Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Brian Heath
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000109
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00:01 UBROOO109
00:02 Stay tuned to meet a man whose life has been 00:03 transformed by the power of God... 00:06 My name is Yvonne Lewis and you're watching 00:08 Urban Report... 00:30 Hello and welcome to Urban Report... 00:33 My guest today is Brian Heath 00:36 and I'm so excited to welcome him here 00:39 because he's got a story for us today... 00:41 Welcome Brian... 00:43 Thank you... how're you doing? 00:45 I'm doing so well, praise God... 00:47 Are you're doing okay? you're hanging in there? 00:50 Yes, yes, hanging in here... Amen... 00:52 I'm doing good... That's good... that's good... 00:53 Brian, you have a powerful testimony... 00:58 give us a little bit of insight where were you born... 01:01 Where were you raised? 01:02 I was born in 1979 on the South side... 01:05 no actually the North Side of Chicago but 01:07 I was on the South side for so long... 01:09 at Ed Wise Hospital to Christine Washington and 01:13 a David Crowder... that I never met 01:18 Okay... but, I ended up meeting him 01:23 my last day... I meet him... 01:24 I ended up meeting him like when I was 4 01:27 and when I was 7 and that was it... 01:30 so, he was, pretty much was never a father figure 01:33 So your dad wasn't in your life, early on... 01:36 No... Was there any man that 01:37 was in your life that kind of misses you? 01:40 Yes, I had a stepfather 01:41 and he came in married my mother, 01:46 was there from the time we were 5-years-old on... 01:50 he was not a good dad... Okay... 01:52 but... How many brothers and sisters 01:55 did you have? I have... one little sister 01:57 named Crystal... she's adopted 01:59 they adopted her when she was 7-days-old... 02:02 Hmmm... best thing... 02:04 I have a brother named Devonge... 02:07 I have another brother named James... older brother... dead 02:11 I haven't seen him since I was 7... 02:13 I have two older step-sisters... 02:15 Why haven't you see your brother 02:18 since you were 7? Don't know... 02:21 Just... he was just gone... Just gone... 02:23 Wow... so what was your family like... 02:26 life like? My family life was very 02:29 abusive... physically... emotionally... 02:34 spiritually... it just wasn't there... 02:39 it was the worst of the worst... 02:41 it was horrible... growing up in that household 02:45 they starved us... they had locks on the pantries 02:49 locks on the refrigerators, 02:51 locks on the cabinets, 02:54 and it was... at times 02:59 where we were choosing food 03:01 and dog food... the choice that we had to eat 03:05 is real cheap Government cereal called Kaboom... 03:11 and the adults get to eat bacon, eggs, toast, breads... 03:15 and we had to make it for them, but we couldn't eat it 03:18 so, it was times like that, then... 03:22 if we did get in it or eat it, 03:26 we'd get beaten seriously... get beaten severely 03:29 with extension cords 03:31 or... whatever they just felt... 03:33 Was there drug abuse in the home? 03:36 Yes, they smoked marijuana, shot heroin... 03:41 drank cough syrup... smoked cigarettes, 03:46 drank alcohol... so that was their way of life... 03:50 Were you ever exposed 03:54 to any church 03:55 or any spirituality in the home? 03:58 There was... supposed to be 04:01 they portrayed the image on Sunday 04:09 that really wasn't there... Hmmm... hmmm... 04:14 so they were acting like they were this nice family 04:17 good but in the background 04:21 they were really evil people 04:25 but... at one time... we had our 04:29 great-grandmother, Theolo, 04:30 who tried to keep us grounded and at that time 04:34 I was a Baptist and went to Baptist School 04:37 So you did go to Baptist School 04:40 you did go to some church and it was your 04:43 great-grandmother... that tried to... 04:45 Yes... she was trying to she wanted to 04:46 introduce us to let us know that 04:48 there was God but with so much evil in the 04:53 household... it was too hard 04:54 to even keep your eyes focused on God 04:56 or even know who God was... it was just 04:59 "Yeah... whatever... " 05:00 Isn't that something how you can be 05:04 in a situation where everything around you is just so dark 05:09 there's so much evil, as you put it, 05:13 in the home that it's hard to think about 05:17 anything else except what you're dealing with 05:21 and so your great-grandmother, even though 05:24 she really couldn't keep it going... 