Stay tune to meet the man
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who himself is
truly on a new journey.
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My name is Yvonne Lewis
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and you're
watching Urban Report.
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Hello and
welcome to Urban Report.
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My guest today is Aaron Chancy,
host of Dare to Dream's program
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of hope for
ex-offenders, the New Journey.
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I had the
privilege of interviewing
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Aaron on the New Journey set.
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Take a look at what he said.
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I am blessed to be here
on the set of the New Journey
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with the host of the
New Journey Aaron Chancy.
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Amen. So good to see you.
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Yes ma'am. Thank you.
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You know Aaron, you have
such an interesting story.
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I interviewed you quite
sometime ago on Urban Report.
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Yes, you did.
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And you told your story,
but that I think was before
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you were hosting or maybe in
the beginning of your hosting.
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And I hadn't had a
chance to talk back with you
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to find out what you're doing,
what God is doing in your life.
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Yeah definitely.
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So, for those viewers
who don't really know you
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and may not have
seen the New Journey yet,
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which I have to
tell you viewers,
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you've got to check
out the New Journey,
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powerful testimonies.
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You got to check it
out. Definitely, yes.
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But those who haven't seen it,
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give us a little
bit of your background.
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Okay, little bit of my
background prior to coming
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back into the
Seventh Day Adventist Church.
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I grew up in a
Seventh-day Adventist church,
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mother and father in a
home, have one brother,
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older brother, two
years older than me.
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And at a young age, you
know, great home really,
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you know, grew up on
Spirit of Prophecy in a home,
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Bible in a home, going to
church, going to pathfinders,
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going to prayer
meeting, pretty much every time
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the church was
open we were there.
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Regular family worship going
on in home things like that.
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So from the outside
looking in, you know,
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we were pretty
good, pretty good family.
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Later on in life
probably around 13 years old,
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number one, I never really had
a connection myself with God.
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So that was one
thing but then also we--
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my parents, they
eventually went to the military,
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and we moved around a lot.
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So that caused
almost kind of like
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an identity crisis within me,
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not being able to
identify with anybody,
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just kind of
pulling a little bit
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from each different
type of person I was around,
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different cultures and
becoming somebody else.
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So kind of loss of identity.
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Then around 13, I was
pretty much done with,
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you know, Christianity, didn't
want anything to do with God.
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It didn't really have much
of a interest to me anymore.
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I started to look a
religion is like a bunch
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that I can't you can't
do this, you can't do that.
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So you look at restrictions.
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Yeah, it just seemed like
a big thing of restrictions,
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why can't you go to a dance
on Friday night because it is,
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you know, it's just
like a whole bunch of cannot
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and not really understanding it
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and how to explaining
it from a love with Jesus,
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I didn't have that at the time.
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So because I was still
living at home, I still had to,
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you know, go to church but
probably around 15 years old,
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you pretty much
can tell me any thing
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at that time
church, not going to church.
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Don't want anything to do
with God, peer your point blank.
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So I started to look
around at various friends
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what they were
doing, started to--
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I've got real
heavy into like BET,
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the music videos and
music over all hip hop music
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and I started to
listen to these things
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and internalize them
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and I started to
become what I was listening to
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because the Bible is very true.
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When it says, "by
beholding you become changed."
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That's right. That is a
fact. That's a known fact.
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And I started to become like it,
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like walk like it,
talk like it, act like it.
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Because you were doing it
all the time. Yeah, definitely.
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Right, so, it was
becoming a part of who you are.
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You talked about
that identity thing
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where you weren't
sure who you were.
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Definitely. This was
giving you an identity.
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It just wasn't the right kind.
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It wasn't the right identity,
definitely. Right. Right.
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So, you know, I started
to look around at my friends
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who were, you know, same
ages only 15, 16 years old
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and though I came from probably
lower middle class family,
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I never really had a
silver spoon in my mouth
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to where I can
just get what I want.
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It was pretty much
either you work for,
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you get a job
whatever, you know.
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Oh, thank the Lord for that.
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Yeah, that's a great
thing. That is a great thing.
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That's a good thing.
That's a great thing.
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I just wasn't
feeling that at the time.
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Right, right, right, right.
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I want it because when
I learnt from my friends
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how they were
getting their money,
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it's almost like they
are not doing anything,
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just selling a few drugs
here, breaking in on some thing,
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robbing something and it's like
in a short matter of minutes,
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you can get hundreds
and thousands of dollars,
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so that just intrigued me
like wow, you can do that.
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And I kind of
jump head first into it
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and I got my first
charge when I was 16 years old
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as a juvenile for
burglar inhabitation.
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You know, stealing, stealing
and I think it was like 500
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and some thing dollars and
now it was like to have 500
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and some
dollars was a lot to me.
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You know, as a young
teenager that was a lot.
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Now I can go buy
what I want to buy.
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Didn't have to work
for, it only took me
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10 minutes to get
it, so that was amazing.
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And the music was feeding
that I want this, I want it now.
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Yeah. And I'm gonna
have it because I want it.
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Definitely, you know, the
world kind of presents it--
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presents itself that way.
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It's kind of like you
know, with Burger King
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where it says
have it your way now.
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You know, and
it's pretty much like
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I want things my way
now and that's what I got.
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It was, you know,
immediate gratification.
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So I got put on probation
from that charge for a year
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and I didn't complete
that, I ended up catching
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another charge at 17
years old of which I was charged
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as an adult at this
time, first adult felony.
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Now what were your parents doing
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when you were
getting these charges
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and how was it
affecting your family?
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Well, my parents
were very heartbroken
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and this is one thing that we
have to take into consideration
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as people that, you
know, when we get in trouble,
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when I get in
trouble, it's not just me.
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When I get
incarcerated, it's not just me.
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It's not just
me that's affected.
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It's my whole
family that's affected.
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It's everybody
around me that's affected.
