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,
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you have to keep
pressing through,
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keep praying because
God is hearing your prayers
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and even if you go to sleep
before that child comes back.
00:08:43.55\00:08:47.02
You can still find
that, you know, in the kingdom
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that child will be there
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because you prayed
that child through.
00:08:51.19\00:08:53.66
So your parents were praying
and your dad specifically.
00:08:53.70\00:08:57.57
And that's a very
important thing too,
00:08:57.60\00:08:59.73
the role of fathers in the home.
00:08:59.77\00:09:02.44
True indeed. True indeed.
00:09:02.47\00:09:03.51
So what happened after that?
00:09:03.54\00:09:05.34
Well, after I got
incarcerated when I was 17
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charged first time as an adult.
00:09:08.14\00:09:10.08
I was locked up for
total about 9 months between
00:09:10.11\00:09:12.91
prison boot camp, jail,
halfway house, house arrest.
00:09:12.95\00:09:16.69
I got in trouble one
time and it put me in jail
00:09:16.72\00:09:19.45
for a weekend while I
had that thing on my ankle
00:09:19.49\00:09:21.39
because I violated,
but he let me back out.
00:09:21.42\00:09:24.16
I was on 3 years of probation
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and if I would have
completed that 3 years,
00:09:27.50\00:09:29.90
I would have been
off, would have been done
00:09:29.93\00:09:31.57
with the system pretty
much but it's like when you get
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into their
lifestyle, it's almost like
00:09:34.07\00:09:35.70
you are trapped in the
circle chasing your tail.
00:09:35.74\00:09:37.91
And it's very hard to get out
because what ends up happening
00:09:37.94\00:09:40.58
and this is important
00:09:40.61\00:09:41.61
because a lot of
young people don't think
00:09:41.64\00:09:43.04
about this how
to fix their future,
00:09:43.08\00:09:44.95
but you know, it's
hard to get a good job.
00:09:44.98\00:09:47.65
So, it's like, okay, now you
have this addiction for money,
00:09:47.68\00:09:50.29
but now you have these
crimes on you, in your record
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where it prevents you
from getting certain jobs.
00:09:53.92\00:09:55.96
I remember back when I
used to live in Dallas, Texas
00:09:55.99\00:09:59.03
and there was a
job at home depot
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and was paying like $10 hour.
00:10:01.30\00:10:02.80
I was 18 at the time.
00:10:02.83\00:10:04.23
$10 hour sounded good
to me and I wanted it.
00:10:04.27\00:10:07.54
And I remember I
got the interview
00:10:07.57\00:10:09.17
because normally I'd
put on my application,
00:10:09.20\00:10:11.14
have you been
convicted of felony.
00:10:11.17\00:10:12.37
I'll put, will
explain in the interview,
00:10:12.41\00:10:14.54
just you know,
I'll explain it better
00:10:14.58\00:10:16.21
because they're going
to do background check
00:10:16.24\00:10:17.48
on certain jobs anyhow.
00:10:17.51\00:10:19.08
So I try to be
little honest bob,
00:10:19.11\00:10:20.65
you know in certain situation.
00:10:20.68\00:10:22.78
Sometimes I would
just lie on that but,
00:10:22.82\00:10:25.05
anyhow I got the
interview and he asked me
00:10:25.09\00:10:28.09
what was the crime I
told him what it was,
00:10:28.12\00:10:30.19
it was home invasion, burglary,
you know it involves stealing.
00:10:30.23\00:10:33.23
And he told me straight up.
00:10:33.26\00:10:34.40
He say, if you would had a
drug charge, I'd have hired you.
00:10:34.46\00:10:37.10
But because you
have stealing charges
00:10:37.13\00:10:39.30
things like
that, I can't hire you.
00:10:39.33\00:10:41.07
So it's like, okay,
00:10:41.10\00:10:42.20
now I've limited
myself of what I could get
00:10:42.24\00:10:44.94
because I have
the stealing charges
00:10:44.97\00:10:46.64
and robbery charges and things.
00:10:46.68\00:10:48.28
I've limited
myself, so now it's like
00:10:48.31\00:10:50.25
I'm stuck in this
circle and I can't get out,
00:10:50.28\00:10:52.75
so what I'd
revert back to crime.
00:10:52.78\00:10:55.42
Which is what you know.
Yeah. Which is what I knew.
00:10:55.45\00:10:57.92
One of the things
that-- Oh, man, and this is--
00:10:57.95\00:11:02.22
it got me like all worked up
because it's one of my burdens.
00:11:02.26\00:11:05.99
Okay.
00:11:06.03\00:11:07.40
You see that our
guys particularly
00:11:07.40\00:11:10.20
African-American and
Latino guys are locked out.
