Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Kerry Laframboise
Series Code: CLR
Program Code: CLR000050A
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00:10 Welcome to Celebrating Life in Recovery,
00:12 I'm Cheri your host! 00:13 Have you ever thought, I just do not know who I am? 00:16 Do you want figure out who that is? 00:18 We are going to talk about that on this program and 00:20 I just know that you will be blessed. 00:22 Come in and join us at the Café. 00:51 Welcome back! 00:52 I want to introduce you to a friend of mine, and I 00:54 want to really share a lot, everything about him, I want to 00:58 find what his past was like, I want you to hear about 01:02 his ministry, his job and all that kind of stuff. 01:04 So instead of doing the teaching segment first, 01:06 We're just going to start with the interview. 01:08 Man, I just know you're going be blessed. 01:11 So Kerry I just want to say thank you for coming. 01:14 I have been, the first time, I don't know if you 01:17 remember the first time I met you was a few years ago. 01:19 You were working in the Police Department and then I 01:23 met you again with a group at Saddleback Church where 01:26 you were doing the celebrate recovery thing. 01:27 Then I met you again where you are working with a 01:31 parolee, and each time I'm just saying who is this guy? 01:36 Who are you? So today I get to find out everything 01:38 along with the people at the Café, in the audience. 01:41 So welcome to the show and who are you? 01:44 Thank you very much and it's a pleasure to be here, 01:47 there's a lot of people who would like to know that. 01:48 My wife, my daughter's, my dog - Oh good so we'll 01:51 send them a copy of the show. 01:53 Ah, who am I? 01:55 I was raised in a home where we moved probably 01:59 3 or 4 times a year, from my earliest memories. 02:03 My mother was married several times. 02:04 She divorced my father when I was 2, and I didn't meet 02:08 him again until I was 10. 02:09 There was several men in and out of my life who 02:12 probably could have been potential fathers but weren't. 02:15 You know what's really interesting, because when I say 02:17 who are you, I would have never guessed that you had 02:21 even anything close to an at risk background. 02:26 That you moved a lot, and had all these men in your life, 02:29 and there was that instability, because every time 02:32 I have encountered you, your very solid in 02:35 God, very solid in who you are as a man of God with 02:38 integrity and so it shocks me when you say that, 02:41 it surprises me. 02:42 We think we know each other when we don't. 02:44 There is a whole lot of things in everybody's life, 02:46 because God's done incredible things in all of us. 02:49 Sometimes we realize it, and sometimes we don't. 02:50 And I see that in other people as well, were you 02:53 look at them and see them so solid and God is so 02:56 strong in them and then you start finding out that's 02:58 not where they started. 03:00 And that is not where I started. 03:01 I don't remember a lot before age 6. 03:05 But I remember a lot of physical abuse in the home 03:07 between my mother and her husband, whichever one it was. 03:10 Cheri: so she picked abusive men? 03:13 Consistently, and it wasn't until I became a teenager 03:17 that I got involved in that and stepped in and said don't do 03:20 this kind of stuff. 03:22 It was right about then, in my mid-teens, 03:24 that I started going for walks about midnight, 03:27 because I was just frustrated with my life 03:29 and what going on and I needed some answers. 03:30 I start going for walks and started hearing this voice 03:33 talk to me in the middle of the night, I didn't even 03:35 know who it was, but it was just as calming voice that 03:37 said you know what I love you and it's going to be okay. 03:39 It wasn't till I was about 15, and when I was 17 03:43 I moved to Boise Idaho and a Pastor sat down with me 03:47 and started talking to me. 03:48 And shared the love of Jesus with me, shared about God, 03:53 shared about the gospel. 03:54 And he said something that totally impacted me and has 03:57 impacted me for the rest of my life. 03:59 He said you have a purpose, you are not an accident. 04:02 God designed you for specific reason and you're the 04:05 only one that can do it, and I had never heard that. 04:08 And that got my attention. 