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So, you know, we often
think so selfishly that well,
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I need this or
I want to do that,
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when in fact we're
not thinking about how,
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what would it do to my mother,
what would it do to my father,
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what would it do to my brother.
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I didn't think
about any of those things.
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All I thought about
was me, myself and I.
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Those were my best
friends, me, myself and I
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and me, myself and I
had to please ourselves,
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you know that.
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It's all about me.
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It was all about me
and I mean it was evident
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in the things that I was doing.
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So, you know, I remember times
where I would get locked up,
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my parents will come
visit me and you know
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before I got to prison
at 19, we didn't have--
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we couldn't have contact visits.
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So I was sitting on
this side of the glass,
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they were sitting on
this side of the glass,
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you can't touch one another.
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And it's like I'm in
the hands of the state now.
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You know, I no longer
belong to my parents anymore.
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I mean I do biologically,
but now I'm in the hands
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of the state and the state can
do whatever they want with me,
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send me wherever they want and
it is out of my parents' hands
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because I broke
the law, you know.
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So I saw how it
just devastated them,
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but you know one thing
I have to be thankful for
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is the power of
prayer, because you hear
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some people say, you know,
I had a praying grandmother,
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I had a praying mother.
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You know, I had a
praying mother and a father,
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but nothing
like my father where,
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you know later on
in life I realized
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where he would get down
on his knees every night
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seven days a week at 3 o'clock
in the morning and pray for me.
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You know and-- there were times
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when he wanted to give up but
the Holy Spirit will be like,
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no, keep praying, keep
praying and that's the testimony
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because sometimes we pray
and we wanted like right now,
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we want what we are
praying for right now.
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But, you know, God is saying
in time, in time you'll get it.
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You know, some times
he gives it to you now,
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but sometimes he says later on
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and it was a long
process of over 10 years
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before I came to
the point where mother,
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father's prayer
was actually answered.
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You know, sometimes we forget
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that we're
really on God's clock.
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You know, it's like we
want it now and as a parent
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you see your kids
going down the wrong path,
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and it rips your
heart out yeah, definitely.
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And you keep praying, you
keep praying but sometime,
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sometimes I don't know
with me I left the church
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when I was in my 20's or
after my mother died I think,
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I kind of
started straying. Okay.
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And, you know, you sometimes
their prayers follow them,
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so they might not even see you.
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Yeah. Yeah, definitely.
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When you come back. Definitely.
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But you can't
give up as a parent,
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as a parent you can't give up,
00:08:36.24\00:08:38.60
you have to keep
pressing through,
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keep praying because
God is hearing your prayers
00:08:40.88\00:08:43.63
and even if you go to sleep
before that child comes back.
00:08:43.66\00:08:47.12
You can still find
that, you know, in the kingdom
00:08:47.15\00:08:50.06
that child will be there
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because you prayed
that child through.
00:08:51.27\00:08:53.75
So your parents were praying
and your dad specifically.
00:08:53.78\00:08:57.70
And that's a very
important thing too,
00:08:57.73\00:08:59.84
the role of fathers in the home.
00:08:59.87\00:09:02.54
True indeed. True indeed.
00:09:02.57\00:09:03.62
So what happened after that?
00:09:03.65\00:09:05.45
Well, after I got
incarcerated when I was 17
00:09:05.48\00:09:08.23
charged first time as an adult.
00:09:08.26\00:09:10.19
I was locked up for
total about 9 months between
00:09:10.22\00:09:13.02
prison boot camp, jail,
halfway house, house arrest.
00:09:13.05\00:09:16.80
I got in trouble one
time and it put me in jail
00:09:16.83\00:09:19.55
for a weekend while I
had that thing on my ankle
00:09:19.58\00:09:21.47
because I violated,
but he let me back out.
00:09:21.50\00:09:24.24
I was on 3 years of probation
00:09:24.27\00:09:27.59
and if I would have
completed that 3 years,
00:09:27.62\00:09:30.03
I would have been
off, would have been done
00:09:30.06\00:09:31.67
with the system pretty
much but it's like when you get
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into their
lifestyle, it's almost like
00:09:34.17\00:09:35.81
you are trapped in the
circle chasing your tail.
00:09:35.84\00:09:38.02
And it's very hard to get out
because what ends up happening
00:09:38.05\00:09:40.67
and this is important
00:09:40.70\00:09:41.73
because a lot of
young people don't think
00:09:41.76\00:09:43.15
about this how
to fix their future,
00:09:43.18\00:09:45.06
but you know, it's
hard to get a good job.
00:09:45.09\00:09:47.74
So, it's like, okay, now you
have this addiction for money,
00:09:47.77\00:09:50.39
but now you have these
crimes on you, in your record
00:09:50.42\00:09:53.99
where it prevents you
from getting certain jobs.
00:09:54.02\00:09:56.05
I remember back when I
used to live in Dallas, Texas
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and there was a
job at home depot
00:09:59.15\00:10:01.40
and was paying like $10 hour.
00:10:01.43\00:10:02.91
I was 18 at the time.
00:10:02.94\00:10:04.36
$10 hour sounded good
to me and I wanted it.
00:10:04.39\00:10:07.65
And I remember I
got the interview
00:10:07.68\00:10:09.27
because normally I'd
put on my application,
00:10:09.30\00:10:11.25
have you been
convicted of felony.
00:10:11.28\00:10:12.49
I'll put, will
explain in the interview,
00:10:12.52\00:10:14.64
just you know,
I'll explain it better
00:10:14.67\00:10:16.32
because they're going
to do background check
00:10:16.35\00:10:17.59
on certain jobs anyhow.
00:10:17.62\00:10:19.20
So I try to be
little honest bob,
00:10:19.23\00:10:20.74
you know in certain situation.