00:11:10.23\00:11:13.77
Once you get that felony,
you go for job interview,
00:11:13.80\00:11:18.17
you can't vote, you
can't live certain places,
00:11:18.21\00:11:21.71
you aren't
eligible, it messes you up.
00:11:21.74\00:11:24.68
And it's based on some decisions
00:11:24.71\00:11:27.18
you made that weren't smart.
00:11:27.22\00:11:29.95
Yeah, that's right.
00:11:29.98\00:11:31.09
You make bad decisions
and then your life is wrecked
00:11:31.12\00:11:35.56
as a result of it,
unless you find Jesus.
00:11:35.59\00:11:38.43
So go ahead. Tell
us some more about it.
00:11:38.46\00:11:40.36
So I didn't complete that
probation, a 3 year probation.
00:11:40.40\00:11:43.26
I ended up catching
another charge in Texas,
00:11:43.30\00:11:45.70
I'm 19 years old, I
had broken into a bank
00:11:45.73\00:11:48.80
as well as rob the subway
and because I had the priors,
00:11:48.84\00:11:53.51
I got incarcerated
and the judge was trying
00:11:53.54\00:11:56.41
to give me 10 years, or the DA,
00:11:56.44\00:11:57.71
the District Attorney was
trying to give me 10 years.
00:11:57.75\00:12:00.65
One thing about
what my parents will do,
00:12:00.68\00:12:02.08
they, they would
never bond me out of jail.
00:12:02.12\00:12:04.95
Because, you know,
they always figured
00:12:04.99\00:12:06.65
if I am in jail at
least I know where he is at.
00:12:06.69\00:12:09.09
That's true.
00:12:09.12\00:12:10.09
Yeah, they knew
where I was because I mean,
00:12:10.13\00:12:11.76
there was no telling where
I'd be for days at the time
00:12:11.79\00:12:14.63
and at least they knew, okay,
I know he is here or whatever.
00:12:14.66\00:12:17.67
So they knew
that, make a right move,
00:12:17.70\00:12:19.00
different things like
that and then come visit.
00:12:19.03\00:12:21.10
So the DA was trying to
give me 10 years in prison
00:12:21.14\00:12:24.07
and I had a
court appointed lawyer
00:12:24.11\00:12:25.94
and he got it down to
five and he came to me
00:12:25.97\00:12:28.24
and asked me,
would you take five.
00:12:28.28\00:12:29.98
So I counted on my
fingers 19, 21, 22, 23, 24,
00:12:30.01\00:12:33.45
if I did the whole five,
I would be out by the time
00:12:33.48\00:12:35.52
I'm 24, I'm like cool,
I can do it to 5 years,
00:12:35.55\00:12:38.02
I'd be out still be young,
have a lot of life ahead of me.
00:12:38.05\00:12:41.42
So I ended up going to prison
on a five year Sinton, Texas.
00:12:41.46\00:12:44.76
The first place I went
to was in Huntsville, Texas
00:12:44.79\00:12:47.93
which if anybody knows anything
00:12:47.96\00:12:49.36
about the prison system
in Huntsville, in Texas.
00:12:49.40\00:12:52.17
Huntsville is like
the prison capital.
00:12:52.20\00:12:54.80
In a small little town
you have like 6 day prison,
00:12:54.84\00:12:57.31
that's where you had a death
row and everything like that.
00:12:57.34\00:12:59.77
So it's like the
capital of prisons in Texas.
00:12:59.81\00:13:03.75
So I go to one of the
prisons there in Huntsville
00:13:03.78\00:13:06.28
and I mean it's like
rows and rows of raised wire,
00:13:06.31\00:13:09.62
you get there,
they transport you on,
00:13:09.65\00:13:11.79
this big blue bird bus and
you are all shackled up together
00:13:11.82\00:13:15.29
and you get there and it
was probably about 50 of us
00:13:15.32\00:13:18.46
that got
transported on this bus,
00:13:18.49\00:13:20.06
so we get in the intake unit.
00:13:20.10\00:13:22.20
We're totally stripped
00:13:22.23\00:13:23.87
and at that point you don't know
00:13:23.90\00:13:25.20
the guy next to
you and front of you,
00:13:25.23\00:13:26.87
behind you, don't know
who is checking you out
00:13:26.90\00:13:29.00
to try to rape
you or some later on,
00:13:29.04\00:13:31.04
you just have no
clue what's gonna go on.
00:13:31.07\00:13:33.74
So I got there.
Where you afraid?
00:13:33.78\00:13:35.74
Well, you know,
one thing I learned
00:13:35.78\00:13:37.08
because this wasn't my
first rodeo doing time.
00:13:37.11\00:13:39.48
So I knew how to
kind of handle myself
00:13:39.51\00:13:41.62
but you always have that
fear in the back of your mind
00:13:41.65\00:13:43.82
because you-- it's
like a fear of the unknown.
