Urban Report

Testimony

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Tim & Maiesha Lawson

Home

Series Code: UBR

Program Code: UBR000136A


00:01 Stay tuned to meet a couple whose lives are a testimony
00:03 to the transforming power of God.
00:05 My name is Yvonne Lewis
00:07 and you're watching Urban Report.
00:31 Hello and welcome to Urban Report.
00:34 My guests today are Tim and Maiesha Lawson,
00:37 Panelists on D2D's Program, Pure Choices.
00:40 Tim is also on Chew's Challenge,
00:42 I was on the PC Set and heard their story.
00:45 Check out their amazing journey.
00:47 It's such a blessing to be on the Set of Pure Choices
00:55 with Tim and Maiesha Lawson.
00:57 Welcome to Urban Report.
00:58 Thank you so much. Thank you.
01:00 You know, I had the opportunity to produce Pure Choices
01:04 for this Season and you were both
01:07 on the Panel and what I heard you say
01:11 is so powerful,
01:13 I can't wait for you to watch Pure Choices.
01:17 These Programs are so profoundly impactful
01:21 and so, what you all were talking about
01:25 I had to bring you on Urban Report
01:27 because I want our Viewers to hear your whole testimony
01:32 and just know the power of God
01:35 to change your life.
01:37 So Maiesha, let's talk to you a little bit first
01:41 because I had Tim on before and our Viewers kind of know
01:44 Tim on Chew's Challenge
01:46 and also, I had you on Urban Report before too.
01:50 So, let's start with your lovely wife
01:52 and then I'm going to bring you in
01:54 and talk about some things too.
01:56 Where were you born Maiesha?
01:59 I was born in Oakland, California,
02:01 and at a young age
02:03 I moved to Sacramento, California,
02:06 my mother and my brother just us two.
02:08 Okay, so your dad wasn't in the home?
02:11 No, not at all well, to the age of eight
02:14 and then he... he had an addiction
02:16 so, he had to go take care of that
02:20 and go into Rehab and he missed out on
02:22 a few years of my life
02:24 so, I was in a single-parent home.
02:27 And was it a spiritual environment,
02:30 a secular environment?
02:32 I grew up Baptist but my mother...
02:37 she didn't know really how to have a spiritual home
02:43 she did the best of her ability
02:44 but we didn't have family worship
02:48 we were still able to listen and watch
02:52 secular things on television
02:55 and just still involved in secular things.
03:03 So, you grew up,
03:06 you were in Oakland, right,
03:07 you were born in Oakland Hmmm... hmmm...
03:09 and when you got to high school,
03:11 what happened, did anything happen to you
03:15 in high school, that kind of began to pull you
03:18 into the world or were you,
03:20 just, kind of, in the world anyway?
03:23 Yes, I was in the world anyway
03:25 so everything was normal to me and once I hit high school,
03:31 I got into boys, can't call them men, of course,
03:35 but I got into boys, and by the age of sixteen
03:39 I found myself in a relationship
03:41 with a guy that was three years older than me
03:43 and, of course I was sexually active,
03:48 I began to use drugs and drink alcohol
03:52 and it progressed to being abused as well.
03:57 So, he was... it was a domestic violence
04:01 he was abusing you, Yes.
04:03 and did you feel... because this is important for
04:07 young women who are in an abusive relationship,
04:11 did you feel that that was normal?
04:12 Yes, I did, because I grew up seeing it
04:16 not just only from my mother and my father
04:19 but maybe people out in the streets of Oakland,
04:22 I've seen women get beat up by their husbands
04:26 or their boyfriends, you also see it on TV
04:30 and, you know, other family members as well.
04:34 So you were sixteen and you had started...
04:39 you were sexually active
04:41 you had started drinking, using some drugs
04:44 and you were being abused. Yes.
04:46 How were you feeling about yourself at that point?
04:50 Well, by the age of 16, I was diagnosed with depression
04:54 severe depression, so I was very unhappy
04:58 me and my mother...
05:01 we didn't have a close relationship
05:05 in my teenage years, I guess,
05:06 once you hit puberty you think you're grown
05:09 and you don't need to listen to anyone
05:12 and me, I was hardheaded, of course,
05:16 and I needed someone to have,
05:21 I needed that discipline but what I really needed was
05:25 some attention and I needed love,
05:28 and I'm not saying that my mother didn't love me
05:31 but she loved me from a mother's perspective
05:34 and not a father's perspective
05:37 and that's what I needed the most.
05:38 Maiesha, this is such an important point
05:41 because on Urban Report, a lot...
