Stay tuned to meet a man whose life was radically changed 00:00:01.10\00:00:04.30 by the transforming power of God... 00:00:04.33\00:00:06.50 My name is Yvonne Lewis and you're watching Urban Report 00:00:06.53\00:00:10.24 Hello and welcome to Urban Report 00:00:32.56\00:00:35.53 My guest today is Jaime Espinal, I first heard about him 00:00:35.56\00:00:39.87 from Pastor C.A. Murray, he told me that Jaime's story 00:00:39.90\00:00:44.14 is incredible and I was fascinated when he shared 00:00:44.17\00:00:47.01 some of it with me... so I felt that I had to share it 00:00:47.04\00:00:50.81 with our Urban Report viewers. Welcome to Urban Report Jaime, 00:00:50.85\00:00:55.08 Thank you Yvonne... So glad to have you... 00:00:55.12\00:00:57.89 Very nice to be here... Thank you... OK so... 00:00:57.92\00:01:00.59 Pastor Murray just gave me a little bit of your testimony 00:01:00.62\00:01:04.63 but our viewers don't know anything about you 00:01:04.66\00:01:06.70 so tell us about you... tell us about your early years. 00:01:06.73\00:01:10.40 OK... I'm originally from Colombia 00:01:10.43\00:01:12.30 I grew up in a very secular environment 00:01:12.33\00:01:15.70 my father was very proud of me when I was 9-years-old 00:01:15.74\00:01:20.91 and was drinking already... so that's the environment 00:01:20.94\00:01:26.08 I grew up with... Was your dad an alcoholic? 00:01:26.11\00:01:29.32 Yes... he was... he was... and, you know, later on, 00:01:29.35\00:01:34.12 he saw the results because... my life was just one trial 00:01:34.16\00:01:39.33 after another one... I got into a lot of violence 00:01:39.36\00:01:42.83 with gangs and I was fighting all the time... 00:01:42.86\00:01:46.30 How did you get drawn into gangs? 00:01:46.33\00:01:48.70 Well, some of the people that I was hanging around with 00:01:48.74\00:01:53.38 they were drinking... we used to gather just to drink 00:01:53.41\00:01:57.51 but we ended up in fights and all kinds of other things 00:01:57.55\00:02:01.55 so that's basically... you know I was... 00:02:01.58\00:02:04.09 there were weeks that 00:02:04.12\00:02:07.56 they had to get me out of jail three or four times in a week 00:02:07.59\00:02:12.93 and my mother... she suffered a lot because I would come home 00:02:12.96\00:02:17.27 all bleeding... she didn't know if the blood was 00:02:17.30\00:02:21.57 from me or somebody else and she had a rough time... 00:02:21.60\00:02:25.44 and they wanted me to move from there and they wanted to 00:02:25.47\00:02:30.41 send me to the United States so that I would be 00:02:30.45\00:02:32.35 away from that... but I didn't want to... 00:02:32.38\00:02:34.22 but later on... things got so bad that for my own sake 00:02:34.25\00:02:39.22 I made the decision to leave on my own 00:02:39.25\00:02:42.72 and I came to the United States. Now how many brothers 00:02:42.76\00:02:45.09 and sisters did you have... growing up? 00:02:45.13\00:02:46.96 I have another 4 brothers and 1 sister, 00:02:47.00\00:02:49.66 And where were you in the birth order? 00:02:49.70\00:02:51.77 I'm the second... Second... 00:02:51.80\00:02:52.97 Yes... OK, now were your other brothers 00:02:53.00\00:02:55.27 doing the same kinds of things? No... no... they were not... 00:02:55.30\00:02:58.41 So just you... Yeah... it was just me... 00:02:58.44\00:02:59.94 Wow, wow... isn't it interesting how you know, your life was 00:03:00.04\00:03:05.81 going down... one path... and you come up in the same 00:03:05.85\00:03:09.88 environment... as your sisters and brothers... 00:03:09.92\00:03:13.86 but... you know... some kids take a 00:03:13.89\00:03:16.96 "dark path" so to speak and others take a different path... 00:03:16.99\00:03:20.03 so, you decided to leave... 00:03:20.06\00:03:23.33 you decided... that you were going to leave Colombia... 00:03:23.37\00:03:26.60 Yes... How old were you? 00:03:26.63\00:03:27.97 At that time... I was 16-years-old 00:03:28.00\00:03:30.27 OK... 16 and trying to be a man where you thinking 00:03:30.31\00:03:34.24 you're a man... Right... right... 00:03:34.28\00:03:35.94 Machismo? Oh yeah... I've been arguing 00:03:35.98\00:03:38.71 with my dad... he would say... 00:03:38.75\00:03:40.05 you're not a man yet... and I'd say... 00:03:40.08\00:03:41.75 yes... I'm a man already... but I was wrong... 