Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Kendor Shy
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000057
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:04 may be too candid for younger children. 00:10 Welcome to the New Journey, 00:11 a program where you'll meet real life people, 00:13 with real life testimonies, 00:15 doing real life ministry for Jesus Christ. 00:17 I'm your host Aaron Chancy, 00:19 come join us on the New Journey. 00:52 Welcome back to the New Journey. 00:53 On today's broadcast we have Kendor Shy. 00:56 Kendor, we'd like to thank you for being on the program. 00:58 Thank you all for having me. 00:59 All right, just some general information, 01:01 if you could give us your age and where you are from? 01:03 I'm 33 years young 01:05 and I'm actually from Lexington, Kentucky. 01:08 All right, talk a little bit about 01:10 what it was like growing up 01:11 in the projects in Lexington, Kentucky. 01:13 Well, Lexington, Kentucky, it's a small city. 01:17 It's not really big at all, everybody pretty knows, 01:19 pretty much knows everyone. 01:21 Okay. 01:22 And once one person do something 01:24 and another person find out about it, 01:26 then another person will find out about it 01:27 and so a lot of things are known. 01:29 But it's small, you can get into 01:30 all kind of things while there. 01:32 Okay. 01:33 And people will find out about it, 01:34 but growing up in a projects, 01:36 it's just like any other projects pretty much. 01:37 Okay. 01:39 Everything is there 01:40 that you can get into as far as drugs 01:43 and women or whatever it may be. 01:44 Okay. 01:45 And that can have a big impact on your life. 01:47 Definitely, definitely. 01:48 And we'll get into some of that stuff 01:50 later on in the program. 01:51 What was it like growing up in your household, 01:53 coming up in Lexington? 01:55 You know, growing up in my household 01:58 in the projects in Lexington, Kentucky, 02:00 just like many black people, 02:02 and in the projects pretty much grow up without a dad. 02:05 Yeah. 02:06 And they left with their mother, 02:08 maybe they're raised in by the grandmother. 02:09 Okay. 02:11 I have my mother and my grandmother raised me 02:12 in a household with a bunch of ladies. 02:13 Okay, okay. 02:15 So you can imagine how that works. 02:16 Yeah, definitely. 02:17 Growing around a bunch of ladies 02:19 and their friends come over, just a bunch of ladies 02:20 and I'm just the only guy there. 02:21 I was only child for about 14 years, 02:24 until later on my mother had another son. 02:26 Okay. So... 02:28 What was it like growing up in your household 02:29 or how did it, how did it feel to you 02:31 growing up in a household without a father present? 02:35 Well, I, you know, I knew my dad was there, 02:38 he came around 02:39 but he is just, my mother and him was not together. 02:42 He wasn't around but he, he was into music 02:46 and back in the '80s 02:48 that's when cocaine began to hit 02:50 and stuff like that around '86. 02:52 And him and his brothers, 02:53 a lot of them had got strung out on drugs, 02:56 which was the cocaine. 02:57 And so dad came in, I remember, I remember hear my mother, 03:00 I was five years old in the back seat of the car, 03:02 I remember her saying that, 03:04 "You need to get of drugs, get off the cocaine." 03:06 Yeah. And it just stuck in my mind. 03:08 Okay. 03:10 So he wasn't there, they end up separating 03:11 when I was five years old. 03:12 Okay. 03:14 And so just having it, not having a father figure, 03:15 you know, it has a lot to play even till today, 03:17 it effect on me even today. 03:19 Yeah, definitely. 03:20 So, just having a manly figure there 03:23 was, it just wasn't there. 03:24 Okay. 03:26 What was, and we're gonna come back 03:27 to a little bit of that a little later on, 03:29 but what was the religious, religious life 03:31 like in your household? 03:33 It was formalities, you know, I had knowledge of God. 03:38 Okay. 03:39 My mother, she was the only one who went to church 03:41 when she was young. 03:42 My great grandmother, who end up dying at 102, she... 03:45 Wow. 03:46 she used to drag my mother along with her to, 03:48 you know, the church. 03:49 And so that kind of, when she had me at a young age, 03:52 you know, she had me when she was 16. 03:53 Okay. 03:55 And so, she used to take me along to church with her 03:56 and I was going to a Baptist church 03:59 ever since I was like eight or nine. 04:01 Okay. And so that was... 04:02 We would go to church on Sunday but come home it was... 04:05 Like a regular day. 04:07 You know, it's regular day. Definitely. 