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FRUIT. ISSUE 17 CONTRIBUTORS Tera Swigart Editor-In-Chief Tera also serves as graphic designer and writer for FRUIT. and is the Executive Director of Freestyle Ministries. She has been working with youth in the juvenile justice system in various roles since 1999.

EDITORIAL Editor in Chief: Tera Swigart Contributing Editors: Barbara Howard, Richard Howard, Kathryn Pimpo, Louis Skipper Contributing Writers: Dustin Armstrong, Rochelle Bailey, Carolyn Brehm, Sam Glass, James Odom, Barrell Richardson, Tera Swigart

ART Graphic Design: Chad Swigart, Tera Swigart, Carolyn Brehm

Barrell Richardson Devotional: Fruit of the Vine Barrell is the Juvenile Justice Ministry Director for Youth For Christ Houston which provides a myriad of enrichment activities, Bible studies, and mentoring for youth throughout Harris County. Learn more: facebook.com/YFCJJM/

CREATIVE TEAM Dustin Armstrong, Carolyn Brehm, Canon, Alex Mathew, Andrea Mathew, James Odom, Barrell Richardson, Louis Skipper, Chad Swigart, Tera Swigart, Julie Waters,

PUBLISHER

Julie Waters Columnist: Hey Ladies Julie is an attorney and director of Free The Captives - an organization that fights human trafficking and helps girls who have been involved in prostitution, stripping, and dancing. Learn more: freethecaptives.com

James Odom Columnist: Gangs 2 Glory James is the Restorative Justice Specialist for La Porte Independent School District. James specializes in street gang education and works regularly with young people within different gangs. Having lived that lifestyle for many years himself he has a unique insight into the issues surrounding these young men and women.

Chad Swigart

Graphic & Web Design Chad oversees graphic elements of both print and online versions of FRUIT. magazine. Chad is a freelance videographer, video editor, graphics designer, web designer, and musician. Learn more: chadswigart.com

FRUIT. Magazine is a publication of Freestyle Ministries, a non-profit 501(c)3 whose mission is to educate, equip, and inspire youth in high-risk situations to overcome significant challenges and use their God-given gifts and talents to create change in their generation.

CONTACT Freestyle Ministries, Inc. FRUIT. Magazine P.O. Box 580668 Houston, TX 77258 E-Mail: tswigart@gmail.com Phone: 832-423-3126

Web Address: producefruit.org

ISSUE 17 - CONTENTS 32

FEATURE: Bryan Stevenson Human Rights Hero

FEATURED ARTIST: Derek Minor

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FRUIT OF THE VINE: dream

FRESH PICKS: music & books

HEY LADIES: who are you?

INBOX: insight from adult inmates

GANGS TO GLORY: refine

CLEAN LIVING: drank

PRODUCE: art & writing

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT Our feature article about Sevin stated, “My mom and pops were addicts. Then they were delivered from drugs c o l d turkey and after that I was raised in a really strict religious home. They were saved when I was little, like one or two, but they were on drugs.” This is misleading as it sounds as though his parents used drugs again after they were delivered from them. That is untrue. Sevin’s parents were miraculously delivered from drugs and never used them again. This is a major part of their testimony to this day. In the same article we quoted Sevin as saying, “I was a Blood from Old Park.” This was inaccurate as Sevin is from well-known Oak Park. We strive to publish the most accurate articles possible and apologize if our statements have offended any of our readers or those misrepresented in the article. Thank you.

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WHY I STARTED F RU I T M A G A Z I N E TERA SWIGART

just wanted to take a minute to tell you why I started FRUIT. magazine. As a teenager, I witnessed many of my friends struggle with depression, loneliness, and anger. Many of them had serious issues at home with absent, abusive, or

drug/alcohol addicted parents. I saw them (and sometimes myself) turn to drugs, gangs, sex, running away from home, cutting, etc. to deal with these feelings and problems. I still have countless letters from friends who grew up in juvenile facilities and group homes - missing dances, friendships, family, and freedom. I witnessed broken-hearted family and friends at way too many funerals for people who died way too young due to drug overdoses, drunk driving, gang violence, and suicides. It was surreal. In the midst of all this turmoil, I was lucky to have two amazing parents who prayed for me and my friends, welcomed them into our home, and taught me to seek God during those times. I still made lots of mistakes, but I had a solid foundation to go back to. When I was 19 years old, I lost one of my best friends. We had been close since we were six years old, playing together at school and home. We grew up together. He spent a lot of time â€œlocked upâ€? and was finally out and I thought the worst was over, but then he died of a drug overdose. I was devastated. I was done. One day, while I was walking and praying, I told God that I just wanted to be free from the hurt. I told Him I was tired of being angry at Him and that I wanted Him to clean me from all those ugly feelings. At that very moment it started raining! It was overcast and you may call it coincidence but in my heart, I knew it was an answer to prayer. He was listening. I walked home like a kid, splashing in puddles and enjoying the rain rather than hiding from it. My dad came out and joined me. Anyway, that day I realized that I could become bitter and cynical about all I had seen or I could do something to try to prevent other people from having to go through it. I began mentoring and teaching art at the Fort Bend County Detention Center at 19 years old and later worked for them planning enrichment activities and teaching life skills. Then I went to school and became a Chemical Dependency Coun-

selor and worked as a counselor at three different Harris County juvenile facilities. It was there that God gave me the dream for FRUIT. magazine - to reach as many of these young men and women as I could and share with them hope, encouragement, resources, and gang and drug education in a way that they would hopefully receive and consider it. On top of that, God gave me the vision of publishing their art and writing so they could feel proud of themselves for doing something positive and so that they could use their mistakes to help their peers.

P.O. Box 580668 Houston, TX 77258 832.423.3126 tswigart@gmail.com www.ProduceFruit.org 4

I have now been working with youth in the juvenile justice system for 19 years. I love these kids. You wouldnâ€™t believe some of their stories - makes my past look like a fairy tale. So, I appreciate every encouragement and every cent that you give to allow me to continue working with them. This magazine is my heart and my passion. All the glory goes to God; He has surprised me every step of the way!

DEREK K M MINOR FRUIT.17 FEATURED ARTIST

What is your home town? “I’m originally from Pontiac, Michigan but I grew up in Nashville, so either one of those.” If you could only eat one type of food for the rest of your life what would it be? “I’m gonna probably go with Asian food, because Asian food is so diverse. You can get like Vietnamese, Japanese. I’m a foodie, so I’m a huge fan of Asian culture. Thai, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, I’m for all of it.” What is your favorite thing to do for fun? “Basketball and fishing. Usually I just go out to a little pay lake and catch catfish.” What is your favorite verse in the Bible? “Romans 8:38-39 ‘For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ He gives this long laundry list he says, I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God. That’s probably the one I run to ‘cause, I mean, obviously we all make mistakes and in our world, in our human finite love – it’s like when we love someone, we only love them when they do right. But that kinda shows the character of God – it’s like, yo, there’s nothing that can separate us from the love of God and I connect with that because, man, I’ve made so many mistakes and I need God to love me regardless of whether I do right or wrong, you know? Which Label are you signed to? “Reflection Music Group”

Which artists are your biggest inspirations? “My biggest inspiration is probably Kanye West – as far as musically – he’s definitely a weirdo. I got to be honest, you know – even though he’s on some weird stuff right now that guy is probably the guy that’s influenced me the most musically. Tupac is probably neck and neck with Kanye as far as his content and his boldness. DMX. I’m a big fan of Kendrick (Lamar). I’m a huge fan of anything southern. I love southern music – anything in Houston, Atlanta, Nashville – I’m a huge fan of southern rap - Florida, everything. But Kanye is probably my biggest influence. Because he takes risks- that’s what it is. You’ll notice music will be going in a certain direction and he’ll come in and just throw this curve ball of an album out and I like that because I think art should be expression. It’s okay to follow trends, but the artists I like most are bold artists. That’s why I like Tupac because Tupac - right, wrong, or indifferent, - always was honest. He always just made the music he felt was the best. He wasn’t a guy who rode trends - he set trends. So that’s why I like both of them.” How and when did you get started in music? “My dad was a musician and he would play records and have people produce and all that stuff. We didn’t live together but I would go spend summers with him. I remember one summer this guy, he was a good dude, but he took forever to write music and my dad was getting frustrated, so we were just playing beats and one day I just hopped on the mic and I was like twelve and I started rapping and it was at that my moment that my dad looked at me and was like, yo, this dude - this kid can go, so he pretty much paused everything he did the whole summer and all we did was make music together. It was a bonding thing for me and him, but it

“Know at the end of the day YOU ARE NOT A SUM TOTAL OF YOUR MISTAKES. Young lady or young man, you are a child of God and I want you to see yourself like that - as a child of God with UNLIMITED VALUE.” propelled me to think I can write songs so music became a form of expression for me. After that summer, I would go home and just write raps – write lyrics – make beats and all those different things. And it just kind of progressed from a form of expression to ‘man, I don’t want to do nothing else with my life but make music.’ So I kept pushing and I started selling CDs on the street. That’s how I got popular. I would make music in college and I quit my job- I worked for Dell Computers – and I would just go downtown in front of all the bars and would sell my CDs to drunk people. That’s how it all started. I’d have a little boom box out there and freestyle – and do whatever I could do to get that CD in your hand. And that’s really kinda what it is now, just on a higher level.” What type of music was your dad into? “Jazz and Fusion. He didn’t really like Rap because it was too basic. He liked all of the intricate modes and he would study music theory from Japan and fuse that into his music. He taught himself how to read music when he was 15. He was like a genius. So I was blessed to spend the little bit of time I got to spend with him, you know.” How do you stay focused on Christ and not fame? “That’s a tough one. I think it’s always prioritizing. I have a family – wife, kids. And what I’ve noticed is that fame is so vain. Like, I could put all my effort into fame, but you make one mistake and people just throw you away. So, I think I just had to start prioritizing my life in a better way that is more secure, I guess - that’s less fleeting. Because my kids love me regardless – they love me when I wake up in the morning. My wife loves me regardless. People on a mass scale – especially when you’re an artist - they just want the best version that they think you could be. They want you to be who they want you to be, not necessarily who you are. So, I can always be unmasked, I can always be 100% myself at home as opposed to with other people, I have to kind of temper who I am a little bit. I’ve just grown to want to be closer to my family and to God and to the things that He has because they’re eternal, you know. Like we talked about – what can separate us from the love of God? Why would I exchange eternal love for just fake, fleeting love of fame and fortune? It’s just become more of a necessity, like with God -I need Him, you know? I need that. To me, that’s a greater love than a bunch of people that only love you for that one song that they can’t remember.” Tell us about your upcoming album. “We’re working on this project called The Trap. I’m sure your kids know what a trap is.