00:10:20.77\00:10:22.88
Sometimes I would
just lie on that but,
00:10:22.91\00:10:25.14
anyhow I got the
interview and he asked me
00:10:25.17\00:10:28.20
what was the crime I
told him what it was,
00:10:28.23\00:10:30.30
it was home invasion, burglary,
you know it involves stealing.
00:10:30.33\00:10:33.31
And he told me straight up.
00:10:33.34\00:10:34.37
He say, if you would had a
drug charge, I'd have hired you.
00:10:34.40\00:10:37.22
But because you
have stealing charges
00:10:37.25\00:10:39.43
things like
that, I can't hire you.
00:10:39.46\00:10:41.17
So it's like, okay,
00:10:41.20\00:10:42.32
now I've limited
myself of what I could get
00:10:42.35\00:10:45.06
because I have
the stealing charges
00:10:45.09\00:10:46.76
and robbery charges and things.
00:10:46.79\00:10:48.40
I've limited
myself, so now it's like
00:10:48.43\00:10:50.36
I'm stuck in this
circle and I can't get out,
00:10:50.39\00:10:52.84
so what I'd
revert back to crime.
00:10:52.87\00:10:55.51
Which is what you know.
Yeah. Which is what I knew.
00:10:55.54\00:10:58.02
One of the things
that-- Oh, man, and this is--
00:10:58.05\00:11:02.31
it got me like all worked up
because it's one of my burdens.
00:11:02.34\00:11:06.10
Okay.
00:11:06.13\00:11:07.47
You see that our
guys particularly
00:11:07.50\00:11:10.33
African-American and
Latino guys are locked out.
00:11:10.36\00:11:13.87
Once you get that felony,
you go for job interview,
00:11:13.90\00:11:18.29
you can't vote, you
can't live certain places,
00:11:18.32\00:11:21.83
you aren't
eligible, it messes you up.
00:11:21.86\00:11:24.77
And it's based on some decisions
00:11:24.80\00:11:27.28
you made that weren't smart.
00:11:27.31\00:11:30.04
Yeah, that's right.
00:11:30.07\00:11:31.10
You make bad decisions
and then your life is wrecked
00:11:31.13\00:11:35.64
as a result of it,
unless you find Jesus.
00:11:35.67\00:11:38.51
So go ahead. Tell
us some more about it.
00:11:38.54\00:11:40.46
So I didn't complete that
probation, a 3 year probation.
00:11:40.49\00:11:43.37
I ended up catching
another charge in Texas,
00:11:43.40\00:11:45.81
I'm 19 years old, I
had broken into a bank
00:11:45.84\00:11:48.91
as well as rob the subway
and because I had the priors,
00:11:48.94\00:11:53.63
I got incarcerated
and the judge was trying
00:11:53.66\00:11:56.52
to give me 10 years, or the DA,
00:11:56.55\00:11:57.82
the District Attorney was
trying to give me 10 years.
00:11:57.85\00:12:00.76
One thing about
what my parents will do,
00:12:00.79\00:12:02.20
they, they would
never bond me out of jail.
00:12:02.23\00:12:05.04
Because, you know,
they always figured
00:12:05.07\00:12:06.76
if I am in jail at
least I know where he is at.
00:12:06.79\00:12:09.18
That's true.
00:12:09.21\00:12:10.24
Yeah, they knew
where I was because I mean,
00:12:10.27\00:12:11.85
there was no telling where
I'd be for days at the time
00:12:11.88\00:12:14.74
and at least they knew, okay,
I know he is here or whatever.
00:12:14.77\00:12:17.77
So they knew
that, make a right move,
00:12:17.80\00:12:19.13
different things like
that and then come visit.
00:12:19.16\00:12:21.22
So the DA was trying to
give me 10 years in prison
00:12:21.25\00:12:24.17
and I had a
court appointed lawyer
00:12:24.20\00:12:26.06
and he got it down to
five and he came to me
00:12:26.09\00:12:28.36
and asked me,
would you take five.
00:12:28.39\00:12:30.10
So I counted on my
fingers 19, 21, 22, 23, 24,
00:12:30.13\00:12:33.55
if I did the whole five,
I would be out by the time
00:12:33.58\00:12:35.63
I'm 24, I'm like cool,
I can do it to 5 years,
00:12:35.66\00:12:38.13
I'd be out still be young,
have a lot of life ahead of me.
00:12:38.16\00:12:41.51
So I ended up going to prison
on a five year Sinton, Texas.
00:12:41.54\00:12:44.85
The first place I went
to was in Huntsville, Texas
00:12:44.88\00:12:48.03
which if anybody knows anything
00:12:48.06\00:12:49.47
about the prison system
in Huntsville, in Texas.
00:12:49.50\00:12:52.27
Huntsville is like
the prison capital.
00:12:52.30\00:12:54.92
In a small little town
you have like 6 day prison,
00:12:54.95\00:12:57.43
that's where you had a death
row and everything like that.
00:12:57.46\00:12:59.88
So it's like the
capital of prisons in Texas.
00:12:59.91\00:13:03.85
So I go to one of the
prisons there in Huntsville
00:13:03.88\00:13:06.39
and I mean it's like
rows and rows of raised wire,
00:13:06.42\00:13:09.73
you get there,
they transport you on,
00:13:09.76\00:13:11.88
this big blue bird bus and
you are all shackled up together
00:13:11.91\00:13:15.39
and you get there and it
was probably about 50 of us
00:13:15.42\00:13:18.56
that got
transported on this bus,
00:13:18.59\00:13:20.16
so we get in the intake unit.
00:13:20.19\00:13:22.32
We're totally stripped
00:13:22.35\00:13:23.98
and at that point you don't know
00:13:24.01\00:13:25.32
the guy next to
you and front of you,
00:13:25.35\00:13:27.00
behind you, don't know
who is checking you out
00:13:27.03\00:13:29.13
to try to rape
you or some later on,
00:13:29.16\00:13:31.14
you just have no
clue what's gonna go on.