04:08 And so that's, that's what that was like. 04:10 But I was in church 04:12 and that's why I actually I can say it's my first job. 04:14 Okay. 04:16 You know, I was cleaning the church. 04:17 Vacuuming the floors, cleaning the pulpit area, 04:19 and things like that. 04:21 And it's very interesting while I was there, 04:23 one Thursday I was cleaning, 04:25 nobody is there, I was in the sanctuary. 04:26 Okay. 04:28 And I was up there with the pastor 04:29 who normally preachers. 04:30 And so I was vacuuming but I stopped 04:32 and I turned around to the podium there 04:34 and I began to act like 04:36 I was preaching to the congregation. 04:38 Yeah, to the congregation. Okay. 04:40 And so then all of a sudden I heard his voice said, 04:42 "This is what you're gonna do for me." 04:44 Yeah, wow. 04:45 And I was like, you know, I didn't know what it was. 04:46 And I just continued on, and then I went back vacuuming 04:50 and going buffing the floors like my normal day, 04:52 at the age of 12. 04:54 Okay. 04:55 And then, later on in my life, about 15, 04:58 I was walking down the street, I heard the same voice again. 05:01 And I said, "No, I'm not. No, no, no way. 05:04 I'm gonna do this for you." 05:05 And so, but growing up in my household religion 05:07 was just formality. 05:09 There really was no, there was no sacrifice, 05:13 oneself living for God. 05:14 Yeah, I understand. Okay. 05:16 What do you think were some of the motivating factors 05:19 that led you to gravitate towards the streets, 05:22 being that your father wasn't present there, 05:25 and what do you think 05:26 were some of the major underlying issues? 05:28 Well, since there was no God in the home, 05:31 you know, my mother had raised me 05:33 the best way she knew how, 05:35 and not only that but she had two jobs. 05:37 Okay. 05:38 So she really wasn't home, my grandmother, 05:40 she would tell my grandmother, you know, do this, 05:42 don't let him do this and my grandmother is like, 05:44 you know, go ahead. 05:45 And I remember coming home from school with report card, 05:48 I had like five F's, you know, 05:50 and my grandmother would sign it, 05:51 my mother would never see it 05:53 and she will send it back it school with it. 05:54 Yeah. 05:56 But just the being on the streets 05:58 my grandmother, my grandmother let me go out. 06:00 Okay. 06:01 And so, I was out there in the streets 06:02 and then seeing the many things around me, 06:05 even though playing with my friends, 06:06 playing with ball, this is the age. 06:08 I think we was the last generation 06:09 that actually played outside. 06:11 Okay. Yes. Definitely. Yeah. 06:14 So but actually just saying the fast money, the nice cars, 06:19 we need to fix it up and the sports cars back then 06:22 and see the guys a little older 06:24 began to make money and fast money. 06:26 Definitely. 06:27 Influence of that is like, "Wow", you know, 06:29 and seeing them with the women on their sides, 06:31 you know, these type of things. 06:32 So there was an influence that and then I see my cousin, 06:34 he was more into street than I was at that time 06:37 and I want to hangout with him, I was the only child. 06:41 And so he kind of led me alone a little bit in that area 06:45 but I was willing to go. 06:47 Yeah. 06:48 And so I just went down here from there. 06:49 Definitely, now, did seeing the fast money, seeing the drugs, 06:53 seeing the women different things like that, 06:55 how did it balance out with you in terms of school, 06:58 having to go to school 06:59 and, you know, seeing those things 07:02 and seeing fast money? 07:03 And the reason I'm asking this 07:05 because I know, for my own self, 07:06 it didn't really make sense to me when I was young. 07:08 I go to school, I would see these young people, 07:11 15, 16 years old, they got what you said, 07:14 they got the money, they got the women, 07:15 tattoos, gold teeth in the mouth, 07:17 different things like that which is just attractive. 07:19 And I wanted it, 07:21 and then I kind of weighed it out a little bit 07:23 and I said, "Okay, I go to school, 07:25 I stay here in high school, I go to college." 07:27 And I couldn't see the money that fast 07:30 staying in school as I would on the streets. 