A trap is the trap house, you know, where they sell drugs, etc. I wanted to write a project that showed that we all have certain traps in our life. Like drug dealers in the trap house – the trap is you could get caught sellin’ these drugs. But we all have traps, you know. People who don’t sell drugs have traps. The traps of chasing fame, the trap of chasing fortune, the trap of believing you’re the most important person on the planet. This album is really aggressive. When I grew up my dad was an addict, my step-dad was a drug addict. I got family that’s drug dealers. So that whole world – I kinda took it and boiled it down and said, ‘why would a person say I want to sell dope?’ And often times, most people feel that’s their only option. In their community their schools are failing, the system has cast them to the side. I remember hearing Martin Luther King speaking, he said, ‘we live in a cold society where we tell a bootless man to pick himself up by his bootstraps.’ We live in this world where, for some people that (selling drugs) is their only idea. And that’s why we need Jesus, and that’s why we need hope. For me – that’s what ripped me out of the trap – the hope of Jesus. And I’ve seen people change their lives from miraculous things, like God being able to put them in different scenarios so they don’t have to sell drugs anymore or live the lifestyle that they lived before Jesus. So, that’s kind of the whole idea of The Trap. The Trap is one project but it is a part of four. I released two last year. The first was called, Your Soul Must Fly, the second was called High Above, and this one is called The Trap and the last one is called By Any Means. So when you put them all together it’s a sentence: Your soul must fly high above the trap by any means. So it’s one project – four different pieces, all put together.” Where can our readers buy the albums and find out about upcoming tours? “DerekMinor.com” Share about a major challenge you faced growing up: “The biggest thing that has probably impacted me the most in life was just having poor father figures. My dad was on drugs – he died actually from an overdose. And my step-dad was on drugs. He didn’t die from an overdose, but he went into a coma from using drugs – his body responded to some bad dope – and he was just a vegetable for like two weeks and then he died. So for me, I think, growing up it was hard for me to understand how a person could love me but then make so many different crazy mistakes or be so addicted to drugs – or just addicted to that lifestyle, really. When I got older, what I realized is most people from my context

rather than deal with their problems straight up, we medicate. So, you know, we want to numb the actual pain. Cuz my dad, as I got older, he kinda opened up more and told me his lifestyle and as I matured I realized, man – he was just medicating himself, and he’d been doing it since he was a teenager. So, he loved me fully, but he also had these pains and hurts that he tried to medicate himself from. And the same thing with my step-dad. And then, now that I got older I’ve had to make the choice – ‘Okay, am I gonna look at my issues head-on or am I gonna numb my brain and medicate myself so much that I become ineffective in life? And I believe that’s a trick of the devil - he wants to harass us and frustrate us so much that we feel like, man, it would be better off for me to just get high every day or just get drunk everyday than to face life. And where I’m at now, I feel like it’s the opposite. You know the Bible says that Christ came to give us life, and life more abundantly. And I just don’t think that life abundantly is getting high every day and numbing ourselves from the pain. I think it’s meeting it head-on. ‘Cause when we meet it head-on what we see is the glory of the Lord come through. And what we get to see in those pains and those struggles, as we overcome we rely on Jesus and we get to see how our family comes through for us. Even if our family doesn’t come through for us we get to see GOD come through for us. That was the biggest thing for me to overcome ‘cause there’s areas of my life that I tried to medicate and the more I medicated them the worse they got and I’ve realized that I just have to give this over to God and I just have to say, you know what? I’m just going to keep trying, to keep fighting. I’m not gonna live my life in a daze. I’m gonna live my life with my eyes wide open, looking at whatever I got to see straight in the face, like a man.”

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY TO OUR READERS?

“Man, what I want to say to you is you have value and you are not what your circumstances have tried to make you. Just because you in a juvenile detention center or just because you come up in an environment that’s really trying to swallow you alive, that doesn’t mean that you are a product of that. That doesn’t mean that you are part of the system. You may be ‘on paper a part of the system’ but the system you were a part of before you were even born is God’s system. And He loves you so much and you have value. Sometimes, especially when you look at the media, every time you turn on the TV there’s people that look like us, every time you tell people your story, where you came from – from the juvenile detention center or you from ‘this side of town’ – people might look at you and say, ‘oh, you‘re one of those people.’ But man, I don’t care what color you are, I don’t care what side of town you from, I don’t care how many times you’ve been to the juvy, you are not that. You are BETTER than that. When God sees you He sees HIS CHILD – He does not see ‘a product of the system.’ You have to see yourself like that next, that’s step two. Step one is know who you are – a child of God. Step two is now you have to see yourself like that. So when you look at yourself in the mirror you say, ‘you know what, this stuff is beneath me, it’s below me, I’m going someplace higher. I’m going to be who God has called me to be, and that’s His child.’ That’s what I have to say. And keep your head up and just know that you are not the sum total of your mistakes. I’ve made a ton of mistakes! And realistically, some of those mistakes should have put me exactly where you are right now, but I just didn’t get caught. Know at the end of the day you are not a sum total of your mistakes. Young lady or young man, you can be a child of God. I want you to see yourself like that - as a child of God with unlimited value.”

produce! art & writing of our readers M

atthew 7:20 says, “Thus by their fruit you will recognize them.” We want YOU to “produce fruit” by creating artwork and writing to be published in our next issue! This is a great way to glorify God with your talents and to encourage others. If your work is published in FRUIT., we will mail you a copy of the magazine to have as a keepsake! If you would like to submit any art or writing to be published in FRUIT., please complete a submission form and mail it along with your art/writing to: Freestyle Ministries, P.O. Box 580668, Houston, TX, 77258. You can use the submission form in this issue or download a submission form from our website: producefruit.org. You can also scan and e-mail your work and form to Tera Swigart at: tswigart@gmail.com. ALSO, WRITE US WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR PRAYER REQUESTS. We have lots of people ready to pray for you and answer any questions you may have!

Check out this awesome commissioned work of art done by Jordan, age 16! Did you know that you can actually make money doing art? Way to go Jordan! 8

Jordan, 16

Jaydon, 17 9

Anthony, 18 10

THROUGH IT ALL Every time I read a FRUIT. Magazine I’m steadily inspired by the strength that us young men and women have to persevere through all our struggles. I just wanna say through it all y’all haven’t gave up an inch to the devil and even though we may have, we still gain a foot. Let me share a couple verses with you. Romans 15:5-6 “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Jesus Christ, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” Romans 3:4 “By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, ‘That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.’” Thru it all you never gave up and because of that I never gave up. I thank all you young men and women for helping me. And you, Brother Barrell! -Anthony, 18

LOVE Love is here / Love is here / Love is here Now it’s there Looking for it everywhere I was looking at the wrong places It’s over here / With the Mighty One That we call our Savior

-Fabian, 15

BE A WINNER…BE DRUG FREE Five, four, three, two and one. In the beginning it was lots of fun. The cops are here and you’re on the run. Weed on your mind, you think that’s all you need. Angry with your family because they don’t see that you are pleased. You say you’re “fine,” but in reality you sign your life to the devil, he says, “You’re mine.” Be a winner and be drug free then you’ll see what life is meant to be. Just say no to the people that smoke, because they think this is all a joke. When you say no your soul will float up to the heavens to God’s holy boat. When you say no, you just defeated one of the world’s greatest foes. Just say “No.” Then as God supports you - even if there seems to be no hope at all - He will catch you when you fall. Drugs won’t beat me because I live free and see life for what it can be. When you’re a father you don’t want that for your daughter. When you’re a mother you think its fine but it really

hurts others. Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters all can be destroyed with that one offer. Your family is important and being drug free, you won’t ignore it. While on the run you won’t floor it. When your drug free you can win in life and say “Score it! Five, four, three, two and one. You’re drug free and the battle you fought is won. Then you’ll be there for your daughter or son. -Daniel, 16

FOOTPRINTS Darren, 17 sent in a copy of this poem that they really liked: One night a man had a dream. He dreamed that he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. He noticed two sets of footprints. One belonged to him and the other to the Lord. When the last scene from his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened to be at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. So this really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you would walk with me all the way. But I noticed at the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints.” The Lord replied, “My son, my precious child I love you and I would never leave you. When you see only one set of footprints it was then that I carried you.” -Anonymous