00:13:43.85\00:13:45.92
You don't know what
can, what's gonna happen?
00:13:45.95\00:13:47.92
You know, what
could possibly happen,
00:13:47.96\00:13:49.86
but you don't know
what's gonna happen.
00:13:49.89\00:13:52.36
So being that this
wasn't my first time,
00:13:52.39\00:13:54.30
I knew how to carry myself.
00:13:54.30\00:13:55.83
I've seen people
where, you know, get locked up
00:13:55.86\00:13:58.73
and get sometime
and shed some tears
00:13:58.77\00:14:00.97
and you know we all cry at times
00:14:01.00\00:14:03.34
but it's like in
there you can't show fear.
00:14:03.37\00:14:05.94
You can't show a
sensitive side of you
00:14:05.97\00:14:07.78
because there's somebody
who is going to pray on that,
00:14:07.81\00:14:09.98
and they'll know, okay,
that's their person's weak spot
00:14:10.01\00:14:12.15
and they are gonna take
advantage of their weak spot.
00:14:12.18\00:14:14.15
So I knew I couldn't do
that, so I was there for a week
00:14:14.18\00:14:18.32
at the intake unit in
Huntsville and then I ended up
00:14:18.35\00:14:20.82
getting
transferred to Beaumont, Texas,
00:14:20.86\00:14:22.79
one of the prisons in there,
I was there for few months
00:14:22.82\00:14:25.69
and from there that
unit was about to close down,
00:14:25.73\00:14:28.56
I went to east Texas, it
wasn't too far from Houston
00:14:28.60\00:14:31.57
and I went there, I did about
seven and half months there,
00:14:31.60\00:14:34.54
I did a total of little
over a year about 13 months
00:14:34.57\00:14:37.44
and when I came up for
parole, my first parole
00:14:37.47\00:14:39.61
I was able to get it, because
I haven't been in any trouble.
00:14:39.64\00:14:42.44
Praise the Lord, you know.
00:14:42.48\00:14:43.61
Weren't looking for trouble,
didn't get in any trouble.
00:14:43.65\00:14:46.08
I remember, you know, early
when I used to get locked up,
00:14:46.11\00:14:48.55
an old school guy, an
older guy he had told me
00:14:48.58\00:14:51.05
that when you get locked up,
00:14:51.09\00:14:52.39
sign up for every
thing that you can,
00:14:52.42\00:14:54.42
not that you are necessarily
trying to rehabilitate,
00:14:54.46\00:14:56.89
but in the eyes of the
people that don't know you,
00:14:56.93\00:14:59.23
in eyes of the
system, they see here somebody
00:14:59.26\00:15:01.23
that's trying to do something.
00:15:01.26\00:15:02.60
So when I got in the prison
oh, I signed of everything
00:15:02.63\00:15:05.00
that the last prison I was at
they had some call home habitat
00:15:05.03\00:15:07.47
where you learn how to
build home, signed up for that.
00:15:07.50\00:15:09.64
I already had my GD,
I signed for GD class.
00:15:09.67\00:15:12.57
I mean I just
signed of everything
00:15:12.61\00:15:14.01
just so I can look
good before parole board.
00:15:14.04\00:15:16.64
So I am-- I made my first
parole and I made a mistake.
00:15:16.68\00:15:20.48
You never tell
a person in prison
00:15:20.52\00:15:22.42
that you're about to get out.
00:15:22.45\00:15:23.82
Don't tell them that.
00:15:23.85\00:15:25.39
I literally saw
people turned on me
00:15:25.42\00:15:27.26
because the thing is
gonna meet the next person upset
00:15:27.29\00:15:30.49
where I am getting out
and the next person still has
00:15:30.53\00:15:33.73
how remaining years to do
00:15:33.76\00:15:35.33
and is just
like jealousy almost.
00:15:35.36\00:15:36.93
So instead of
being happy for you.
00:15:36.97\00:15:38.67
Oh, no. The hate now you.
00:15:38.70\00:15:40.04
No, they gonna hate quick.
00:15:40.07\00:15:41.44
There was only
maybe one maybe two
00:15:41.47\00:15:43.54
I have some I had a
few "good friends" in there
00:15:43.57\00:15:47.41
and one of them he was
real cool about me getting out,
00:15:47.44\00:15:50.41
he was cool with it
but the majority others
00:15:50.45\00:15:53.21
oh, man, they want to talk
to me anymore, they turned me.
00:15:53.25\00:15:55.55
I mean always
trying to pick some with me
00:15:55.58\00:15:57.42
but I had a stay clearer
00:15:57.45\00:15:58.75
because here I'm
about to get out.
00:15:58.79\00:16:00.56
You know within
the next three months
00:16:00.59\00:16:02.02
I'm gonna get out so I
tried to still stay away from
00:16:02.06\00:16:04.59
you know getting any
altercations or anything.