07:32 So how did you, how did you balance that out? 07:35 Well, for me, I had more interest in sports 07:38 than anything else. 07:39 I was just football, football, I was just football, football. 07:42 Yeah. 07:43 And so in order to be on the team, you know, 07:46 you had to make good grades and stuff like that. 07:48 But making the transition 07:49 from middle school into high school, 07:51 I failed to do that in the ninth grade, 07:53 and I failed the first semester in ninth grade 07:55 and turn around failed the second semester, 07:57 so I couldn't play ball 07:58 because I actually signed up late and it's like too late. 08:02 So after that I was like, 08:03 you know, I'm just gonna rebel and just do my thing. 08:06 Definitely. 08:07 I learned about drugs, selling weed 08:09 and stuff like that and smoking weed 08:10 and I would bring it to the high school. 08:12 You know, once I, the money was there, 08:13 I've seen the fast money coming in 08:15 I no longer wanted this type of education. 08:17 Okay. 08:18 And it was like, they saying, you know, "You want a good job 08:20 when you get older," you know, they ask me, 08:22 "What do you wanna do so you can make good money," 08:23 and stuff like that. 08:25 I'm like, "Well, I could make good money already right here". 08:26 Yeah, yeah. Definitely, definitely. 08:28 And so that's what I did in there. 08:30 And so going through high school, 08:34 I was kicked out 08:35 actually after a while just because of my academics 08:38 and they sent me to alternative school. 08:39 Okay. 08:40 And in there actually while I was there, 08:43 I cheated my way through high school. 08:44 Wow. 08:46 I passed 9th, 10th and 11th grade in one year. 08:48 Okay, wow. 08:49 The teacher, he would give me the work of students before, 08:52 he allowed me to just copy it and he'll just give me 08:54 whatever he wanted to give me like a C or B 08:56 or something like that. 08:58 Yeah, okay. In fact, you know what? 08:59 I was going back to regular high school 09:01 and in school of grade, 09:02 and that's actually where I read my first book, 09:04 I don't read, before that I didn't read. 09:07 Okay. And so... 09:09 But once I got there I started back playing ball 09:11 but once I got hurt and I couldn't go to college, 09:14 I was like, "I'm just gonna continue selling drugs", 09:15 that's what I did. 09:17 Yeah, definitely, definitely. 09:18 Have seen where, you know, statistics say that 09:20 a lot of young black males, you know, 09:21 we seem to gravitate to sports, 09:24 basketball, football, different things like that. 09:26 And did you see for yourself that when those dreams 09:31 weren't coming to fulfillment, it was almost like, 09:33 "What else do I do?" 09:35 Because I know for myself that's where I was. 09:38 I like basketball, I like football 09:40 but because I never would do anything in school, 09:43 and then I would be in a mixture 09:44 of Adventist schools 09:46 as well as mixture of public schools. 09:48 And either I couldn't make the grade 09:50 or I wouldn't go to school 09:51 or I had the Sabbath to deal with. 09:53 And it was like, okay, now that sports hasn't come through, 09:55 it's almost like what else can I do. 09:57 You know. 09:59 It's like, "Okay, I don't wanna do this, 10:00 I don't wanna do that." 10:01 There was never any goal and without that goal, 10:04 how the Bible says, 10:05 "Where there is no vision, the people perish." 10:06 And the only thing I reverted back to was the streets 10:10 and that attracted me that fast money. 10:12 So you kind of feel like it was the same for you? 10:14 Right, 'cause it's like, you know, my dad 10:17 he, like I said, he wasn't with my mother 10:20 but he was living in the same neighborhood. 10:22 And he wanted to teach me skills, 10:24 you know, like painting 10:26 and he wanted to teach me how to play the piano, 10:29 play the drums, construction, fix some cars. 10:32 And I just rejected all of that to want 10:34 to run the streets, so I wasted my childhood 10:36 on running the streets. 10:37 I didn't pick up any skills or anything. 10:39 So once I, the sports didn't work for me, 10:42 only thing I knew how to go to was 10:43 just treat some of this. 10:45 Yeah. 10:46 So even today I still suffer from, 10:49 you know, different challenges 10:50 of trying to get a job or having a skill... 10:53 Yeah, definitely. 10:54 To make money, least amount of money. 10:55 Definitely, definitely. 10:57 What would you say were some of your positive influences 10:59 as well as some of the negative influences 11:01 in your life growing up? 11:03 Well, positive, definitely my mother. 