THIS IS MY STORY This is my story, this is my song. I’ve been locked up by these chains too long. I need a key to set me free. How long before I find the key? I been in darkness my whole life. I feel like this will be the end of me. My time has come for me to go. What is that in the distance? Is it what I have been searching for or is it my imagination? It is Jesus Christ - my key to freedom. He can set me free from these chains. I found the key, I found the light. Jesus is my chain breaker and my light. I have not felt happier in my life. All I can say is Hallelujah the King has set me free. -Noah, 18 LIFE STORY My name is Kieston. The people in my neighborhood is mostly Bloods with a handful of Crips. Growing up was rough. A lot of shootings, fighting, drugs, and gang banging. My family run with the Bloods so I decided to be a Rolling 60’s Crip like my uncle so I could be different. Bloods vs Crips was in the 90’s, nowadays all

the teenagers clique-bang from different sides, the East, South, and West. Growing up I lost a lot of people I knew from gun violence, drugs, and prison cells. In 2011 I lost my uncle to cancer and it made me realize we are just living to die. After my uncle died I started making bad decisions because I felt like the world owed me something and I wanted whatever it was. I caught my first robbery charge and so on from aggravated assault, to burglaries of homes and cars. They sent me to placement in Texas and I completed it in 13 months. I was released and went back to my granny’s house. I was living with my auntie and going to high school where I was a freshman. I started playing sports for a different high school on the freshman squad where I would soon move up the next year. But then I lost my brother Carl to that clique-banging stuff and it hurt me to the point I wanted retaliation for my brother. I started going to parties, popping xanax, smoking marijuana and carrying around a lot of guns. I have seen a lot of people get hurt real bad because of clique beef in the city or surrounding area. Carl Wilson was my role model because his priorities was beyond straight and all he wanted to do was play sports and take care of his son and the family. Things got worse when I had an altercation that led to me trying to kill someone and it had an affect on my life. I’m sitting in juvenile and them days turned into weeks and they turned into 6 months now I’m sitting with 4 years and a smirk on my face. My mindset was ‘do your time and go home because I didn’t have no worries because the homies I had in here from the world was riding for me on whoever.’ But then I started seeing the way the system was and I said, “I got to help my peers get out.” Everyday I speak to my peers and let them know life is not a game and we as people need to take life seriously. All the while I’m playing sports, got my G.E.D., my OSHA and Fork lifting certification and my Nursing Landscaping award. Basketball came around in January and I punished the court and people who are asking me “How did you come to jail?” and it made me realize my talent. I have letters from Australia for football and just attended the metro senior showcase for college scouting in April. It was life changing playing with players all over Texas from 3A to 6A seniors from the free world. I got accepted to three junior colleges in Texas and I will go and major in kinesiology to be a coach. Life is not a game and we as people have to help each other so that we can be a better world and stop the violence. Things are not the same no more, for real. Gangbanging is old. We as teenagers always trying to prove stuff and get recognition. The only person we need to prove something to and show love to and show that we appreciate everything is Jesus Christ because He paid the greatest sacrifice and that was on the cross with nails and thorns; and be honest, how many people would die for us today? Just think about it. I want to say this last thing - all lives matter. When I think of racism I don’t think of white people against black people, I think about the good against evil because I love everybody no matter what race they are because there are people that care about the struggle and the neighborhood and the violence and they want to fix the problem. But think about this question -“How can they fix the problem? Without the help from the ones the problem is hurting?”

MY STORY My name is Jadyn and I am incarcerated. I want to tell you a little bit about my life story. I grew up with my dad in and out of jail, he was in and out of my life, I was in and out of jail for about a year. When I finally completed probation I got pregnant. When my daughter was about 8 months old I did some VERY stupid things and I got hooked on meth. I started hanging around the wrong crowd. The reason I am locked up now is because I “kidnapped” this female for trying to talk to my boyfriend/baby daddy. Now that I am locked up I will be spending my daughter’s FIRST birthday in jail. And maybe even her 5th birthday. It’s hurting me so bad inside. And now I am ready to turn my life over to God. Before I got pregnant I was in a gang. If I could take all that back, besides my daughter, I would! I am ready for me and my daughter to be together again and be going down God’s path. I just need a little help. Thank you. -Jadyn, 17

NEVER TOO LATE May 28th, 2018 makes 2 years that I’ve been away from the ones that been by my side since day 1 which is my family and for whoever is reading this I want you to know that you do not have to be in my situation because it’s never too late to change. I was living the fast life, doing drugs, hittin’ licks, and robbing people with the people I called my “Homeboys.” I’m currently sitting here in TYC with a 5-year sentence and I do not recall receiving a letter from any of my 3 co-actors and at the time I thought I had something to prove that I had “Heart” and that I was down for whatever, but now that I look back at my past I realize the so-called “Homeboys” weren’t really there for me. I want to give a big shout out to my family for never giving up on me. I’ve put y’all through so much and I’m sorry… I want y’all to know that I’m not the same person that I was in the past, from this day forward I want to help people go down the right path which is getting education, making clean money, and living a positive life. I also want to give a shout out to my JCO staff and my peer recovery support group for pushing me forward instead of letting me fall off track. Once again, it’s never too late to change and remember at the end of the day family is the ones that will be there no matter what with love and support. -Edwin, 18

-Kieston, 18

Jacob, 16

Daniel

Sebastian, 16 13

Jared, 18

LaDorean, 17 14

Bryan, 15

Christopher, 14

Dylan, 15

Darren, 17 15

James

Kadin

Bryan

Fabian, 15 16

Bryan, 15

KEEPIN STRONG I was born very early. My mother had taken drugs while pregnant with me. I was born 3 weeks early as a premature. When I was a year old my mother broke my arm cause of her anger. I was physically, sexually, and emotionally abused. I saw my father shoot my brother when I was 5. I was in CPS most of my life. Jumped from 33 different homes. When I was 8 I got adopted by a family. A year later I was nothing but a criminal - robbing, smoking, gangbanging, drinking, and having sex. Now I have 3 kids and another on the way. I’m only 16. But to make it crazier, I’m still in jail. I’ve been in and out of lock-up since I was 10. I’ve been to 2 bootcamps, 1 rehab, 3 detentions, and a state facility. I’ve been in the state facility for almost 3 years. I was doing good before this last case but I found out my mom was shot and killed. Now I’m doing good but I’m doing dry time because I have no place to go to. But, I’m keepin strong for me, my kids, and God. It’s hard but not all good things come easy. People tell me it’s not someone like me that gonna make a successful man- but I will be. Money can’t buy me love, trust, or God so forget it. I currently play basketball and earned a scholarship but I can’t use it because I’m in here. I’ve always been good at sports. I got jumped into gangs and fell from there. I’m trying to stay out of trouble, but my homies in here jumped me ‘cause I was down no more. I continue to stay faithful and write music, draw, play ball, and most importantly live by my quote - “1 day, 1,000 opportunities to succeed.” -Jacob, 16 MY LIFE STORY I’ve been on this path for getting money, robbing people, and hitting people upside the head with pistol. I had my family which was my mother, dad, my two brothers, and one sister. Then when I turned 16 years old I came here. And once I got here I started to do stupid things that would get me in trouble. Then out of nowhere I found God. Ever since, my life has been on the right path. -Robinson, 17 DECISION - A SHORT STORY I had a dream recently. As many dreams are, it felt at the time like

a real and likely situation. I saw myself asleep in my bed. Suddenly, my soul evaporated from within me like a cloud. I was then standing in a windowless room with a bright, white light overhead and a large metal table in the center. A man in a crisp white doctor’s uniform was sitting at the table, his hands clasped in front of him. “Come. Sit down,” he invited, and he indicated the chair on the other end of the table. Unsure of what to think, I did as he said. “I’m not sure where I am,” I said. “Why that is understandable. Most people do not.” His voice was placid, almost otherworldly. “You have died and are in the room of decision.” I looked at him quizzically. “What decision do I have to make? I am dead.” “Ah, but of course. It is not your decision, but mine.” He reached out beside him and produced a folder from thin air. Opening it in front of him on the table, he began to inspect its contents. After sitting in uncomfortable silence for some time, I inquired of him what his decision was and what he was reading. He looked up with a curious smile. “I am reading your life’s story. As for my decision, I have made it, and now I have decided to give you a decision.” I did not like that he was reading my life story, and I did not care for him very much either. But upon inspecting the room for an escape route, I found that there was none. There was absolutely nothing but four perfectly white walls, a ceiling, a matching floor, and the table at which we sat; nothing else, excluding the oddly placed bowl of almonds in the center of the table. “Would you rather enter the oblivion of non-existence or reenter the world as a spoken word?” “A what?!” I demanded. “Do you know what a word is?” he drawled. I nodded. “Do you know what it means to speak?” “Yes!” I replied exasperatedly, “but I am a living being! How could I be something as silly and frivolous as a word?!” “You are wrong,” he replied flatly. “I already told you that you are dead. Besides words are not, by nature, silly or frivolous. From your life’s story I see that you failed to learn this during your days as a living being,” he said sharply, “but I am not here to discuss this with you. You have a decision to make. Which will it be, a nothing or a word?” I hated this senseless man with all of my deceased being. I spewed every profanity at him I could think of. I began to rack my brain for all the insults and threats I had heard of in my life. After what seemed like forever, it became clear that the only way to move forward was to succumb to his stupid game of decisions, so tired and panting, I thought over his question. If it were possible that he could change me into such a thing as a nothing or a word, which would I prefer? How could I know? So, attempting to be sly, I asked him this question: “I have never been either a nothing or a word. How could I know which I would rather be?”

He looked up from my life, which he had been reading while I had been ranting. “I suppose you couldn’t know. Could you?” This was not the answer I had been expecting or hoping for. Out of trick questions, I wearily asked him straight, “Could I test one first?” His face changed to amused surprise. “Be reasonable! If you were a nothing, you would be by definition nothing and could not know either way if you had made the right choice or not? And if you were a word, you would be spoken once and thereafter remain spoken that way forever, never to change, never to be erased. That is the way words are. So you see, either way it is impossible to simply test one. No. Your decision is to be made once, only once. But take your time, you have forever to decide.” After explaining this, he went back to reading my life, chuckling to himself. I rolled my eyes with frustration. But it was one or the other, a nothing or a word. Neither choice was particularly favorable to me. I did not much like the thought of simply ceasing to exist, but being on the tip of someone’s tongue was not exactly desirable either. If I chose a word, I would be spoken once and that was it. I would then be a nothing. Ha! I had just outsmarted the insane old know-it-all. I could be both! I smacked the table in triumph. “I’ve made my decision!” I proclaimed. “I’ll be a word!” He looked up with surprise. “So be it.” All of a sudden, I was no longer in that dreadful room, but I was not sure where that put me now. I was standing in a room with red walls and a high arched ceiling. Actually, I wasn’t standing. I was being in the room. I had no body. I supposed that made sense for a word. There were other words in the room with me; many others. We all stood there in a line, as though waiting. After much waiting, I asked my neighbor what was going on. “We are all waiting to be spoken.” Oh right I’m in someone’s mouth. Great! “Of course,” I replied, “and how does one go about being spoken?” My fellow word turned around and pointed at the bulbous chandelier ahead of us. “That is the uvula. When a word is moved underneath, it infuses the blank word with a meaning drawn from intention. Then that word is made audible in the tongue and shot forth by the lips.” “Can a word be spoken more than once?” I asked. “Nope. You can only ever be spoken one time, but they say that one time lasts forever.” I wonderd what he meant by that. But we grow silent and wait for a long time. The person, in whose mouth we are in, begins to speak. Words fly out rapidly. We can hear the sound of angry shouting echoing back from the front of the mouth. My neighbor and I are pulled closer and closer to the uvula. We are pulled forward by force. It is not our will that carries us this way. Closer and