00:16:04.63\00:16:06.80
So I was able to get out
and while I was in prison
00:16:06.83\00:16:10.70
before I went to prison
I just used to smoke weed,
00:16:10.73\00:16:13.54
drink alcohol, smoke
black and mild cigarettes
00:16:13.57\00:16:16.04
but I had never actually
saw drugs like really big time.
00:16:16.07\00:16:19.64
Just a little weed
here and just small
00:16:19.67\00:16:22.01
but never really
learned a drug game like that.
00:16:22.04\00:16:24.15
So I got incarcerated
and that's were I learned
00:16:24.18\00:16:26.98
drug game because I'm really
like PhD is in a drug game.
00:16:27.02\00:16:29.95
That's what I
was gonna say I mean,
00:16:29.98\00:16:31.29
this is like a university
for you know for crime.
00:16:31.32\00:16:35.59
And that's exactly how
being incarnated is like
00:16:35.62\00:16:37.89
I went from
juvenile to jail to prison.
00:16:37.93\00:16:40.46
Its just like you go from
elementary school, juvenile,
00:16:40.50\00:16:43.00
you go middle school
or high school which was--
00:16:43.03\00:16:46.53
oh you got middle
school which was like jail
00:16:46.57\00:16:48.30
and then you go to high
school which was like prison.
00:16:48.34\00:16:50.37
So its like-- it's
like this progression
00:16:50.41\00:16:51.97
were most I didn't graduate
from high school I got a GD.
00:16:52.01\00:16:54.61
Where most people went
to the education system
00:16:54.64\00:16:56.68
I went through the jail system.
00:16:56.71\00:16:59.01
Right. Right. And so I
experienced all of that.
00:16:59.05\00:17:02.28
And so I get in
there and I linked up
00:17:02.32\00:17:04.62
with a guy that was from Miami.
00:17:04.65\00:17:06.19
We were very cool.
00:17:06.22\00:17:07.52
He used to give kilos of cocaine
00:17:07.56\00:17:09.69
from straight off
the boat with Colombians.
00:17:09.72\00:17:12.79
And you know that
whole area is big on cocaine
00:17:12.83\00:17:15.13
different things like
that with Columbians and all.
00:17:15.16\00:17:17.37
So he started to school
me on a whole on drug game
00:17:17.40\00:17:20.24
how to take a kilo
coca which you can be
00:17:20.27\00:17:23.14
about this big and
have to compress it down.
00:17:23.17\00:17:25.74
He used you some kind
of things were we compress
00:17:25.77\00:17:28.88
the drugs down to
make it the like this small
00:17:28.91\00:17:31.11
and he had
something that would take off
00:17:31.15\00:17:33.31
like the rim of a soda can
and they would transport drugs.
00:17:33.35\00:17:36.38
They would put the cocaine,
weed inside of the soda can
00:17:36.42\00:17:39.39
with the soda still in there
00:17:39.42\00:17:40.79
and they will
put the lid back on.
00:17:40.82\00:17:42.49
Whatever kind of
mechanism they have.
00:17:42.52\00:17:44.19
So he told me all of these
and taught me the whole game,
00:17:44.23\00:17:48.06
grams, ounces,
pounds how to move stuff.
00:17:48.10\00:17:50.57
So when I got out
00:17:50.60\00:17:51.87
I went to know of
Carolina are transfered
00:17:51.90\00:17:54.84
from my parole from
Texas to North Carolina.
00:17:54.87\00:17:57.07
My parents have moved there.
00:17:57.11\00:17:58.31
They were like
come there, you know,
00:17:58.34\00:17:59.61
how you get back on your
feet and things like that.
00:17:59.64\00:18:01.71
So I went but my mind
state was I'm going out there
00:18:01.74\00:18:05.05
I am finding drug places out
and I must start transporting
00:18:05.08\00:18:07.88
from Texas to North Carolina.
00:18:07.92\00:18:09.92
So I went there with the idea of
00:18:09.95\00:18:12.89
finding out the
prices of cocaine
00:18:12.92\00:18:15.32
and I found those out
but I was always scared
00:18:15.36\00:18:18.16
to actually mess with cocaine
00:18:18.19\00:18:19.63
so I just used it a little bit
in several and large quantities
00:18:19.66\00:18:23.50
I was scared because
of the amount of time.
00:18:23.53\00:18:25.30
And if I am scared of it
00:18:25.33\00:18:26.94
then you know I am
just not gonna do it.
00:18:26.97\00:18:28.64
So what I did is I linked up
00:18:28.67\00:18:30.01
with a friend from Dallas, Texas
00:18:30.04\00:18:31.74
and we started
moving pounds of marijuana
00:18:31.77\00:18:34.58
through the mail system
from Dallas to North Carolina.
