Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Donell Morgan
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000007
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00:11 Welcome to "The New Journey,"
00:12 the program where we meet real life people, 00:14 with real life testimonies, 00:16 with real life working ministries for Jesus. 00:18 "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, 00:21 that saved a wretch like me. 00:22 I once was lost but now I'm found, 00:25 was blind but now I see." 00:27 John Newton wrote this amazing song 00:28 of "Amazing Grace" over 200 years ago. 00:31 And interestingly enough, 00:32 the lyrics fit perfectly with our guest today. 00:35 Meet the man that was sentenced to 99 years in prison, 00:38 but is a free man today, gain hope 00:40 as you see how God can transform a life, 00:43 then place him in pastoral ministry. 00:45 This could be your success story. 00:47 I'm your host, Aaron Chancy. 00:48 Come join us on "The New Journey". 01:18 We like to welcome the viewers 01:20 back to this "New Journey" program. 01:21 Today our guest is Pastor Donell Morgan. 01:25 Welcome, Pastor Morgan. 01:26 Thank you. All right, all right. 01:28 Now we want to focus on your amazing testimony 01:31 of God's amazing saving grace. 01:33 We want to focus on four areas of your life, 01:35 your early childhood, how you got involved in crime, 01:39 changing your life 01:40 and your battle with even learning how to read. 01:42 And we want to talk about your work 01:43 as an ordained minister for God. 01:46 But before we get into those four aspects of your life, 01:49 you have a book that's written. 01:50 Now I want you to talk a little bit 01:51 about what prompted you, 01:53 what motivated you to want to write this book? 01:54 Well, what prompted me 01:56 and motivated me to write this book, 02:00 I used to go around from church to church. 02:03 Telling my testimonies. Okay. 02:05 Telling my testimony. 02:07 And the people had asked me 02:10 to put my life story in the book. 02:12 But the main person that had an influence over me 02:18 was Elder C. 02:20 Uh, Elder Dudley. 02:21 He was the president of South Central Conference. 02:26 And he had asked me to put my testimony in a book. 02:29 And he would like to see it before he actually passed away. 02:35 And so my wife and I, we have gotten busy 02:38 to put the testimony in the book 02:42 and the book was finished in March 02:45 and Elder Dudley had passed away in April. 02:49 Okay, okay. 02:50 What's the name of your book? 02:51 The name of it is very interesting. 02:53 Tell the viewers what that is. 02:54 The name of the book is "The Call." 02:56 The sub-topic is "To Hang Out with a Good God 03:01 That Keeps Bad Company." 03:03 You know, that is amazing because we do serve a good God 03:06 and he saves bad company like us. 03:09 We're not the greatest company at times, 03:10 we're a complaining people, disgruntled people, 03:13 but God wants to hang out with us. 03:15 That's right. 03:16 That's amazing, that's amazing. Powerful, very powerful book. 03:18 We want to talk a little bit about your early life now. 03:20 Where were you born? Where did you grow up at? 03:22 I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. 03:25 New Orleans, Louisiana. 03:26 And raised in the Magnolia and the Melpomene Project. 03:30 Okay, okay. 03:31 Now I know a little bit about the Magnolia and the Melpomene. 03:33 I know about New Orleans in itself. 03:35 I used to live in Baton Rouge. 03:37 And you know, New Orleans is, to me is like a different city 03:40 than any other city that I've been in. 03:42 Uh, when I would go down there, 03:44 I would hang out in the projects, 03:45 The Desire, The Magnolia, The Calliope. 03:48 I know about these projects, I know about these areas. 03:50 So I'm very familiar with your upbringing. 03:52 It was probably difficult coming up, wasn't it? 03:55 Definitely very difficult coming up 03:58 because my daddy left my mother 04:03 when I was about 2 or 3 years old. 04:07 And I can remember having seven step fathers in the house. 04:13 And... 04:14 Was that hard to see you have a step father 04:16 in your life at one point, for a little while, 04:19 and then he's gone, then another one comes and another? 