11:05 Okay. 11:06 You know, even though I remember her being baptized 11:08 and she was baptized in a Baptist church 11:10 but she didn't quite understand 11:12 about living a Christian life, she tried her best. 11:16 Okay. 11:17 And she was just continuing dragging me to church 11:18 even though I didn't wanna go. 11:20 Yeah. 11:21 And I don't know if you know about the Baptist church, 11:22 for the Baptist church, man, you enter the church 11:24 Sunday morning, Sunday night, Tuesday night, 11:27 Wednesday night, Thursday night. 11:28 It's like everyday you're there and you get tired of it. 11:30 Yeah, okay. 11:31 But just my mother taking me there 11:32 and teaching me the best way she knew how. 11:34 Okay. 11:35 And so that's like the most positive thing 11:37 that that was there, 11:38 anything else is there's nothing else really. 11:40 Wow. 11:42 Talk about you eventually got incarcerated 11:45 and talk about what you got incarcerated for 11:47 and everything kind of circling around that, 11:50 and how this same incident 11:52 followed you for a number of years. 11:54 Talk a little about that. 11:55 Well, I had to back it up just a little bit. 11:59 Okay. 12:00 You know, just back it a little bit 12:01 and before I left Lexington, Kentucky 12:04 I moved to Atlanta, Georgia where I was incarcerated. 12:06 Okay. 12:07 I got involved in music, you know, 12:09 right now many black people in the Project area, 12:13 they just get involved in music. 12:15 Yeah, you gravitate you see the music 12:16 or sports or drugs, that's it. 12:19 This is the only thing we know. 12:20 Yeah, definitely. 12:21 And so I got involved in music 12:23 and I decided to move to Atlanta, Georgia. 12:25 Okay. So, I pursue a music career. 12:28 And then while I was there, I actually took a lady with me, 12:34 she was like 8 years older than I was 12:36 and I was only 19, she was like 27. 12:37 Okay. 12:38 And we end up moving together there 12:41 and then I continued to pursue the music career. 12:44 I took all the money I made from selling drugs 12:46 and put in the studio and stuff like that. 12:48 Okay. 12:49 But our relationship, you know, was going nowhere 12:53 and I told her, I said may be we're having all these problems 12:54 causing back in my head I remember mother's saying 12:56 it's not good to be married, I mean, not be married, 13:00 but and live together. 13:02 This is just not gonna work. Okay. 13:04 And so I figured that 13:05 we were having all these problems because of that. 13:07 Yeah. 13:08 And then all of a sudden, 13:09 I said, let's go and get married, 13:11 went to a court house, $35, we got married. 13:13 So I'm thinking that's the answer, right? 13:15 But it's not the answer. So thanks it got worse. 13:17 And we're done here from there. Okay. 13:19 And I still had this mentality 13:22 even though I got married at 22 years of age 13:24 where the street mentality. 13:27 I wanna go where I want to and I'm not gonna tell you... 13:29 Do what you want, act how you want, yeah. 13:31 What I'm coming back, I hangout with my boys 13:32 whatever it is. 13:34 And so and she didn't like that and, of course, nobody, 13:37 no married woman would, you know. 13:38 Yeah. It's not good. 13:40 Definitely. 13:41 But all of a sudden it got worse. 13:44 Okay. 13:45 And I began to cheat on my wife and she found out about it. 13:50 But I guess she wanted to revenge, you know. 13:53 So what took place was is that 13:56 we decided to separate a little bit. 13:58 I stayed at her mother's house for a while 14:00 and she stayed at our house that we had together. 14:03 And I just got this feeling one day to go over it. 14:06 Okay. 14:07 So I went there and nobody was there. 14:09 But I went into the house 14:10 and then all of a sudden I heard the door open. 14:13 Okay. 14:15 And I heard another voice, you know, with her was a guy. 14:17 And so I decided, "Well, I wonder who this is?" 14:19 "What's going on?" Right. 14:21 And so, I decided to get in the tub 14:24 and put a shower curtain back 14:26 and then once I did that, 14:28 I just want to see how far it's gonna go 14:29 before I made known I was there. 14:31 Yeah, okay. 14:32 And all of a sudden the guy began to start smoking 14:33 and drinking in my house and while I was there, 14:35 I began to hear the sounds of, 14:38 only a sound that 14:39 a husband should know, you know... 14:41 Yeah, definitely. 