00:18:34.61\00:18:37.45
Through the mail?
Through the mail system.
00:18:37.48\00:18:38.88
We would-- we move it
today we move it over night
00:18:38.91\00:18:43.28
and like today I
would get a pound of weed,
00:18:43.32\00:18:46.12
tomorrow I would have the
weed and I would hit the block
00:18:46.15\00:18:48.72
and I would sell literally
00:18:48.76\00:18:49.79
a pound of weed
in like two hours
00:18:49.82\00:18:51.26
and its a easy
thousand dollars right there.
00:18:51.29\00:18:52.96
So I mean fast
money it just counts.
00:18:52.99\00:18:55.23
And you know when you caught
up in that you caught up in it.
00:18:55.26\00:18:59.63
So you don't see pass that.
How did Jesus get hold of you?
00:18:59.67\00:19:03.71
Well, you know amazingly it
wasn't while I was in prison,
00:19:03.74\00:19:08.04
it wasn't while I was in jail.
00:19:08.08\00:19:09.68
I had tried to
change my life times before
00:19:09.71\00:19:12.65
but it never really stuck.
00:19:12.68\00:19:14.05
I had been fed up
with that lifestyle enough.
00:19:14.08\00:19:17.12
My head hit rock
bottom hard enough.
00:19:17.15\00:19:19.39
So in 2007 I moved to
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
00:19:19.42\00:19:23.66
Move from North Carolina
move to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
00:19:23.69\00:19:26.46
And I was running from
the Lord hard at that time.
00:19:26.49\00:19:28.93
I knew the different
between right and wrong.
00:19:28.96\00:19:31.13
And it was a difference
when you are dealing with people
00:19:31.17\00:19:33.27
that don't necessarily
know biblically right and wrong,
00:19:33.30\00:19:36.07
I knew the difference
biblically, morally, legally.
00:19:36.10\00:19:38.71
I knew that I was doing wrong
and I was purposely doing it.
00:19:38.74\00:19:41.98
And so I move there
and at and at that point
00:19:42.01\00:19:44.28
I was dealing with
cocaine using these drugs,
00:19:44.31\00:19:46.75
cocaine, little heroine,
ecstasy, prescription pills,
00:19:46.78\00:19:50.95
popping those,
alcohol, marijuana,
00:19:50.99\00:19:53.82
smoke a pack of cigarettes a day
00:19:53.86\00:19:55.56
and at times I would
do all of that at one time
00:19:55.59\00:19:57.83
just you know there
was no getting higher.
00:19:57.86\00:20:00.33
And actually my goal
like I thought this was
00:20:00.36\00:20:02.63
the grandest idea in life where
I would take some many drugs
00:20:02.66\00:20:05.03
that I would just
overdose and I will go to sleep
00:20:05.07\00:20:07.17
and just not wake up.
00:20:07.20\00:20:08.30
But praise the Lord I am
here today that didn't happen.
00:20:08.34\00:20:10.61
But at that
point I was like wow,
00:20:10.64\00:20:12.84
that's like the greatest things.
00:20:12.87\00:20:14.24
So I tried that
and it never worked.
00:20:14.28\00:20:16.88
I could easily
took the messy way out,
00:20:16.91\00:20:18.45
shot myself in
head or somewhere,
00:20:18.48\00:20:19.71
I had a gun at
that time but I didn't,
00:20:19.75\00:20:21.55
I didn't want to do it that way.
00:20:21.58\00:20:22.85
Is it something that you got as
high as you possibly could get
00:20:22.88\00:20:27.82
and you are miserable
that you could possibly take?
00:20:27.86\00:20:30.23
Oh yeah, beyond miserable
because that's not the way
00:20:30.26\00:20:33.19
God created us in a
very beginning of time
00:20:33.23\00:20:35.16
in the Book of Genesis
when He created humanity
00:20:35.20\00:20:38.03
its like He placed us locking
key method within the heart,
00:20:38.07\00:20:40.80
that the only thing
that can satisfy is Jesus.
00:20:40.84\00:20:43.91
You know, we can use everything
like a little Band-Aid
00:20:43.94\00:20:46.27
or something
like that to cover up.
00:20:46.31\00:20:47.74
But it doesn't
bring that eternal joy,
00:20:47.78\00:20:49.68
that eternal
happiness that you need.
00:20:49.71\00:20:52.28
It's what you have aside
from Jesus is circumstantial.
00:20:52.31\00:20:55.58
It's like a if been type thing.
00:20:55.62\00:20:57.02
If I get this then I am happy,
00:20:57.05\00:20:58.52
but with Jesus no
matter what you are in,
00:20:58.55\00:21:00.52
no matter what the
situation you have that joy.
00:21:00.56\00:21:03.56
And it's not until
now that I realized
00:21:03.59\00:21:05.56
that I want to change my life.