00:13:31.17\00:13:33.84
So I got there.
Where you afraid?
00:13:33.87\00:13:35.85
Well, you know,
one thing I learned
00:13:35.88\00:13:37.18
because this wasn't my
first rodeo doing time.
00:13:37.21\00:13:39.60
So I knew how to
kind of handle myself
00:13:39.63\00:13:41.71
but you always have that
fear in the back of your mind
00:13:41.74\00:13:43.91
because you-- it's
like a fear of the unknown.
00:13:43.94\00:13:46.01
You don't know what
can, what's gonna happen?
00:13:46.04\00:13:48.02
You know, what
could possibly happen,
00:13:48.05\00:13:49.96
but you don't know
what's gonna happen.
00:13:49.99\00:13:52.44
So being that this
wasn't my first time,
00:13:52.47\00:13:54.37
I knew how to carry myself.
00:13:54.40\00:13:55.94
I've seen people
where, you know, get locked up
00:13:55.97\00:13:58.84
and get sometime
and shed some tears
00:13:58.87\00:14:01.07
and you know we all cry at times
00:14:01.10\00:14:03.45
but it's like in
there you can't show fear.
00:14:03.48\00:14:06.05
You can't show a
sensitive side of you
00:14:06.08\00:14:07.89
because there's somebody
who is going to pray on that,
00:14:07.92\00:14:10.07
and they'll know, okay,
that's their person's weak spot
00:14:10.10\00:14:12.26
and they are gonna take
advantage of their weak spot.
00:14:12.29\00:14:14.25
So I knew I couldn't do
that, so I was there for a week
00:14:14.28\00:14:18.43
at the intake unit in
Huntsville and then I ended up
00:14:18.46\00:14:20.93
getting
transferred to Beaumont, Texas,
00:14:20.96\00:14:22.89
one of the prisons in there,
I was there for few months
00:14:22.92\00:14:25.80
and from there that
unit was about to close down,
00:14:25.83\00:14:28.69
I went to east Texas, it
wasn't too far from Houston
00:14:28.72\00:14:31.68
and I went there, I did about
seven and half months there,
00:14:31.71\00:14:34.64
I did a total of little
over a year about 13 months
00:14:34.67\00:14:37.55
and when I came up for
parole, my first parole
00:14:37.58\00:14:39.72
I was able to get it, because
I haven't been in any trouble.
00:14:39.75\00:14:42.55
Praise the Lord, you know.
00:14:42.58\00:14:43.76
Weren't looking for trouble,
didn't get in any trouble.
00:14:43.79\00:14:46.20
I remember, you know, early
when I used to get locked up,
00:14:46.23\00:14:48.66
an old school guy, an
older guy he had told me
00:14:48.69\00:14:51.16
that when you get locked up,
00:14:51.19\00:14:52.49
sign up for every
thing that you can,
00:14:52.52\00:14:54.51
not that you are necessarily
trying to rehabilitate,
00:14:54.54\00:14:57.00
but in the eyes of the
people that don't know you,
00:14:57.03\00:14:59.32
in eyes of the
system, they see here somebody
00:14:59.35\00:15:01.35
that's trying to do something.
00:15:01.38\00:15:02.72
So when I got in the prison
oh, I signed of everything
00:15:02.75\00:15:05.12
that the last prison I was at
they had some call home habitat
00:15:05.15\00:15:07.58
where you learn how to
build home, signed up for that.
00:15:07.61\00:15:09.74
I already had my GD,
I signed for GD class.
00:15:09.77\00:15:12.69
I mean I just
signed of everything
00:15:12.72\00:15:14.13
just so I can look
good before parole board.
00:15:14.16\00:15:16.75
So I am-- I made my first
parole and I made a mistake.
00:15:16.78\00:15:20.57
You never tell
a person in prison
00:15:20.60\00:15:22.53
that you're about to get out.
00:15:22.56\00:15:23.93
Don't tell them that.
00:15:23.96\00:15:25.50
I literally saw
people turned on me
00:15:25.53\00:15:27.34
because the thing is
gonna meet the next person upset
00:15:27.37\00:15:30.59
where I am getting out
and the next person still has
00:15:30.62\00:15:33.81
how remaining years to do
00:15:33.84\00:15:35.46
and is just
like jealousy almost.
00:15:35.49\00:15:37.04
So instead of
being happy for you.
00:15:37.07\00:15:38.78
Oh, no. The hate now you.
00:15:38.81\00:15:40.14
No, they gonna hate quick.
00:15:40.17\00:15:41.56
There was only
maybe one maybe two
00:15:41.59\00:15:43.66
I have some I had a
few "good friends" in there
00:15:43.69\00:15:47.51
and one of them he was
real cool about me getting out,
00:15:47.54\00:15:50.51
he was cool with it
but the majority others
00:15:50.54\00:15:53.32
oh, man, they want to talk
to me anymore, they turned me.
00:15:53.35\00:15:55.64
I mean always
trying to pick some with me
00:15:55.67\00:15:57.53
but I had a stay clearer
00:15:57.56\00:15:58.85
because here I'm
about to get out.
00:15:58.88\00:16:00.65
You know within
the next three months
00:16:00.68\00:16:02.13
I'm gonna get out so I
tried to still stay away from
00:16:02.16\00:16:04.70
you know getting any
altercations or anything.
00:16:04.73\00:16:06.87
So I was able to get out
and while I was in prison
00:16:06.90\00:16:10.83
before I went to prison
I just used to smoke weed,
00:16:10.86\00:16:13.66
drink alcohol, smoke
black and mild cigarettes
00:16:13.69\00:16:16.14
but I had never actually
saw drugs like really big time.
00:16:16.17\00:16:19.74
Just a little weed
here and just small
00:16:19.77\00:16:22.11
but never really
learned a drug game like that.
