreys 20:23 and she begins teaching you Daniel and Revelation, 20:26 you go to court, the judge is saying to you, 20:29 "Man, I was going to throw this thing out. 20:33 I was going to throw it out, but you came in here. 20:36 I don't know what's gotten into? 20:37 You came in here, you pled guilty. 20:38 I was going to throw it out. 20:40 Go, go and I'll sentence you in a little while." 20:41 So take me back and I'm sure that once you go back, 20:45 you're studying, take me through the day you go back 20:47 in the sentence? 20:49 Well, when I go back for sentencing, 20:52 the judge tells me right off the bat, 20:54 he says "You know, 20:56 I'm going to sentence you to 12 to 25 years. 21:00 And I said, "Okay, that's fine." 21:01 And he looked at me, he said, "What do you mean that's fine?" 21:04 I said, "Because I told God that whatever He decides 21:07 that's what I'll do, and I'm okay with." 21:10 And the judge said, "Okay, fine. 21:12 Get him out. Get him out of my courtroom." 21:15 So I'm back in the prison waiting. 21:18 Did you ever regret that? No. 21:20 Never have. Never. Never have. 21:21 Even though you knew 21:23 that he was going to throw the case out. 21:24 You didn't get back to yourself. 21:25 Now come on, you could be honest. 21:27 I did not. 21:28 You didn't get back to yourself and say, "Oh, man, 21:29 what was I thinking? 21:31 I could have been out of here." 21:32 I did not. I could be back to the drugs. 21:33 I did not. I could be back to the women. 21:35 No. I could be back on the streets. 21:36 I was a Christian by then. Mercy. 21:38 I was a Christian. 21:39 I'm determined and I'm going to do what God wants me to do. 21:42 Right, right. 21:43 And I mean I had my whole life I know what I wanted to do. 21:48 Now I'm going to do what God wants. 21:49 And thus far how much time did you serve? 21:51 I served 10 months. 21:53 Ten months up to the point, 21:55 up to the day that you got sentenced, 21:56 you've served 10 months. 21:57 Yeah. 21:59 So then you go back to your cell, what happened? 22:00 And everybody's there ridiculing me 22:03 "Man, man, we heard what happened. 22:05 You should have went down there and told a lie." 22:08 And I said, "No, I can't do that." 22:11 And keep in mind, I had a reputation 22:14 that preceded me into the prison. 22:16 So the guys there decided, 22:19 "Now, okay, he's really a Christian. 22:21 We're going to make our reputation of him. 22:23 We're going to mess him up now." 22:25 And one guy stepped to me 22:27 and I didn't know what I was going to do. 22:30 I really had no idea. 22:32 But then another inmate in a vein that said, 22:36 "Man, you don't want to that." 22:37 He said "Look, he's a Christian now, 22:38 but I'm not." 22:40 Okay. 22:41 And so you bother him, you're bothering me. 22:43 Right. 22:44 And so God actually had somebody there to intervene. 22:48 Right. 22:49 But a month later the judge... 22:52 I'm ready to go to the big house 22:55 waiting to be transferred. 22:56 A month later, the judge, 22:58 well, the officer wakes me up and says, 23:03 "Judge wants to see you." 23:05 Okay. The same judge? 23:06 The same judge. What does the judge want? 23:08 You know, I don't know, but he wants to see me. 23:11 So I go back down to the court. 23:13 Judge James R. Cavanaugh, he's dead. 23:17 They'll forget him though. 23:18 He tells me in open courtroom, 23:21 he says, "Look, I had a dream. 23:27 And I was told that I'm to cut you loose. 23:29 Mercy. 23:30 So I'm going to vacate my sentence 23:33 as soon as you to time served. 23:35 So 11 months on a 12 year to 25 years 23:40 and you do 11 months? 23:41 Only 11. Because of a dream? 23:42 Because of dream. 23:44 So now I want a wonderful back story, 23:47 wonderful back story, 23:48 you get out become Seventh-day Adventist? 23:52 I get out. 23:54 Actually went to shacking up with a woman. 23:58 Okay. 23:59 And Mom Humphrey is now giving us Bible study. 24:04 And she doesn't say anything about the shacking up 24:07 or she's giving us Bible study as if we're husband and wife. 24:11 And she invites us to church, we go to church. 24:14 One Sabbath morning she calls me and says, 24:20 "Are you coming to church today?" 24:22 Yes, but the young lady I was living with, 24:25 she says "I don't feel well today." 