00:03:41.78\00:03:44.09 He was right... Hmmmm... hmmmm... hmmm... 00:03:44.12\00:03:46.35 So I moved to the United States and I tried to have a 00:03:46.39\00:03:51.96 decent life... I had my regular jobs... but my friends 00:03:51.99\00:03:55.66 in the States... in Texas... they were all in the 00:03:55.70\00:03:59.33 drug business... Oh... so whom did you come 00:03:59.37\00:04:02.97 and stay with? It was the son of a... 00:04:03.00\00:04:07.04 a friend of my father's... OK... OK... 00:04:07.08\00:04:11.01 but... I wasn't with him very long, you know, 00:04:11.05\00:04:14.08 because he didn't want to really help... 00:04:14.12\00:04:17.09 and so... anyway... I was in that environment... 00:04:17.12\00:04:21.96 I stayed like that for a couple of years... 00:04:21.99\00:04:24.83 people thought that I was in the business of the drugs 00:04:24.86\00:04:29.16 but I was not... but later on... 00:04:29.20\00:04:31.77 I started getting some offers to start getting deep into this 00:04:31.80\00:04:37.91 type of work... It's so interesting because now 00:04:37.94\00:04:41.88 were you in School? Had you dropped out of School? 00:04:41.91\00:04:45.85 Where were you in terms of School? 00:04:45.88\00:04:47.48 Yeah... I dropped out... OK... and started hanging 00:04:47.52\00:04:51.02 with the wrong crowd... so to speak... 00:04:51.05\00:04:54.36 Yes... hmmmm... hmmmm... and started... 00:04:54.39\00:04:55.82 at first, you weren't involved in drugs and then you decided 00:04:55.86\00:04:59.49 to step out into that? Well, yeah... I was offered 00:04:59.53\00:05:04.27 a job to start smuggling money into Colombia from the States 00:05:04.30\00:05:09.87 Oh... So, I started taking large 00:05:09.90\00:05:12.27 amounts of money to Colombia 00:05:12.31\00:05:14.58 and then later on... I was offered 00:05:14.61\00:05:17.88 to kill some people who were the main drug dealers 00:05:17.91\00:05:22.48 in the area... I refused to do that... 00:05:22.52\00:05:25.79 but then later on... I started building up 00:05:25.82\00:05:29.06 my own chain of drug business so, I started working 00:05:29.09\00:05:36.70 with the cartels from Colombia and built up a chain... 00:05:36.73\00:05:40.90 in Miami... New York... Dallas and Colombia 00:05:40.94\00:05:43.37 very soon... I had a number of families that were working 00:05:43.41\00:05:48.14 for me... and I had a lot of distributors and, you know, 00:05:48.18\00:05:52.85 I was married at that time... and had a little daughter... 00:05:52.88\00:05:56.89 and for safety reasons, I had them move to Florida 00:05:56.92\00:06:03.19 so they won't be near to where I was doing 00:06:03.22\00:06:06.19 all these operations... Look at this now Brother Jaime, 00:06:06.23\00:06:10.03 OK so... you started drinking at 9 right? 00:06:10.07\00:06:16.60 You... at 15 or 16... you come to the States 00:06:16.64\00:06:21.54 because your parents can't deal with where you were going 00:06:21.58\00:06:25.48 with your life... Yes... 00:06:25.51\00:06:26.92 you come to the States... you don't start with drugs yet 00:06:26.95\00:06:31.69 this is... Satan takes us down this downward spiral right 00:06:31.72\00:06:35.39 That's right... that's right... ... gradually, gradually... so 00:06:35.42\00:06:39.03 at first... you are... I'm not going to mess with those 00:06:39.06\00:06:41.06 drugs... but then... you kind of because you're hanging with 00:06:41.10\00:06:45.03 the people that are doing it... and you're probably seeing 00:06:45.07\00:06:48.70 the fast money... and thinking well... maybe if I do this... 00:06:48.74\00:06:52.34 then I won't do that... and then you just kind of get 00:06:52.37\00:06:57.01 more and more involved... I was being prepared for this 00:06:57.05\00:07:00.72 since my teenage years... and it all was 00:07:00.75\00:07:05.05 just a matter of time... I would say... 00:07:05.09\00:07:07.66 Yes... yes... yes... ... and so that eventually came 00:07:07.69\00:07:11.23 and I clicked into it... and that's how the Devil works.. 00:07:11.26\00:07:16.63 That is how the Devil works you know, I always talk about 00:07:16.67\00:07:21.27 on Urban Report... I always talk about the plan 00:07:21.30\00:07:24.91 that God has... just as God has a plan for us 00:07:24.94\00:07:28.58 that is so... exceedingly abundantly more than 00:07:28.61\00:07:31.58 what we could ask or think... so the enemy... 00:07:31.61\00:07:34.55 has a plan for us too... right? Right... that's right... 