04:21 How was it dealing with that? 04:23 Well, that was very difficult to accept. 04:27 Okay. 04:28 Seven step fathers coming into my life. 04:33 And one of them, you know, has beaten me severely. 04:39 And I made up my mind 04:42 that I was not going to be beaten again by a step father. 04:47 Okay, okay. I can understand. 04:49 So that was a real hard upbringing that you had. 04:51 Did you grow up in a Christian home? 04:53 Was your mother a Christian? 04:54 Uh, did you have a grandmother that was a Christian? 04:56 Talk a little bit about that. 04:58 Uh, no. I did not grow up in a Christian home. 05:03 But I did grow up in a home that my mother would pray, 05:09 but I wouldn't call it a Christian home. 05:12 My grandmother, 05:14 she was very, very fond of me. 05:19 You see, she is, in other words, I was her, 05:23 I would guess I was her... 05:25 Her baby. Her baby. 05:27 Yeah, it actually...Okay, okay. 05:28 I was her baby. 05:29 And everything I needed, 05:32 you know, she supplied it for me. 05:34 That's my grandmother. 05:35 Okay, okay, amen. 05:37 Tell us how you got involved in the criminal lifestyle? 05:40 What were some underlying factors 05:42 that led to you getting involved in crime? 05:44 Okay. 05:46 One of my step fathers had gotten upset with my mother. 05:51 And he said to her that if it's the last thing he does, 05:58 he's going to get even with her. 06:00 Wow. So he did. 06:02 He went down to the Food Stamp and Welfare Department 06:06 and he told the people there that he was living with us 06:10 and buying food for us and buying clothes for us, 06:16 and the department wanted to know 06:19 if his clothes were still in the house. 06:22 And he said, "Yes." 06:23 So upon investigation, 06:26 they came and found his clothes there 06:30 and they cut my mother off from welfare and food stamps. 06:36 So I saw my mother in the corner. 06:41 She was crying and she was praying and she was asking God, 06:46 "How am I going to take care of my children?" 06:49 How are you gonna make it? Yeah. 06:50 How are we gonna make it? 06:51 And when I looked at her and heard those words, 06:55 I said to myself at that particular time, 07:00 "We are not going to starve." 07:03 So I did not go back to school. 07:06 You see, and back then, at that time, if he was absent, 07:10 they wouldn't call the house and say, 07:12 "Well, your child wasn't in school today." 07:15 So it's almost like they didn't even care 07:17 whether you came to school or not. 07:18 That is correct. Okay. 07:20 So I went out to the grocery stores 07:23 and was asking people, 07:25 "Can I help them with their groceries 07:29 because my mother was cut off of welfare and food stamps?" 07:34 And I was out there just trying to make some money, 07:38 earn some money to help take care of my family. 07:43 Okay. You see. 07:45 And so they would give me 25 cents, 07:49 some a dollar, some 15 cents. 07:52 But the money was not coming in fast enough. 07:56 So I went to the golf clubs, beginning to carry, 08:02 what we call caddy bags. 08:05 By... 08:07 and Caddy bags and so by me being a young man 08:14 I could not get a green ticket. 08:15 I was only able to get a yellow ticket. 08:18 The yellow ticket paid $3.50, 08:21 3 dollars and 50 cents for 18 holes, 08:25 where the green tickets paid like... 08:29 $5 or $6 for 18 holes. 08:33 So I was out there for some time, 08:37 way up from sun up to sun down 08:38 and all I was able to bring home 08:40 was sort of like $12.50, $15, 08:45 and that was not enough. 08:48 So I turned to selling drugs. 08:53 Now, I turned to selling drugs with a good intention. 08:57 Yeah, the good intention, okay. 08:58 The good intention was that we needed some food. 09:03 Okay, you know what's rather interesting is 09:06 that, you know, you got into selling drugs 09:09 with the purpose of good intentions. 09:11 You needed food. That's right. 09:12 It wasn't as, you know, "I want this fancy car, 09:15 I want these fancy clothes, I want the biggest house." 09:18 It wasn't like that. 09:19 It was a person that look, "I see my family struggling, 09:22 the caddy job's not working, 09:24 different things aren't working." 09:25 So it was like you had good intentions when you began? 