Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Jasahn Larsosa, Johanahn Larsosa
Series Code: CLR
Program Code: CLR000105B
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues
00:03 related to addictive behavior. 00:05 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:06 may be too candid for younger children. 00:14 Welcome back. 00:16 We're talking with Jasahn and his brother Johanahn. 00:18 And we're talking about their history 00:21 and where they've come in their life. 00:22 And the things that you have talked about 00:24 is just-- it's tragic, 00:28 but it was so normal for you to jump into a high school 00:31 where you have to go through metal detectors to get in 00:33 and where people are selling off bus passes 00:36 and you're dealing candy before you're starting to deal drugs. 00:39 I mean all of that kind of stuff 00:41 is so foreign to a lot of people watching 00:43 and now before the break you talked about being in jail, 00:46 hearing that your mother has died. 00:48 And nobody is even there dealing with a grief, 00:51 because you're in jail, I mean, 00:52 you know, you're just kind of having 00:54 to deal with that all on your own. 00:56 What--where do you go from there? 00:58 I went on-- I got sanctioned 01:01 about 5 years for the state of Kentucky. 01:04 I started about two of them before I made parole. 01:07 And, you know, all this emptiness inside 01:10 and I got to say that when I started selling cocaine 01:13 initially it was because I was starving literally to death. 01:18 I would probably have starved on the streets, 01:21 if I had not entered into that game at the time. 01:23 You were 16, left home, 01:25 didn't have a way to support yourself 01:27 and so you picked up what you knew. 01:29 Right. And so--but quickly it become something different. 01:35 You know, after the first 3 days 01:37 of this out of town adventure it was no longer a matter 01:40 of doing it for my survival because I needed to eat. 01:44 But now there's a-- there's-- 01:45 and that's how quickly it happens. 01:47 It became this quest for-- to be that guy. 01:51 You know, I saw the potential in it, people liked me. 01:53 I was good at it and overnight I wasn't hungry 01:55 and overnight instead of, you know, 01:57 trying to get something to eat, I was trying to, you know, 02:00 be the producer of things to eat or something, you know. 02:02 Right, the power of addiction. Yeah. 02:05 When, you know, you weren't addicted to drugs. 02:07 Right, I was addicted to everything 02:09 that it brought you when you sold them. 02:11 I'm okay. I have the respect I want. 02:14 I have the power I need and things are gonna be okay. 02:17 And so when I was released I didn't deal with the, 02:20 you know--and I guess in increments, you know, 02:24 small parts I had dealt with what I was feeling 02:28 being away from home, losing my mother, 02:31 having a little brother who was 11 years old. 02:33 He's out on the streets. Right. 02:36 And so when I came home I didn't really holistically 02:39 look at that and to deal with it. 02:41 I jumped right back into what I aspired 02:43 and that was to make my life being the next drug king pin. 02:48 It's not only with your little brother's out there running, 02:53 Johanahn's out there running, 02:54 your sister's out there using-- I mean everybody is-- 02:57 this is what-- this is what you guys know. 03:01 Yeah. This is what you know. 03:02 Yeah, I want to be all I could be. 03:05 So how do you get out of that? 03:07 So I got in trouble again because that's my luck. 03:11 And this time I was in the state of Indiana 03:14 and I remember what the judge said 03:17 when we were running an operation 03:21 in another small town called-- 03:23 I think it was in Anson, Indiana. 03:25 And Judge Carol, he looked at me, 03:27 you know, after the drug taskforce. 03:29 They've been investigating me for about a year. 03:31 And when they finally called me 03:33 and the judge looked at me and he told me 03:35 that I was gonna receive a very serious sanction. 03:38 And he sentenced me to 20 years. 03:39 Wow. He did. 03:41 He sentenced me to 20 years. 03:42 And at that time you're still a baby. 03:44 Yeah, I'm 21. Yeah. 03:46 About to be 22. Wow. 03:48 And that's what I did. They sent me off and that's-- 03:52 What did you think, because 03:54 you're with him during all that time? 03:56 Now he's facing 20 years. 03:59 You know, when we went down 04:00 we actually went down there for a sentencing. 