14:42 It's making some stuff like that. 14:43 And so they began to have sex encounter 14:46 with one and other. 14:48 And so, and then I jumped out, thinking like, "What can I do?" 14:52 I had my gun, well, I left my gun at her mother's house 14:54 so I couldn't do that. 14:56 And I remember a baseball bat by the door. 14:58 And so I grabbed the baseball bat 14:59 that was by the door and I picked it up 15:04 and I stood behind, it's like a, like it was couch, 15:06 it's like facing this way where the TV, 15:08 you know, the guy had his face towards TV 15:10 where she was laying back on him, and stuff like that. 15:12 Okay. 15:13 And then his head was just sitting up like where I'm 15:16 and I'm standing behind his head with baseball bat. 15:18 Did he know you're behind him? 15:19 No, they didn't know I was in house. 15:20 Okay. 15:22 And so I just took the baseball bat and swung it 15:24 but it's just like it went barely right over his head 15:27 and hit the mirror behind the wall. 15:28 Wow! Okay. 15:30 And so they jumped up and was scared. 15:31 And so she, I put him out of house, 15:33 she ran behind him and said, "Baby, are you okay?" 15:36 This is my wife talking to another man 15:38 and so it drove the knife deeper in. 15:40 So, like he loves me her got into physical altercation 15:44 and things like that. 15:45 And so and I did some things 15:47 that I shouldn't have done even to her. 15:49 And then, two days later she end up 15:51 deciding to go to the police. 15:53 Okay. 15:54 And police speaking of my job 15:55 and I went into jail in Atlanta. 15:57 Okay, okay. 15:58 Now you were in jail in Atlanta 16:00 and talk about how you are supposed to get out 16:03 and how you kept dealing with this toad 16:06 for a number of years. 16:07 Shed some light upon that. 16:09 Well, when I first went in I was in there for four months. 16:11 Okay. 16:12 And as soon as I got in the door 16:14 I was placed in a jail cell with a guy. 16:16 He was into rap music and me and him 16:18 was going back and forth full of rapping and stuff like that. 16:20 But later on at night all of a sudden, 16:23 the guards came in and removed him 16:25 and I was left in there alone. 16:26 So for one day I was in the room by myself 16:28 and then all of a sudden again, 16:30 at 2 o'clock in the morning, a guy comes in, 16:33 throw his mat on the floor, and lays down. 16:35 He slept for about seven days and didn't say a word to me. 16:38 You know, he just get up to use bathroom, 16:40 to eat, and that was it. 16:41 Go back to sleep, okay. 16:43 And then when I was just in the edges of my bed, man, 16:44 and I was like, you know, just in despair, 16:46 loss of all hope, I lost my car, 16:47 my job, my wife, my dog, you know, everything. 16:50 You said a dog. Yeah, a dog. 16:52 And so, just sitting there and I heard his voice said, 16:56 "Have you called on Jesus?" 16:58 And then I'm like nobody is in here but me and this guy. 17:01 And so... 17:02 He's been sleep the whole time. He's been sleep the whole time. 17:04 And so I looked up and here he is sitting up, 17:07 did he, reach up on this mat, 17:08 you know, he pulls this Bible out 17:10 and he was like, "Have you called on Jesus?" 17:14 Then all of a sudden all these things 17:15 that my mother taught me going up began to... 17:17 Started to coming back. Coming back. 17:18 Okay. 17:20 And he opened his Bible up to Romans 10:9 and 10, 17:23 and he said, "If you believe in your heart, 17:24 confess with your mouth," and he was, he asked me, 17:26 he said, "Do you believe?" 17:27 I began to cry, man, and I said, yeah. 17:31 And from then I know and he began to read to me 17:33 the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John like a key... 17:36 Like a little bedtime story. 17:38 Bedtime story, that was, to a grown man, 17:39 he was reading stories and I'm in bed. 17:41 Okay. 17:43 In jail. In jail, all right. 17:45 You know, and I just began to just soak it all in. 17:50 And I was asking questions, he was like, 17:51 "Man, you are serious." 17:53 He says, "You're not like other people 17:54 who trying to accept God 17:55 just so they can get out of the jail." 17:57 Yeah, definitely. 17:58 He says, "'Cause you're asking questions." 17:59 But he was a guy that he was on drugs, 18:02 running the street, come from a background 18:03 of ministers in his family so he kind of, you know, new. 18:06 But while I was in there, I was in there for four months, 18:08 then one day they just called me to pack it up one day 18:11 and to leave after four months. 