closer, I can clearly hear the words before us: “WHY… DO… I… PUT… UP… WITH… YOU?” We are so close now that I feel the vibration all around me. “YOU… ARE… A…” My neighbor has just been thrust under the uvula. Then, I am pulled under it. I feel the irony as I am infused with a meaning and shaped into a sound… “NOTHING!!!” I am a word and a nothing simultaneously. It is over now, right? I wait to die away… to fade into history, but here I am… not floating exactly because I don’t have a body… but somehow, I’m still here. I can see everything now, as I am not in my speaker’s mouth anymore. I watch what my spoken meaning does to the little girl at whom I was thrown. She is crushed, beaten as though by a club. I am outraged at what my speaker has done. I hang in existence perpetually. Through the years I watch the little girl grow up. I follow her all her life, as only words can. She carries me with her in her subconscious. When things don’t go as planned or they go downright badly, she often calls me up and plays me over and over in her mind. I’m a nothing. I’m a nothing. I’m a nothing. The memory of my speaking wears her down and she crumples. I am a curse to her, a shackle, a label, a limit. I hate my speaker for making me this way. When I am recalled, I repeat the damage that was done that day. I wish at very least to be forgotten, but I am a vivid memory, a blow that leaves no bruise but does more damage than a bullet to the head, and yet - I am just a word. I exist all her life and am a frequent caller to her self-esteem. As she grows old, I am called upon less often until one day she falls down some steps and is taken to the hospital. On her deathbed, all kinds of discouraging thoughts swirl in her mind. I know them for she has picked them up along the way, but none are as sure or rooted as I, for I was planted at a very early stage and have been tended to all her life. Though she does not even remember where I came from, she repeats me to the tearful people surrounding her. “Nothing. I am a nothing.” she rasps. I watch in agony as her soul evaporates from within her, convinced she is a nothing. But I am just a word, a silly frivolous word. Not meant when I was spoken and never spoken again, and yet look what I have done. I am a rot and a venom. I am a word. The agony is like a consuming fire, I can hardly stand the guilt. It would have been better to be nothing, but here I am forever, ‘A nothing!’ If only that wretched Dr. Decision had told me of the torment of being such a word. Dr. Decision sat at a shiny metal table, turning the pages of an epilogue. He smiled ruefully. “Ah humans; always compelled to speak, seldom prone to listen, and never inclined to think.” Epilogue I awoke from my dream as my mother came into my room, turned on the light, and began to quote scripture to my sister and me. This is her normal routine. I was about to complain, which is my normal routine, but I remembered my dream and thought twice. It might just have been a dream, but then maybe, just maybe, there was something to it. -Kasumi, 17

Seumas, 17

Colton, 17 19

Zander, 14

Jared, 18 20

Daniel

Alyssa, 17

Jared, 18

Ravyn 21

Kadin

Jared, 18 22

may

Only God Can Judge Me

veryone who reads this magazine is familiar with courtrooms; I want to tell you now about the final courtroom (Hebrews 9:27). When you move from this life to the next, an enemy will stand before God and accuse you of breaking God’s laws (Exodus 20:1-9). He will point to you and say to Him, “Everything else was more important to him than You.” He’ll say, “he’s a liar” and “he’s a thief.” Then he’ll say, “he’s dishonored his parents” and “he’s immoral and impure.” He will accuse you at least 10 times, and here’s the problem, he’s right… We have all broken God’s laws, we’re all guilty (Romans 3:10, 23).

However, one last witness wants to speak; His name is Jesus and He will testify on behalf of all who have turned from evil and asked Him to be the boss of their lives. “The enemy has spoken truthfully, he has broken God’s laws,” Jesus will say, “but one thing remains. The accused has turned from his sin. He believes that I died on the cross for all the bad things he’s done. He believes that I am the way, the truth and the life. This person has broken all the laws of God but HE’S NOT GUILTY! I suffered and died on the cross for him and

he believes that My death was for him. He’s forgiven, he’s Mine!” (Acts 3:19, John 14:6). In that courtroom, will the verdict be guilty or forgiven? To begin life with God, confess your guilt. Turn away from evil. Ask Jesus to rule and direct in your life. He wants to testify for you on that day so that you can be with Him forever! (2 Peter 3:9, John 3:16) If you have any questions about what it means to follow Jesus, write to us, we’d love to hear from you!

written by Sam Glass, Missions Pastor, Second Baptist Church Houston

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Heavenly Father, I confess to you that I’m a sinner. I believe that Jesus died for my sins, then rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. I’m receiving Jesus Christ as my personal savior, here and now. Thank you for making me one of your children. By the Holy Spirit, I will live for you, all the days of my life. I will find people to help me grow in my understanding of the Bible and to help me stay on the right path. When times get tough, I will turn to you first. I know that with you I have a purpose and I will seek to find that purpose and live it out. When I make mistakes, which I will, I will not stay down in shame, but will get back up, ask for your forgiveness, and get back on the right path with you. Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice and unconditional love. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

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SPRINGSPIRIT.ORG 25

Dre fruit of the vine devotional

hat’s good Family? It feels like it’s been a minute! As I’m writing you today it happens to be Martin Luther King’s birthday. The famed civil rights leader most known by the legendary “I have a dream” speech. A speech where he spoke about what he thought our country would one day become. MLK worked hard every day trying to make that dream a reality up until the day he died! Hey Fam …what’s your dream? No, I’m not asking about what you dreamed about last night. I’m talking about that desire and/or passion to have that ideal profession, invent something new, or simply change the world. Remember when you were little - say 5 or 6 - and someone would ask you about what you wanted to be when you grew up. You didn’t hesitate to tell them, full of assurance that you were going to be a football player, President, doctor, fireman, lawyer, etc. Even though to some that might not have been a realistic goal …. You knew it and couldn’t wait to one day become it. You even would find yourself time to time daydreaming about it. What about now? When’s the last time you felt so strongly about becoming the person you wanted to be? Some of you reading this haven’t thought about this in a long time. Why? Why did you stop dreaming? Have past mistakes taken your dreams? Have other 26

people’s words taken your dream? Do you no longer believe it possible? Hey Fam I got good news for you: IT’S POSSIBLE! I know some of you just rolled your eyes, thinking to yourself that you knew I was going to say that... and you’re right, but it’s still true. Now for you, yes you, the one who is thinking ‘not me, I’m locked up. My dream is dead.’ Or the one who feels like everything and everyone is against you or the one who feels like every time things seem to be getting a little better somehow it always goes left…this letter is for you!

Let me tell you a little secret. When things look impossible, that is the ideal setting for God’s power to be displayed. Our plans/dreams may not work out, but the dreams that God gives us based on the talents He’s given us and based on our experiences will happen if we do our part. How do I know that? Simple. I read it in the Bible! See in the book of Genesis, starting in chapter 37 we learn about a kid with a dream named Joseph. Right after he shared his dream with his brothers all hell broke loose (mannn, it goes down!!). Read it ...it’s a juicy story of betrayal, lust, family dysfunction, violence, and most of all redemption, hard work, purpose, faith, and the power of God’s love. This kid went through it all…but his dream still came true! Some of you might be thinking

eam that you are different because you are locked up but so was he. See Fam, there is no circumstance or situation too hard for God. He can use you to do amazing things beyond your imagination - you just need to trust Him.

considering telling is going to support you and will only hate on it - it’s not for them to know just yet. Let’s learn from our big brother, Joseph. (Seriously, read Joseph’s story starting in chapter 37 of Genesis - it’s not going to hurt you.)

So, let’s start by doing this. First, to know God’s plan for you, you have to know Him and hear from Him. This means you have to spend time developing a personal relationship with Him through prayer, reading the Bible, learning about Him from others, and choosing to do what is right and resist doing what you know is not part of his plan. Any goal or dream God gives you will never contradict what God says in the Bible.

Finally, let your actions show you trust God to make this happen for you in His timing and His way. It’s not that He just wants to do something for you, He wants to complete His purpose through you. You gotta do your part Fam and you can!

Now, think about how God might use you based on your talents, passions, and experiences. Then put that dream or those goals down on paper. Don’t just keep them in your head. Writing them down makes them more real for you and then you can make a plan to act on them. Start with the big dream and create smaller goals to help you reach that dream. What can you start doing now? Two, don’t share your dreams and goals with everyone too soon. If you don’t think the person you’re

You are special to God. That’s why you have those unique fingerprints, because God made you His one of a kind masterpiece. Again, remember when you were younger and you sensed there was something special about you - you just didn’t know what it was? Well I know. It’s that dream, that purpose God has for your life. It’s what makes you, you!

Let me leave you with a verse God told me to share with you, “‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11. Sounds like he’s ready to make some dreams come true. Are you? Love Ya!