04:02 So I went down there and I had just-- 04:10 I had just got injured, probably-- 04:13 So this is after-- 04:16 It had been a few months-- 04:18 well, before I got arrested? 04:19 You got injured in June. Okay. 04:23 Well, we went down there for the sentencing 04:25 and, you know-- 04:26 And had you been shot already? 04:28 Yeah, I've been shot. 04:29 So now you're paralyzed, shot but still selling. 04:32 Right. And going to his court. 04:35 Yes, so we went down for the sentencing 04:36 and I just had my son and so I went down there. 04:40 I was meeting my son-- 04:42 You know I see all of heaven wanting to shake you guys, 04:44 just saying "Stop, I love you. 04:47 Get--you know, get it together." 04:49 Do you know what I mean? 04:51 And at that point everybody is still playing. 04:54 It was a-- that was a-- 04:56 it was a lot of life changing 04:59 things going on at that point. 05:01 I had just been shot and when I got shot 05:04 I think my son was like 10 or 11 days old when I got shot. 05:07 So that's life changing right there. 05:08 And for people that didn't see your program last week, 05:11 is that you were paralyzed the rest of your life. 05:14 Yeah. Then having a child. 05:16 Yeah, well, I had my son 05:18 and I was able to walk around with him 05:20 for 10, 11 days and then I got shot. 05:21 So I was paralyzed after that and then, you know, 05:24 as I was lying another life changing experience. 05:26 We went down to his court day 05:27 and they sentenced him to 20 years. 05:30 So, you know, it was-- 05:32 it was-- I had my older brother there 05:34 and my son and a friend and just people in the court. 05:37 It hit everybody hard. 05:38 Even--I brought a friend on there 05:40 who didn't even know my brother and the whole courtroom, 05:42 you know, everybody just cried. 05:44 My son even cried. He was about three, four-- 05:46 He was 8 months. 8 months old. 05:48 He was 8 months. 05:50 And when the judge handed that sentence down 05:52 it seemed like, you know, 05:54 everybody in the courtroom just broke down. 05:56 What did you-- what did you think? 05:58 Because your whole life-- 06:01 I thought I didn't see-- I didn't foresee this. 06:03 I had dreams about it, spending a lot of time, 06:07 you know, behind bars or trapped, 06:10 you know, since I was a kid but I just never thought 06:12 that I would be somebody who spent 06:14 a great deal of his life in prison. 06:16 I never thought that that would be me. 06:18 And I've been sentenced to, you know, 06:20 a great fraction of a century. 06:23 And my head's spinning. My brother tells a story. 06:28 I think they let us see-- they let you see me 06:30 when we were getting on the elevator. 06:33 Yeah. We was--we was actually coming down the hallway. 06:36 He was getting on the elevator and they cuffed him in. 06:37 It was like, you know, 06:39 life was over when they sentenced him to me. 06:40 That's how I felt. 06:42 And he looked at me, he looked in my eyes, 06:43 he was like, did like this, I'll be home in 10. 06:46 And I'm thinking, "10?" 06:48 I'm thinking that's a whole another world. 06:50 So, you know, he was strong about it and that's how it was. 06:57 And I was just, I was telling him, 06:59 you know, I was just wishing 07:01 like I could do every--every day with him but, you know-- 07:03 It's, you know, it's amazing that he says that 07:05 because I remember, you know, 07:08 months and years later I'm in the prison 07:11 and I'm learning and I'm, you know, exercising. 07:14 I remember every time I'd get on the treadmill 07:16 and you know, prison beats you down 07:18 and it makes you feel like you won't make it out, you know. 07:20 Your life is horrible. In what way? 07:22 You feel suffocated 07:24 because it's a very oppressive environment. 07:26 And it's designed to make you feel like nothing, you know. 07:33 And the prisons today are beautiful. 07:34 It has a lot of greenery, a lot of flowers. 07:36 They've got facilities and weights and-- 07:39 But you're still in the cell. 07:40 Yeah, in the cell and the system the way it's set up, 07:44 the culture of it is very oppressive, you know. 07:46 Sometimes you can't always see it being an outsider, 07:48 but you're still a number and so it takes a toll on you. 07:54 And I'd get on this treadmill and I would run 07:55 and I would think to myself, you know, 07:57 thinking about how difficult this was 07:58 and you know, I had to survive it. 08:01 And I would feel guilty, 'cause, you know, 08:04 here I am thinking about how difficult this is for me 08:08 but I'm running on a treadmill. 