00:07:34.58\00:07:37.45 He saw you... he saw that you have skills, 00:07:37.49\00:07:40.86 and he wanted to take those skills and use them for him 00:07:40.89\00:07:45.33 but God had a different plan... That's right... and it's so true 00:07:45.36\00:07:49.16 what you just said... and, you know, 00:07:49.20\00:07:50.87 I have different people along the way that have asked me 00:07:50.90\00:07:54.17 to study the Bible... but I refused to do it... 00:07:54.20\00:07:57.27 you know, I said... "That's not for me... 00:07:57.31\00:07:58.64 that's for... you know... in fact, I came to the point 00:07:58.67\00:08:02.11 where I said... I cannot hear somebody 00:08:02.14\00:08:04.51 to tell me what was the truth because... 00:08:04.55\00:08:06.85 even if they are in error... they're going to defend it 00:08:06.88\00:08:10.99 as the truth... so, therefore, I said... 00:08:11.02\00:08:13.29 I'm closed to any human being period 00:08:13.32\00:08:15.76 Wow... ... and that's the way I was... 00:08:15.79\00:08:17.96 and God saw that and went where I was... 00:08:17.99\00:08:20.13 and He dealt with 00:08:20.16\00:08:22.26 that situation... we have a wonderful God, don't we? 00:08:22.30\00:08:25.20 Oh! don't we... don't we though, you know, when we think about 00:08:25.23\00:08:28.84 how much He wants to bless us how much he wants to give to us 00:08:28.87\00:08:32.47 but we block our own blessings. Right... 00:08:32.51\00:08:34.48 You know... we stand in the way of our own blessings... 00:08:34.51\00:08:38.85 OK, so you got involved with sending money to Colombia 00:08:38.88\00:08:43.18 and you had all of these families, now you... 00:08:43.22\00:08:45.09 that says to me... you got serious businessman skills 00:08:45.12\00:08:50.09 you had some serious... business multi-level marketing, whatever 00:08:50.13\00:08:55.26 you got all these.. families... working under you... 00:08:55.30\00:09:00.67 Yes... yes... and I became the number one 00:09:00.70\00:09:03.57 drug dealer in the Dallas area at that time... 00:09:03.61\00:09:06.64 very soon... yes... Now, I came here from Dallas 00:09:06.68\00:09:09.71 Oh, you did... Yes, I lived in Dallas from 1996 00:09:09.74\00:09:12.75 to 2010... OK... I was there before that 00:09:12.78\00:09:16.72 we're talking about 25 years 26 years... something... 00:09:16.75\00:09:19.42 so, anyways... I got arrested... I did something that I wasn't 00:09:19.45\00:09:25.99 supposed to be doing... and I did it... 00:09:26.03\00:09:29.83 and I got arrested... I felt like 00:09:29.86\00:09:32.17 I was falling from a big tower, and then... I was there in jail, 00:09:32.20\00:09:36.84 and thinking that... it really is not worth it 00:09:36.87\00:09:40.64 Hmmmmm... ... and I came to that decision 00:09:40.68\00:09:43.81 and I said... "As soon as I get out of here 00:09:43.85\00:09:46.92 I'm going to close everything up and I will never going to go 00:09:46.95\00:09:51.22 into this ever again because it's not worth it... " 00:09:51.25\00:09:54.59 Yes... ... and then... one week later 00:09:54.62\00:09:57.63 they called me out and I was free... in the streets 00:09:57.66\00:10:01.60 and I called my lawyer... I said, "I'm out... " 00:10:01.63\00:10:05.20 and he said... "How? I haven't even 00:10:05.23\00:10:08.24 started working on your case.. " and I said, 00:10:08.27\00:10:10.94 "Well, don't even bother, because I'm already out" 00:10:10.97\00:10:13.34 Wait, now wait... wait now Brother Jaime... 00:10:13.38\00:10:16.11 OK... so... you did something you weren't supposed to do 00:10:16.14\00:10:20.62 you get arrested... you go to jail... 00:10:20.65\00:10:24.02 and while in jail... you start thinking about 00:10:24.05\00:10:27.89 all of the things that you've done... right? 00:10:27.92\00:10:31.69 and you're thinking to yourself... it is not worth it 00:10:31.73\00:10:34.73 Right... And Texas jails are notorious... 00:10:34.73\00:10:37.60 Oh, my! they are notorious... so you're in there and you say 00:10:37.63\00:10:41.64 "This isn't worth it... I'm getting out of this... " 00:10:41.67\00:10:45.51 and then... how did you get set free? 00:10:45.54\00:10:49.04 OK... well, I was arrested with somebody else 00:10:49.08\00:10:51.75 and it looks like... they were following him... basically 00:10:51.78\00:10:56.15 and so for... Oh... they didn't have enough 00:10:56.18\00:10:58.52 on you? No... it seems like something 00:10:58.55\00:11:00.79 it was... but you see... after I got out... 00:11:00.82\00:11:05.83 I started selling big loose properties and closing... 