18:12 Okay. 18:13 And so I packed up my bag to leave 18:15 and he was like, "Go man." 18:16 They let me out at 11, 12 o'clock at night. 18:19 I'm walking down the street of Georgia, 18:22 nowhere to go. 18:23 Wow. 18:25 All of a sudden I call the guy up and he's like, 18:26 "I can accommodate you for two weeks so." 18:27 Yeah, okay. 18:29 He accommodated for two weeks 18:30 and I was out for three months, man, 18:31 and I end up getting my job back 18:33 and I was working second shift. 18:34 Okay. 18:36 And if you know anything about second shifts, second shift, 18:37 you, all day, you have no free time. 18:39 Yeah, definitely. 18:40 I was in there from 10am to 12 o'clock in night. 18:43 I go home, eat, go to sleep, wake up, 18:45 time to go back to work. 18:47 Yeah, go back to work, okay. 18:48 And I just began to get frustrated. 18:49 I was there for three months and I mean, one day, 18:52 'cause when I was in there I made list of goals 18:53 that I was going to join a church, 18:55 part of a ministry, 18:57 hang around Christian friends, and so forth. 18:58 So I was checking off my list and I end up joining this 19:00 nondenominational church about 9,000 members. 19:03 Okay. And so... 19:05 But before going to church that Sunday, 19:08 I just began to pray on my knees and beg, I said, 19:11 "Make time for me to study you word 19:13 like I was when I was in jail. 19:14 Just purify me, turn up the heat." 19:16 So I finished praying, and I go to church, 19:18 go to the church service and so forth, 19:20 after it was over, I'm leaving 19:21 driving back home, police pulled me over. 19:23 Wow. 19:24 And he says, "Sir, I need you to turn off your car," 19:27 and I'm like, "What for? 19:28 You know, because if you have somebody turn off your car... 19:30 Yeah, that's not a good sign. That's not a good sign. 19:31 Yeah, definitely. 19:33 So, he said, "You're under arrest." 19:34 I'm like, "Why?" 19:36 He's like, "I don't know but you're coming with me." 19:37 Okay. 19:38 It's like, it's doesn't make sense. 19:40 And so he took me to jail and I'm in jail for four days 19:42 not knowing why I'm there. 19:44 And this guy come up to me, he was like 19:45 had his Bible in his hand, he was like, 19:47 "Do you believe in God?" 19:49 And I just laughed, man, you know, 19:50 the Holy Spirit has brought this back to my memories. 19:53 He's like, you told me to make time for you to study 19:55 when I was in, like he was in, when he was in jail so... 19:58 Yeah. 20:01 And while I was in there I just went into my room, 20:03 took that Bible, shut the door for three days and fasted. 20:05 Okay. 20:06 God just opened up all kind of things to me. 20:08 And so I was in there for a year, 20:13 almost a year, about six months, 20:15 they called me to go to court. 20:16 Okay. 20:18 And I went to court 20:19 and the DA presented my case to the judge. 20:20 They made me like this mad man, you know, 20:22 it's interesting, all of the things 20:24 I did in my life I go to jail for domestic violence. 20:27 Yeah, and so all of this was still stemming 20:28 from that same domestic violence case? 20:30 Same domestic violence. Okay. 20:31 So, you know, while I was in there my lawyer had came, 20:33 he says, you're in here because 20:35 they sent some notice for you to come to court 20:36 to the house that foreclosed, that I had 20:39 when I was in it in the first four months. 20:41 And so I missed it 20:42 and they had a warrant for my arrest. 20:43 Okay. 20:45 But they made me like a mad man in the court. 20:48 And so DA was looking at the judge and say, 20:50 "We recommend that this guy get two years in prison." 20:51 Wow. 20:52 And the judge was looking at me but talking to the DA, 20:54 he says, "No, he's not getting two years." 20:57 I'm like, "Lord, I can't do two years, 20:59 I gave my life over to you, Lord." 21:01 I'm like, "What else do you want from me?" 21:03 And then he said, "No, he is gonna get six years." 21:05 Wow. 21:06 So when he said not two years, I'm thinking, you know, 21:08 he's gonna go down in years, 21:10 he then went up in the years to six years. 21:11 Wow. 21:13 And that was, it was pretty rough. 