08:09 And I would think about, you know, he's my twin brother 08:12 and he'll never be able to get on a treadmill again. 08:14 He'll never walk again. Yeah. 08:16 He'll never be able to do this. 08:17 Yeah, and, you know, at some point 08:19 this will be over with for me but I'll be back home. 08:21 And he'll still be you know, in a wheelchair. 08:24 And I was in the county jail again, you know, 08:27 when he got shot, gotten shot initially. 08:30 You know as an investigative ploy I had been picked up 08:34 and, you know, that's all about I knew 08:37 That's our street and, but nobody told me-- 08:40 I think there must have been orders from the Larsosa family. 08:44 I'm not sure who issued the decree 08:47 that nobody was to tell me that my brother had gotten shot, 08:50 because, you know, I was in jail when--- 08:51 They felt like you were dealing with enough. 08:52 And I was in jail. 08:54 I think somebody specifically-- I had a girlfriend at the time 08:56 who was a hoosier in Indiana and they told her 09:00 he was in jail when their mother die. 09:02 And don't tell him that his brother's in the hospital. 09:05 And nobody did. 09:07 I think that's probably best but, you know, 09:08 just looking at all the different things, 09:09 all the--and so you worry about that, 09:12 you know, in prison, you know, 09:13 who's gonna get hurt, you know, who might I lose. 09:15 Am I gonna see them again? Yeah. 09:17 Am I gonna get out? Is the family gonna be the same? 09:19 Am I gonna fit in? Yeah. 09:21 So now you're imprisoned, it is-- 09:25 do you get a sense of-- are you using in prison, 09:28 'cause I know you can use if you want to. 09:30 I mean are you doing-- 09:31 you know, people are still selling stuff, 09:33 people are still being robbed with the money there, 09:35 you know, their commissary goods and all that kind of stuff. 09:37 You can jump into that. Yeah. 09:39 Did you jump into that 09:40 or are you kind of trying to actually get it together? 09:45 Probably both, you know, I remember trying to do-- 09:48 conduct business on the outside through my twin. 09:52 I remember having him pick up some money 09:55 and buying some dope for me 09:57 and trying to getting him to sell it for me. 09:59 You know, while I was inside he was still outside. 10:02 And I remember trying to tell myself that 10:06 that was gonna clean my act up and not gonna do anything, 10:09 but it wasn't a strong conviction. 10:15 You know once you convince yourself that something is okay 10:17 it's difficult to convince yourself that it's not. 10:19 I know. Right. 10:20 This is the way I live my life. This is the way it is. 10:23 Now I want to ask you straight up, 10:25 how did Go get to you? 10:27 How did you get to a place 10:29 where you actually started to come out of all that? 10:32 Yeah, it was the start to come out of all-- 10:34 because it wasn't all of a sudden thing. 10:35 It was kind of like the velveteen rabbit 10:37 first gradually and then all of a sudden. 10:39 So that happened immediately. 10:40 When I was in the county jail the towers had just fell 10:43 and there was all the stuff in the media. 10:45 And everybody was trying to do something proactive 10:48 and something good, you know, in defense to this country. 10:53 So the whole country was in a trauma. 10:55 Yeah, and there are people who were doing, 10:57 you know, great things 10:58 to answer these new challenges. 11:02 And that was out maybe because he was a black, 11:03 maybe because--I don't know what the guy's name was. 11:06 Maybe I was watching CNN and I'm in the county jail 11:08 and there's a young, slim, tall, black guy 11:11 and he's giving a press conference about something 11:14 that the government or some agency is doing, 11:17 you know, in response to the recent demand 11:20 for terror-- yeah, and tragedy. 11:22 And I looked at him and, you know, 11:26 all I ever wanted was to do something with my life. 11:29 And I'm looking at this guy on TV and I shook my head 11:32 because I thought there he is and I thought I wasted my life. 11:35 Yeah. I wasted my life. 11:37 Did your heart cry I actually wanted do something good, 11:41 I wanted to be recognized? Yeah. 11:43 And, you know, I made-- I convinced myself 11:46 that it was all but impossible and-- 11:48 but the truth of the matter was that 11:50 here I was in the county jail 11:51 because I was a low life, selfish drug dealer. 11:54 I had a little brother who needed me 11:56 and the fact was that there were good people 11:58 who were doing good things all the time. 12:00 I just wasn't one of them. Right. 