00:11:05.86\00:11:10.63 calling all these people I was working with 00:11:10.67\00:11:13.00 saying, "Goodbye... this is it" putting everything straight 00:11:13.03\00:11:16.10 closing everything out and... it was done... 00:11:16.14\00:11:18.64 and then, I went to Mexico, I went to Colombia, 00:11:18.67\00:11:21.54 came back to the States... into Florida and started working 00:11:21.58\00:11:24.38 a regular job... I like the business 00:11:24.41\00:11:27.15 I started selling cars... you know... the business cars... 00:11:27.18\00:11:30.42 and... after a year... of doing this... 00:11:30.45\00:11:33.66 my boss invited me to have some drinks in Disney 00:11:33.69\00:11:37.89 so, we went... and we drank until we thought we had enough 00:11:37.93\00:11:41.40 he went to his house, and I attempted 00:11:41.43\00:11:43.93 to go to my house... I never made it... 00:11:43.97\00:11:46.43 I fell asleep and hit a tree... and then... the next day 00:11:46.47\00:11:52.47 a police officer knocked on my window... 00:11:52.51\00:11:55.64 told me to roll down the window, asked me for the 00:11:55.68\00:11:58.78 Driver's License... I gave him my Driver's License 00:11:58.81\00:12:02.35 he went to his car... and then.. minutes were going by 00:12:02.38\00:12:06.29 and he didn't come back yet... and then a lot of other 00:12:06.32\00:12:10.49 police cars started arriving... 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 00:12:10.53\00:12:14.66 ten police cars were all around me... 00:12:14.73\00:12:17.27 and then the police officer came to me and said... 00:12:17.30\00:12:19.60 Mr. Espinal... we've been looking for you 00:12:19.63\00:12:21.67 we have a warrant for your arrest... we've been looking 00:12:21.70\00:12:24.81 for you... for about a year... What? 00:12:24.84\00:12:28.11 So, I told myself, this was an error... 00:12:28.14\00:12:29.81 or something... a mistake but when I was in jail 00:12:29.84\00:12:33.25 I realized, they had re-opened the case and this was now 00:12:33.28\00:12:39.22 a serious business... going on... right now... 00:12:39.25\00:12:43.56 Oh... so you... OK... so, I just want to re-cap 00:12:43.59\00:12:47.86 a little bit... so you get out... 00:12:47.86\00:12:49.93 kind of on a technicality... you get out of jail 00:12:49.96\00:12:53.17 you lead... an upstanding life.. you're not dealing with anything 00:12:53.20\00:12:57.31 you're not dealing with drugs... you're not supervising 00:12:57.34\00:13:00.48 drug dealers... you're not doing any of that 00:13:00.51\00:13:02.94 you're straight as an arrow at this point... 00:13:02.98\00:13:05.41 Yes... You hit a tree... 00:13:05.45\00:13:08.12 Right... ... and were you in the car 00:13:08.15\00:13:11.19 all night? Yeah... I just passed out... 00:13:11.22\00:13:14.19 and then... when you came to... you got arrested... 00:13:14.22\00:13:17.06 That's right... My! 00:13:17.09\00:13:19.06 So, while I was in jail.. then I started looking for the Lord 00:13:19.09\00:13:23.37 then I started praying for him... 00:13:23.40\00:13:25.30 I found... a Bible in Spanish which is very hard 00:13:25.33\00:13:30.64 in those years... to find... and I started reading... 00:13:30.67\00:13:34.28 and I was reading and reading and reading the New Testament 00:13:34.31\00:13:37.28 but didn't understand... a thing... 00:13:37.31\00:13:39.45 I was not able to understand anything... and then... 00:13:39.48\00:13:43.42 Was it King James Version... Yes... but then, you know, 00:13:43.45\00:13:47.29 I was sleeping one night... and then... something strong 00:13:47.32\00:13:51.16 came to me... it is very hard to describe... 00:13:51.19\00:13:54.46 I was just full of joy... 00:13:54.50\00:13:58.97 and it was a lot of peace 00:13:59.00\00:14:03.37 and it was so wonderful it's very hard to describe 00:14:03.41\00:14:06.57 but it woke me up because it just came, you know, 00:14:06.61\00:14:09.74 so suddenly... Was it a presence in the room 00:14:09.78\00:14:13.18 was it... or just the feeling... Yeah, that's what I had... 00:14:13.21\00:14:16.95 I didn't see anything... I just felt it and noticed that 00:14:16.99\00:14:20.66 and I immediately... I stood up and knelt down 00:14:20.69\00:14:24.46 and I started praying... and for the first time 00:14:24.49\00:14:28.23 I opened my heart to God, you know, because we were taught 00:14:28.26\00:14:32.50 to just... in the Catholic Church 00:14:32.53\00:14:34.14 we were taught just to repeat things... 00:14:34.17\00:14:36.47 but here... I'm not repeating anything... 00:14:36.50\00:14:38.71 I'm just opening my heart to the Lord 00:14:38.74\00:14:40.91 and then... I started praying for hours... 00:14:40.94\00:14:43.58 and then... I wanted to stop and I was not able to... 00:14:43.61\00:14:47.88 I felt something very strong in my jaw... you know 00:14:47.92\00:14:52.15 there was this moaning... and I kept on... 00:14:52.19\00:14:54.32 and I don't know where those words were coming from 00:14:54.36\00:14:57.99 but I prayed all night, until the daylight came. 00:14:58.03\00:15:01.56 And this was your first time ever... really praying 00:15:01.60\00:15:05.17 ever talking to God like a friend... 