05:26 at least she... She tried to plant the seed... 05:28 She planted the seed... Yes... 05:30 and that is critical... and you never know 05:34 what's going to happen with that seed 05:37 you never know how... then it takes root 05:40 and later... it springs forth... 05:43 Yes... Right... 05:44 Yes... So praise God for grandmothers 05:47 and great-grandmothers who plant those seeds 05:51 in children... 05:52 so, I can't imagine 05:55 as you were talking... I'm thinking 05:57 the children in this home were starved and beaten 06:01 and beaten for eating food 06:05 that was going to the adults... 06:07 where was your mom in all this... 06:12 was she a part of the abuse, or was she a passive 06:16 onlooker? Well, at first she was a 06:19 passive onlooker... because it's like 06:22 she didn't want no parts of it... 06:25 but she allowed my stepfather just to do what he wanted 06:29 with the kids... but as we grew older 06:34 she was... now she wanted to be a part of it... 06:37 and now she started to beat us, 06:40 and I can recall one time 06:42 that... I was raised up in a gang also 06:46 so, they sent us to a school that was the opposition 06:52 of the gang... Okay, now wait, what do you mean 06:54 "raised up in a gang" what do you mean? 06:55 Well, my step-father was a "Conservative Vice Lord" 06:59 Oh... so your step-father was a member of the gang... 07:02 Yes... and... Wow... 07:05 when we were raised up we were called, "Little Lords" 07:09 they were the baby Vice Lords and... 07:13 so... as we grew up... 07:16 that's what me and my brother used to portray 07:18 to be a part of the Conservative Vice Lords 07:20 and when I got to school... 07:23 it was all a totally different gang 07:26 gangs that we fought and 07:28 people that we didn't like 07:30 I didn't understand it I was just living off 07:34 my father's... like I say... legacy 07:37 so, I get suspended from school... 07:39 How old were you... this time? Probably like 12... 07:43 Okay... I get suspended from school 07:46 and I go home... and they tie me down 07:50 to a bed... Who is "they"? 07:52 my mother and my father... Okay... 07:54 and they stripped me naked and beat me 07:58 until I had welts from my calves to the middle of my back 08:03 What were they beating you for? 08:05 Because they said I shouldn't have gotten suspended 08:06 from school and I tried to explain to them, 08:08 "Wait a minute... you raised me up in this... 08:11 you raised us to fight and go out there 08:14 and do all this negativity stuff but when the repercussions 08:19 come from the fighting... you want to beat me again 08:23 so I'm getting double punished" and they didn't care... 08:26 it was like... they were getting off for doing it... 08:29 Was there anybody in your life any adult that knew 08:33 what was going on? I'm just... 08:35 it's hard for me to wrap my mind around... 08:38 There were a lot of people, there was a lady next door 08:41 named Donna Jefferson, 08:43 she would wait till my mother leaves 08:46 and call us next door and feed us lasagna 08:49 she made the best lasagna and she would take us 08:53 to Malls... to the Show and she'd be like, 08:55 "Well, I know you're parents 08:57 are about to come, so let's get back... " 08:58 and she'd truck it Whoosh... 08:59 all the way back to home 09:01 and we'd go in the house and we'd just sit there 09:04 like nothing ever happened... and then I had my aunties 09:07 that... when I ran away... I would go and live 09:10 at their house... but my mother was 09:12 at this point... she was just so evil 09:15 she would just... call them... 09:17 "I know he's over there, 09:18 if he's over there... I'm calling the Police" 09:20 and in Chicago... nobody wants the police 09:22 called upon them... so now... 09:24 my Aunt Bonnie she'd be like... 09:25 "Look, you got to go... she's about she's about to call 09:27 the police... I'm going to call my 09:28 Aunt Major and send you over there... " 09:31 and so, I'd run to my Aunt Major and I'd stay there 09:33 for a couple of days and... 09:36 if she just started calling all the family 09:38 members... it was a point of time where 09:40 I'd just ride the train... I'd start in 95th and Dan Ryan 09:44 and just ride the train, to and fro... 09:47 to and fro... all night... 