12:01 And that convicted me. Right. 12:03 That's incredible because you know for a lot of us 12:08 the guy was raised in an area that wasn't the best 12:11 and for a lot of us what we see is what we become, 12:14 you know, and especially when you see it from the time 12:16 that you're really little and those role models, 12:19 those-- you know seeing 12:21 folks do incredible things, there's some power in that. 12:25 And that's what you experienced that moment. 12:26 I saw somebody doing something. 12:29 And so where did you go from-- where did that seed go? 12:35 I think that I wanted to-- at that point 12:38 it was important for me to educate myself 12:40 and learn new things and so I did. 12:43 But, you know, there was still critical pieces missing. 12:45 You know I had to develop a conscience in areas 12:47 that there wasn't one anymore. 12:49 You know I can't make myself feel guilty for selling drugs. 12:52 Yeah, because it's my business. 12:54 Yeah, you know, I've convinced myself that it's okay. 12:56 It's not the same to me as, you know, 12:58 taking advantage of a woman. 12:59 That I will feel guilty about. 13:01 But I've convinced myself that selling drugs is okay. 13:04 I had to. I did it for years and so it's victimless to me. 13:06 So how do you backdoor that and-- 13:10 We're talking about, even on this program, 13:12 is that having God actually come in and teach us to feel, 13:17 teach us to the right and wrong of all that kind of stuff 13:20 and you're saying that at that point 13:22 I just didn't have it, I didn't get it. 13:24 Yeah, you know some things I did 13:26 but on some things like that, I just didn't. 13:28 And so that's-- I guess that's the evidence 13:30 that it still wasn't spiritual for me. 13:33 It was just based on what felt right to me. 13:35 And so I did get some education. 13:38 I did learn some things, but it wasn't till later on 13:43 that I really began to pay attention 13:44 to what it was that my life meant. 13:48 You know what was I after? 13:51 What was it that I aspire to-- Who are you? 13:53 Yeah, who am I? Yeah, who are you? 13:54 And I think, you know-- when you're in prison 13:58 and a part of you feels like am I gonna get out of this, 13:59 but a part of you stresses completely 14:01 about how you're gonna make a living, 14:03 you know, how you're gonna make-- 14:04 how you're gonna make yourself. 14:07 When I came out of my lifestyle, 14:10 I think that was really interesting is 14:12 when I was working in clubs and selling drug there are times 14:14 I could make $1200 in a day. 14:16 And now somebody says I want you to be normal and together 14:20 and I don't even have job, I don't have a skill. 14:23 I don't know what I'm doing and that's a really big deal 14:26 for a lot of folks, is that-- but how, you know. 14:30 Everything I know is wrong. 14:32 And then at some point when God gets you to the right place, 14:34 when He got me to a certain place, the point was, 14:39 as I heard my brother mention on an earlier segment, 14:42 you can still be a man and you still have value. 14:46 And so I got back to a point where it was people, 14:51 at least for a moment and pleasing God 14:54 that was important to me. 14:56 You know you get these rare glimpses of clarity 14:59 where you recognize that nothing matters 15:01 because nothing is guaranteed, nothing is certain. 15:05 And so it's important to grasp all those moments. 15:08 I remember in one moment I talked to a guy 15:09 and I told him, you know, 15:11 I don't even want to get out of here 15:13 until I'm absolutely ready. 15:16 Wow. Yeah. 15:17 And that's--you know you got to watch what you say to God. 15:19 I know, and I'm right with you. 15:21 Right, because right at me-- you know-- 15:23 I'm not feeling like a criminal anymore and so-- 15:26 but that's not what I meant when I said that to God. 15:30 And God knew what was best for me 15:33 and so there was more to it than just not wanting 15:36 to be a criminal anymore. 15:37 It was-- What was the more to it? 15:39 The more to it is what are my values? 15:43 You know is it important to me to have--is it more-- 15:47 which is more important, to have stability, 15:49 to have career and to have money and status 15:53 or is it important to recognize 15:55 that there are people out here that God wants to reach? 