09:28 Good intentions when I began. 09:31 Because I knew that once... 09:35 after this six months was up 09:38 where my mother was cut off from welfare and food stamps 09:44 that I would be able to get out of it. 09:48 And go on to something else. 09:52 But instead... 09:56 I began to use. 09:58 Yeah, okay. The drugs. 10:00 Now at this point how old were you, 10:01 at this point when you began selling the drugs 10:03 and you began using the drugs? 10:04 I think I was between 12 and 13 years old. 10:09 You know the system, most 12-13 year olds, 10:12 they should be in school, they should be learning. 10:15 They shouldn't be having to do anything like that, 10:16 selling drugs, using drugs. 10:18 But here you are, a 12-13 years old 10:20 trying to support your family. 10:22 My family. 10:23 Okay, how many people were in your family 10:25 at that time in your household? 10:26 That was five, that was six of us. 10:29 Okay. 10:30 Okay, I had two... 10:34 two brothers and three sisters. 10:37 Were you the oldest? 10:39 No, I was the second to the oldest. 10:40 Okay, so you felt that you had to go out there 10:42 and basically provide for your family at that point. 10:45 At that point when I saw my mother crying and saying. 10:50 As it broke your heart. 10:52 "What am I going to do?" 10:55 Okay, because see, my mother and I was very close. 11:02 And when one of my step dads, is like I was saying earlier. 11:06 Yeah, seven step fathers. 11:08 That he was abusing me by whipping me, 11:11 you know, I looked over at my mother, 11:15 and I looked into her eyes and when I looked into her eyes 11:22 I realised that... 11:26 she felt my pain. 11:29 And when I realised that she felt my pain 11:34 as my step father was beating me, 11:38 as long as I kept my eyes on my mother 11:41 I did not feel the pain. 11:43 You see, so... 11:47 trying to get back to the original question 11:50 that you had asked me 11:52 and I would like for you to repeat it. 11:54 Okay, dealing with the drugs, at what point, 11:57 at what age did you began using the drugs 12:00 and what kind of drugs were you on at that point? 12:03 Okay, like I was saying, 12:05 selling the drugs and using the drugs, 12:07 it was between the age of 12 and 13. 12:11 Okay, I first started with sniffing glue. 12:15 That's where I first started, with sniffing glue. 12:18 Are you talking about like, Elmer's glue? 12:20 Elmer's glue. Wow. 12:21 You put it in the bag and just sniff it. 12:24 And also, we would put gasoline on a rag 12:28 and put it in a bag and then 12:30 we would begin to sniff the glue. 12:34 But I was selling drugs, 12:38 I was selling mostly marijuana and angel dust. 12:44 Okay, now, the money was coming in pretty good 12:48 as I was selling the drugs. 12:50 But when I began to use the drugs, okay, 12:55 then I had to have more money. 12:59 Yeah, yeah. 13:01 So I turned to home robbery, robbing people. 13:07 You see, because I was using the profit 13:10 that I was using to give to my mother. 13:13 You know, it's interesting 13:14 that you started out with good intentions. 13:17 You know, just six months, 13:18 I'm gonna sell these drugs for six months. 13:20 But the devil wouldn't let it only be six months. 13:22 He said "No, it's gonna be some time." 13:24 And you know, that's the thing because many times 13:26 when we go out there in our lifestyle, 13:28 we think "Well, I just want to try it for a little while. 13:30 Maybe a year, may be for two. 13:32 Next thing you know, 10-15 years later, 13:35 you're still in that life. 13:36 I'm still in that life. Still in that life. 13:38 So at 16 years old, you were in incarcerated. 13:41 What was that charge you were incarcerated for? 13:43 At 16 years old, I was arrested for home robbery 13:49 and attempted murder. 13:52 And there was a blessing in that 13:54 where you eventually went before the judge, 13:56 he sentenced you to 99 years, right? 13:58 That's right. 14:00 Now, there's a great blessing there 14:01 because you're sitting here with me today 14:03 and you don't look 99 years old, right now. 14:05 That's correct. 14:06 So we got to find out what that blessing is 14:08 but before I get to that, you know most people say that 14:12 "There's a void in my life somewhere. 