21:14 Okay. 21:16 And so my faith was washed over, 21:18 I was like a flower, man, 21:19 just standing strong when I went to court 21:20 and all of a sudden serge of water just washed me over. 21:23 And so I go back to jail and I'm sitting at the table, 21:25 I have my Bible here in my hand, 21:27 you know, and I'm looking at the Bible 21:28 and I look at the trash can, look at the Bible, 21:30 look at the trash can, want to throw it away. 21:32 Yeah. 21:33 I began to heard the Holy Spirit speak to me. 21:35 Okay. 21:36 Began to hear Him speak to me and so He says, 21:38 "You're gonna need that." 21:39 So I began to study more and more. 21:41 Okay. In fact you know what? 21:42 A year went by. Wow. 21:44 And I'm just sitting there. 21:45 I'd started this Bible study group in jail 21:47 and about 15, 20 guys. 21:49 And then a year went by like I said, 21:52 I get a call from my lawyer. 21:53 Okay. 21:55 And he says, "Well, I got some good news for you. 21:58 The DA wants to take three of your charges," 22:02 well, I had six felonies by the way, six. 22:03 Okay. Wow. 22:05 "He want to take three of your charges, 22:07 lower them to misdemeanors 22:08 and take the other three and throw them away." 22:10 And he wanna give you two years on probation, 22:11 let you go home on Monday. 22:13 Okay. 22:14 He says, "And the judge, she wanted to give you 22:16 six years on vacation." 22:17 Let me take this. So I'm like, "Let's take this. 22:21 I'm missing enough love, let's go." 22:22 Okay. 22:23 So I go to court, my Mother comes and pick me up. 22:27 Okay. 22:28 And the DA, seeing my parents just came to support me, 22:31 my Mother, my Dad even came. 22:32 Okay. 22:34 And my lawyer said to me, the DA had his look on her face 22:37 and he was like, "No, I changed my mind. 22:39 I want him to do a whole year in jail 22:43 and give him one year probation when he gets out." 22:45 So I was in county jail the whole time. 22:47 The county jail, prison, 22:49 you got little bit more freedom. 22:50 Yeah, yeah, definitely. 22:52 But the county jail, you just there... 22:53 Yeah, you're just sitting in the cell the whole time. 22:55 Yeah, definitely. Yeah. 22:56 And so I'm like, "Send me to prison." 23:00 At least, you get to on a yard 23:01 and walk around, exercise, things like that. 23:02 You don't have that. Yeah. Definitely. 23:04 And so I was like, I'm not gonna take it though. 23:05 And he was like, you know, the judge will be back, 23:08 he wanna give you six years. 23:09 I said, "Ask my mother," and my mother was like, 23:10 "Just take it." 23:12 Okay. And I said, "Fine. 23:13 I'll take it." 23:14 He says, "You're gonna get good time," 23:16 my lawyer, he says, 23:17 "Now I must consider a year, you already did 12, 23:19 you're gonna have only 6 months to do." 23:21 He said, "Your release day would be say for 23:22 October 27th of 2007." 23:25 So I go back to jail and I'm sitting there, 23:28 studying my Bible. 23:30 God is showing me while I'm sitting there. 23:32 I just had to go play cards a little bit here and there 23:35 and all of a sudden He says, 23:37 "I want you to sit back and look," 23:39 while they play cards, "look at their character 23:41 while they're playing cards. 23:42 Look at their attitude, this is not of me". 23:44 He says, okay, so I withdrew myself 23:45 from the card table, stop playing cards, 23:47 didn't hear the TV. 23:48 Look at the things you watch, this isn't glorifying me." 23:50 Yeah. 23:52 So I withdrew myself from the TV 23:53 and just stayed at the Bible. 23:54 And October 27th came 23:57 and they come and pack my stuff up, 23:59 sergeant comes to verify my paper work. 24:01 And he says, "Sir, we're sorry, you can't leave." 24:03 And I'm like, "Are you serious?" 24:04 Wow. Another blow to the chest. 24:06 Another blow. 24:08 He says, "We take domestic violence here 24:09 seriously instead of Georgia." 24:11 I'm like, man, so I go back into the pod area 24:14 and the guy, and my friend, he was like, 24:16 "Man, just have faith." 24:17 I'm like, "Lord, why are you testing me?" 24:18 Yeah, "Like this". 24:20 I just want to go home, you know. 24:21 And so I'm sitting in there and they set my release date. 24:25 They added another six more months. 24:26 I had to do the full year. Okay. 24:28 And they set it for April, the 24th of 2008. 24:31 And so this time I don't know what God is about to do. 24:33 So I'm in there and then around February. 24:35 Okay. 24:36 I'm just reading the Bible and seeing there's gonna be 24:39 deceiving doctrines and things like that 24:40 and I said, "Lord, I don't wanna be deceived. 24:42 I wanna know the truth of your word." 24:44 Yeah. 24:45 And I said, "I wanna understand the book of Revelation." 