15:59 There are people out here who are suffering things 16:00 that nobody understands or wants to pay attention to 16:04 and that's a real need, that's a real harvest 16:07 and there are few workers who are committed to these chores. 16:12 And so was it more important to me to have a status 16:14 that's temporary and not certain 16:17 or to really ask for something that God is ordaining? 16:22 So as you're in prison, all of that, 16:24 is it the stuff that your mom kind of brought to the table? 16:28 Are you going to chapel while you're in prison? 16:31 I mean because it sounds like God is really 16:33 starting to kind of take your heart of stone 16:36 and break through some of that stuff. 16:38 Yeah, but, you know, even beyond chapel 16:41 and the churches and the religious programs, 16:46 because it has to be beyond that. 16:49 You know even here, in general population, 16:53 mainstream society, you know, we go to church and it has to be 16:56 more than about going to services, 16:58 because we go there and we tend do things religiously. 17:02 But how much of God is really in it? 17:04 And so He began to touch me in ways 17:07 that I couldn't get just from going to services or, you know, 17:11 learning and going to Bible studies. 17:12 It was about more than that. 17:14 It was more real than that. 17:15 It has to be more real than that. 17:17 And I love the fact that you said 17:18 that during that whole 9/11 thing 17:20 and the tragedy is that your heart started to say 17:23 I have always wanted to actually do something good, worthwhile. 17:28 And so it sounds like all of that kind of started 17:31 to wake up for you in prison, that you started to say, 17:34 "You know what is it and who am I?" 17:36 Yeah, you know I remember bargaining with God 17:39 at 13 and 14, you know, 17:42 after having been a weirdo all my life. 17:43 You know this kid who wanted to be on his mother 17:46 and talk to God and bargaining with Him 17:49 that I need to go around the corner because I need to, 17:52 you know, make me a stronger man when I come back. 17:55 And so I remember telling God that I got to get out of here 17:57 and be a gangster because this-- 17:59 I'll see you later. I'm gonna jump out. 18:01 Yeah. This is not working for me in Detroit. 18:03 And so, you know, when you do that though 18:05 it takes you through some things and you wonder if you can ever 18:07 get back to where you are and where you began. 18:10 And it took some time. 18:13 And I remember some nights, those rare moments, 18:15 you know, laying in the bed and telling God, 18:17 recognizing that nothing else really matters. 18:19 You can have me and do what you want to do in my life 18:23 because nothing else really matters. 18:25 So you surrendered to Him? 18:26 Yes. In prison? 18:28 Yes, right at the end. Wow. 18:31 And what changed, because, you know, 18:33 it's like there's got to be for you-- 18:37 now you're gonna have to talk to your brother. 18:40 And I already know that your sister's 18:42 really kind of coming around, 18:44 all of that kind of stuff is changing 18:46 and so now you are in prison and the same kind of thing. 18:48 Is it the stuff that your mom 18:50 said to you early on starting to make sense? 18:53 Right, it's really, 18:56 it's kind of ironic because yeah, 18:59 I'm undergoing this change inside 19:00 but my brother had already-- 19:02 you know he's witnessing to me by this time, 19:04 already for years he's writing me and telling me 19:06 "Bro, did you know that the Sabbath is really 19:08 Saturday and not Sunday and, you know, pulling on 19:10 debating over the phone about foods to eat 19:13 and, you know--I'm like, "You're irritating me." 19:16 What are you talking about? 19:17 And so--yeah, so that's, you know, 19:20 when I come home even now they continue to witness to me 19:26 and so when I--and I witness to them as well. 19:30 But it's-- it wasn't a-- 19:32 they didn't have to pull me back in and I certainly 19:35 had nothing to do with my brother's redemption 19:39 or, you know, any of them. 19:40 They already had the stuff together. 19:42 So they were witnessing to you. 19:43 So he comes out and at what point 19:47 do you guys actually decide to go in the ministry 19:50 and how did that develop? 19:51 That was when I was-- 19:53 And what's the name of it all that kind good stuff? 19:54 So that was when I was still inside and 19:57 the name of the organization is "This Hood of Ours." 20:00 And so, you know, as we're learning-- 20:01 you know God, He redeems you 20:04 and cleans you up and gives you a heart. 20:07 He softens your heart, gives you a heart of flesh. 