00:15:05.20\00:15:06.94 Yes... right after I had this, it came to me, 00:15:06.97\00:15:09.64 and then, you know, from the day after 00:15:09.67\00:15:13.74 then I started reading the Bible and I started seeing light in it 00:15:13.78\00:15:17.58 Yes... yes, praise the Lord... ... and then I started seeing 00:15:17.61\00:15:21.78 the beauty of the plan of salvation... 00:15:21.82\00:15:24.22 that if I confess my sins, and if I come to the Lord 00:15:24.25\00:15:28.76 repented... He will forgive me He will give me a new life 00:15:28.79\00:15:34.40 and not only that, but eternal life... 00:15:34.46\00:15:36.73 Yes... So, I was just so excited 00:15:36.77\00:15:39.60 with this that I could not keep it for myself... 00:15:39.63\00:15:42.54 so, I started sharing this with my other inmate 00:15:42.57\00:15:46.31 and he started crying... and he was ex-Vet, you know 00:15:46.34\00:15:50.05 from the Vietnam War... Yeah... 00:15:50.08\00:15:51.75 he was crying... and he, you know, 00:15:51.78\00:15:54.12 I was sharing with... then I started sharing with 00:15:54.15\00:15:56.08 other inmates... and I shared with all the inmates 00:15:56.12\00:15:58.89 that were allowing me to share it with... 00:15:58.92\00:16:01.39 and then, after I did that, I started calling my family, 00:16:01.42\00:16:04.39 and my friends... and over the phone I was just sharing 00:16:04.43\00:16:07.10 with them what I was seeing in the Bible 00:16:07.13\00:16:09.16 and then after I have talked with them... 00:16:09.20\00:16:11.17 and I have talked with the inmates, I started writing 00:16:11.20\00:16:14.40 to myself... all the things that I was seeing from the Bible 00:16:14.44\00:16:18.04 and it was just wonderful, you know, 00:16:18.07\00:16:20.08 I see the hope... you know... and that the Word of God 00:16:20.11\00:16:24.28 gives us... and that was my strength and I was leaning 00:16:24.31\00:16:27.58 into that and I was just falling in love with the precious Savior 00:16:27.62\00:16:31.22 Oh... ... and, you know, 00:16:31.25\00:16:32.72 there was a time that somebody asked me, 00:16:32.75\00:16:35.12 "Jaime, how many lawyers do you have?" and I said, 00:16:35.16\00:16:38.63 "Well, I have one in Chicago, I have two here in Florida 00:16:38.66\00:16:42.00 I have one in Texas, but I'm getting to know a 5th one" 00:16:42.03\00:16:45.33 and because the Lord tells us in First John 00:16:45.37\00:16:48.07 that He is our advocate... That's right. 00:16:48.10\00:16:50.77 ...and that He will deal with our case, you know, 00:16:50.81\00:16:53.27 and I just told him that I was just getting to know the 5th one 00:16:53.31\00:16:57.05 that I have five... Yes... come on... come on... 00:16:57.08\00:17:00.08 so it was just so exciting... you know... 00:17:00.12\00:17:03.08 so then they came and they told me 00:17:03.12\00:17:05.65 "You need to go to Texas, they're going to extradite 00:17:05.69\00:17:08.62 you to Texas... and I said... 00:17:08.66\00:17:10.66 Oh... so you weren't in Texas? No... this was in Florida 00:17:10.69\00:17:12.86 Oh, OK... Ok... ... and then... 00:17:12.89\00:17:15.16 I prayed to the Lord I said, "Lord, I don't want to 00:17:15.20\00:17:18.07 go to Texas... but... if it's for my own good, 00:17:18.10\00:17:22.20 so I will not go back to my old life, let it be... " 00:17:22.24\00:17:26.27 and then eventually... they said "You're going to Texas... " 00:17:26.31\00:17:30.38 so, they started getting me ready to transfer me there 00:17:30.41\00:17:34.68 they started checking me... everything out... 00:17:34.72\00:17:37.05 and I had the Bible in my hand, and they said, "What is that?" 00:17:37.09\00:17:39.92 and I said, "That's a Bible" "You cannot take the Bible. " 00:17:39.95\00:17:43.39 I said, "I need this Bible, this is what is holding me up 00:17:43.43\00:17:46.83 here... I need it very badly... " 00:17:46.86\00:17:48.96 "You cannot take the Bible. " "Please, it's only a Bible... " 00:17:49.00\00:17:52.47 "YOU CANNOT TAKE THE BIBLE." and then... I had to just leave 00:17:52.50\00:17:55.97 it there... but I felt that they were pulling it out 00:17:56.00\00:17:59.91 from me... you know... Yes... yes... 00:17:59.94\00:18:01.78 That was your lifeline... YES... YES...YES... 00:18:01.81\00:18:04.48 so, anyway... they took me... they put the chains 00:18:04.51\00:18:09.48 all around me... took me to the runway of the 00:18:09.52\00:18:11.59 Orlando International Airport, and as soon as we got into 00:18:11.62\00:18:16.42 the runway... an airplane came just on time 00:18:16.46\00:18:19.93 and got me up and we flew to New Orleans... 