14:14 There was a void. I realised that there was a void." 14:16 Did you have that same void in your life 14:18 we're trying to mask it up with different things? 14:20 Oh, yes, definitely I had a emptiness in my life. 14:27 And while I was out there, 14:30 I was trying to find something. 14:34 And I've thought it was in drugs. 14:36 I thought it was in... 14:39 in womens. 14:41 I thought it was in liquor. I thought it was in drugs. 14:45 I thought it was in all of these type of things. 14:48 You know, but when Jesus found me 14:52 out there on the streets, 14:54 I was high on angel dust, marijuana, 14:58 and Old Grand-Dad 100 proof. 15:01 Old Grand-Dad. 15:03 I was high when Jesus found me. 15:06 Wow, you know that's interesting 15:07 because actually when Jesus found me I was high, too. 15:10 I was on cocaine. I was on ecstasy. 15:12 I was on marijuana. I was on alcohol. 15:14 All at one time. 15:16 And it's interesting that even through all of that mess, 15:19 that God can still find us and then we can open our ears, 15:23 somehow, to listen to what God has to say. 15:26 That's amazing, amazing grace. Yeah. 15:28 Now, back to being sentenced to 99 years, 15:31 what took place in that? 15:32 And what was the blessing out of that? 15:33 Okay, being sentenced to 99 years, 15:38 I went before to judge 15:40 and the judge has sentenced me to 99 years. 15:45 Well, of course, when I was young, 15:47 that didn't bother me. 15:48 I went back for my cell. 15:50 But it bothered my mother 15:53 and my cigarette-puffing grandmother. 15:56 Cigarette-puffing grandmother. 15:57 Yeah. 15:59 Cigarette puffing grandmother and they prayed. 16:03 Okay. 16:04 They prayed to God and ask God 16:09 to please a move up on the judge heart, 16:14 to take those 99 years back. 16:18 And the next day, the judge called me back to court. 16:23 My mother and grandmother was there. 16:26 And he said that, 16:30 "I never gave a young man 16:35 that, a 99 years... 16:37 Yeah, that amount of time. 16:39 That amount of time" Okay. 16:41 He said, "But what I'm going to do-- " 16:43 and then also he said "A first timer." 16:46 I was young, I was first. 16:48 Now, it wasn't your first time committing crime... 16:50 Oh, no, no. First time getting caught. 16:51 First time getting caught. Okay, okay. 16:54 And so he took that 99 years back 16:59 and he gave me 2 years and a half. 17:02 Wow, that's an incredible answer to prayer. 17:04 Incredible, then he called me back the next day and said 17:09 "I never gave anybody, 2 and half years 17:13 for home robbery and attempted murder." 17:17 So what he did was, he broke the time down, 17:22 he broke the choice down, that's what they call it. 17:24 Broke it down to attempted home robbery 17:29 and gave me 3 years in the Angola, 17:34 Louisiana State Prison. 17:36 Angola State Prison, now, 17:37 Angola I known for being infamous, 17:40 especially, years ago 17:42 Angola was known for being an infamous prison. 17:44 What was it like as a young man 17:46 being in this maximum security prison? 17:48 Well, actually this it what it was like for me. 17:54 I saw a lot of people getting stabbed. 17:59 I saw a lot of people that was killed 18:04 by mouth being drowned in a toilet. 18:08 And it was a nightmare. 18:13 But I didn't know God at all. 18:18 And didn't want nothing to do with God. 18:20 Yeah, okay. 18:22 So I start praying everyday while I was in prison saying, 18:26 "Lord, thank you very much for protecting me 18:31 and please protect me." 18:34 Now, this time you're praying. 18:35 You didn't even have a relationship with God. 18:37 No relationship. Okay. 18:39 Actually I took the word of God, the Bible, 18:42 and threw it on the ground and stamped it. 18:44 Wow. Okay, no relationship. 18:47 And then, I was praying everyday. 18:50 Because see, some of the friends, 18:53 we call them fall partners, 18:55 some of them and I were friends, 18:57 had gotten killed. 19:00 And because I came with them, 19:02 I was just about in danger as they were. 19:06 So as I was praying, God had blessed me not to get hurt. 19:14 Amen. And not to get killed. 19:16 But when I was out of prison, I went home, 19:24 kneeled down on the floor, and I said 19:27 "God, thank you for protecting me, 19:30 but now I don't need you anymore." 