24:47 Okay. 24:48 And so I began to fast for three days 24:50 just reading the whole book of Revelation 24:51 while I was in there. 24:53 And in the second day while I was fasting, 24:54 I was sitting on a table, a guy, 24:55 new guy comes in about 50 years of age. 24:57 And he sits down beside me and says, ask me, 25:00 well, he asks me, he says, "What are you reading?" 25:02 I said, "Revelation." 25:03 I said, "I don't understand," and he says, "You will." 25:05 Okay. I'm like, "Okay." 25:06 And then he said, I asked him I said, 25:09 "Do you even watch college football?" 25:10 And he was like, "No." 25:11 And he said, "Today is the Sabbath." 25:13 Yeah. Okay, okay. 25:14 So now you're about to start learning about the Sabbath? 25:15 And I'm learning about the Sabbath. 25:17 Okay. 25:18 And I'm like, "Well, what is that?" 25:20 And he began to explain to me this Seventh-day Adventist. 25:21 I'm like, "What is that? 25:22 You go church seven days, a week or what?" 25:24 You know. 25:25 You know, he started laughing like you did but... 25:26 Okay. 25:28 So, and then he just began to explain this to me 25:32 and he handed me a book called, "The National Sunday Law." 25:35 And I began to read this book about Sunday law 25:38 and stuff like that and the Sabbath. 25:40 And he handed me a pamphlet from Amazing Facts on Daniel 2. 25:44 And he handed me another one, Daniel 9, 25:45 I'm just soaking it all, I'm like, wow, this is amazing. 25:48 Okay. 25:49 And so, and I just began to learn about 25:51 the Sabbath and I... 25:53 A Muslim inside actually gave me a book. 25:56 He says, "Take this book I want you to read it." 25:57 I mean, he's trying to convert his Muslim 25:59 over to Christianity. 26:00 He said, "Take this book", he said, "I don't like it 26:02 but you may like it". 26:04 So I took it and then I looked at it 26:06 and it said, "American Prophecy". 26:07 Yeah, yeah. That's the Great Controversy. 26:08 Well, at the time I didn't know it was Great Controversy. 26:10 So... 26:11 And I just began to read it 26:12 and learned about the Sabbath more 26:14 and I just began to be convicted 26:16 by the Sabbath in jail. 26:17 And I took it and shared it with my other people 26:19 I was in Bible study with, 26:20 and they were like, "Man, it works". 26:21 I'm like, "You don't understand, 26:23 this is not how it works". 26:24 Okay. Now our time, our time is slipping away from us. 26:26 All right, all right. 26:27 But eventually, you got out, 26:28 you've learned about the Sabbath, 26:30 and you went to Wildwood, Georgia 26:31 where you learned the health ministry. 26:33 Talk real briefly about your ministry, real quick. 26:36 All right, well, I was in school at Wildwood, 26:40 I had made a transition to a school there 26:42 to learn about gospel medical missionary work. 26:44 And so my wife and I, Samantha, we had, 26:48 we had desire to share the gospel 26:50 and do the medical work together. 26:51 Okay. 26:53 And so her having health background 26:54 and me being evangelist. 26:55 Okay. 26:57 And we decided to start a ministry 26:58 which is STANDUP Ministry. 26:59 It's a acronym for Steadfastly Teaching 27:02 And Nourishing Daily Unapologetic Present Truth. 27:05 And so we started this ministry 27:06 and that's what we do now, 27:08 we just go around different churches and schools 27:09 doing and do revivals 27:11 and doing health services and stuff. 27:12 Okay, okay. Amen. 27:14 So it's interesting how at a younger age 27:16 God said that you're gonna be preaching 27:18 in front of people 27:19 and next thing you know that's what you're doing. 27:20 That's what I'm doing. 27:22 You're preaching in front of people. 27:23 I want you to take about 10 seconds, 27:24 and I want you to talk to that young person 27:26 that's going through the things that you went through, 27:27 that sees the drugs and all, sees the fast money. 27:29 I want you to talk to them 27:30 and give them few words of encouragement. 27:32 Well, the thing I have to say is that, 27:35 the decisions you make 27:37 on the choices you have 27:39 will determine where you end up. 27:41 And so it's good to make Christ-like 27:45 godly decisions on all things. 27:47 Amen. 27:48 And find out what your purpose is in life, 27:49 so you won't be here and there just doing in and everything. 27:52 Amen, amen. 27:54 Follow Christ, it's the only way to go. 27:55 Thank you, Kendor, for being on. 27:56 Tune in next time for an exciting program 27:59 of the New Journey. |
Revised 2017-05-25