05:44 I talk about the impact of fathers
05:47 the importance of the father being in the home
05:49 and how... not just for sons
05:52 but for daughters, daughters need their dads
05:55 because their dad is the first model
05:57 of what a man is supposed to be like
06:00 and how he's supposed to be with his wife
06:03 I mean, well, you hope that he would be the model for that
06:07 and so, without your dad,
06:09 you don't really know how to gauge things,
06:12 you don't know how a man is supposed to be
06:15 and you're not getting the affection and the attention
06:19 from your dad so you seek it in other places
06:23 and so, what I'm hearing you say is that
06:26 your relationship with your mom wasn't great
06:29 because as a teenager, you start challenging
06:32 their authority, Right.
06:33 and then you didn't have your daddy there
06:35 to kind of guide you
06:37 and then you had this guy that you were dealing with
06:41 that was abusing you, so you went into depression.
06:44 Right and I felt that he was everything, you know,
06:46 everything that I needed, of course,
06:48 and I felt that though we argued and we fought
06:52 I felt that, because he was still there for me
06:55 that that's what mattered, you know.
06:59 And so many teenage girls are dealing with the same thing
07:04 they think that that kind of treatment is okay,
07:08 it's not okay, they think that it's normal
07:12 it's not normal, nobody deserves to get hit
07:16 by their significant other, no one,
07:19 so that's sixteen,
07:22 tell us how your life progressed after that.
07:26 Well, I continued this relationship with my Ex
07:31 for the age of 20, I met you when I was 20 right?
07:35 yeah, okay, so at the age of 20
07:38 I was going back and forth with him
07:40 I was promiscuous and I engaged in doing fraud,
07:47 I would go into banks and withdraw money
07:51 and I ended up going to jail for that
07:55 and I was looking at jail...
07:58 well, I was looking at prison time
08:01 the Feds came and spoke with me
08:03 but, by the grace of God, that didn't stick,
08:06 so, I did a total of six months in jail
08:09 and then I got out
08:12 and there were no other charges against me
08:16 it was considered "time served"
08:18 so, as I'm in another State, there was no family, no support,
08:24 I met some women that allowed me to stay with them
08:29 but, of course, I had to fend for myself.
08:31 So, they were working girls, they were dancers
08:34 and they were in the prostitution business
08:38 and they introduced me to that, I had no choice,
08:41 I had to feed myself, I had to clothe myself,
08:44 I had to take care of myself,
08:48 and that's how I began my life,
08:50 in the Entertainment Business.
08:53 So, it's interesting because you know,
08:57 now that you are who you are,
09:01 you wouldn't say, "Well, I had to do that"
09:05 because you know you could depend on God
09:08 but then you didn't know that.
09:10 You're operating from a carnal mindset
09:13 because you don't know you didn't know,
09:16 so, they introduced you to the Entertainment Business
09:21 what does that mean, what were you doing?
09:24 Well, I started off dancing, and I wasn't making enough
09:32 I was making enough for me
09:34 but when I'm looking at the women are doing less for more
09:39 I wanted a taste of that
09:42 you know, I can spend eight hours to ten hours
09:46 dancing, and they can still...
09:48 they're still making more than me
09:49 and they're only spending 30 minutes to an hour
09:52 with just one person, you know,
09:54 and so I asked questions because I was curious
09:57 and they showed me the ropes to that type of profession
10:01 and I stuck with that.
10:04 And how long were you involved with that?
10:07 Well, I started at the age of 19 to 22 or 23 I believe, yeah.
10:17 And how did you get out of it?
10:20 Oh! the Lord is good.
10:22 Well, I got tired of the life that I was living
10:28 and in the midst of this I met Timothy
10:34 and he was going through his time with the Lord as well
10:39 and the Lord was fixing him,
10:40 the Lord spoke to him to witness to me,
10:46 and he continued to... you know...
10:51 pray with me and all that and then, I'm going through...
10:56 the Lord is speaking to me
10:58 through my heart and my conscience
11:00 you know, every time I'm working,
11:02 I'm like, "This is totally wrong"
11:05 I felt a sense of conviction and I've been around people
11:11 that were religious that went to church
11:15 but they... not only were they just religious,
11:17 but they had a... you can tell that
11:18 they had a relationship with Jesus
11:20 and I wanted that, I wanted that feeling,
11:23 I wanted the joy that they were talking about
11:25 I wanted the "peace" that they were talking about
11:28 because I know in this life... I'm not getting it
11:30 and that's where I began to change my life.
11:35 So, you met Timothy, let's talk about that
11:38 and I want to get Tim's perspective
11:41 on how he felt when he met you.
11:43 So, how did you meet Maiesha?