00:16:22.14\00:16:24.26
So I got incarcerated
and that's were I learned
00:16:24.29\00:16:27.09
drug game because I'm really
like PhD is in a drug game.
00:16:27.12\00:16:30.04
That's what I
was gonna say I mean,
00:16:30.07\00:16:31.37
this is like a university
for you know for crime.
00:16:31.40\00:16:35.67
And that's exactly how
being incarnated is like
00:16:35.70\00:16:38.00
I went from
juvenile to jail to prison.
00:16:38.03\00:16:40.54
Its just like you go from
elementary school, juvenile,
00:16:40.57\00:16:43.12
you go middle school
or high school which was--
00:16:43.15\00:16:46.64
oh you got middle
school which was like jail
00:16:46.67\00:16:48.42
and then you go to high
school which was like prison.
00:16:48.45\00:16:50.47
So its like-- it's
like this progression
00:16:50.50\00:16:52.10
were most I didn't graduate
from high school I got a GD.
00:16:52.13\00:16:54.73
Where most people went
to the education system
00:16:54.76\00:16:56.78
I went through the jail system.
00:16:56.81\00:16:59.13
Right. Right. And so I
experienced all of that.
00:16:59.16\00:17:02.40
And so I get in
there and I linked up
00:17:02.43\00:17:04.71
with a guy that was from Miami.
00:17:04.74\00:17:06.27
We were very cool.
00:17:06.30\00:17:07.63
He used to give kilos of cocaine
00:17:07.66\00:17:09.79
from straight off
the boat with Colombians.
00:17:09.82\00:17:12.88
And you know that
whole area is big on cocaine
00:17:12.91\00:17:15.25
different things like
that with Columbians and all.
00:17:15.28\00:17:17.47
So he started to school
me on a whole on drug game
00:17:17.50\00:17:20.34
how to take a kilo
coca which you can be
00:17:20.37\00:17:23.26
about this big and
have to compress it down.
00:17:23.29\00:17:25.86
He used you some kind
of things were we compress
00:17:25.89\00:17:28.99
the drugs down to
make it the like this small
00:17:29.02\00:17:31.23
and he had
something that would take off
00:17:31.26\00:17:33.41
like the rim of a soda can
and they would transport drugs.
00:17:33.44\00:17:36.50
They would put the cocaine,
weed inside of the soda can
00:17:36.53\00:17:39.48
with the soda still in there
00:17:39.51\00:17:40.90
and they will
put the lid back on.
00:17:40.93\00:17:42.57
Whatever kind of
mechanism they have.
00:17:42.60\00:17:44.28
So he told me all of these
and taught me the whole game,
00:17:44.31\00:17:48.17
grams, ounces,
pounds how to move stuff.
00:17:48.20\00:17:50.70
So when I got out
00:17:50.73\00:17:51.99
I went to know of
Carolina are transfered
00:17:52.02\00:17:54.94
from my parole from
Texas to North Carolina.
00:17:54.97\00:17:57.19
My parents have moved there.
00:17:57.22\00:17:58.42
They were like
come there, you know,
00:17:58.45\00:17:59.71
how you get back on your
feet and things like that.
00:17:59.74\00:18:01.83
So I went but my mind
state was I'm going out there
00:18:01.86\00:18:05.14
I am finding drug places out
and I must start transporting
00:18:05.17\00:18:08.00
from Texas to North Carolina.
00:18:08.03\00:18:10.02
So I went there with the idea of
00:18:10.05\00:18:12.99
finding out the
prices of cocaine
00:18:13.02\00:18:15.41
and I found those out
but I was always scared
00:18:15.44\00:18:18.24
to actually mess with cocaine
00:18:18.27\00:18:19.73
so I just used it a little bit
in several and large quantities
00:18:19.76\00:18:23.63
I was scared because
of the amount of time.
00:18:23.66\00:18:25.42
And if I am scared of it
00:18:25.45\00:18:27.04
then you know I am
just not gonna do it.
00:18:27.07\00:18:28.75
So what I did is I linked up
00:18:28.78\00:18:30.12
with a friend from Dallas, Texas
00:18:30.15\00:18:31.84
and we started
moving pounds of marijuana
00:18:31.87\00:18:34.68
through the mail system
from Dallas to North Carolina.
00:18:34.71\00:18:37.56
Through the mail?
Through the mail system.
00:18:37.59\00:18:39.00
We would-- we move it
today we move it over night
00:18:39.03\00:18:43.40
and like today I
would get a pound of weed,
00:18:43.43\00:18:46.22
tomorrow I would have the
weed and I would hit the block
00:18:46.25\00:18:48.82
and I would sell literally
00:18:48.85\00:18:49.89
a pound of weed
in like two hours
00:18:49.92\00:18:51.35
and its a easy
thousand dollars right there.
00:18:51.38\00:18:53.04
So I mean fast
money it just counts.
00:18:53.07\00:18:55.34
And you know when you caught
up in that you caught up in it.
00:18:55.37\00:18:59.75
So you don't see pass that.
How did Jesus get hold of you?
00:18:59.78\00:19:03.82
Well, you know amazingly it
wasn't while I was in prison,
00:19:03.85\00:19:08.15
it wasn't while I was in jail.
00:19:08.18\00:19:09.77
I had tried to
change my life times before
00:19:09.80\00:19:12.74
but it never really stuck.
00:19:12.77\00:19:14.15
I had been fed up
with that lifestyle enough.
00:19:14.18\00:19:17.23
My head hit rock
bottom hard enough.
00:19:17.26\00:19:19.49
So in 2007 I moved to
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
00:19:19.52\00:19:23.74
Move from North Carolina
move to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
00:19:23.77\00:19:26.56
And I was running from
the Lord hard at that time.
00:19:26.59\00:19:29.04
I knew the different
between right and wrong.