20:09 And then--but the question becomes now what do I do? 20:12 Yeah. Who am I? 20:13 What am I gonna do with all this? 20:15 Yeah, how I express this. 20:16 And so I remember praying that He shows a need. 20:20 I guess I recognized that there has to be a need to be met. 20:23 And so, you know, we talked about 20:26 approaches to make you know, 20:30 and trying to invigorate communities. 20:33 So that's you and Johanahn are talking about that, right? 20:36 It was me, it was Johanahn and there's a third party, 20:39 Amy Halloway, she's a co-founder as well. 20:42 And she was actually a professor of mine 20:43 when I was in school in prison. 20:48 She was my communications teacher. 20:49 Did you think that when you were-- 20:51 when you did turn it around 20:52 and you were witnessing to your brother, 20:54 did you think he was gonna get it? 20:57 No, at first I didn't, 20:59 because I remember having conversations 21:00 on the phone with him when he was locked up before 21:03 and--not that I was trying to witness to him then 21:06 but I was still trying to tell him like, you know, 21:09 I guess it was some sort of witness 21:12 and I was just like don't go back out of town and sell drugs. 21:15 We can do it here together. 21:16 But--no, but he was kind of still 21:19 hard-headed then so I witnessed. 21:22 Even then he wouldn't listen. 21:23 He would just have conversations on the phone 21:25 from prison saying, Well, you know, Johanahn, 21:27 when they let me out I'm coming back, 21:28 right back down here, so I would just-- 21:31 you know when I witnessed to him by the Lord I know. 21:33 You know, I'm like, yeah, this is not working. 21:35 It is like you are irritating me 21:36 Yeah, this is not gonna work at all. 21:38 So, you know, to me I love the fact 21:40 that all of a sudden now you're saying 21:43 we've got to be able to take all of this 21:46 and see a need that would reach our heart. 21:49 And the need was what? 21:52 In our minds neighborhood community, 21:54 you know, the grassroots community development, 21:57 trying to increase kinship and responsibility 22:01 and communities. Exactly. 22:03 You know 'cause to me the first time I heard 22:06 you talk about your ministry and what you guys do, 22:10 it's almost like, you know, 22:12 you're saying that there's a whole group, 22:15 there's a whole community that if somebody doesn't intervene 22:19 these are the choices they have. 22:21 So what can we do to actually make it healthier, 22:25 to bring health into that community? 22:27 And somebody's got to pay for that, 22:28 somebody's got to-- you know 22:30 so talk about some of the things that you thought about 22:33 or actually, you know, how it's developed 22:36 and the things that you thought about. 22:38 You mean in the development stages of the organization 22:40 or just some of them which we are operating? 22:42 Well, now you're still talking about it 22:43 but I know that you did like the community garden 22:46 and you did some other stuff that I just love that. 22:49 So we run this really aggressive campaigns 22:51 and the end game is always to inspire 22:56 and mobilize the people to improve their own lives 22:59 by focusing on improving their own communities. 23:01 And so that looks like--it comes in all shapes and forms, 23:05 just depending on the needs of the particular community. 23:09 And so recent trends are people with a lot of money 23:13 or people with not a lot of money, they have property. 23:16 They abandon it and it sits there and it lowers-- 23:19 property value lowers the morale and-- 23:22 And for people that haven't seen that it really just sits there. 23:25 People move in. They may start a fire, 23:28 'cause they're trying to keep warm, 23:29 half of the place burns down and it still sits there 23:33 and that could be in any neighborhood. 23:35 Yeah, and, you know, the sentiment that spreads 23:38 is that anything goes here, you know. 23:40 We're talking about a broken windows theory 23:42 and the way that can-- you know a broken window 23:44 can influence behavior in a community negatively, 23:47 imagine what a black burned down, 23:50 condemned houses can do or-- It's huge. 23:52 Two blocks of unkempt fields where houses used to be. 23:55 You know the house we grew up in is a field. 23:57 And so, you know, that really influences the community. 24:01 You know it affects the way we look at where we live. 24:05 It affects the way we look at each other 24:06 and it affects the way we look at ourselves. 