19:33 You know that's amazing. 19:34 Back in the streets, I'm went. 19:35 You know, at times 19:37 when we're in dangerous situations, 19:38 we want to call out to God, "Lord, help me, Lord, save me." 19:41 And as soon as He pulls us out of that mess, 19:44 we go right back to the same exact thing. 19:46 Right back to the same. 19:47 You know, it never fails at times. 19:49 Many people have gone through that, 19:51 when they are in bad situations, 19:53 they call on the name of Jesus. 19:54 As soon as something changes, they say, "You know what Lord? 19:58 I don't want anything to do with you." 20:00 That's not cool. 20:01 That's not what I'm interested in. 20:02 You know, you had another incredible answer to prayer, 20:05 while you were in Angola, 20:07 which took you out of that 20:08 maximum security prison to another prison. 20:10 Talk a little about that. 20:12 Yeah, again, my mother 20:13 and my cigarette-puffing grandmother, 20:17 they got together and they prayed. 20:20 Hello, Prayer meeting. Hello, Prayer meeting. 20:22 You see, and they knew about the Quincy, 20:28 the Quincy Alabama, 20:30 where first timers, you see, 20:34 can go there and it's not as hard as it was in Angola. 20:41 So it's more like a minimum or medium security prison. 20:43 Correct. Okay. 20:45 That's right. All right. 20:46 And so they began to pray, and ask God that 20:50 if I can be moved from Angola, 20:55 Louisiana to the Quincy, Louisiana. 20:59 And again, now, I'm already in Angola, 21:02 already in a Louisiana State Penitentiary, 21:05 and they prayed. 21:08 And when they prayed, I get a letter, 21:13 stating that I'm going to be transferred 21:16 from Louisiana State Penitentiary 21:19 to the Quincy, Louisiana, 21:22 where I spent the rest of my time in discharge. 21:25 Mm, another incredible answer to prayer. 21:27 Incredible answer to prayer. Amen, amen. 21:28 Now, you were sentenced to 99 years, 21:30 then the judge gave you 2 and a half, 21:32 then he brought you back and gave you 3 years. 21:34 How much time did you end up spending on that 3 years? 21:38 1 year, 11 months and 5 days. 21:40 Wow, you remember it to the day. 21:42 Yeah. 21:43 To the day, that's all we have to do, is remember. 21:45 You know, I remember when I was incarcerated, 21:48 everybody kind of makes their own little calendar. 21:50 Day one, day two, day three, 21:52 and you just keep track on 21:53 how much time you spend in prison. 21:55 So you got out, you said, "You know what Lord, 21:57 I don't want anything to do with you." 21:59 No more. 22:00 Now, let's transition over to, 22:02 you eventually got off the drugs, 22:04 you had a struggle getting off the drugs. 22:06 You got off those. 22:07 And you began to start to find Jesus. 22:10 Talk about you battle to read, 22:12 and how you found Jesus through learning to read. 22:15 That's very good. 22:16 I was high on angel dust and angel dust, 22:23 marijuana and Old Grand-Dad. 22:27 And I was just casually behind a store there 22:31 that's called Swagmans which is not there anymore. 22:36 And as I was just there, standing there, high, 22:39 you know, meeting with my brother, 22:41 and other guys that was around us hanging out. 22:45 There was a lady that came out of grocery store 22:47 and she asked me, she said, "Do you have a fare?" 22:51 I said, "No, Ma'am." 22:53 And she said, "Can you take me home?" 22:55 I said, "Yes." Okay. 22:56 So as I was taking her home, 22:59 by the time I got to the railroad track 23:02 where the Desire Project was, I got out of the taxi cab 23:08 and begin to preach Jesus to that lady. 23:10 Wow. 23:12 And then as I was preaching, there I'm preaching Jesus. 23:14 And you don't even have a relationship with Jesus. 23:15 No relationship, don't want no relationship. 23:18 And you're preaching Jesus. And preaching Jesus. 23:21 So after I got through preaching Jesus, 23:24 I brought her home and then I went back, 23:27 to chill out with my brothers and the fellows 23:32 and another lady came up. 23:35 When she came out, she asks me can I take her home, 23:39 and I say "Yes." 23:40 And as I was driving her home, 23:44 I stopped at the same railroad track 23:47 and begin to preach Jesus to her. 23:50 Okay, and after I got them through preaching Jesus, 23:56 I brought her home. 23:59 Okay, so I began to see this change in me. 24:04 Okay. Okay. 24:06 And I'm saying to Jesus, I said, "Listen 24:10 how can I preach Jesus? 