09:48 the train conductors would get on 09:50 and they'd see us and they won't say nothing 09:54 there are so many kids in Chicago, 09:55 just ride the train... that's where we slept... 09:57 Are you kidding me? 09:59 because the family... 10:01 The family is abusive, we have nowhere to go 10:04 or it was... the train was safe... 10:07 and the train conductors knew that 10:09 and they wouldn't bother us... 10:11 You know... 10:13 when I hear stuff like this... 10:15 Brian... really... it just hurts my heart... 10:17 because to know that there are children suffering 10:21 like this and riding the train all night... 10:25 because there is nowhere else to go 10:27 and nothing else to do and there's no one to help 10:30 it's like... it's such a dysfunctional 10:34 situation and yet... and yet... 10:37 I'm listening to you 10:39 and I'm hearing how God had 10:41 His hand on you... even though you were going 10:44 through this... He put that lady next door 10:46 for you... to feed you... He put your aunties there 10:50 to help to kind of ease the situation for you 10:54 and I just feel like God's hand has been on you 10:58 but you went through some really, really difficult times 11:03 so from when you were about 5, on through 12 now 11:08 we've got a pattern of abuse, we've got starvation, 11:12 we've got you riding the train, we've got your mom now, 11:16 joining in with the abuse, so, where did that 11:19 take you... where did you end up mentally 11:23 as a result of this whole lifestyle? 11:27 Well, at 12... I was at a point where I didn't care 11:30 about nothing... it was hatred for the family 11:35 and it led... to a lot worse... 11:39 they tried to cover up that child abuse 11:44 and that time that they beat me, 11:47 that was so severely, 11:48 I ran away and I went to a 11:50 friend named Pelsa House 11:52 and I told him about it and he wanted me to tell 11:56 his grandmother, and I didn't want to... 11:59 but he was like... "No, this ain't right... " 12:01 so, his grandma called me up to her room 12:03 and she had me to take my clothes off 12:06 and she looked at the welts, and she's like 12:08 we're calling the police, and she held me 12:11 and I put my head on her lap and I think 12:13 that was one of the times I cried... 12:15 and I just couldn't stop crying, because... 12:19 you didn't feel that love, so, we pressed charges... 12:24 How old were you at this point? 12:27 12... 12... we pressed charges 12:29 and they sent me home, back home... 12:33 with them... and when I got there 12:38 they nailed the window shut, they nailed the door shut, 12:42 that morning... I wake up 12:45 hearing them pulling the nails and stuff 12:47 out of the door, they sent me to 12:49 Cook County Hospital to talk to a shrink 12:51 I don't know what was said or how it even went 12:54 but all I know is... half-an-hour later... 12:57 I was on a gurney on my way to Lakeshore Hospital 12:59 for behavior problems... everything is my fault, 13:02 so they committed me for 13:05 6 months... 13:07 and then they gave up custody of me... 13:10 and I got sent to Merryfield... 13:13 this place where it's just a... 13:15 on the North side of Chicago... 13:18 it's real huge... it's like 200 to 300 kids 13:22 up in there... and there were just, 13:23 probably like 4-5 staff... they were just so understaffed, 13:27 Hmmm... and we all were just running 13:30 wild... and this guy named Pitts... 13:33 I know we called him Mr. Pitts, came in there 13:36 and I talked to him, I was like, 13:38 "I need to get out of here, I can't stay in here... 13:41 if I stay here, I'm going to die... " 13:42 and he was opening a Group Home that night... 13:44 and he let me be one of the first people 13:46 he selected to go to the Group Home, 13:49 so, I'm thinking, "Okay, this will be a good 13:52 thing... the Group Home is on 49th and Woods... 13:55 it's called Alpha House... but... 13:57 they had a midnight staff there, and his name, 14:03 I'll just call him Napoleon, I won't say his name but 14:05 we called him Napoleon... and he used to... 14:09 he was like 70-years-old, and he used to act like 14:12 a grandfather... but he invited me and this other 14:15 guy over to his house one day 14:17 and we sitting over there and we were looking 14:18 and it was like... something ain't right 14:21 70-year-old guy... there's no family pictures 14:24 no lady pictures, but 14:26 you have a video game system... 14:29 you have all these toys around, what's wrong? 