24:09 I'm not worth much if this is where I live 24:12 and this is the value of it. 24:14 And so we try to teach from asset base approach, 24:17 we try to encourage communities to look at the positive 24:22 and look at perceived negatives as opportunities 24:25 and assets like an abandoned field. 24:26 What can you do with it? 24:28 We can grow gardens, you know. 24:30 Grow some vegetables. Yeah, grow some vegetables. 24:32 Flowers. Yeah, yeah. 24:34 Work out together, hang out together. 24:35 Put together apart. 24:37 And the end game has to be increased goodwill. 24:41 Do you know what I thought was incredible 24:43 about you guys is the fact that okay, 24:46 this is gonna cost money, who's gonna pay for it? 24:48 We need to put grants off 24:50 and your business sense actually kicked in again. 24:55 It kicked in this ministry. Right. 24:59 Yeah and, you know, raising money is tough 25:01 and so it's really competitive. People are really territorial. 25:05 And so, you know, we've come to the point 25:06 where I'm a full-time employee for our organization. 25:11 I don't always get a pay check. 25:12 And so we've realized that if you come to the table 25:16 and we're conveners and so we're not direct service providers. 25:19 We try to get people to communicate 25:20 and we work hard to inspire people. 25:22 To work together. Yeah. 25:24 And we also help communities to get those victories 25:27 that they need to look at themselves differently. 25:29 And--but when you come to the table and you say, 25:31 "We're gonna help you do all of this," 25:33 but when somebody has to help us, 25:35 then people get territorial and they feel like 25:37 they've got leverage and they'll say, 25:38 "I don't have to work with you. 25:40 You need us. You know we're set." 25:41 And so we're to the point where we realize 25:43 that you're not always gonna have the money 25:44 and so we worked for free. 25:46 You know, we wait for God to provide 25:49 and because for us it's really about the change. 25:51 It's not about building an organization. 25:53 It's about affecting change, change in lives. 25:56 But I really believe that part of what you offer is hope 26:01 for that kid that is growing up in that neighborhood. 26:04 It's like, you know, we've got to make 26:05 these neighborhoods healthier 26:08 as this child will learn what I learned. 26:11 Will be out there doing what I did. 26:13 You know we believe that if we can change that child's life, 26:16 you know, if we can get him to look at the neighborhood 26:20 different from the way we looked at it 26:22 then you've possibly grabbed an entire generation. 26:26 And if we can take that neighborhood 26:27 it becomes-- they have a different outlook. 26:30 It becomes more self sustaining, 26:31 then we possibly create an opportunity 26:34 to create a ripple effect and spread impact. 26:37 Because, you know, how many people have--don't have jobs? 26:40 But then again how many people have jobs 26:42 that are dead end and are unsatisfied, 26:44 unfulfilling, unrewarding 26:46 because Christ isn't in it? 26:47 You know God's not in our lives. 26:49 We let our bosses, our jobs, our co-operations, 26:53 even our government sometimes, dangle carrots before us. 26:56 We become dependent upon what they have to offer us 26:59 and we're no longer looking at what we can do for one another. 27:02 And that's a whole program is that how do you decide 27:06 to take ownership of yourself. Yeah. 27:08 Not be dependent on some organizations, 27:12 even welfare and charity 27:14 and disability and all of those kind of stuff, 27:16 because once I step away from those 27:18 I am empowered to actually be a benefit to the community 27:23 and to my families and all of that. 27:24 And you're saying you so know that 27:28 that I wanted somehow bring that back to the community 27:31 I grew up in. Yes. 27:32 That's awesome. 27:34 Thank you. That is awesome. 27:35 So to me, I've got to say, 27:36 it was incredible having you on the program, 27:39 hearing your testimony 27:40 and hen from even last week hearing yours 27:44 and hearing your story this week, 27:46 and the fact that God just is gonna is stepping 27:48 back into your lives and having you stand up. 27:51 And it sounds like you are becoming the guy 27:55 that is gonna make a difference. 27:57 I'm gonna stand up and do something good 27:58 with all of this stuff that I've done in my life. 28:02 Thank you for joining us. Thanks for having us. 28:04 We'll be right back. Stay with us. |
Revised 2014-12-17