- Brother Barrell. 27

inbox adult inmates share about achieving your goals

A SECOND CHANCE Prison, crime and punishment are necessary in a civilized society but so is rehabilitation. This gives a person a chance to acknowledge their mistakes, and an opportunity to fix the problem that always affects others. In my situation, the only problem that needs to be fixed is me. We as humans are destined to make mistakes. As children, we have all fallen victim to our mistakes. We have all been accused of doing wrong and finally, in God’s eyes, we are all sinners. In his eyes also, we receive redemption through his love and grace. This exists for us all. So too, our society and laws should offer redemption for those who have discovered resilience and rehabilitation out of their moment of making a mistake. Here in prison, where I compose those very thoughts, it can be hard for those of you to acknowledge my redemption. You can’t read my mind, feel my heart or see my daily walk, but somewhere in this demonstration, I hope you find my seriousness towards my atonement. In 1994, I was charged with capital murder. Even though I was not the killer in this crime, I was convicted and given a life sentence. The accused killer received less time and twenty years later went home on parole. I arrived at prison

at age 17, 165 pounds, in handcuffs in 1996, uneducated, gang related, no family support and very lost. My father was sent to prison as well as all my brothers except one. I have always been a part of this system, born into foster homes, juvenile centers, placements, then to a state prison far away from home. If there is a case for “School to Prison Pipeline”, I’m it. My first ten years in prison were harsh. From 15 years old to 26, I received no visits from family and very few letters. I was bitter, but still had the gang life which showed me an unnatural sense of love. I acted out due to carelessness and frustration. I believed that my life was meant to be this way. Gangs, guns, drugs, and prison cells. No family to care for me, no motivational role models to enlighten my path through this struggle. All I had was me. I had to make a decision. I had to give myself a chance or be a fool for the rest of my life in a world of sadness. I pulled myself up by first forgiving my circumstances and by making better decisions, because as an adult you must own those decisions, good or bad. Teaching myself how to read and write, I learned about my struggles as a black man living in America. I cried when I found out the truth about our path. In 2004, I renounced my affiliation as a gang member. I felt sick to know how those actions of

“banging” affected so many years of progress for a group of people who fought, cried, died, struggled, and prayed to every god known in the universe to gain equality in a world where it should be a birthright. I owe them every respect, my very breath for the price of freedom. This is how my change began. I realize that I was not guilty of murder but so much more. I found that God will put you in a situation in your life to humble you and allow you to realize the bigger picture, the picture that illustrates a better you, as well as showing you a life that you are allowing to pass you by. In those moments, I discovered a purpose and a vision that goes far beyond what I am capable of doing alone. I discovered a gift and a jewel of purpose that went outside of my prison cell. -Jermaine A YEARNING SOUL I have such vivid memories of walking across the auditorium stage at my high school graduation as my name was called out. Such joyful memories of my beautiful wife and I cutting our wedding cake as the room erupts into camera flashes and cheers. Such intimate memories of laying next to my wife during the quiet hours of the night listening to her peaceful shallow breaths and feeling so blessed. Such amazing memories of my home exploding into the sounds of high-pitched laughter and squeals of glee as I chase and tickle my children. Such love. These memories I speak of are brilliantly real until I awake to discover that these memories are not authentic relivings of the past because this past that so vibrantly burst into my minds eye was never a reality. They are dreams of accomplishments that did not occur… Dreams of a treasured wife I have never known… Dreams of precious children I have not created… Dreams of an approaching quarter of a century worth of memories that never were… Dreams of nothing more than a yearning soul… Despite the toxic conditions I was forced to grow up in, I persevered to become an enriched man… Despite the huge sentence and unquestionable future, I obtained a college education… Despite the countless odds stacked against me, I have risen… And I am not alone. Hundreds of youth offenders possess stories like my own. Like me, most are not bad people and never were. Like me, they just made a horrible decision during the youth of their lives. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. - 1 Corinthians 13:14 -J. Aaron GO OVERCOME - ACHIEVE LIFE SUCCESSFULLY Everyone has an aim or desire for something but not all have the motivation to achieve their goal. The goals we

set for ourselves should be reasonable and within reach. If we set unrealistic goals we will become discouraged when we do not see immediate results. There are short-term and long-term goals. It is best to start with short-term goals so that we may learn and understand the requirements of achieving a set goal. It is never too late and there is no environment where we cannot set goals for ourselves. It simply requires observation and a desire to change for the better. Each and everyone of us has particular attributes that we are born with, intended for our good and the good of others. What God intended for good the enemy (devil) will pervert and cause to be used for bad. Know that you are beautiful and good because you are a living being created with purpose in the likeness and image of The Living God. There is no other creature on the whole planet like you. Everything we do, everything we say, affects all things whether for the good or the bad. Your goals will not only affect you but everyone that you are around both near and far. Your achieved goals will be a blessing to you and those who witnessed your determination. You become a living testimony of the hope that anybody can set a goal for themselves and achieve it. Right now as I write this my goal is that whoever may read this will be encouraged by it. I could have made up many excuses as to why I could not write this, but I was focused on my goal to encourage and be a blessing to someone, somewhere that there is always hope to change, to heal, to achieve, and become set free. Goals will require sacrifice, discipline, and constant focus. If you ever lose sight of your goals you begin to aim wanderously never hitting your mark. As I began to take college classes I was worried about passing college algebra. Math has always been my weak subject. I had to take two remedial classes before I even took on college algebra. At this point my goal was to just pass the class with at least a “C.” I was not afraid nor too proud to ask for help. Praise God one of my classmates was willing to tutor me. I studied and studied always keeping sight of my goal to pass the class. And would you believe it, my final grade for the class was an “A.” I could not believe it, my tutor could not believe it. Praise God for blessing us with the attributes and faculties to achieve our goals and for giving us a little more than expected. Set your goal, set your pace, and whatever you do, finish the race. “If the going is tough and the pressure is on; if reserves of strength have been drained and the summit is still not in sight; then the quality to see in a person is neither great strength nor quickness of hand, but rather a resolute mind firmly set on its purpose that refuses to let its body slacken or rest.” -Sir Edmund Hillary -Salvador

EACH OF US IS

MORE THAN THE

WORST

THING WEâ€™VE

EVER DONE. - Bryan Stevenson 30

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BY TERA SWIGART PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY THE EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE

s I drove along the coast of Texas, Louisiana, tend by implementing the historic Brown VS Board Mississippi, and Alabama in the fall of last year, of Education decision. Stevenson remembers, “Then, I was filled with a sense of adventure. I had se- you know, things changed. We started going to the cured an interview with one of my personal heroes public school and meeting kids we’d never met bejust a few weeks before. Not having the money to fly, fore. There were challenges but it was also really enI drove. As I got closer to my destination I began to couraging to see a community get past those barriers wonder what it would be like to meet this man whom that existed for decades and it was a substantial step I’d looked up to, read about, watched interviews of, forward. It wasn’t a complete resolution of all of the and was the author of the critically acclaimed book tensions and conflicts. But it was a step forward.” I was currently reading, Just Mercy. To meet the man who had helped to END the death sentence Many of those tensions and conflicts arose from a for minors in this country and who won a case that lingering threat that still hung over the heads of many banned life without parole sentences for minors for in Stevenson’s community – and in communities like non-homicide offences and removed the mandatory his across the country. While many supported intelife without parole charges for them, giving judges gration, there was still an unfair and untrue presumpmore freedom to contion by many that kids sider individual circumof color were somestances of their lives how less safe and more leading to the crime. I problematic. This stigSTEVENSON GREW UP IN A TIME thought WOW! I’m goma was very damaging ing to shake the hand to the kids themselves IN HIS COMMUNIT Y WHEN of a man who is doing and to the country as something monumental a whole as integration R A C I A L S E G R E G AT I O N WA S and historical. began. Bryan describes what it felt like for him, STILL LEGALIZED. HE STARTED I made it to the beauti“I grew up with an ful, historic Equal Jusawareness that it was HIS EDUCATION IN A “COLORED tice Initiative building in easy to get into trouble downtown Montgomand hard to succeed SCHOOL” BECAUSE BLACK KIDS ery, Alabama after a deand that sense of threat cent night’s sleep and began to worry me. It WEREN’T ALLOWED TO ATTEND found myself growing wasn’t so overwhelmnervous as I entered. I ing that you couldn’t do THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. was greeted and taken things. And you know, I to a room where I was had a good school caintroduced to Bryan reer and graduated and Stevenson. Almost imwent to college – but it mediately I felt as if I were meeting an old friend. He was present and it was constant.” met me with a huge smile on his face and a sense of peace and kindness that seemed to flow from him, Bryan had a family and community surrounding him filling the room. We talked about his past and how that had faith in God and taught him many lessons he started the Equal Justice Initiative, we discussed about overcoming challenges in life. There was one some of the issues facing our country today and how very special person in his family who influenced him to best address them. And we talked about you – our more than anyone else – his grandmother. Many of readers. We talked about our hopes for you and how you have a similar bond with your grandmothers. we’d like to challenge you. Bryan’s grandmother was very loving, compassionate, and cautious. She was the daughter of Virginian Stevenson grew up in a time in his community when slaves. When I heard this for the first time it floored racial segregation was still legalized. He started his me. Was it really not that long ago when we had leeducation in a “colored school” because black kids galized slavery in our country? It seemed so much weren’t allowed to attend the public schools. Every- longer to me – so much more removed. But it has not thing around him was segregated until some law- been that long. She knew first hand about the slave yers showed up one day and made them open up trade, had witnessed years of terrorism following the the public schools and allow kids like Bryan to at- abolition of slavery, and was then witnessing the civil 33

rights movement. Can you imagine the wealth of information, courage, and history she shared with Bryan? He speaks about her often in his speeches.

boy was one of the things I wanted to confront. When I first visited death row and began seeing the issues of so many people in this country, that’s when I knew what I wanted to challenge, that’s what I wanted to fight.” Again, his grandmother’s words rang true. The closer he got to the people he served on death row, the more he began to understand the problems and develop a desire to confront them.