00:19:29.07\00:19:31.26
And it was a difference
when you are dealing with people
00:19:31.29\00:19:33.40
that don't necessarily
know biblically right and wrong,
00:19:33.43\00:19:36.20
I knew the difference
biblically, morally, legally.
00:19:36.23\00:19:38.83
I knew that I was doing wrong
and I was purposely doing it.
00:19:38.86\00:19:42.10
And so I move there
and at and at that point
00:19:42.13\00:19:44.38
I was dealing with
cocaine using these drugs,
00:19:44.41\00:19:46.84
cocaine, little heroine,
ecstasy, prescription pills,
00:19:46.87\00:19:51.05
popping those,
alcohol, marijuana,
00:19:51.08\00:19:53.91
smoke a pack of cigarettes a day
00:19:53.94\00:19:55.64
and at times I would
do all of that at one time
00:19:55.67\00:19:57.92
just you know there
was no getting higher.
00:19:57.95\00:20:00.42
And actually my goal
like I thought this was
00:20:00.45\00:20:02.76
the grandest idea in life where
I would take some many drugs
00:20:02.79\00:20:05.16
that I would just
overdose and I will go to sleep
00:20:05.19\00:20:07.27
and just not wake up.
00:20:07.30\00:20:08.44
But praise the Lord I am
here today that didn't happen.
00:20:08.47\00:20:10.72
But at that
point I was like wow,
00:20:10.75\00:20:12.96
that's like the greatest things.
00:20:12.99\00:20:14.35
So I tried that
and it never worked.
00:20:14.38\00:20:16.97
I could easily
took the messy way out,
00:20:17.00\00:20:18.54
shot myself in
head or somewhere,
00:20:18.57\00:20:19.83
I had a gun at
that time but I didn't,
00:20:19.86\00:20:21.65
I didn't want to do it that way.
00:20:21.68\00:20:23.06
Is it something that you got as
high as you possibly could get
00:20:23.09\00:20:27.91
and you are miserable
that you could possibly take?
00:20:27.94\00:20:30.32
Oh yeah, beyond miserable
because that's not the way
00:20:30.35\00:20:33.29
God created us in a
very beginning of time
00:20:33.32\00:20:35.28
in the Book of Genesis
when He created humanity
00:20:35.31\00:20:38.15
its like He placed us locking
key method within the heart,
00:20:38.18\00:20:40.91
that the only thing
that can satisfy is Jesus.
00:20:40.94\00:20:44.03
You know, we can use everything
like a little Band-Aid
00:20:44.06\00:20:46.38
or something
like that to cover up.
00:20:46.41\00:20:47.85
But it doesn't
bring that eternal joy,
00:20:47.88\00:20:49.78
that eternal
happiness that you need.
00:20:49.81\00:20:52.37
It's what you have aside
from Jesus is circumstantial.
00:20:52.40\00:20:55.69
It's like a if been type thing.
00:20:55.72\00:20:57.12
If I get this then I am happy,
00:20:57.15\00:20:58.63
but with Jesus no
matter what you are in,
00:20:58.66\00:21:00.62
no matter what the
situation you have that joy.
00:21:00.65\00:21:03.64
And it's not until
now that I realized
00:21:03.67\00:21:05.64
that I want to change my life.
00:21:05.67\00:21:07.08
So, while I was
living in Baton Rouge,
00:21:07.11\00:21:09.34
I-- it was one
particular night I was high
00:21:09.37\00:21:11.79
on ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana
00:21:11.82\00:21:14.70
and I was drunken a
24 ounces of Bud Light.
00:21:14.73\00:21:17.12
And I have walked in a house
00:21:17.15\00:21:18.51
that night it was
like 11:30 at night.
00:21:18.54\00:21:20.55
I came in a room
when I walked in the room
00:21:20.58\00:21:22.61
there was like this fear
came upon me like never before
00:21:22.64\00:21:25.11
like there something in this
room that doesn't belong here.
00:21:25.14\00:21:27.66
You see, I don't belong here
00:21:27.69\00:21:29.11
or there's something in
here that doesn't belong.
00:21:29.14\00:21:30.49
It was a presence?
00:21:30.52\00:21:31.55
It was a presence
and I could feel it.
00:21:31.58\00:21:32.84
I could literally-- it
wasn't like a cocaine spook
00:21:32.87\00:21:34.87
where I think
somebody is out to give me
00:21:34.90\00:21:36.51
it was something
here and I could feel it.
00:21:36.54\00:21:38.61
So I got in there I closed
the blinds at 11:30 at night
00:21:38.64\00:21:41.02
I lay down on my
mattress on the floor
00:21:41.05\00:21:43.10
and when I laid on
the mattress on the floor
00:21:43.13\00:21:44.51
I looked up at the
ceiling and as I looked up
00:21:44.54\00:21:46.59
I could literally see
demons moving about on a ceiling
00:21:46.62\00:21:49.84
and it was like the spirit world
00:21:49.87\00:21:51.08
was starting to
reveal itself to me.
00:21:51.11\00:21:53.00
And at that moment I heard
the Holy Spirit speak to me.
00:21:53.03\00:21:56.04
I got scared, I
covered up my head with a cover
00:21:56.07\00:21:59.02
like you know like
that's gonna protect me
00:21:59.05\00:22:00.96
but I cover my head
off just like a little kid
00:22:00.99\00:22:03.07
and I heard the Holy
Spirit speak my name that night
00:22:03.10\00:22:05.33
and he said
Aaron, either you get
00:22:05.36\00:22:07.14
your life together
right now or I say.
00:22:07.17\00:22:09.17
I knew what that mean
because I knew the truth,
00:22:09.20\00:22:12.04
I knew the difference
between truth and error
00:22:12.07\00:22:14.40
what I was doing and I
knew that I was on the brink
00:22:14.43\00:22:16.56
of possibly committing
them unpardonable sin.