04:10 And regardless of how many people are in and out of 04:12 your life, how crazy and chaotic everything was, 04:14 you said God knows where I'm at. 04:16 He has a plan for my life. 04:18 That gave me an anchor point, and from that point 04:20 forward I started allowing the men around me, 04:24 that were men of God, that were men of integrity, 04:26 to speak into my life. 04:28 Before that I was very rebellious, very out of control 04:31 so it was an absolute miracle, in fact the reason I was 04:33 talking to this Pastor, is because I started spending 04:36 some time with this girl at this church I was going to. 04:38 I went to church my whole life growing up just to 04:42 impress people and show them how many Scriptures 04:45 I knew, and kind of perform and do the thing but not really 04:48 knowing even who God was. 04:50 So I went to this church and started spending time with 04:52 this girl, started getting in a serious relationship 04:54 going and this Pastor sat me down to tell me that the 04:57 relationship wasn't based on biblical principles. 05:00 That I was a risk for this girl and he didn't want me 05:03 to spend any more time with her. 05:04 It is the first time that a man stepped in my life and said no. 05:09 Cheri: Here's some boundaries. 05:11 Kerry: here's some structure we are going to put around you. 05:13 I fought it and when I got home I heard that same voice 05:17 saying, I want you to follow this man, and every man 05:20 that I place over you and let them lead you. 05:23 Let them guide you and direct you, so that was the 05:26 beginning of the journey when I was 17. 05:27 It has just been a constant journey since then. 05:30 There is a lot of things that have happened, a lot of 05:32 men involved, but God just began teaching me and 05:35 building things into me that were things of integrity, 05:38 and things of strength and foundation. 05:41 Stuff that I had never had before. 05:42 Cheri: what about your folks, your siblings, any of 05:46 that? What did they think? 05:48 When I first accepted Jesus my family listed me as the 05:52 black sheep - it's like what are you doing! 05:55 You don't need a crutch like that, that's what I heard 05:57 from my family, what do you need a crutch like that for? 05:59 Why don't you go drink with us, why don't you go party 06:01 with us, why don't you go hang out with us? 06:03 My mother, in a drunken stupor one night sat down with 06:07 me and said, I don't know you and I don't want you 06:11 around anymore, you go away and I want my son back. 06:13 Because God had so changed my life and since then my 06:18 mother has accepted Jesus and is serving God with all 06:20 of her heart, it's awesome. 06:22 Cheri: I love that, but it's really tough because 06:26 you know when you bring God into that chaos it's 06:28 like it confronts everybody. 06:30 It's like you turn the light on and all the darkness 06:32 looks even darker, people just want you to go away. 06:35 So it's not that you became a freak or anything, 06:38 it's just that you have brought in some reality 06:39 and it scares everyone - including me, I didn't know, 06:44 I do deal with that. 06:45 Because this is my family that I love and I want to 06:47 spend time with and they were all throwing up the walls 06:49 and just go away, go away and stop preaching. 06:51 Some of them are still that way, a couple of them, 06:54 but most of them have seen I'm the only one in the 06:56 family that has the same address for the last 06:59 20 years, still living in the same house and 07:01 live in the same town. 07:02 I have a full-time job, I have a career, 07:04 I have things for a long time for the rest 07:07 of my family didn't even have. 07:08 I'm the only one, in 3 generations that I know of, 07:11 that got married to one lady and stayed with her. 07:15 Cheri: that's amazing. 07:16 Kerry: and we have been married now for 28 years. 07:19 Cheri: so the whole generational thing, at least in 07:21 your life, has stopped, we're okay. 07:25 God has got His hand on us. 07:27 You know your sister has been through a lot lately. 07:29 Can you talk a little bit about that? 07:31 My younger sister, she was abused when she was very 07:34 young and she was very shy and withdrawn partially 07:36 because of that and some other things. 07:38 She discovered drugs, she discovered cocaine first 07:41 and then methamphetamine gave her boldness, 07:45 it allowed her to come out of her shell. 07:47 Of course later as the bondage starts putting its claws 07:51 in it and it began to control her life, and so we 07:54 prayed for her, talked to her, tried to draw her in 07:56 and she didn't want to have anything to do with God. 07:58 She got into a very tragic accident probably about 10 08:02 years ago, it was a motorcycle accident and she almost 08:05 lost her foot because of it. 08:07 Cheri: when you talk about almost lost her foot, 08:09 you're talking... 