24:12 I cannot preach you." "I don't even know Jesus, yet." 24:14 Yes, and then I said, only when I'm high. 24:21 Because when the high left off, I was afraid, 24:24 I thought something was going to get me. 24:26 And I hurry up and run, and get the drugs again. 24:30 Yeah, tying to get high, yeah. 24:31 And smoke, then, I start preaching Jesus to everybody. 24:34 You see, and then when it wore off, 24:37 again, I did the same thing. 24:40 And I said, "Lord, why when I'm high 24:43 I can say something about you?" Okay. 24:45 And at that time, he took the Old Grand-Daddy away, 24:49 I couldn't find none in New Orleans. 24:51 He took the marijuana and angel dust away. 24:55 Folk was giving me angel dust, I try to smoke, 24:58 and I wasn't getting high. 25:00 And I had the cigarette in my mouth, 25:02 God said, "Throw the cigarette away." 25:06 No, he told me, "Throw the pack of cigarette away." 25:08 So I throw the packet away, 25:10 he said, "Throw the cigarette away." 25:12 I said, "Can I just smoke this one?" 25:14 He said, "No, throw it away." 25:16 "Throw it all of it." "Throw it all, all away." 25:18 Okay, now, in your book, you a us story 25:21 about you were driving a cab one day 25:23 and a lady began to read John 14 to you. 25:25 Yes. Tell about that. 25:27 Okay, yes. 25:28 When God began to move in my life, okay, 25:32 I wanted to read, I wanted to learn about God, 25:35 so I went and bought a $5 Bible. 25:38 And as I was driving the cab, I was asking the people, 25:42 "What this word is?" 25:43 They say, "Let," the other one, "Not." 25:46 And we went all the way through the book of John Chapter 14. 25:49 John Chapter 14. Wow. 25:51 Okay, by the time I got to the end of that, 25:54 okay, I forgot everything and I became frustrated. 25:59 And then, I got up early that morning, 26:02 driving down for Red Street, and I saw a big fat lady. 26:07 She was huge. 26:09 It took about 5 minutes to get in the cab. 26:13 I brought her home 26:15 and all of the story is in the book. 26:18 Okay, okay. Is in the book. 26:19 So what I did was, when I dropped her off, 26:23 she gave me the fare, and I wrote the address down, 26:30 and when I drove to the corner of Lafayette, 26:34 I look up there and saw Lafayette, 26:37 and I wrote the... 26:39 Wrote the name of the street. 26:40 The name of the street on my trip sheet 26:43 because I couldn't read and write 26:44 but that's how I was able to spell. 26:46 Yeah, you could catch the letters, okay. 26:47 But anyway, when I opened up the Saint John Chapter 14, 26:53 I began to read, "Let not your heart be troubled, 26:56 you believe in God, believe also in me." 26:59 You see, after I read that whole chapter-- thing, 27:03 I turn around to go tell her, you know, I want to thank her, 27:07 but there was no house there. 27:08 Wow, wow. Okay. 27:10 Nothing there? Nothing there. 27:11 I looked down at my trip sheet, 27:13 there was nothing there on the trip sheet. 27:17 Wow, viewers I tell you this is truly a story of amazing grace. 27:22 We don't have time to get in into the full story. 27:25 Now, Pastor Morgan is involved in pastoral ministry, 27:29 he has changed his life. 27:31 God has worked upon his life. 27:33 Pastor Morgan, I want you to speak 27:35 into the camera for about 10 minutes. 27:36 Talk to the viewers. 27:38 Give them some words of encouragement 27:39 in about 10 seconds. 27:40 Well, I just like to encourage you to let you know, 27:44 there is hope. 27:46 There is. And there is hope for tomorrow. 27:49 Some time we may feel like God is not there 27:52 but when I was at the bottom of the Mississippi river, 27:56 I heard a voice that said, "You are not going to drown." 28:03 And I said, "What shall I do?" 28:07 Then He said, "Take your feet and put where your head, 28:11 and your head where your feet." 28:13 Amen, amen. 28:15 This is truly a story of amazing grace. 28:18 We encourage you, to hear more. 28:19 Join us next time on "The New Journey." |
Revised 2015-09-28