One story he shared during his Ted Talk was when he was around nine years old and he went into his living room to find his grandmother staring at him. She did this for 15 to 20 minutes before she pulled him aside and said, “We’re going to have a talk. I want you to know I’ve been watching you. I think you’re special. I When asked how he was able to confront the issues think you can do anything you want to do. Just prom- surrounding the death penalty, Stevenson replied, ise me three things. One: love your mom. Two: always “Well, I grew up in a big community that required us do the right thing even when it’s the hard thing. Three: to believe in things we hadn’t seen. For me it was imnever drink alcohol.” Bryan promised. Later when he portant not to be defined by the institutional opportuwas a teenager his siblings offered him a beer and nities that existed, but to start to imagine what could he became uncomfortable and refused. He said his be done, what was possible, what do people really brother stared at him and then said, “I hope you’re need?” So, after he graduated law school he joined not still hung up on that the Southern Center conversation. Mama tells for Human Rights full everyone they’re special.” time, providing legal “I GREW UP IN A BIG COMMUNITY Bryan laughed as he told skills and services THAT REQUIRED US TO BELIEVE that part of the story in to people on death his Ted Talk, but it didn’t row. While doing this IN THINGS WE HADN’T SEEN. FOR change his mind. So she it became clear to had said it to everyone – Bryan that the people ME IT WAS IMPORTANT NOT TO BE that didn’t make it untrue. he was meeting with He kept his promise to had other spiritual, DEFINED BY THE INSTITUTIONAL her and has never taken psychological, and a drink – not because he emotional needs that OPPORTUNITIES THAT EXISTED, is trying to be perfect, but needed to be met. BUT TO START TO IMAGINE WHAT because he received his That became a critical grandmother’s words as part of Stevenson’s C O U L D B E D O N E , W H AT WA S part of his identity. The work because seeing power of those words those issues made P O S SI BLE , WH AT D O PE O PLE spoken over him shaped him do whatever was his life. Another lesson possible to save their REALLY NEED?” of his grandmother’s that lives. Building that he carried with him all his personal connection life was when she told him, with his clients was im“You can’t understand most of the important things portant and he began to imagine how we could profrom a distance, Bryan. You have to get close.” vide a more holistic approach to helping these people. And the situation on death row was reaching the Bryan attended college and then received a schol- point of crisis. “At the time there were no services, arship to Harvard Law School, which he graduated there were no public defenders, there were no institufrom while also earning a Master’s in Public Policy at tions, none. And the number of people facing executhe John F. Kennedy School of Government. While tion was skyrocketing.” in law school, he worked for the Southern Center for Human Rights as part of his class on race and pov- On top of this, the Southern Center for Human Rights erty litigation. This organization worked to provide le- had lost its funding. So, Bryan moved to Montgomery, gal help to inmates on death row. It was during this Alabama, and started a new project designed to replitime that Bryan began to see the plan for his life: “As cate the work he had been doing. “But in the back of I left college and went to law school, I began thinking my mind I had this hope that we might be able to get about what I wanted to do with law, and that sense of beyond just dealing with those issues. And over time, threat and menace that emerged when I was a little that’s what happened.” The Equal Justice Initiative is 34

a nonprofit law office that tries tactically and strategically to confront mass incarceration, excessive punishment, the unreliability of our system, and discrimination. While they continue to do most of the death penalty work in their region, they have expanded their work to help people who have been sentenced to die in prison (life without parole) for low-level, non-violent crimes. “Hundreds of people are serving life without parole for simple drug possession or writing a bad check or other nonviolent offenses that resulted in these mandatory life without parole sentences because of prior criminal history.” EJI started challenging the inability of the poor to get the legal help they needed and then they took on juveniles. “We took on children because Alabama had more kids on death row per capita than any other state in the country.” Working with 16 and 17 year olds who had been sentenced to death by execution was an extremely sobering experience for Bryan. “Not only did I have clients with legal needs, I had these young people with just intense emotional and psychological needs and it was impossible to just be a lawyer to these young kids. You became a parent, sibling, teacher, and mentor all wrapped up in 36

one.” The intensity of those relationships made it really clear to Stevenson that the system needed to address these cases differently. “So we started working on cases to end death penalty for children. We succeeded in that in 2005. We won a case called Roper vs Simmons along with other lawyers and advocates that banned that penalty for kids.” But soon after, Stevenson realized that the decision did not give him the joy he had expected it would. His conscience was still not relieved because he realized the kids were still going to die in prison – just a different way because of life in prison without parole sentences. “In 2010 we succeeded in winning a ban against life without parole for kids for non-homicide offenses and a couple years after that we won a case that banned mandatory life without parole for all cases. We continue to represent children now through resentencing to try and get them out.” The Equal Justice Initiative continues to press toward more reform in the legal system. “We would like to create a minimum age for trying a child as an adult, we would like to end the practice of putting kids in adult jails and prisons, and we’d like to extend these protections for kids in other categories.”

Beyond all of this, the Equal Justice Initiative has launched a massive project on race and the history of racial inequality. “So many of the problems young kids face are compounded by this legacy of racial inequality and that can’t be addressed accurately until we deal more honestly with this history.” EJI has created 10 historical markers, created the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and opened The Legacy Museum in April of this year to help educate the public about the issues surrounding our country’s history of racial inequality. It seems we are seeing more and more tensions around the issues of race and inequality in the media lately. I’m sure you’ve seen them and felt them. So how do we deal with these issues? How do we move forward and not backward? Stevenson says the first thing we need is to understand the history of our country. We need to look at it realistically and then assess what needs to be changed and how best to move towards that change in a way that brings unity.

While we discussed this issue, Stevenson shared this history of the brave men and women who have endured some of the darkest times in our country. “We had millions of people in the native community who were slaughtered when settlers came to this continent. It was effectively genocide and yet a handful of people survived and fought to hold on to that identity. We had millions of people enslaved in this country and subjected to just unbelievable torture and humiliation and degradation and abuse and exploitation. Fifty percent of all enslaved families were separated during the domestic slave trade, which means that people routinely lost their children, their siblings, their parents, their spouses. That’s so traumatizing and so disorienting and yet people endured, and fought, and survived.

“W E T O O K O N CHILDREN BECAUSE ALABAMA HAD MORE KIDS ON D E AT H R O W P E R CAPITA THAN ANY O T H E R S TAT E I N THE COUNTRY.”

Have you ever thrown a rock into a pond? If not, you can imagine what happens. When it first hits there is a violent splash and large waves come out from the place where the rock landed. But then what happens? The ripples move outward. They may not be as large, but they are present and the whole pond is affected. It’s the same thing with history. When something significant happens it is like that huge splash. As time moves on, we continue to deal with the waves and then the ripples – the aftershock of what took place. It’s inevitable. So, we have to start with understanding what initially happened, then we move outward from that and trace the issues that have arisen from it. Then one at a time, we begin to deal honestly with those issues to restore the peace and bring balance. So, as we review some of this history – remember that we have been through this together and we have come to where we are now together and the only way we will continue to heal is together. We have to endure together by each doing our part.

And then we had this horrific era of terrorism where African Americans were lynched in these spectacle events in counties all across this country and yet people endured and found a way to keep fighting. Then there was the movement to challenge the apartheid – the legal segregation and bigotry that was endorsed by our courts and state legislatures – and they won and passed several acts that made it possible for kids like me to go to school, to vote, and participate in the political process. So, what I would say to these kids is that you are the heirs of those who survived genocide and slavery and lynching and segregation and there is a community of people who are your foreparents. The knowledge that there are fore-parents who have overcome and found faith to guide them is something that is important that you reflect on. And that sense of finding strength in this history is really important because when it’s activated by faith really extraordinary things happen, dynamic things happen – amazing things happen and that’s what I hope for those young people.” It’s no secret that many of you still face challenges similar to these. The world is not a fair place. Re37

gardless of your ethnic background, you will all face prejudice and injustice at some point. You all know the feeling of people thinking things about you based on your appearance or your past that are not true. That feeling can make you angry – understandably. But anger won’t solve anything – violence certainly won’t solve anything. The EJI has won relief for 125 individuals from the death penalty. One of those men had been on death row for 30 years for a crime he did not commit. The injustice he endured was unbelievable. You can read all about his case in Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy. But listen to what Stevenson says of his client: “He could’ve been destroyed by that experience but now he’s one of the most powerful witnesses for what grace and mercy can do while being deeply committed to changing our system of justice.”

to be like the lawyers he had seen open those school doors all those years ago– he wanted to be that for others. “Those lawyers who showed up and opened up those school doors were like magicians to me. That they were making this community do something it didn’t want to do was just unbelievable to me and it suggested this kind of power that intrigued me. And I think that when we see things that represent the kind of things that we want to create and we see people who model that, it can be very, very meaningful.” For this reason it has always been important to Stevenson that he model the kinds of tactics and strategies he thinks will help his clients. “It’s important, even when I’m frustrated by something that happened to not show anger, but to show compassion and understanding. It’s important for me to show love even when people have reacted in the wrong way – ways that are not healthy. It’s important to remind my clients and my community that we don’t give mercy to people because they’ve done something to show that they deserve it. It’s mercy because we give it to the undeserving. We give it to people who have made serious mistakes. And of course, we all need mercy and that connection becomes powerful when it is lived through the lives of people who you are fortunate enough to be placed among. And so that dynamic has been very much a part of what has helped me to navigate the challenges. And I still see things that are very, very angering. I see people being abused or mistreated and that’s very hard. But, I’m persuaded that there is a way to fight against these things that is effective and transformative and that’s why I choose to do it.”

“WE DON’ T GIVE M E R C Y TO P E O P L E BE CAUSE THE Y ’ VE DONE SOMETHING TO S H O W T H AT T H E Y D E S E R V E I T. I T ’ S MERCY BECAUSE WE GIVE IT TO THE U N D E S E R V I N G .”