08:11 Kerry: bones, muscles, tendons - everything - she was 08:13 walking around on a stump and her foot was hanging on 08:16 by a piece of skin, when they said you need to sit down. 08:19 So they took her to the hospital. 08:21 They knew she would never walk again, they didn't know 08:23 if they could put the foot back on. 08:24 But they did put the foot back on and she did walk, 08:26 and walks absolutely normal, totally healed 08:28 - that's amazing. 08:29 She got away from the addiction and started into 08:31 recovery, and started coming to church and 08:33 doing what was right. 08:35 Those old associations, and those old things begin 08:38 to draw her back and back she went. 08:40 Cheri: but when that happens don't you just want to 08:43 say no, don't you call them and don't you hang out. 08:46 And not that people are bad or good, but those will 08:48 suck you right back in, do not do it. 08:51 Don't think that way again, don't dress that way again, 08:54 and don't do all that kind of stuff, and I'm sure 08:56 because it was your sister, and I have had family 08:58 members of that has had to, and I just want to say, 09:00 Ah but what, you just can't stop them. 09:03 Kerry: I tried, I told her bad company 09:06 corrupts good morals, don't hang out with people 09:07 who are going to corrupt the standard you've got. 09:09 Of course I'm not, you understand I'm fine. 09:12 And little by little you see the eroding of those 09:15 standards and going back into that lifestyle. 09:18 So she did and was in it for several years. 09:20 Cheri: not wanting to talk with you or anybody at all. 09:23 Know if she was using, she would not hang around me. 09:25 If she wasn't using she would call and want to talk to me. 09:27 She was using a lot so we didn't talk very much. 09:30 About 6 months ago she got into a car accident where 09:35 she was thrown out of the car about 80 feet and she 09:38 landed, primarily, on her face. 09:39 So she broke like 86 bones an her face, broke her hip, 09:42 broke her leg, broke her collar bone, she just really 09:46 got messed up and should have died. 09:48 One of the first responders to the scene that found 09:52 her was holding onto her. 09:53 And this lady is not a Christian, but she heard a 09:57 voice saying, she's choking. 09:59 Dana had stopped breathing, stopped doing everything. 10:01 But she had a hold of her arm just squeezing and so 10:04 she turned her over and she started breathing again. 10:06 The blood and stuff came out of her mouth and she 10:09 basically saved her life. 10:10 They lost her 2 or 3 times on the flight 10:13 from northern Idaho to Boise. 10:16 When she got in the hospital she came to, out of the 10:19 coma, she knew that God had said, are you done yet? 10:23 I'm right here - and I just want to say something. 10:26 I know that you know this. 10:28 God did not cause the accident, didn't set it up, 10:31 It's just that He says, are you done yet? 10:34 You know God Himself I think at times says I can't 10:37 stand to see you even hurt anymore. 10:39 I can stand another drunk driving accident, or DUI, 10:42 or another child molested, or you in another bad relationship, 10:46 or all the sudden damaging your liver little bit more. 10:49 I can't stand it are you done yet? 10:51 Because I love you, and I feel like that is what 10:53 He said to her, are you done? 10:55 Luckily she said yes. 10:56 Kerry: she woke up from that and said I am done 10:58 and she is serving God. 11:00 She is walking, and going to church with us every Sunday. 11:03 Cheri: an her face looks - not my sister's face 11:07 from before, but she's beautiful - Amen! 11:09 You can see God's love shining out from her. 11:11 She is going through surgery still to correct 11:14 things, she has a few more big ones in front of 11:16 her but her heart is so in love with Jesus 11:20 - don't you just love that? 11:21 Yep - it's like oh, and that has got to be the best feeling. 11:24 I remember every once in awhile when I get to pray 11:27 with my family for what ever reason, there's a crisis 11:29 and they let me, I just almost tremble, 11:32 Oh, please hear God. 11:34 Turn it over. 11:36 Well it is interesting I talked to her about, 11:38 she wanted to talk to me, she said before I was 11:41 going to church because you was going to church, 11:42 I was doing the worship stuff because everyone else 11:45 was doing it because other people were doing it. 11:47 It wasn't my personal relationship with Jesus. 