00:21:05.59\00:21:07.00
So, while I was
living in Baton Rouge,
00:21:07.03\00:21:09.23
I-- it was one
particular night I was high
00:21:09.26\00:21:11.67
on ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana
00:21:11.70\00:21:14.57
and I was drunken a
24 ounces of Bud Light.
00:21:14.60\00:21:17.01
And I have walked in a house
00:21:17.04\00:21:18.41
that night it was
like 11:30 at night.
00:21:18.44\00:21:20.44
I came in a room
when I walked in the room
00:21:20.48\00:21:22.51
there was like this fear
came upon me like never before
00:21:22.54\00:21:25.01
like there something in this
room that doesn't belong here.
00:21:25.05\00:21:27.55
You see, I don't belong here
00:21:27.58\00:21:29.02
or there's something in
here that doesn't belong.
00:21:29.05\00:21:30.39
It was a presence?
00:21:30.42\00:21:31.45
It was a presence
and I could feel it.
00:21:31.49\00:21:32.75
I could literally-- it
wasn't like a cocaine spook
00:21:32.79\00:21:34.79
where I think
somebody is out to give me
00:21:34.82\00:21:36.42
it was something
here and I could feel it.
00:21:36.46\00:21:38.53
So I got in there I closed
the blinds at 11:30 at night
00:21:38.56\00:21:40.93
I lay down on my
mattress on the floor
00:21:40.96\00:21:42.96
and when I laid on
the mattress on the floor
00:21:43.00\00:21:44.40
I looked up at the
ceiling and as I looked up
00:21:44.43\00:21:46.47
I could literally see
demons moving about on a ceiling
00:21:46.50\00:21:49.74
and it was like the spirit world
00:21:49.77\00:21:50.97
was starting to
reveal itself to me.
00:21:51.01\00:21:52.87
And at that moment I heard
the Holy Spirit speak to me.
00:21:52.91\00:21:55.94
I got scared, I
covered up my head with a cover
00:21:55.98\00:21:58.91
like you know like
that's gonna protect me
00:21:58.95\00:22:00.85
but I cover my head
off just like a little kid
00:22:00.88\00:22:02.98
and I heard the Holy
Spirit speak my name that night
00:22:03.02\00:22:05.22
and he said
Aaron, either you get
00:22:05.25\00:22:07.06
your life together
right now or I say.
00:22:07.09\00:22:09.09
I knew what that mean
because I knew the truth,
00:22:09.12\00:22:11.96
I knew the difference
between truth and error
00:22:11.99\00:22:14.30
what I was doing and I
knew that I was on the brink
00:22:14.30\00:22:16.43
of possibly committing
them unpardonable sin.
00:22:16.46\00:22:18.83
At 25 years old when
you running, you running,
00:22:18.87\00:22:21.50
you run and run
from God for so long
00:22:21.54\00:22:23.74
that He says let him
alone ye from his jointures
00:22:23.77\00:22:26.31
and its all out of love
because if you don't want
00:22:26.34\00:22:28.38
anything to do of God you know
00:22:28.41\00:22:30.05
God is not gonna
force himself upon you.
00:22:30.08\00:22:31.25
That's right. And I
appreciate that about God.
00:22:31.28\00:22:33.58
Satan doesn't do
that, he is just gonna
00:22:33.62\00:22:34.98
force himself
well no matter how.
00:22:35.02\00:22:36.38
By any means that's there.
By any mean's that's there.
00:22:36.42\00:22:38.19
So that night I knew that--
00:22:38.22\00:22:40.49
I knew that I was on
a brink of destruction
00:22:40.52\00:22:42.12
so I grabbed my cell phone
00:22:42.16\00:22:43.59
and I was just
sitting on like a lifeline
00:22:43.63\00:22:45.26
just hoping somebody grabs this.
00:22:45.29\00:22:46.73
Didn't want to call a friend
00:22:46.76\00:22:47.86
because a friend is gonna
tell me smoke some, drink some
00:22:47.93\00:22:49.76
and call me in the morning like
that's a doctors prescription.
00:22:49.80\00:22:52.33
So I grab my cell phone and I
send a text message to my dad.
00:22:52.37\00:22:55.90
Only thing I could think
of and I said I feel lost
00:22:55.94\00:22:58.27
and friendless and I
am pushed send doing it
00:22:58.31\00:23:00.34
didn't know if he will be awake.
00:23:00.38\00:23:01.58
He is hour time zone different
from me, figured he asleep.
00:23:01.61\00:23:04.28
He got the message five
minutes later my phone lit up
00:23:04.31\00:23:07.75
and it wasn't till years ago
00:23:07.78\00:23:09.15
you also repeat
yourself celebrating life
00:23:09.18\00:23:11.45
and recovery
that I heard his side.