14:32 Hmmm... so we felt uncomfortable, 14:34 so we talked and we left, 14:36 but he introduced us to another person 14:39 which was his best friend, and I was so thirsty for love 14:43 of a father figure... and he was around 34 at the time 14:48 and he was an all-right guy... he let us do... 14:53 he took care of us... buy stuff for us 14:55 and... He would take you 14:57 out of the Group Home to do... to hang out... 15:00 Yes, to hang out... now we were kids 15:02 so we wanted to go to the concerts 15:03 and we wanted to go downtown to Chicago 15:07 and do what the adults do... 15:08 and smoke marijuana, and stuff like that... 15:12 And he let you do that stuff? 15:13 He let us do that... and we felt free 15:19 but, in the end, it was a shock 15:22 that he lived only 2 blocks away from my mother's house 15:25 and at that time, I didn't care about nothing 15:27 but my little sister, so, my whole instincts and 15:30 situation was to get to her... 15:32 so he was like... "Do you want to come to come live with me?" 15:34 and I was like... "Yeah, I'll come live with you" 15:36 and so I lived with him for a while and 15:38 everything worked out fine, 15:40 but to my surprise, he was a sexual predator 15:43 and... He was grooming you... 15:47 He was actually... grooming you... 15:49 taking you to these things and... 15:51 So I would trust him... Right... 15:52 He was grooming you... And kids trusted him, 15:56 and I end up falling 15:58 victim to him... Hmmm... hmmm... 16:01 Which is the right word by-the-way... 16:04 You were a victim... yes... 16:05 So, when you find out what you did 16:10 and being a kid from Chicago, 16:12 in a gang... you're supposed to be tough... 16:15 you're not supposed to be a victim... 16:17 of that caliber... it doesn't happen to kids 16:19 in Chicago... at least we don't know that, 16:21 we don't talk about it... Right... 16:23 so, that was the instinct, 16:25 don't talk about it... don't tell nobody... 16:27 and so I ran and I met this other lady, 16:31 that stayed right across the street from 16:32 Cornelius High School and I started living with her... 16:35 and the gangs in Chicago were just so bad there... 16:38 they ended up killing her... 16:41 so I had to go somewhere else... 16:43 I didn't want to go back to this guy's house, 16:46 so, I ended up going to this lady's house 16:48 in Chicago... and 16:51 I stayed out there probably like... 16:53 this is probably over... this is actually a 3-year span 16:58 that I'm talking about... but I ended up 17:02 staying out there for a while 17:03 and I was starting to just come around because this lady... 17:08 her name was Linda... and she was nice... 17:12 so she would let the kids do what they wanted to do... 17:15 it was a safe haven for us but in the end 17:18 I usually run away... 17:19 and I had to find my way back to Chicago... 17:22 and one day... I just had this 17:24 bad, bad feeling 17:26 like something wrong with your little sister 17:29 so, I told her... I said, "I got to get back to Chicago" 17:33 How far from Chicago were you? 17:35 Chicago was probably like 30 to 45 minutes away, 17:40 but she told me... she was like... 17:42 "Do not go back to Chicago, stay out here an extra 2 weeks" 17:45 but I don't care about nobody, or nothing... 17:48 so I had to get back to Chicago, 17:50 so, I got back to Chicago, probably around 8 17:54 8 that morning... 17:55 by 11:45 I was sitting 17:57 on the porch with my little sister 17:59 and the guy that I fell victim to was driving his car 18:05 up the street jumped out the car, 18:07 put a gun on my head, 18:09 and on my little sister's head, looking for my brother... 18:13 some of his friends because they were supposed to 18:16 have stolen some stuff from him 18:18 and he threatened us, 18:22 to do worse to my little sister what he did to me... 18:25 and to kill us... and at that point in time, 18:28 I lost it... the only instinct I had 18:32 was to protect her... and 3 o'clock that morning 18:37 I ended up going over to his house 18:40 and I ended up murdering the guy... 18:43 and I got caught, 18:47 by the police... I never tried to hide it 18:50 or like I wasn't guilty, but, I fought the case 18:57 for 3 years... and then I just took a 18:59 plea bargain for 38 years in prison... 19:01 and I ended up serving 19 years... 19:05 So you were away for 19 years... 19:08 For 19 years in prison... 