11:50 And now it is, He loves me and I love Him, this is 11:54 about Him and me, it's not about anybody else. 11:56 She said that is why I know I will never go back 11:59 - I'm okay now - yeah. 12:00 That's incredible, so coming from that background 12:03 and watching, even some family member choosing to 12:07 still live in addiction and all that kind of stuff, 12:09 and even her coming out of addiction, is where God 12:12 lead you from as far as employment, as far as where 12:16 you met your wife and all that kind of stuff. 12:19 I met my wife before I got saved at church camp up 12:22 where I live - because you were just going - yeah. 12:24 And my mom said go to this camp, so okay I went to 12:29 this camp and met this cute young girl there. 12:31 Started hanging out with her and found out she was from 12:32 Boise, so see we move all the time and sure enough my 12:35 mom said we are going to move again, Boise, I say Boise 12:38 That's okay, so I went to Boise and found her again 12:42 and start going to that church. 12:43 That is where met that Pastor, that is where he shared 12:45 the gospel with me and then my family moved again. 12:48 I told my mom no for the first time. 12:51 Cheri: I'm not going this time - I'm not going. 12:54 We had a big fight, she was very angry with me. 12:57 She said you're going, I said I'm not. 12:59 I'm not going I can't. 13:00 So she said you find a family that will take you and you 13:04 can stay, because she didn't think I would, and I did. 13:06 God opened up the door for Christian family that was 13:09 going to that same church and they took me into their 13:11 home, I don't know why they did. 13:12 Because I was a rebellious angry kid, 13:14 I would've done it. 13:15 Cheri: and you know what is really interesting and 13:17 I got to say it here is that I can't imagine you 13:19 as an angry rebellious kid, so what did that 13:22 look like for you. 13:23 Because every time I have seen you, every time I 13:25 have come in and out of your life throughout the years, 13:28 you have been gentle and even almost quiet in the 13:32 way you come across. 13:34 So what did angry, rebellious look like to you? 13:37 With the lack of father figure, with the constant 13:40 moving and not building relationships, and not knowing 13:43 how to build relationships, because we're constantly 13:45 in a point of transition. 13:47 Constantly going to the new school were your the new 13:48 kid, so you know you're the victim, 13:50 you're going to have to walk to that whole thing again. 13:52 That and other things cause such a frustration and anger 13:56 that I was mad at everybody. 13:59 I was mad at the world, I didn't care about anybody. 14:02 I used to tell the guys on my caseload, when I was 14:05 supervisor on probation parole, if God had gotten a hold 14:08 of me when I was 17 I would have been dead or in prison. 14:11 I know I would have - right because you were going in 14:13 that direction - oh yeah. 14:14 So this family says, you know what you can stay here. 14:17 Set some boundaries I'm sure - they did, they set 14:21 some boundaries which I broke all of. 14:22 I start hanging out at this church, and hanging out 14:27 with this cute girl and this Pastor sat me down and 14:29 said it's all done, you have to be done with that, 14:32 you just have to. 14:33 So I went home, God told me to obey so I did. 14:36 I came back and he sat down and began tutoring me 14:38 and teaching me how to be a man of God. 14:41 He walked that pretty girl and I threw premarital 14:45 counseling and that's my wife - for 28 years. 14:48 One of the things that God did to do the gentleness, 14:50 it's I have 4 daughters and no sons. 14:53 So I live in a home with one wife, 4 daughters, 14:56 1 bathroom where we have been for the last 20 years 14:59 and God surrounded me with women so I would have 15:02 to be gentle, I would have to be calm. 15:05 He helped train that out of me if you will. 15:09 You talked a little earlier about probation parole, 15:13 what is that, what do you mean by that, and how did 15:15 God lead you into that direction? 15:17 That's was pretty fascinating, 15:18 I did a lot of different jobs. 15:19 I did a car washing job, did dish washing, 15:22 did all sorts of different odd jobs. 15:24 And then I got a job working for a company where I was 15:27 a liaison between some drivers for long haul trailers. 15:31 Pulling trailers all over the United States 15:33 from Boise Idaho. 15:35 I was working with them and one of the guys in the 15:37 church said, "hey the prison is hiring. " 15:39 We need to put in an application, I said I spent half 15:42 my life running away from cops, I don't want to be one. 15:44 He said no I really think the Lord is in this, we need 15:47 to go put in the application. 