00:22:16.59\00:22:18.94
At 25 years old when
you running, you running,
00:22:18.97\00:22:21.62
you run and run
from God for so long
00:22:21.65\00:22:23.86
that He says let him
alone ye from his jointures
00:22:23.89\00:22:26.41
and its all out of love
because if you don't want
00:22:26.44\00:22:28.48
anything to do of God you know
00:22:28.51\00:22:30.14
God is not gonna
force himself upon you.
00:22:30.17\00:22:31.36
That's right. And I
appreciate that about God.
00:22:31.39\00:22:33.69
Satan doesn't do
that, he is just gonna
00:22:33.72\00:22:35.09
force himself
well no matter how.
00:22:35.12\00:22:36.49
By any means that's there.
By any mean's that's there.
00:22:36.52\00:22:38.28
So that night I knew that--
00:22:38.31\00:22:40.60
I knew that I was on
a brink of destruction
00:22:40.63\00:22:42.22
so I grabbed my cell phone
00:22:42.25\00:22:43.69
and I was just
sitting on like a lifeline
00:22:43.72\00:22:45.36
just hoping somebody grabs this.
00:22:45.39\00:22:46.81
Didn't want to call a friend
00:22:46.84\00:22:47.87
because a friend is gonna
tell me smoke some, drink some
00:22:47.90\00:22:49.89
and call me in the morning like
that's a doctors prescription.
00:22:49.92\00:22:52.46
So I grab my cell phone and I
send a text message to my dad.
00:22:52.49\00:22:56.02
Only thing I could think
of and I said I feel lost
00:22:56.05\00:22:58.39
and friendless and I
am pushed send doing it
00:22:58.42\00:23:00.46
didn't know if he will be awake.
00:23:00.49\00:23:01.60
He is hour time zone different
from me, figured he asleep.
00:23:01.63\00:23:04.37
He got the message five
minutes later my phone lit up
00:23:04.40\00:23:07.86
and it wasn't till years ago
00:23:07.89\00:23:09.26
you also repeat
yourself celebrating life
00:23:09.29\00:23:11.56
and recovery
that I heard his side.
00:23:11.59\00:23:13.32
When he got the phone he
saw it he went to the back room
00:23:13.35\00:23:16.24
he got on his
knees and he asked Lord,
00:23:16.27\00:23:18.60
what do I say to this boy.
00:23:18.63\00:23:19.70
So he text me back
and he text these words
00:23:19.73\00:23:22.27
what a friend we have in Jesus.
00:23:22.30\00:23:24.13
And when I got
down my world lit up
00:23:24.16\00:23:26.43
and I called him on a
phone, we talked on a phone
00:23:26.46\00:23:29.20
and we prayed and then
when he got off the phone
00:23:29.23\00:23:31.85
I pray for myself
and I got on my knees
00:23:31.88\00:23:34.17
and is nothing like
praying for yourself
00:23:34.20\00:23:35.69
for real not begging
the Lord for something.
00:23:35.72\00:23:37.78
And I pray for
myself and as I did that
00:23:37.81\00:23:40.07
I literally felt Satan rising
off of my back and Jesus name.
00:23:40.10\00:23:44.32
It was like he was just
pulling him off of my back.
00:23:44.35\00:23:47.11
And from that point I
made a decision in 2008
00:23:47.14\00:23:49.74
I am gonna serve the Lord.
00:23:49.77\00:23:50.82
And as I continue to come to
cross I saw this habit stopping
00:23:50.85\00:23:53.69
this habit
stopping, this habit stop.
00:23:53.72\00:23:55.44
Now it's been over six years
00:23:55.47\00:23:56.55
since I have done
any of that stuff.
00:23:56.58\00:23:57.65
Praise God. What
are you doing now?
00:23:57.68\00:23:59.49
Well, what I am
doing now is I am actually
00:23:59.52\00:24:01.16
a theology major
at Oakwood University.
00:24:01.19\00:24:03.42
I have two years
left until I graduate.
00:24:03.45\00:24:05.20
Praise the Lord
what He get it done.
00:24:05.23\00:24:07.06
And you are doing, I am gonna
brag about you a little bit.
00:24:07.09\00:24:10.17
You are doing so
academically-- what's your GPA?
00:24:10.20\00:24:14.16
My GPA right now
is around a 3.7, 3.8
00:24:14.19\00:24:17.76
and you know the beautiful thing
00:24:17.79\00:24:19.19
is how God restores the mind.
00:24:19.22\00:24:20.77
you know, you got
to get glorious of God.
00:24:20.80\00:24:22.72
Because you know
in the college career
00:24:22.75\00:24:24.33
now been in for two year
00:24:24.36\00:24:25.49
I haven't had anything
less than a "B" and its amazing
00:24:25.52\00:24:27.99
because here somebody they
didn't do anything in school.
00:24:28.02\00:24:30.27
I have went to school
and I use so many drugs
00:24:30.30\00:24:32.79
that just eat away your
brain and your brain cells.
00:24:32.82\00:24:35.25
But here is the
God I serve the God
00:24:35.28\00:24:36.62
they is into
restoration business.
00:24:36.65\00:24:38.00
Come on, come on.
00:24:38.03\00:24:39.06
And He restored me
to the fact where now
00:24:39.09\00:24:40.68
I may would have give Him
glory even in my school work.
00:24:40.71\00:24:43.20
You know it just like
amazing guy getting happy.
00:24:43.23\00:24:45.08
Come on, come on I
mean, that's attractive to me.
00:24:45.11\00:24:47.19
That's right.
00:24:47.22\00:24:48.25
It is amazing how you
know God can restore your brain
00:24:48.28\00:24:51.98
to where now I have
nothing less than a "B"
00:24:52.01\00:24:54.08
haven't had
anything less than a "B"
00:24:54.11\00:24:55.44
when I got accepted to Oakwood
00:24:55.47\00:24:57.02
they gave me an
academic scholarship,
00:24:57.05\00:24:58.81
didn't turned
around after my first year,
00:24:58.84\00:25:00.30
they gave me a mostly wanted
00:25:00.33\00:25:01.55
theology
scholarship for my GPA as well.