00:23:11.49\00:23:13.22
When he got the phone he
saw it he went to the back room
00:23:13.25\00:23:16.16
he got on his
knees and he asked Lord,
00:23:16.19\00:23:18.49
what do I say to this boy.
00:23:18.53\00:23:19.46
So he text me back
and he text these words
00:23:19.49\00:23:22.16
what a friend we have in Jesus.
00:23:22.20\00:23:24.00
And when I got
down my world lit up
00:23:24.03\00:23:26.30
and I called him on a
phone, we talked on a phone
00:23:26.33\00:23:29.07
and we prayed and then
when he got off the phone
00:23:29.10\00:23:31.74
I pray for myself
and I got on my knees
00:23:31.77\00:23:34.08
and is nothing like
praying for yourself
00:23:34.11\00:23:35.58
for real not begging
the Lord for something.
00:23:35.61\00:23:37.68
And I pray for
myself and as I did that
00:23:37.71\00:23:39.98
I literally felt Satan rising
off of my back and Jesus name.
00:23:40.02\00:23:44.22
It was like he was just
pulling him off of my back.
00:23:44.25\00:23:47.02
And from that point I
made a decision in 2008
00:23:47.06\00:23:49.66
I am gonna serve the Lord.
00:23:49.69\00:23:50.93
And as I continue to come to
cross I saw this habit stopping
00:23:50.96\00:23:53.60
this habit
stopping, this habit stop.
00:23:53.63\00:23:55.33
Now it's been over six years
00:23:55.36\00:23:56.43
since I have done
any of that stuff.
00:23:56.46\00:23:57.53
Praise God. What
are you doing now?
00:23:57.57\00:23:59.37
Well, what I am
doing now is I am actually
00:23:59.40\00:24:01.04
a theology major
at Oakwood University.
00:24:01.07\00:24:03.30
I have two years
left until I graduate.
00:24:03.34\00:24:05.07
Praise the Lord
what He get it done.
00:24:05.11\00:24:06.94
And you are doing, I am gonna
brag about you a little bit.
00:24:06.98\00:24:10.08
You are doing so
academically-- what's your GPA?
00:24:10.11\00:24:14.05
My GPA right now
is around a 3.7, 3.8
00:24:14.08\00:24:17.65
and you know the beautiful thing
00:24:17.69\00:24:19.09
is how God restores the mind.
00:24:19.12\00:24:20.69
you know, you got
to get glorious of God.
00:24:20.72\00:24:22.62
Because you know
in the college career
00:24:22.66\00:24:24.23
now been in for two year
00:24:24.26\00:24:25.39
I haven't had anything
less than a "B" and its amazing
00:24:25.43\00:24:27.86
because here somebody they
didn't do anything in school.
00:24:27.93\00:24:30.17
I have went to school
and I use so many drugs
00:24:30.20\00:24:32.67
that just eat away your
brain and your brain cells.
00:24:32.70\00:24:35.14
But here is the
God I serve the God
00:24:35.17\00:24:36.50
they is into
restoration business.
00:24:36.54\00:24:37.87
Come on, come on.
00:24:37.91\00:24:38.81
And He restored me
to the fact where now
00:24:38.84\00:24:40.58
I may would have give Him
glory even in my school work.
00:24:40.61\00:24:43.08
You know it just like
amazing guy getting happy.
00:24:43.11\00:24:44.98
Come on, come on I
mean, that's attractive to me.
00:24:45.01\00:24:47.08
That's right.
00:24:47.12\00:24:48.25
It is amazing how you
know God can restore your brain
00:24:48.28\00:24:51.89
to where now I have
nothing less than a "B"
00:24:51.92\00:24:53.99
haven't had
anything less than a "B"
00:24:54.02\00:24:55.36
when I got accepted to Oakwood
00:24:55.39\00:24:56.93
they gave me an
academic scholarship,
00:24:56.96\00:24:58.73
didn't turned
around after my first year,
00:24:58.76\00:25:00.20
they gave me a mostly wanted
00:25:00.23\00:25:01.43
theology
scholarship for my GPA as well.
00:25:01.46\00:25:03.87
So it's just the
blessing what God can do.
00:25:03.90\00:25:05.40
Praise God. Oh, that's--
00:25:05.43\00:25:07.20
you know what I was thinking
00:25:07.24\00:25:08.34
when you were talking you
went Huntsville for prison.
00:25:08.37\00:25:12.01
And you went to
Huntsville. Amen.
00:25:12.04\00:25:14.18
Alabama. For school.
00:25:14.21\00:25:15.41
For school. To be set free. Wow.
00:25:15.44\00:25:18.38
Isn't that amazing?
That's amazing correlation.
00:25:18.41\00:25:20.22
Huntsville, God is so good
and God's got a plan for you
00:25:20.25\00:25:25.02
and we always talk about on
Dare to Dream in Urban Report,
00:25:25.05\00:25:28.66
God's got a plan for you.