19:09 and not until probably 2006 somewhere... 19:19 I started feeling comfortable... 19:21 so I started telling people... "Okay, this is what happened... 19:23 this is the true story of what happened... " 19:25 and my mother knew about it, 19:28 but they weren't telling nobody 19:31 if they tell somebody... it was always something negative 19:35 that if I come out of prison, I'd be a homosexual 19:37 or something negative... it was never a lot of God 19:40 and it was just evil... 19:42 How did you find God? I found God because in 2000 19:48 I decided I couldn't do this no more... 19:52 I hit a bottom... it was so low 19:55 that I didn't have no choice but to look up... 19:57 and I got on my knees and I prayed... 19:59 "Yea, I'm lonely... 20:02 this is the worst feeling that I ever had... " 20:04 Were you incarcerated at this point? 20:06 Yes... and I couldn't do nothing... 20:07 and I wanted love... so, it's never on our time 20:16 but it's always on God's time, so, there's an old saying, 20:19 "Rome wasn't built in a day... " so in 2004, 20:23 God put this guy in my life that was my roommate 20:27 and I saw him reading the Conflict of Ages series... 20:30 so, I asked him about it... his name is Tony, 20:34 if I'm not mistaken, and he told me about the books 20:37 from Ellen G. White... he let me read them... 20:39 Now, when I was in... I have to jump back 20:41 a little before... Hmmm... hmmm... 20:42 when I was in the Juvenile Detention Center 20:45 there was a guy named Michael Hedges and his wife 20:48 that ran the LTS Department, and from the time that I left 20:52 to the time that I was even up in Prison, 20:55 he would write me... send me letters... 20:58 What's LTS? It's the department 21:02 where they run gym... I don't know... 21:05 Leisure Time Service... that's what we called it 21:08 Okay... okay... but we never figured it... 21:10 I don't understand it so we just called it... 21:12 LTS... that's right... 21:13 it was our recreation... Right... right... 21:15 so, him and his wife would send me books 21:17 so, they always sent me James Patterson books 21:20 because I had trouble reading... 21:22 and James Patterson books helped me learn how to read 21:25 and develop my reading, so I sat there and I wrote him 21:28 a letter one day... his wife and I was like... 21:29 "Look, I don't want James Patterson books no more, 21:31 I want the Conflict of Ages series... 21:33 I want to learn about Ellen G. White and the 21:36 Seventh-day Adventist Church, to find out 21:38 that him and his wife were Seventh-day Adventists... 21:41 Wow... So, they sent me the books 21:44 immediately... they talked to me... 21:47 and they didn't have... when I was in the Prison System 21:50 they didn't have Prison Ministry for the Seventh-day Adventists 21:54 so I asked God to send me somewhere... where they did... 21:56 and I end up getting transferred to 21:59 Big Muddy River Correctional Center 22:01 and when I got there... there was a Pastor there 22:03 called Floren Leader who did Prison Ministry... 22:06 and he studied with me... baptized me 22:09 as a Seventh-day Adventist, and during that time 22:12 I still was yearning for the love of a family, 22:15 so Pastor Leader got an idea... 22:19 he said... I wanted the Commentary, 22:21 the Seventh-day Adventist Commentary, 22:22 so he said... he had me go write 22:24 to 30 Churches and asked them to all donate $15 to Paul Neal 22:28 now, Paul Neal ran the Adventist Book Center 22:32 but I was on my own... I didn't have no income coming 22:36 all I was living off was the $15 a month 22:38 that the State gives you 22:40 and I've been living like that forever... 22:43 so, I had a friend named Doc... 22:45 who, just one day out of the blue said... 22:47 "Are you still looking for the commentaries?" 22:49 I said, "Yeah... " He just gave me 30 write outs... 22:51 he said, "Get to writing" so, I wrote... 22:56 hand wrote 30 letters... and out of the 30 letters, 23:00 only 4 churches responded... 23:02 but Paul Neal took it upon himself 23:04 and went around in a book mobile and raised the money himself 23:07 and in the process, 23:08 I end up getting in contact with this lady named Shirley Cox 23:13 from the Belvidere Church and she did Prison Ministry 23:17 with me... and I ended up getting in 23:18 contact with this lady named Kanya Thompson 23:21 who's my spiritual mother, at the Stewardson Church 23:24 and we developed a real, real close bond, 23:29 and then I met my spiritual aunty 23:31 Ms. Debra Wheeling... Wyland.. 