24:27 Okay, so I said "Okay, I'm going to church now, 24:29 I'll be back." 24:30 I go to church, north Philadelphia church 24:33 and Al Cantrell Jr., he's dead now. 24:37 He was preaching that day. 24:38 And the title of his sermon 24:39 was shacking, hacking and breaking up. 24:41 Never forget it, never forget it. 24:43 When he finished that sermon, 24:44 I went home and started to pack. 24:45 Okay. 24:47 So eventually, the Lord leads you to the Adventist. 24:51 I want you to tell us about 24:52 because we're running out of time 24:54 and I really want to get in 24:55 when you get involved in prison ministry. 24:59 Now you've served in a number of capacities 25:00 in the Adventist Church, 25:02 but then you get to a point 25:03 where you're now serving in prison ministries. 25:05 I'll ask for the last 10-15 years 25:07 as quickly as you possibly can the track 25:10 that God has had you? 25:12 Well, I asked Mom Humphrey, 25:15 "Why didn't the Seventh-day Adventists 25:16 have an organized prison ministry?" 25:18 Because she was coming in with non-denominational group 25:21 and she says "I don't know, why don't you start one?" 25:24 And so I did, I started in Philadelphia, 25:26 organized the Philadelphia 25:28 Seventh-day Adventist prison ministry. 25:30 And ultimately the Allegheny East Conference, 25:32 Prison Ministry Federation, 25:34 and then ultimately the North American Divisions 25:38 Association of Adventists Prison Ministries 25:41 which ultimately became the alliance 25:43 of prison ministry organizations and affiliates, 25:45 an international organization made up of 25:47 Seventh-day Adventists Prison Ministry Organization. 25:50 So what does Daniel McManus do now a day? 25:53 These days I am the vice president 25:56 of that organization. 25:58 When it was with the North American Division, 26:00 I was the president for 10 years. 26:02 And I also served during that time period 26:05 for three of those years as a prison ministry trainer 26:08 and consultant for the North American Division. 26:11 And the day I work for the Salvation Army 26:15 as the director of their homeless ministry, 26:18 it's called the Director of Shelter Service, 26:21 but it's really a homeless ministry. 26:23 I'm also a volunteer chaplain 26:25 with the Virginia Correctional Center for Women. 26:27 So here God intersects 26:33 and preserves you 26:35 in the proverbial lion. 26:37 And you are there, it seems as we look from hindsight, 26:40 it seems like you were there specifically to meet Jesus. 26:45 Yes. 26:47 After meeting Jesus, 26:48 He now takes you out of the lions den 26:52 and he moves you, I mean He moves you 26:54 almost at records speeds to where now, 26:57 you are speaking all over the world, 26:59 you are training individuals on how to go into prisons, 27:03 on how to do prison ministries, you're not only national 27:08 but you're international. 27:09 And you're not only doing this 27:12 for the Seventh-day Adventist Organization, 27:14 you're also in administration at the Salvation Army? 27:18 Right. 27:22 Could you have when in Vietnam, 27:26 when in Philadelphia ever seen yourself here? 27:28 No, no. 27:31 Actually what happened, 27:32 I see it as the Lord restored the years 27:34 the locus of Vietnam as just as the Bible says. 27:37 And my favorite text is Psalms 40:1-3, 27:42 "I waited patiently for the Lord, 27:43 and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 27:45 He brought me up out of a horrible pit, 27:47 placed my feet on a rock and established my goals. 27:50 He had put a new song in my mouth, 27:52 even praised to our God." 27:53 So God has done some wonderful things. 27:58 And I want to just say thank you for being with us, 28:02 Elder McManus, this has been an incredible illustration 28:07 of what this show was all about, 28:09 The New Journey where God can take. 28:12 Even today, it wasn't just happening 28:14 in the Old Testament times, 28:16 it's happening even today 28:17 where he takes Daniel if you will, 28:20 from pits and from the den of lions 28:23 and moves them into a place 28:26 where they can do great things for Him 28:29 in places that they never saw themselves. 28:31 I want to thank you for being with us. 28:33 It has been a fantastic story. 28:35 It has been a fantastic journey 28:37 and we will continue to pray for you 28:39 as you continue on this segment of your new journey. 28:42 Brothers and sisters, if you're watching, 28:44 I'm sure that you've been blessed 28:45 in the same way we were blessed. 28:47 Thank you for joining us on The New Journey. 28:50 God bless you. |
Revised 2017-09-28