You can’t let the challenges make you aggressive or passive but you can let it make you passionate and dedicated to changing things. So, how do you change things without turning to anger and violence? Here’s how Stevenson has dealt with it. “I think it does help to have a bigger purpose. I think we all need purpose in our life to help us decide when to do what comes easy and when it’s important to do what comes hard. And it actually becomes easy to react angrily and violently to all these things that are threatening you and it becomes really hard to not react in that way. Our purpose helps us to do the things that are hard. I didn’t want to end up working in this chicken factory that just consumed the lives of so many people. It wasn’t that I thought there was anything wrong with it, I just felt like we needed to create another dynamic in the community because I really did believe that the more I could learn and understand about the world around me, the more effective I would be at creating resources and help for people I cared deeply about.” So education became his purpose but he had an even broader purpose that had been planted in his heart and mind when he was just a kid. He wanted 38

As we wound down our discussion and as I prepared to leave, I had one last question for Bryan. I know that he sees cases that are heartbreaking and that he does not win all of his cases. I know that you guys often try hard but things do not always go the way you want. It can be hard to stay positive and stay focused on doing right sometimes. So I asked Bryan what keeps him going and how he keeps from being over-

whelmed by all of the hardship he sees. His answer really spoke to me, and I hope it will speak to you. “You know, I’m a person of faith and I live by grace and I think God always gives us the grace to navigate the hardships that have to be navigated. I do see a lot of very painful things but I see such extraordinary, beautiful things. I mean, I’m seeing young men and women become just unbelievably beautiful human beings – men and women with extraordinary character and capacity for love and compassion. And that transformation is so priceless that it is a balm to any wound. It is a comfort to any injury. It’s actually more than that - it’s inspiring. So yeah, I think that’s what happens when you open your heart and your eyes to the things that can be beautiful in the midst of such ugliness and trauma and abuse. And we all approach it differently but I’ve always felt grateful that grace has been there to sustain me in the moments when things seem particularly challenging.” As I gathered my things to leave I received much more than the handshake I was looking forward to - I received a hug and took a selfie with one of my biggest heroes. While driving home to Texas I was filled with a renewed sense of compassion and hope for the future of our country and for your future – our readers. I’m honored to have introduced you to a true role model – someone who fights tirelessly on your behalf even though he’s never even met you. Now

remember, in the words of Bryan’s grandmother, “Always do the right thing, even when it’s the hard thing.” We know you are special and can do anything you put your mind to. God has a plan for you just like he had a plan for Bryan. Don’t give up!

-CHALLENGECHOOSE ONE:

Write a thank you letter or draw a picture for Bryan Stevenson for his work on your behalf and share why he is such a great role model. We will get your letters to him.

Create a work of art or writing encouraging others to “Do the right thing even when it’s the hard thing.”

Create a work of art or writing about choosing peace over violence. Mail your letters, art, and writing with submission form to: Freestyle Ministries P.O. Box 580668 Houston, TX 77258

*Submission form can be found on page 23 39

fresh picks

music reviews

THE TRAP (COMING SOON)

EXHALE

Artist: Derek Minor Genre: Hip Hop

Artist: Thousand Foot Krutch Genre: Rock

The Trap is the third installment of an incredible four-

Thousand Foot Krutch has been around since the

the first two installments, Your Soul Must Fly and High

board topping albums. Their latest album, Exhale, was

part project from Derek Minor. Last year he released Above.

Hip hop has always been about honest and raw story-

mid-to-late 90’s and has had plenty of hits and Billreleased as a response to their previous and more experimental album, Inhale.

telling. The Trap is the new conscious hip hop album.

Not only is this album full of songs that will get your

ther the conversations around empowerment, equal-

first song ‘Running with Giants’ sets the bar high at

The album was created from a sincere desire to furity, and ultimately love in our society.

If you have never listened to Derek Minor before, you

adrenaline pumping but they are all about Jesus. The the beginning of the album but other notable songs include ‘Off the Rails’ and ‘Born Again’.

need to check him out. He is a true lyricist and he

If you have been a long time fan of TFK, you may find

risks with his music - leading him to stand apart from

never listened to TFK, this is a great band with genu-

loves to challenge his listeners and isn’t afraid to take the mainstream.

Visit Derekminor.com for more info! - Reflection Music Group / Tera Swigart

their music has just gotten better with time. If you have inely entertaining music. - Carolyn Brehm

book reviews

fresh picks

JUST MERCY

MARCH TRILOGY

Author: John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell Genre: Graphic Novel

Author: Bryan Stevenson Genre: Nonfiction

This trilogy of black and white graphic novels tells

Just Mercy is about Bryan Stevenson’s call to stand

eyes of one of its most iconic figures, Congressman

country. His dedication to speaking up for the op-

the story of the Civil Rights Movement through the John Lewis.

From growing up in rural Alabama, meeting Martin Luther King, Jr., being a Freedom Rider faced with

up for justice and mercy for the underserved in our pressed, incarcerated, outcasts, and those who’ve

been forgotten by society shines through in this amazing autobiography.

police brutality to the Freedom Vote and Mississippi

Stevenson is not just a lawyer. He is an untiring activ-

hand what it was like to fight for freedom.

ity in our country. His story is also one of hope as he

Freedom vote, this powerful trilogy shows you first-

The artwork is also pretty amazing and keeps you engaged the whole way through. If you have never

ist and teacher, fighting against injustice and inequaleloquently defines and illustrates the power of mercy and grace.

read a graphic novel - this is a great way to start.

Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an

by gifted artists. You will definitely not want to put

ing window into the lives of those he has defended,

They are created to be like long comic books done this book down. - Carolyn Brehm

idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a movand an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.

– publisher / Carolyn Brehm

gangs 2 glory by james odom

ehavior Interventionist. Sounds fancy, huh? That’s the title a school district gave me when I went to work for them last summer. So what does a Behavior Interventionist do? Pretty much anything having to do with behaviors out of the norm. Fights, confrontations, bad attitudes, poor attitudes, lack of motivation, lack of effort, relationship problems, family struggles, and anything else that hinders a student’s ability to focus inside the classroom. I love my job; I get the opportunity to help young kids learn how to navigate the various obstacles that present themselves in life. The world can be a cruel place, people will talk about you, dislike you, make fun of you, tease you, bully you, spread rumors, stare, and laugh at you behind your back. All these instances are invitations for conflict. The question is constantly being asked, how will you respond? When it all becomes too much and guidance is needed, that’s where I come in. After the first few months on the job, I wondered what qualified me to do this kind of work. Sure I had experience working with young kids, but so did a lot of other people. What made me different? Why did I feel like it was easy for me to connect with these students? Why were kids high-fiving me in the hallway, “Snapping” me in their stories, and telling me I was their favorite teacher? Most importantly, why were kids returning to me each time they had a problem and hoping for me to help solve it? I have a number of tools available that aid in the problem solving procedure. Every kid is different and every situation requires a different tool. But above all, I’ve realized my past experiences seem to be my secret weapon. There’s just something about walking in the same shoes as others that allows 42

you to relate with them and connect on a deeper level. I understand when someone complains about a broken home, an absent father, a deceased family member, a cancer diagnosis in the home, lack of success on the school campus, drug usage, gang involvement, drive-bys, problems with law enforcement, and dealing with a juvenile probation officer. All these past experiences, although painful and disruptive, qualified me for this position. Growing up, I realized I only had two choices. I could either use my “sob” story as an excuse to throw my life away (which everyone would understand), or use my experiences to prevent others from making the same mistakes. Of course I chose option two. I wanted to give back where I’ve taken from, repair what I’ve destroyed, and contribute to the good in this world instead of the bad. Sure my childhood was painful, of course I missed out on the benefits of coming from a healthy and productive home, but that’s not my story. My story is a story of redemption, being refined, and using all the bad in my life to help others find the good in theirs. Like myself, have you been plagued with bad experiences? Do you have enough bad things going on in your life that people would say… “Well, he had it rough so I understand why he threw his life away.” If so, you also have two choices. Will you use your story as an excuse or will you use it to help others based on your experiences? Philippians 4:13 tells us… “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Maybe it’s time to turn your mess into a message and let God REFINE you and use you for good - doing something you can be proud of, that will give you hope and a future! 43

hey ladies column Tera Swigart

Who Are You? I’d like for you to take

a minute and make a list of ways you’ve been labeled. Think of labels you put on yourself, labels others put on you, good labels, bad labels. I’ll give you some examples. Negative labels you put on yourself or others put on you might include: stupid, failure, victim, dangerous, dirty, mean, selfish, ugly, fat, unloveable, weak, broken, liar, enemy, etc. Some examples of positive labels we or others may put on ourselves: student, mom, daughter, sister, girlfriend, friend, smart, pretty, athletic, tough, strong, courageous, kind, overcomer, loyal, etc. Here’s the problem with labels – each label comes with a set of expectations or assumptions. For instance, if I believe I am “stupid” the expectation is that I will fail at my school work no matter how hard I try, so I stop trying. Or, let’s say others label me as being a great athlete because I’ve always been awesome at sports. Well, now I feel more pressure because those people expect me to perform well – and to continue to play even if I don’t want to anymore. I might develop unhealthy workout habits to maintain my atheletic reputation. If I have a label of being “easy,” then boys will treat me like I am just a body and not as a person. I begin to think that if I don’t fulfill their expectations then they won’t like me and I will never have a boyfriend. Do you see? Both good and bad labels come with expectations. When you add up all of the labels in your own life and all of those expectations – isn’t that overwhelming? It IS overwhelming and it causes 3 main issues.

Three Main Issues

1. We tend to cling to the labels we excel in that make a good impression and they become our primary identity to the world. Like an athlete, being tough, or being pretty.

2. We also tend to cling to the worst labels and use them as a crutch or an excuse for disobedience to God. If I have a background of abuse, I may constantly think about that and feel like a victim – then I feel justified in taking pain killers to “numb the pain” of the memories, etc. Or if the label is that I’m a liar, I cling to that and say to myself, well – no one will ever trust me now, so I will just be on my own and not try to get close to anyone. If they think I’m a liar, then I’ll just be one – it’s their fault. 3. We start to judge other people – especially other girls – more harshly to make ourselves feel better. However, this only leads to us judging ourselves more harshly by comparing ourselves to other girls and imagining what they may be saying about us! It’s a vicious cycle. But check this out; Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We don’t need labels. We need an identity. You can label salt anything you want but the truth is that it is salt, and when you taste it you will know. The same is true with you. These labels are NOT who we are. We have an identity. Our true identity is found in Jesus. Who does that verse say we are? HIS workmanship. Whether you believe in him or not the truth remains the same. You are HIS creation. Do you know who else the Bible says you are if you’ve given your life to your creator?

You Are...

1. His Daughter. “And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” - 2 Corinthians 6:18

2. His Bride.“I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.” - Hosea 2:19 3. A New Creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” - 2 Corinthians 5:17 If this is our true identity then we only need to focus on HIS expectations of us and we can throw all the others away because they don’t matter. So what are his expectations?