11:46 I was in the world at the time,
11:49 so we had just finished, you know,
11:51 partying and everything as it were,
11:54 and our friend said, he had some friends
11:56 that he wanted to invite over, and we were at my house
11:58 and so she literally walked in my front door
12:01 and through that we began to spark up a relationship
12:06 and a friendship and everything,
12:07 not even imagine it would go anywhere that it went,
12:12 it went through a turbulent year,
12:14 of... as you're in the world... worldly relationships,
12:17 kind of fussing and fighting and at the end of that year,
12:21 I went to prison, and so to fast forward,
12:23 when I'm getting out of prison, I'm starting to seek the Lord
12:26 and re-contacted her, sending her verses,
12:29 encouraging her, things of that nature,
12:33 and lo and behold,
12:35 she had started
12:37 wondering about church
12:38 and it would be her and her friend
12:40 they'd be on the phone and we'd be
12:42 you know, talking about Bible topics,
12:43 and Bible questions, and she...
12:45 once she came up for Christmas
12:47 and she said, you know, about the spiritual people
12:49 that I was hanging around,
12:51 she decided then that that's what she wanted,
12:53 and started taking Bible Studies
12:55 where she was at, which was Las Vegas,
12:57 so I was in Sacramento,
12:59 she was in Vegas taking her Bible Studies,
13:01 she came back to Sacramento and finished those Bible Studies
13:04 and then that summer, we both got baptized
13:08 on the same day.
13:10 That is tremendous, you know what's amazing to me,
13:14 you guys, is that
13:15 God knew all along where He would bring you to
13:21 you know, the enemy has a plan
13:24 and he's trying to just take you down
13:26 and he doesn't care what he does
13:29 to get you on that downward spiral
13:31 that's what he wants to do but God wants to prosper you
13:35 and give you the abundant life and give you joy,
13:38 and that's what he's done because when I look
13:41 into your countenances, I see the peace and joy
13:44 of the Lord, it's just amazing to me
13:47 I can imagine that when you were in the world,
13:51 and of the world,
13:52 your countenances were totally different
13:54 you can just see in people's eyes
13:56 you can see a totally different spirit.
14:00 I was always angry, negative, wary about people
14:04 and you don't know how to be a man either,
14:06 treating women and things of that nature
14:08 when the Lord comes upon your heart
14:11 you find out that gentleness and meekness and kindness
14:15 are really manly traits, not weak traits
14:18 and you find joy in helping and treating someone lovingly
14:23 and it's like,
14:25 everybody is trying to please the Lord and please each other,
14:29 and it's that circle of love that God creates
14:31 that we've been able to experience
14:33 and it's better than anything that the devil tells you he has
14:36 out there in the world.
14:38 Absolutely, absolutely,
14:40 what would you say has been the biggest challenge
14:45 for you to having left that lifestyle
14:49 and come into the truth
14:52 what would you say though
14:53 have been, rather than just one
14:56 have been some of the challenges that you've had to face
14:59 as a result of having come out of there?
15:02 Well, I would like to say was, how to love each other
15:06 the way God wants us to love each other
15:10 but before we can do that is how, you know,
15:13 we have to experience the love of Christ first
15:16 because, we can't give each other what we don't have
15:21 so we have to experience the love of Christ
15:25 it was very challenging because we're in the midst of marriage
15:30 trying to experience this love of Christ
15:32 so that's where it comes in, you know,
15:35 they didn't start where I have my, you know,
15:38 experienced the love of Christ first
15:40 and then get married, no, it was...
15:43 it was... doing it all at once
15:46 and that's the most challenging part.
15:49 What about you, Tim?
15:51 I think, it was, you know, in the Book of Genesis,
15:53 it is said, when...
15:55 after God created Eve
15:57 that they both were naked and not ashamed,
15:59 and when you're in the world,
16:01 especially in the profession she was in,
16:03 me being out in the world, being out in the street,
16:05 dealing with different women and selling drugs
16:09 you always have your guard up,
16:10 and then you take that into marriage
16:12 as we know... what does this person want from me
16:15 and I have to protect myself,
16:17 but that doesn't work in marriage,
16:19 you all have to be vulnerable,
16:20 and be willing to give a hundred percent
16:22 but in the world, you're always reserving key
16:25 because you don't want to get hurt,
16:26 you're always watching people,
16:27 and so, really, letting your guard down
16:30 has been, some of the, what was...
16:31 really challenging, yeah.
16:33 See, I really can appreciate that because,
16:37 I would imagine that in the beginning,
16:40 especially since, you were saying Maiesha,
16:43 that you guys got married first,
16:46 and then you came to Christ really,
16:49 is that what you were saying?