00:18:19.96\00:18:23.30 in New Orleans... they put me with other inmates... in a bus 00:18:23.33\00:18:26.53 and took me to Oklahoma. I was in Oklahoma 00:18:26.57\00:18:30.61 and as I was in Oklahoma, I got there in midnight 00:18:30.64\00:18:33.38 it was a Federal Prison, they had many floors 00:18:33.41\00:18:36.58 and according to your case, the worse your case was, 00:18:36.61\00:18:39.18 you were in the higher levels, Hmmmmm... 00:18:39.21\00:18:41.88 ...and then... so I was about the third level... 00:18:41.92\00:18:44.25 and I was the only one going to that floor 00:18:44.29\00:18:47.49 so I went there and they opened the gates... 00:18:47.52\00:18:50.66 very noisy... gates... old prison... and they told me 00:18:50.69\00:18:55.26 "Step on... forward... " and I did.. they closed the door 00:18:55.30\00:18:58.90 and then they opened the other gate 00:18:58.93\00:19:00.74 and then they said, "Step forward" 00:19:00.77\00:19:02.47 I stepped forward... they closed the door 00:19:02.50\00:19:05.07 and here I am... in the hall of a tank... they call it 00:19:05.11\00:19:09.11 where there is about 8 to 9 cells 00:19:09.14\00:19:11.51 and they were all closed... everybody was sleeping... 00:19:11.55\00:19:16.15 there was no noise at all, except when they closed 00:19:16.18\00:19:18.69 that door... they shut that door... 00:19:18.72\00:19:20.62 and then... I was the only one 00:19:20.66\00:19:22.86 in the hall and they told me "Go and walk to Cell Number 7... 00:19:22.89\00:19:27.03 stay right there... " I went there and then... 00:19:27.03\00:19:29.56 they opened that door for that cell... 00:19:29.60\00:19:32.93 they told me, with a microphone, "Step in... " 00:19:32.97\00:19:37.11 I, you know, stepped in... they closed that door 00:19:37.14\00:19:41.38 and here... I have my things in my hand... 00:19:41.41\00:19:44.08 just and kind of looking around where I just came to 00:19:44.11\00:19:47.78 and as I have this in my hand, I hear a voice... 00:19:47.82\00:19:51.75 from the outside of the bar... from the hall... 00:19:51.79\00:19:55.69 there was a Black man with an overall... 00:19:55.72\00:19:58.63 he said, "Hey, would you like to have a Bible in Spanish?" 00:19:58.66\00:20:03.00 and I said, "What! a Bible in Spanish!" 00:20:03.03\00:20:07.04 and I came too close and I took that Bible 00:20:07.07\00:20:10.34 and I couldn't believe it I was just looking at it... 00:20:10.37\00:20:13.91 and then... and then I wanted to thank 00:20:13.94\00:20:16.08 the person and he was just not there... 00:20:16.11\00:20:18.18 Come on... Brother... I looked to one side of the hall 00:20:18.21\00:20:21.88 there was nobody... I looked to the other side 00:20:21.92\00:20:25.09 there was nobody... and I never heard any other 00:20:25.12\00:20:28.22 noise after they locked... they closed the gates for me 00:20:28.26\00:20:31.49 so there was no opening or closing of any gate 00:20:31.53\00:20:35.60 at that time... and I just... 00:20:35.63\00:20:39.07 I cannot just believe it, you know, 00:20:39.10\00:20:41.67 I have the Bible... right there you know... 00:20:41.70\00:20:43.87 I never missed it... the Lord provided for me... 00:20:43.91\00:20:46.81 Yes... yes... yes... So I started reading 00:20:46.84\00:20:48.88 that Bible again and praising the Lord 00:20:48.91\00:20:50.85 I started praying all night until the day light came again 00:20:50.88\00:20:54.35 and I was just praising the Lord... 00:20:54.38\00:20:55.92 I got to know the inmate now and introduced myself 00:20:55.95\00:20:59.39 and I started sharing with him about the good news 00:20:59.42\00:21:02.62 and I talked about the Bible with him for two days 00:21:02.66\00:21:05.76 after two days he accepted that Christ Jesus was his Lord 00:21:05.79\00:21:09.73 and Savior and he was crying and he was saying, 00:21:09.76\00:21:12.93 "Oh, if my brother would only hear this... " 00:21:12.97\00:21:16.10 and I said, "Where is your brother?" 00:21:16.14\00:21:18.07 he said, "He's in the last floor of this prison... " 00:21:18.11\00:21:20.74 Wow... ... so after a couple of days 00:21:20.78\00:21:23.81 of being with him... they moved me to another cell 00:21:23.85\00:21:26.48 I came to this other cell, I introduced myself 00:21:26.51\00:21:29.12 and I started sharing what the Lord was doing in my life 00:21:29.15\00:21:32.05 and asking them to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior 00:21:32.09\00:21:36.06 and they were accepting the Lord There wasn't resistance... 