23:33 and they've been there ever since... 23:37 and they studied with me, they prayed with me, 23:41 and they just did everything 23:43 that God could do 23:45 and He blessed me with a family that I was 23:47 craving for... He did... He did... 23:49 I'm sitting here thinking... 23:51 "Look at God... look what He's done... " 23:53 The Bible says, "He takes the solitary... 23:56 puts the solitary in families... " 23:58 and that's what he did for you... 24:00 He gave you the love that you were looking for... 24:04 that you so desperately needed, He gave that to you, 24:07 and now, you can go back into the Prisons 24:13 and help them there... 24:16 What would you say to someone in prison 24:18 who is going through what you went through... 24:21 looking for love and looking for acceptance 24:24 and just feeling alone... what would you say 24:27 to an inmate there right now... 24:29 you can look into the camera there 24:31 and speak to that inmate... 24:33 Just don't give up, don't ever give up... 24:36 God is always there... no matter how much you go 24:38 through... no matter how low you feel, 24:41 as long as you look up, 24:42 God is always there 24:44 and He will provide for everything you need, 24:46 He will not give you much more than you can handle. 24:48 Amen... what a beautiful, 24:51 beautiful thing... what's the biggest challenge 24:54 that you feel that you're facing... 24:56 now, since you've been released... 24:59 what are some of the challenges that you face... 25:01 That nobody wants to hire me... Hmmm... 25:04 so, I applied for jobs and hundreds... it seemed like to me 25:10 I put on a nice tie, dressed up and walked the town 25:15 and I pass every test... the drug test the reading test, 25:20 the math test... 25:21 fill out all those forms but 25:24 every time it comes towards 25:26 experience... I have none... 25:29 because I've been incarcerated since I was a child... 25:30 since I was 15... so I leave that blank... 25:33 and then when it comes to the background check, 25:36 all they care is all they see is "Murderer" 25:39 but they don't know the story 25:41 Right... and then the people that 25:42 do the interview... they might like me... 25:44 but they're not the people to assess the background check, 25:48 Right... so, I'm out... 25:50 You know, to me that's one of the biggest tragedies 25:57 that we have and that is "Re-entry" 26:00 because... if that's on your record... 26:03 how do you get people to say, 26:06 "We want you to work here... " 26:09 how to you get them to overlook that? 26:12 That is a huge thing... but guess what? 26:16 God's got something for you... 26:18 "Well, I'm trying to... I'm writing a book about my life 26:21 and in my book I'm trying to help people 26:26 and to guide people and see whatever we can do 26:32 it's called the 26:33 "The Guard... in the Dark Side of Chicago" 26:35 and I just hope it 26:39 opens people's eyes to abuse, 26:42 sexual abuse, mental, spiritual and physical abuse 26:45 and help them... and hope God leads me down 26:49 the road of ministry... 26:50 God's got a plan for you Brian, He's got a plan for you, 26:55 and I know it because He's got... 26:58 the Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11 I'm sure you know that... 27:02 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you... 27:04 thoughts of peace and not of evil 27:06 to give you an expected end. " 27:08 and another version says... "to give you a future and a hope. " 27:11 God's got that for you... and I just... 27:15 I pray that some doors will open 27:17 I pray that some of our viewers 27:20 will watch and see you and say, 27:23 "Hey, I've got a job for that young man... " 27:26 so be of good courage and thank you so much 27:28 for being with us... 27:30 Thank you for having me... 27:31 It's been a joy and I'm looking forward to 27:34 reading that book when it comes out... 27:37 Well, thank you so much for joining us... 27:39 You know... as I always say... 27:41 on Urban Report... God's got a plan for you, 27:45 He has not abandoned you, He is not going to let you go, 27:50 He has the everlasting arms that keep you and hold you. 27:55 Thank you so much for tuning in... 27:57 Make sure to join us next time, 27:59 because you know what? 28:00 It just wouldn't be the same without you... |
Revised 2015-04-30