God’s Expectations

1. To keep Him first in your heart by spending time with Him often by reading the Bible, praying, and talking with Him throughout the day. 2. To be obedient to what He teaches us through the Bible without making excuses.

3. To LOVE and forgive others and share Jesus with others. When we do THESE three things, three benefits will come from it. 1. All other responsibilites and tasks will flow naturally out of doing the above three things. We will learn to live day by day and have less anxiety about our own or others’ expectations because our perspective will change. We only need to consider if it will please God. And guess what, if we are trying it DOES please him, even if we mess up – He sees our heart, our desire, not just how we perform.

Benefits of God’s Way

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” - Matthew 6:34 2. We will recognize the bad labels as what they really are! We will see them as either sin that we need to overcome through prayer and obedience to Christ or as lies from Satan that we need to rebuke. We will begin to take our thoughts captive and cast them out of our minds and replace them with the truth of who we are in Christ. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” - 2 Corinthians 10:5 3. If one of our “positive” labels is removed (i.e. beauty, girlfriend, athlete) we are not left feeling worthless. We will be able to move on to the next thing God has for us, trusting Him to comfort us and to use us for good.

“You may shoot me with your words,

you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefullness, but still, like air, I’ll rise.” - Maya Angelou

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28 It doesn’t matter what we wear, how tough we are, how many guys like us, who we’ve rolled with, how much money we have, whether we are single or in a relationship, whether we are more feminine or more tomboyish, whether we are hyper or laidback, clean or messy, how educated we are… as long as we are all obedient to Jesus from here on out. God doesn’t want us to all look and act the same way. That’s why He created us differently. Your background doesn’t disqualify you from being used by God.

God Will Use You

1. He made an captive orphan into a Queen that saved all the Jewish people from death. (Esther) 2. He made a woman prophet into a warrior. (Judges 4 & 5)

3. He made a prostitute into a protector of Israel and she became a direct ancestor of JESUS. (Joshua 2) So, sisters, let’s be set free from all those expectations and let’s set others free from our harsh judgments. Let’s live one day at a time with our only expectation being to know and love Him, obey Him, love others, and tell others about Him. If you wrote down any labels at the beginning of this column, I want you to wad them up and throw them away. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” - Galations 5:1

Clean living a healthy lifestyle

DRANK by Dustin Armstrong photo by IG @houtxtoast

n January 3, 2018 the rapper, Lil Keke, reposted a video to his Instagram account, which shows a local dj pouring out a pint of promethazine with codeine cough syrup. In the video, the dj empties the entire pint onto the ground at a gas station while he is describing his addiction to the drug. He states that he has not used the drug for about 10 days and that it has been very difficult for him to stop. He goes on to say that “health is wealth” and that it is something he needs more of.

I thought it was admirable that the dj was using his social media platform to warn others about the addiction that goes along with this drug. There is a very intense physical withdrawal that happens once someone has become physically dependent on codeine and subsequently tries to quit. The symptoms can include insomnia, runny nose, vomiting and muscle aches. After codeine is ingested and it enters the liver, it goes through a conversion process and ends up turning into morphine. The mental addiction that goes along with the physical dependence can be even greater and longer lasting. So while I appreciated watching the dj in the video warning others about the dangers of “Lean,” what really had an impact on me was the reaction that Lil Keke had to the original video. He begins by stating that he is not a doctor or counselor and that the choice is essentially up to you. He believes that everyone has to make their own decisions in life and that he does not judge a person based on whether they use the drug or not. He continues by saying that he has not used any syrup for the past 7 years and that it was the best decision he has ever made. He says that quitting “Drank” completely changed him physically, mentally and financially. After decades of using the drug, he made the decision to quit after losing everything important to him, including his family. He describes the role that God played in helping him conquer this demon while also touching on the intense addiction of the drug. He shares that he has seen some of the people closest to 46

him lose everything, including their lives, to promethazine with codeine. He goes on to say that “the greatest power of this drug is making you think you have it under control” just because you are able to make money and function. He concludes by saying that he is finally on the outside looking in and that he prays for anyone who is addicted to the drug.

I grew up listening to Lil Keke, DJ Screw and many other Houston artists. For the longest time, I found myself emulating the drug use that went along with this specific culture and it almost destroyed me. I rationalized that because the drug is prescribed by doctors that it was less addictive than other street drugs. In the end, the ironic part was that my addiction to “Lean” is what led me to eventually become addicted to those street drugs. Eventually I, too, made a decision to free myself of these addictive drugs and it was also the best decision I’ve ever made. One of the tragic things about all of this is the talented people who have lost their lives, either directly or indirectly, to this drug. The Screwed Up Click was never the same when DJ Screw lost his life. Many people concluded this was the result of a long addiction to syrup. Like Lil Keke states in his response, “the choice to sip is up to you”, but it is very inspirational to hear stories of people making it to the other side.

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Freestyle Ministries relies entirely on donations to design, publish, and distribute each issue of FRUIT. magazine. We are incredibly grateful for all of our wonderful sponsors!

YOUTH CONSULTANT

Dave & Bobbie Armstrong Lillie Armstrong John Butler We&need help to make the best possible magazine for youth across Texas! Kevin CynthiaYOUR Butler Michelle Cochran We are looking for youth ages 11 - 19 to join the FRUIT. volunteer team. Lester & Raynita CurryAll you need to do is fill out the form below and mail it to: Michelle & Craig Edwards Freestyle Ministries, P.O. Box 580668, Houston, TX 77258 Mark & Shelly Elliott If it is too difficult to write on this paper or if you need more space, simply write your Ed & Kelly Farrington Chad name, Finchamaddress, and answers on your own paper and mail it to the address above. Jackie Freeman As a special thank you for your help we will send you a commemorative Claire Froehlich certificate of congratulations for becoming a FRUIT. magazine youth consultant! Rudy & Kay Guerrero ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Elisa Gonzalez PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY Elizabeth Gosse Paul & Hillary Gramm Name: Dot Guillot Mike & Wendy Harsin Mailing Address: Tom & Janet Harsin Darrin & Deanna Hert William & Sandra Hoogterp 1. Share what your favorite parts of FRUIT. magazine are and why. Daniel Jackson Maryanne Kannard Andrea King League City Shipping & Business Alex & Andrea Mathew Karen Mazzu James & Cindy 2. Share whatMcClure your least favorite parts of FRUIT. magazine are and why. Bill & Ann McCulloch Jessica McCollum Alice Medcalf Randy & Mary Jane Mooneyham Alicia & Ed Motter-Vlahakos Isaac Munoz Ronnie & Connie Neill 3. Share if you would like your facility to receive FRUIT. magazine more often and why. Brian & April Peterson Craig & Jeanene Pumphrey Mike Rizzuto Richard & Reyna Rubio Dana Sangerhausen Kathryn Schuller Vivian Schwarz 4. In Sciascia what ways has FRUIT. magazine helped you or others? Jackie Joe & Jeanene Scott Paola Soto Tina Stegall Jason & Tara St. John Chad & Tera Swigart Jennifer Trammell 5. Share any ideas James & Valerie Tullisyou have to improve FRUIT. magazine. Ron & Janet Waters Debra Wiggs State Training School, Eldora IA

community resources DRUG/ALCOHOL RECOVERY > CELEBRATE RECOVERY It is designed as a program to help those struggling with hurts, habits and hang-ups by showing them the loving power of Jesus Christ through a recovery process. Website: http://locator.crgroups.info/ > SALVATION ARMY Phone: (303) 295-3366 Website:http://intermountain.salvationarmy.org/ intermountain_us_west/combat-addiction/ > YOUNG PEOPLE IN RECOVERY Support for anyone, no age limit. Housing. Classes on how to get employment and housing, also Facebook pages support. website: http://youngpeopleinrecovery.org/

MENTAL/PHYSICAL HEALTH > ALTERNATIVES PREGNANCY CENTER Alternatives Pregnancy Center cares for Denver-area women and men in pregnancy-related crisis and offers them a meaningful alternative to abortion. Phone: (303) 295-2288 Website: http://youhavealternatives.org

local flavor

> BROTHERS REDEVELOPMENT In partnership with Colorado Housing Connects, help everyone with housing in 7 metro-Denver counties. Phone: 1-884-926-6632 Website:http://www.brothersredevelopment.org/home/ ColoradoHousingConnects/tabid/497/Default.aspx > FAMILY PROMISE A small shelter that helps up to 10 families each week. No waitlist, but you must call each day. Must get to main office, then 15 vans transport to different churches. Normal stay is from 30-60 days, but can extend up to 90 days. Must have child under 18 with you. Website: www.familypromiseofgreaterdenver.org

SPECIAL INTERESTS > PHOENIX MULTISPORT FREE sober services to community members MUST have 48 hours of sobriety. Gym, yoga, rock climbing, hiking, boxing. http://www.phoenixmultisport.org > NGEN RADIO NGEN app or NGENradio.com

FAITH-BASED RESOURCES

> NATIONAL CRISIS PREGNANCY HOTLINE Phone: 1-800-848-5683

> RED ROCKS CHURCH Website: www.redrockschurch.com

> NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE Youâ€™ll be connected to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Phone: 1-800-273-8255 Website: suicidepreventionlifeline.org

> FLATIRONS COMMUNITY CHURCH Website: http://flatironschurch.com/

> UNITED WAY HELP LINE Free confidential information referral line. Resources all over Denver metro area and shelter information updated twice a day. Phone: 211 Website: www.unitedwaydenver.org/2-1-1

HOUSING > ACTION CENTER First come, first served. Three Tier program Phone: (720) 407-6670 Website: http://theactioncenterco.org > FAMILY TREE Multiple programs serving 7 counties. Phone: (303) 467-2604 Website: https://www.thefamilytree.org

> DENVER AREA YOUTH FOR CHRIST Website: www.yfcdenver.org

Providing young people in our community with the opportunity to make an informed decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ and become a part of a local church.

Serving at: Adams - Betty Marler - Devereux Cleo Wallace - Excelsior Gilliam - Jefferson Hills - Lookout Mountain - Mount View Marvin Foote - Ridgeview Academy

chaplain@yfcdenver.org www.yfcdenver.org