00:21:36.09\00:21:40.03 there wasn't... just like... "Who do you think you are... 00:21:40.06\00:21:42.03 giving me this information...?" No... because God was taking me 00:21:42.06\00:21:46.37 only to the "ripe" people, He knew who were the 00:21:46.40\00:21:51.77 right people... I didn't have any choice 00:21:51.81\00:21:53.58 I didn't have any choice on where I was sent... 00:21:53.61\00:21:56.91 because I didn't know why they were taking me 00:21:56.95\00:22:00.15 from one cell to another... except that God has a plan... 00:22:00.18\00:22:03.49 Yes... ... for these people... 00:22:03.52\00:22:04.89 so then they took me to another cell... and then I started 00:22:04.92\00:22:08.46 sharing the gospel over there, they were accepting 00:22:08.49\00:22:11.53 the Lord Jesus Christ... they took me to another cell 00:22:11.56\00:22:14.56 and then they took me to another cell... 00:22:14.56\00:22:16.23 here, I am on the last floor now and they put me in this cell 00:22:16.26\00:22:21.44 with this big Black guy... who had scars everywhere 00:22:21.47\00:22:27.04 very mean looking... I walked in there 00:22:27.08\00:22:30.78 they closed the gate... and I had to look up 00:22:30.81\00:22:33.38 to see his face... and then he started talking 00:22:33.42\00:22:35.95 so mean with bad words and then he started saying that he was 00:22:35.98\00:22:41.32 there because he had killed 23 people... 00:22:41.36\00:22:43.63 My!... ... and the last 3 people... 00:22:43.66\00:22:45.86 he had killed right there in the cells... 00:22:45.89\00:22:48.36 you know... in jail... He was trying to intimidate you? 00:22:48.40\00:22:52.53 Oh, I was just praying... "God, where did I come to?" 00:22:52.57\00:22:56.10 Where have you brought me to? Please, please help me... " 00:22:56.14\00:22:59.64 and, you know, after a few hours of being there 00:22:59.67\00:23:03.71 he started asking about what I had done 00:23:03.75\00:23:09.45 "Tell me more about yourself" and I started sharing the 00:23:09.48\00:23:12.85 Lord Jesus Christ... to him... and I started sharing about 00:23:12.89\00:23:16.22 the plan of salvation... Come on... 00:23:16.26\00:23:17.96 ...and I started sharing to him that if he comes to the Lord 00:23:17.99\00:23:21.03 He will give him a new life... no matter what he had done 00:23:21.06\00:23:24.10 in the past... That's right... 00:23:24.13\00:23:25.27 ...and then, he came to the point where he was crying 00:23:25.30\00:23:29.24 he was a different person now... I mean, you can see beauty now 00:23:29.27\00:23:34.64 in him... Yes... yes... yes... 00:23:34.68\00:23:36.14 ...and he was opening up to the Lord and Savior 00:23:36.18\00:23:39.15 and then he accepted Him as his Savior... 00:23:39.18\00:23:41.48 and tears were coming down his face 00:23:41.52\00:23:44.35 and you won't believe... you won't think that 00:23:44.39\00:23:47.19 that would happen in somebody like him... 00:23:47.22\00:23:49.99 this happened after a couple of days of being with him 00:23:50.03\00:23:53.03 and then, later on... they called me after a few days 00:23:53.06\00:23:56.00 to another cell... and when I came there 00:23:56.03\00:23:58.60 I asked him, "What is your name?" 00:23:58.63\00:24:00.70 and he gave me his name... he was the brother of the first 00:24:00.74\00:24:04.97 inmate I met at the beginning... The one who said, 00:24:05.01\00:24:07.21 I wish you could meet my brother... 00:24:07.24\00:24:08.38 Yes... it was just his brother.. and I started talking 00:24:08.41\00:24:12.91 with him... sharing the gospel with him... 00:24:12.95\00:24:15.75 and sure enough... he was just so ready 00:24:15.78\00:24:18.52 to take this gospel and he was praising the Lord 00:24:18.55\00:24:22.42 you know... I'm not a singer but I was writing songs 00:24:22.46\00:24:26.16 and I was teaching them too because all these are like 00:24:26.19\00:24:29.80 spiritual children for me... and I was... 00:24:29.83\00:24:32.50 now we need to praise the Lord, and I was just singing along 00:24:32.53\00:24:37.61 and they following me we were rejoicing 00:24:37.64\00:24:39.97 and shouting and singing to the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, 00:24:40.01\00:24:43.48 and then... after a month of being there... 