00:25:01.58\00:25:03.97
So it's just the
blessing what God can do.
00:25:04.00\00:25:05.53
Praise God. Oh, that's--
00:25:05.56\00:25:07.33
you know what I was thinking
00:25:07.36\00:25:08.39
when you were talking you
went Huntsville for prison.
00:25:08.42\00:25:12.12
And you went to
Huntsville. Amen.
00:25:12.15\00:25:14.29
Alabama. For school.
00:25:14.32\00:25:15.52
For school. To be set free. Wow.
00:25:15.55\00:25:18.50
Isn't that amazing?
That's amazing correlation.
00:25:18.53\00:25:20.31
Huntsville, God is so good
and God's got a plan for you
00:25:20.34\00:25:25.12
and we always talk about on
Dare to Dream in Urban Report,
00:25:25.15\00:25:28.74
God's got a plan for you.
00:25:28.77\00:25:30.08
Look at what God
did in your life. Amen.
00:25:30.11\00:25:33.35
Quickly tell us what do we have
00:25:33.38\00:25:34.85
to look forward to
on the New Journey.
00:25:34.88\00:25:37.85
Well the New
journey, it's a great program
00:25:37.88\00:25:39.75
because you know
I interview people
00:25:39.78\00:25:41.45
who have various
testimonies like me.
00:25:41.48\00:25:43.41
Who have been incarcerated,
who have sold drugs,
00:25:43.44\00:25:45.93
use drugs, who have
straight away from the--
00:25:45.96\00:25:49.09
the name implies
itself the New Journey.
00:25:49.12\00:25:51.23
Meaning that
you on a old journey
00:25:51.26\00:25:52.90
going the opposite direction
00:25:52.93\00:25:54.27
God got a hold to
you turn to around
00:25:54.30\00:25:56.42
and now you are on a
completely new journey.
00:25:56.45\00:25:58.35
So it's a great program where
we see people's testimonies.
00:25:58.38\00:26:01.22
And the Bible says there
are two ways to overcome Satan
00:26:01.25\00:26:03.97
is by the blood of the
lamb, by the blood of Jesus
00:26:04.00\00:26:05.88
and by the word
of their testimony.
00:26:05.91\00:26:07.41
So this is the program that
you definitely want to tune in
00:26:07.44\00:26:09.67
to as well as
other programs on 3ABN
00:26:09.70\00:26:11.97
because you see
strong testimonies of people
00:26:12.00\00:26:14.39
who was serving Satan but
are now serving Jesus Christ
00:26:14.42\00:26:17.25
in the ministry
in some type of way.
00:26:17.28\00:26:18.77
Amen.
00:26:18.80\00:26:19.83
Thank you so
much for being with us
00:26:19.86\00:26:22.17
and for the job
that you're doing
00:26:22.20\00:26:23.55
and for letting God use you.
00:26:23.58\00:26:25.51
Amen, thank you. Thank
you. May God bless you?
00:26:25.54\00:26:27.24
Yes ma'am, thank you. Take care.
00:26:27.27\00:26:28.57
All right.
00:26:28.60\00:26:29.82
Oh, doesn't Aaron
have a powerful testimony.
00:26:38.63\00:26:42.80
You know when I talked to him
00:26:42.83\00:26:44.69
I get this feeling of excitement
00:26:44.72\00:26:49.66
because I know that our
God can change your life.
00:26:49.69\00:26:53.00
I know that our God
can take someone who is
00:26:53.03\00:26:56.28
on that downwards
spiral and lift them up
00:26:56.31\00:26:59.53
and give them the abandoned life
00:26:59.56\00:27:01.57
and God wants to do
that for you as well.
00:27:01.60\00:27:04.21
So know that wherever you
are in your circumstances,
00:27:04.24\00:27:07.97
in your life's journey wherever
you are there is hope for you.
00:27:08.00\00:27:12.39
God can take your life if
you just not doing the things
00:27:12.42\00:27:16.76
that you wanted
do, if you feel like
00:27:16.79\00:27:18.67
you just keep following
and you just can't really
00:27:18.70\00:27:21.16
get up know that
God's got a plan for you
00:27:21.19\00:27:24.06
and He is going to
put you on solid ground
00:27:24.09\00:27:27.22
and give you the abandoned life.
00:27:27.25\00:27:29.38
Just accept Jesus
Christ as your Savior
00:27:29.41\00:27:32.06
and know that He
is got a plan for you.
00:27:32.09\00:27:35.78
I just want you also to know
that if you have a testimony
00:27:35.81\00:27:40.27
or a story that you'd
like to share on Dare to Dream
00:27:40.30\00:27:43.55
please contact us
here at 3ABN, P.O. Box 220,
00:27:43.58\00:27:49.07
West Frankfort, Illinois 62896.
00:27:49.10\00:27:52.81
Well, that's the end
of our program for today,
00:27:52.84\00:27:55.83
we hope and pray
that you'd been blessed
00:27:55.86\00:27:58.11
that you will continue to
support us with your prayers
00:27:58.14\00:28:01.43
and your financial support
00:28:01.46\00:28:03.19
and tell your
friends about Dare to Dream.
00:28:03.22\00:28:05.60
Tell everybody you
know about Dare to Dream
00:28:05.63\00:28:08.02
so that we can
share this good news
00:28:08.05\00:28:10.37
of Jesus Christ with the world.
00:28:10.40\00:28:12.64
Thanks for tuning
in join us next time
00:28:12.67\00:28:14.70
it just wouldn't be
the same without you.
00:28:14.73\00:28:18.10