16:51 Well, we got baptized, okay, and then a year later
16:54 we got married, but as for me, you know,
16:57 Still learning, Yeah, we're still learning,
17:00 it takes more than a year to... to get to know who Christ is.
17:04 Yes, yes, but the beauty too is that
17:08 you have this deal where you and your husband
17:12 and Christ is at the center and so, He's guiding...
17:16 it's a covenant relationship with the three of you
17:21 and He's guiding and directing and, I mean,
17:25 it's just a beautiful thing.
17:26 Tim, give us a little summary,
17:29 for those who didn't see Urban Report before,
17:31 give us a little summary of your journey.
17:35 Well, growing up... raised in the church
17:38 but was basically just in the Seventh-day Adventist Church
17:41 but not converted
17:42 and so when you're growing up in the church,
17:44 sometimes you come into church you hear all the messages,
17:46 but it doesn't do anything inside into the heart,
17:49 and so once the messages really did start affecting me,
17:52 at 17 I decided to get baptized but it was more...
17:56 I was a soldier for the Lord I was into the messages,
18:00 and I didn't also learn how to have that
18:03 solid relationship with Jesus and so when trials came,
18:07 I got blown with the wind as it were
18:11 and left the church, and then I went into the world
18:14 and began a lifestyle of heavy fornication,
18:17 and I was addicted to alcohol, mild addiction to Cocaine,
18:21 and smoking and drinking and just a very selfish lifestyle
18:25 trying to get what I want out of life,
18:28 and it happened one night, I was drinking,
18:31 and if you can imagine,
18:33 I had my daughter in the car, two-year-old daughter,
18:35 and I decided to run from the police
18:38 in the midst of that the Lord saved both of us,
18:42 protected us, but I had to go to prison
18:44 and I can remember my first day being locked up
18:48 on the 8th Floor, Sacramento County Jail
18:51 by myself, not even in my own clothes,
18:54 in the jail clothes and in that attire,
18:56 and I sat on my bunk and said,
18:58 "All right, I'm listening, what do you want to say to me?"
19:02 He had your whole attention eh?
19:04 And from then on He told me
19:06 He wouldn't stop me from going to jail
19:08 I was going to have to go through it
19:10 but He would go through it with me
19:12 and I began a process to read my Bible in there
19:15 and start to change my thoughts and change my emotions
19:18 so He could change my character, which He's still doing today.
19:21 Praise the Lord,
19:23 that's a beautiful, beautiful testimony.
19:26 So, what is God doing not just in your marriage but
19:30 in your ministry?
19:31 Tell us about the ministry that you have together.
19:34 Well, right now, I'm an Elder of the church
19:38 and I never thought I would be Elder of the church
19:42 I didn't even know about church positions but
19:45 God saw fit to place me there, I'm a part of a
19:48 Christ Frontline Operation,
19:50 and so, it's a group of young people
19:52 who came through a similar experience
19:54 that I came through, being out in the world,
19:57 finding Christ and leaving the world
19:59 which is composed of me, Taariq and Adam Patel,
20:03 and Ameerah and Hassan Byrd,
20:06 and my wife is the Secretary of Christ Frontline Operations
20:11 and we go around doing Week of Prayers,
20:13 Evangelistic Series,
20:14 Medical Missionary Training Seminars at different churches
20:17 just trying to spread the Three Angels' Message
20:20 and also, my other duties that the Lord has given me,
20:24 we have a beautiful home with three girls
20:26 one is eight, and one is three, and one is... one year old
20:31 and their names are: Anaya, Alona, and Avia
20:35 and so they keep us very busy
20:37 and on my knees.
20:38 I'm sure, I'm sure,
20:41 where do you see your ministry going
20:46 I mean, of course, we don't know what God's going to do
20:48 but what is your hope for your ministry together?
20:52 I believe that our testimony is going to further our ministry
20:58 for young adults,
21:01 I'm really going for it to talk to young women
21:07 that are in bondage within the lifestyle that I lived
21:12 so they'll know that there is hope
21:14 and that they can be changed and become a Godly woman
21:18 and to be in the likeness and image of Christ.
21:22 That's wonderful and so what does it take
21:26 to change your life,
21:28 there's a young woman watching right now
21:30 who is caught up in the lifestyle
21:34 she wants the quick money she wants to strip,
21:37 she wants to... she wants to do the whole nine yards
21:40 because she wants that money,
21:42 what would you say to her right now,
21:44 look out at your camera right there
21:47 and talk to that young lady that's caught up
21:50 in that lifestyle.
21:52 Personally, I've been there
21:55 and I just let go... and let God...