15:49 Well that rat, I don't even think he put in his 15:50 application, but I went and put mine in - that's funny. 15:53 I put my application in and they called me for an 15:55 interview, so I told them where I worked that out was 15:57 going to go for this silly little interview for a 15:59 little bit and I would be back, don't worry about it. 16:01 Because I don't want the job. 16:02 So I go to the interview and they want to hire me. 16:04 And I go back to my job and they say, we are really 16:06 glad the interview went well because we are going to 16:08 have to let you go - you are kidding me! 16:11 That's what I said, you are kidding me. 16:13 No, we looked at our records and we are in the red 16:15 and you are one of the last ones hired so we are really 16:18 glad you are going to go to work for the prison. 16:19 I don't want to go to work for the prison, 16:21 so I went to work for the prison. 16:23 Cheri: that is hysterical, don't you think God is funny? 16:26 Kerry: Oh, He's hilarious! 16:28 Cheri: to me I think God was just saying eventually he 16:31 is going to get that I set this up. 16:33 Kerry: Yep and I didn't, I fought it for awhile. 16:35 The whole 5 weeks I'm in the academy being training to do 16:39 handcuffing, arrest techniques, fire arms and all that 16:41 stuff, it's kind of cool training but I'm like what am I 16:43 doing here, this is not what I want to do with my life. 16:46 I had been doing a lot of evangelism while I was 16:49 doing those other jobs. 16:50 I would be on the streets on the weekend talking 16:52 to guys and telling them about God. 16:54 When I walked into the prison, my first day on the job, 16:57 some of those same guys were there as prisoners. 17:01 They thought I followed them in - exactly it's like 17:04 were you doing here. 17:05 So they started meeting me when I was on shift, 17:07 with their Bibles asking me questions because 17:09 they knew who I was. 17:11 As a state employee that gets a little bit interesting. 17:14 Cheri: it's really discouraged on to bring God into the 17:20 picture with all that kind of stuff - yes. 17:21 So I was in the lieutenants office and she said, 17:24 what are you doing with the inmates? 17:25 I said, I'm doing work crews, I'm helping, she said 17:29 that is not what I'm talking about. 17:31 What's this Bible thing? 17:32 Well they know me from before and they know 17:35 that I'm a Christian so they bring me their 17:37 Bibles and ask me questions. 17:38 Well you can't do that. 17:40 I said, with all due respect my job as a correctional 17:43 officer is to use my life experience to prepare them 17:47 for the outside and there is only one thing I'm good at, 17:50 and that is God, that is all I know. 17:52 So they are asking me something that I know and 17:54 I am answering their questions, 17:56 is that against the rules? 17:57 Come to find out that Lieutenant was 17:58 a back slidden Christian. - wow! 18:01 She was very concerned for me that I was going to 18:04 get ganged by the offenders and get disorientated and walk 18:07 away from God like she did. 18:08 I ended up helping her recommit her life to the Lord in 18:11 her office that day - that's incredible - and then she 18:14 was my most staunch protector from that point forward. 18:18 And God had you doing what you were doing and it's okay. 18:21 Kerry: as long as I stay within the policy of the 18:23 department - exactly - and so I did. 18:25 I was there for about 2 years and then I moved to 18:28 probation parole which is where met Max and 18:31 a bunch of other guys. 18:32 You know the first time I heard you say that you are 18:34 going from this environment to move in here, is that 18:37 you said that all of a sudden those same guys that are 18:39 in jail are right in front of me again. 18:41 It was because they started getting out on parole - 18:43 exactly- so I was there talking to them, 18:45 and I went here than they all started showing up here, 18:47 it was incredible. 18:48 And so for people who haven't seen the program with you and 18:53 Max who is Max and when you say that is where I met Max 18:56 Max Rivera is one of the guys that came out of prison 18:59 and on to my caseload, one of many. 19:01 But God did something different with Max and I, 19:04 He built a relationship. 19:06 When Max came out I talked to him like other guys, 19:10 I invited him to church, like a lot of other guys. 19:13 Max is one of the few that actually came. 19:14 He start coming church and started learning about God. 19:16 I'm not sure of all of his reasons for coming, but I 19:20 knew God was - I think he was playing you at first. 