00:24:43.51\00:24:46.65 I was in transit and finally they took me to Dallas 00:24:46.68\00:24:52.19 where my case was... and then there was 00:24:52.22\00:24:55.66 all kinds of miracles happened for the following 00:24:55.69\00:25:00.20 6 months in there I mean... one miracle after the other one 00:25:00.23\00:25:04.67 Tell us one... Well I want to tell you this one 00:25:04.70\00:25:08.90 at one time I was in a cell visiting somebody 00:25:08.94\00:25:13.11 and I saw a little teeny paper full of dust... 00:25:13.14\00:25:17.25 under the foot of the leg of this inmate 00:25:17.28\00:25:21.38 and I asked him 00:25:21.42\00:25:22.48 "May I lift that piece of paper" and he said, "Sure" 00:25:22.52\00:25:26.89 so I lifted it up... dusted it off... 00:25:26.92\00:25:30.39 I opened it up... and it was an Outpost Center 00:25:30.43\00:25:34.56 from Keene, Texas, and I, I... it said, 00:25:34.56\00:25:38.53 "Community Service" and I said, 00:25:38.57\00:25:40.34 "Well, these people may help me with Bible... " 00:25:40.37\00:25:42.17 and so I wrote to them... and I said, 00:25:42.20\00:25:44.14 I need Bibles in English and I need Bibles in Spanish 00:25:44.17\00:25:47.48 they sent me a full box of Bibles in English 00:25:47.51\00:25:49.94 and a full box of Bibles in Spanish 00:25:49.98\00:25:51.95 I had a small group in Spanish and I had a small group 00:25:51.98\00:25:55.08 in English... we were studying the Bible 00:25:55.12\00:25:57.29 and so... we had a feast with all these Bibles... 00:25:57.32\00:26:00.79 and it was just so wonderful, Yes... 00:26:00.82\00:26:03.12 but not only that... I was praying to the Lord 00:26:03.16\00:26:05.63 to give me a confirmation that the experience I was having 00:26:05.66\00:26:08.13 was the true experience... because some people thought 00:26:08.16\00:26:10.60 I was crazy... Hmmmmm... 00:26:10.63\00:26:12.37 and then... these same people who sent me the Bibles 00:26:12.40\00:26:15.37 sent me a little book called, "Steps to Christ" 00:26:15.40\00:26:18.51 Come on... come on now... ... and then... when I read that 00:26:18.54\00:26:21.68 when I got that book... for the first time I hear 00:26:21.71\00:26:25.78 the still small voice that was telling me 00:26:25.81\00:26:28.05 "There's no error... in that book... " 00:26:28.08\00:26:30.22 and I couldn't believe it until I read it 00:26:30.25\00:26:32.29 it was refreshing my soul, that was the confirmation... 00:26:32.32\00:26:36.36 I needed so badly... that what I was experiencing 00:26:36.39\00:26:39.59 was the true conversion and it was just so exciting 00:26:39.63\00:26:42.70 because then God lead me into... as I studied the different 00:26:42.73\00:26:46.47 denominations that are out there... 00:26:46.50\00:26:48.50 then for the first time I hear about the 00:26:48.54\00:26:51.07 Seventh-day Adventist Church, and that's how 00:26:51.11\00:26:53.51 I got to know the Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:26:53.54\00:26:55.84 when I got out of jail... they were going to give me 00:26:55.88\00:26:58.48 39 years in prison... but God... 00:26:58.51\00:27:00.98 all the 4 lawyers resigned... except the 5th one... 00:27:01.02\00:27:04.99 and He got me out... Amen... 00:27:05.02\00:27:08.82 ...and I just praise the Lord because He gave me... 00:27:08.86\00:27:10.66 a new life... Yes, and what are you doing now? 00:27:10.69\00:27:13.50 Well, we have a ministry in Mexico... 00:27:13.53\00:27:15.66 we have... my wife and I... we have a 00:27:15.70\00:27:17.83 Medical Missionary Training mission in Mexico 00:27:17.87\00:27:20.64 we're helping all kinds of people that come over there 00:27:20.67\00:27:23.41 with natural remedies... we have a vegetarian restaurant, 00:27:23.44\00:27:26.11 agriculture program... and a lot of other services 00:27:26.14\00:27:29.11 that we have on our website... Amazing... and we'll put your 00:27:29.14\00:27:33.15 website up on the air as well. Thank you so much. 00:27:33.18\00:27:36.55 I can't believe our time is up, this... I mean, this flew by 00:27:36.58\00:27:40.12 this is so powerful... I mean... several times 00:27:40.16\00:27:43.32 I just wanted to cry... Thank you so much... 00:27:43.36\00:27:46.49 Thank you and God bless you. God bless you, God bless you. 00:27:46.53\00:27:49.00 Continue doing your work for the Lord... we need you. 00:27:49.03\00:27:52.17 Look at how God just led this Brother... 00:27:52.20\00:27:55.37 from one path to another. We hope you were blessed. 00:27:55.40\00:27:58.77 Well, join us next time... It just wouldn't be the same... 00:27:58.81\00:28:02.14 without you... 00:28:02.18\00:28:03.98