00:25:28.69\00:25:29.99
Look at what God
did in your life. Amen.
00:25:30.03\00:25:33.26
Quickly tell us what do we have
00:25:33.29\00:25:34.73
to look forward to
on the New Journey.
00:25:34.76\00:25:37.73
Well the New
journey, it's a great program
00:25:37.77\00:25:39.63
because you know
I interview people
00:25:39.67\00:25:41.34
who have various
testimonies like me.
00:25:41.37\00:25:43.30
Who have been incarcerated,
who have sold drugs,
00:25:43.34\00:25:45.81
use drugs, who have
straight away from the--
00:25:45.84\00:25:48.98
the name implies
itself the New Journey.
00:25:49.01\00:25:51.11
Meaning that
you on a old journey
00:25:51.15\00:25:52.78
going the opposite direction
00:25:52.81\00:25:54.18
God got a hold to
you turn to around
00:25:54.22\00:25:56.32
and now you are on a
completely new journey.
00:25:56.35\00:25:58.25
So it's a great program where
we see people's testimonies.
00:25:58.29\00:26:01.12
And the Bible says there
are two ways to overcome Satan
00:26:01.16\00:26:03.89
is by the blood of the
lamb, by the blood of Jesus
00:26:03.93\00:26:05.79
and by the word
of their testimony.
00:26:05.83\00:26:07.30
So this is the program that
you definitely want to tune in
00:26:07.36\00:26:09.56
to as well as
other programs on 3ABN
00:26:09.60\00:26:11.87
because you see
strong testimonies of people
00:26:11.90\00:26:14.27
who was serving Satan but
are now serving Jesus Christ
00:26:14.30\00:26:17.14
in the ministry
in some type of way.
00:26:17.17\00:26:18.67
Amen.
00:26:18.71\00:26:19.71
Thank you so
much for being with us
00:26:19.74\00:26:22.08
and for the job
that you're doing
00:26:22.11\00:26:23.45
and for letting God use you.
00:26:23.48\00:26:25.41
Amen, thank you. Thank
you. May God bless you?
00:26:25.45\00:26:27.15
Yes ma'am, thank you. Take care.
00:26:27.18\00:26:28.48
All right.
00:26:28.52\00:26:29.78
Oh, doesn't Aaron
have a powerful testimony.
00:26:38.53\00:26:42.66
You know when I talked to him
00:26:42.70\00:26:44.57
I get this feeling of excitement
00:26:44.60\00:26:49.54
because I know that our
God can change your life.
00:26:49.57\00:26:52.87
I know that our God
can take someone who is
00:26:52.91\00:26:56.18
on that downwards
spiral and lift them up
00:26:56.21\00:26:59.41
and give them the abandoned life
00:26:59.45\00:27:01.48
and God wants to do
that for you as well.
00:27:01.52\00:27:04.12
So know that wherever you
are in your circumstances,
00:27:04.15\00:27:07.89
in your life's journey wherever
you are there is hope for you.
00:27:07.92\00:27:12.29
God can take your life if
you just not doing the things
00:27:12.33\00:27:16.63
that you wanted
do, if you feel like
00:27:16.67\00:27:18.57
you just keep following
and you just can't really
00:27:18.60\00:27:21.04
get up know that
God's got a plan for you
00:27:21.07\00:27:23.94
and He is going to
put you on solid ground
00:27:23.97\00:27:27.11
and give you the abandoned life.
00:27:27.14\00:27:29.28
Just accept Jesus
Christ as your Savior
00:27:29.31\00:27:31.95
and know that He
is got a plan for you.
00:27:31.98\00:27:35.68
I just want you also to know
that if you have a testimony
00:27:35.72\00:27:40.19
or a story that you'd
like to share on Dare to Dream
00:27:40.22\00:27:43.46
please contact us
here at 3ABN, P.O. Box 220,
00:27:43.49\00:27:48.96
West Frankfort, Illinois 62896.
00:27:49.00\00:27:52.70
Well, that's the end
of our program for today,
00:27:52.73\00:27:55.70
we hope and pray
that you'd been blessed
00:27:55.74\00:27:58.01
that you will continue to
support us with your prayers
00:27:58.04\00:28:01.31
and your financial support
00:28:01.34\00:28:03.08
and tell your
friends about Dare to Dream.
00:28:03.11\00:28:05.48
Tell everybody you
know about Dare to Dream
00:28:05.51\00:28:07.92
so that we can
share this good news
00:28:07.95\00:28:10.29
of Jesus Christ with the world.
00:28:10.32\00:28:12.55
Thanks for tuning
in join us next time
00:28:12.59\00:28:14.59
it just wouldn't be
the same without you.
00:28:14.62\00:28:18.09