19:21 Kerry: it's a very strong possibility. 19:24 You know we had a saying with probation parole, our 19:29 bosses would say you have to be careful not get gamed. 19:31 And we know because we are around those offenders 19:33 all the time, they are going to game us, they are going 19:36 to game us a lot, but our hope is in gaming us and 19:40 doing those things they eventually see the 19:42 fruitlessness of that and the fruitfulness of 19:44 living a pro-social life. 19:45 You know I just have to tell you, I was interviewing 19:49 this guy that just got out of prison. 19:51 He said, you know I found out that the parole board 19:55 likes to have little certificates, you know they just 19:58 like to know you completed something and all that. 20:00 He said, So I took a Bible study class because at the 20:05 end of that they gave you your certificate and I was a 20:08 come in with this certificate and just know that I am 20:12 going to impress them. 20:13 He said, do you know God caught me, so I think that 20:18 what you are saying that during that time, regardless 20:20 of the game that you are aware of that, set some 20:24 boundaries and watch them grow through that. 20:26 Right, God says, that God's word does not return void. 20:29 It will accomplish what He sent it to do. 20:31 So I was hoping and praying that the seeds that we 20:35 were planting and those young men's lives, were going 20:37 to bear fruit, and in Max Rivera's life it did. 20:39 And several other young men's lives it did. 20:41 They heeded the call and start following God and 20:45 starting turning their life over. 20:47 Max's story is incredible, he's done phenomenal things. 20:49 He is on the governor's task force for gang related 20:52 issues in Idaho. 20:53 He led a Cin?co de Ma?yo?event where he did an outreach 20:56 in the parks to the gangs. 20:58 You know when you talk about Max and doing that, 21:02 this is a guy that was facing like 80 years in prison. 21:06 This is a guy that could walk off and leave you for 21:10 dead and not think twice about it. 21:12 And this is a guy whose whole family was Mafia involved. 21:15 You actually walked into this home and would mentor him. 21:19 So when you say he did this with the governor, 21:23 with Cin?co de Ma?yo?Day and the stuff I want people 21:27 get the feel of, and we're going to meet Max in the next 21:30 segment, but I want people to get a feel, this is incredible. 21:33 Absolutely, it's a miracle. 21:35 When you talk about the government's tasks force thing, 21:39 what is that about? 21:41 There is a gang issue in Idaho and for many years 21:44 Idahoans did not want to see that and they didn't want 21:47 to recognize it, but eventually they had to because 21:50 it had gotten out of control. 21:51 So now they are looking for solutions to how to 21:53 minister to the gangs, how to meet their needs, 21:55 how to deal with this gang issue. 21:57 Well Max Rivera today is a man who was part of the 22:01 gangs, but now it's a mighty man of God. 22:03 He knows Biblical principles and he knows what those 22:06 gang members need. 22:07 The rest of the programs that come up, although they 22:10 are good at dealing with some of the symptoms, 22:12 they can't deal with the heart issues 22:14 and Max knows that God can. 22:16 You know I go ahead and take a break because I want to 22:18 break and come back and talk about, for one I want to 22:23 talk about you in your take on why did he respond to you. 22:28 Why did he respond in such a way, why did he stand up 22:32 and how did he get the strength underneath him 22:34 and why did the other guys too. 22:35 And I know the answer to that, because I know you right! 22:38 But I want to talk about that, I want to meet Max. 22:40 I want to talk about some things that you maybe you can 22:44 encourage even the church to do that, it's a little different 22:47 when people come in the door and then I want to find out 22:49 what you are doing now because you have another gig now. 22:50 It is not probation parole - right! 22:54 So we are going to be right back, stay tuned and I 22:56 want you as you listen to this testimony, as you 23:00 listen to this story, as you hear from the 23:02 point of view of Kerry about these guys and 23:07 how God has moved in Kerry's life. 23:08 I want you just think about God and your 23:11 own life and just say, you know what I want the 23:13 same thing in my life. 23:14 I want you to move in my life the same way, well not the 23:17 same way you know what I mean. |
Revised 2014-12-17