22:01 I know you are struggling when it comes down to money,
22:05 or a place to live,
22:08 you don't know where your next meal is going to come from
22:10 but this is the time
22:12 that you should just fall on your knees
22:16 if you have never prayed before,
22:17 I want you to get on your knees today, right now,
22:23 and pray and ask the Lord to lead you and guide you
22:28 every aspect of your life
22:31 and to take the things that the devil wants you to do
22:35 to make them undesirable,
22:37 that you want to do everything in God's will,
22:41 you want to live your life according to His will
22:45 and ask Him for the things that you need
22:48 the Lord knows what you need before you even ask,
22:51 but still ask, and He will provide for you.
22:55 That is beautiful, what about you, Tim,
22:59 a young man is dealing with drug... selling drugs,
23:05 addiction to drugs, wanting fast money,
23:10 just kind of being out there, talk to that young man
23:14 and tell him what you need to tell him.
23:17 Well, first, you don't have to believe
23:21 all the lies of the devil, Society is trying to tell you
23:25 that for you to be a young man or a young Black man,
23:28 you have to act and behave in a certain manner
23:31 and a certain fashion and as I didn't know,
23:34 God has a whole different set of rules
23:36 on how to be a man that have longevity in them
23:39 and that are not just for the short time.
23:41 That life that you want to live, you might make those funds,
23:45 you might have a good time, but when things go bad,
23:49 they go horrible, and those horrible instances
23:52 will scar and shape your life in such a way
23:55 that sometimes, it might not be any recovery
23:58 but God is faithful,
23:59 He can reshape you, He can remake you,
24:01 and your worth as a man
24:04 is not just in the material things
24:05 it's just not in the outside things,
24:07 but your worth is in Christ and what He paid for you
24:10 and inside, you're worth more to Him
24:13 than any gold or any money
24:15 or any attention that the world can give,
24:17 and you can rest assured in that
24:19 and rest assured that He loves you
24:21 and if all these other people out here don't love you
24:23 or they only love you for the things that you have,
24:25 He loves you even though you have nothing
24:27 and though you have to be a man and take care of yourself,
24:30 as my wife just said to the young ladies,
24:33 God can take care of you, you know,
24:35 the greatest blessing that a man has
24:37 is he doesn't have to worry about
24:39 how he's going to take care of himself
24:41 because whatever problems he has,
24:42 he can fall on his knees
24:43 and ask Christ to take care of him
24:46 and God will do that for you.
24:47 That is beautiful,
24:50 I just know that someone watching
24:53 will be so blessed by your testimony
24:57 and your willingness to share
24:58 you know, there are a lot of people who
25:00 might not be willing to talk about this
25:02 but you are new creatures in Christ
25:04 that person that existed before...
25:07 she and he... they're dead... they are dead
25:10 you are new creatures in Christ so, I mean,
25:15 it's just amazing to me that God is so faithful
25:18 that He will just take us by the hand
25:22 and lead us through life if we'll just go with Him
25:25 Hmmm... hmmm... Oh yeah...
25:26 just go with Him, He'll lead us,
25:28 tell us what we can... in the one minute
25:31 well, actually, 30 seconds, what can we look forward to
25:34 on Pure Choices this coming Season?
25:36 Oh man, we have a jam-packed season for Pure Choices
25:40 you can look forward to some real topics
25:42 that people are really going through right now
25:44 if you watch the show, Pure Choices this Season
25:46 either you're going to go through
25:48 some of the stuff that we're talking about,
25:49 or you are going through it right now
25:51 and what's beautiful is everybody on the Panel
25:54 has been through the topics we're talking about
25:57 and so you're getting firsthand experience
25:59 on people that went through it
26:01 and how God helped them out of it.
26:03 Most definitely and I mean
26:05 the topics that we're talking about
26:07 are very popular in today's world,
26:09 you know, they're popular in the world,
26:11 and they're popular inside the church as well,
26:14 you know, so, we're going to give you a broad
26:17 view of inside the church and outside the church.
26:21 Awesome, awesome,
26:22 Viewers, you are not going to want to miss
26:26 this Season's programming of Pure Choices
26:30 God has just handpicked the participants
26:34 all the Panel members, God has handpicked them
26:37 to be on that Panel, our God is a mighty God
26:40 and our God is a faithful God, our God is a good God,
26:44 get to know Him for yourself today.
26:48 God bless you and thank you so much.
26:51 Thank you so much.
26:54 That was powerful,
26:57 well, thank you so much for joining us,
26:59 join us next time because
27:00 it just wouldn't be the same... without you.


Home

Revised 2015-11-19