Hello
everyone. Welcome to another episode of wrong to strong Chicago. I'm your host. My name is Omar Calvillo. And uh, tonight we're doing a zoom interview and we're doing an interview with Hassan Anderson. He's all the way out in Arizona. And I just like to welcome him to the podcast. Welcome
brother. Thank you. Thank you for having me, my brother. Thank
you. I appreciate it. Amen. So, uh, I actually met Hassan this past Friday. we were doing a, a wrong to strong, uh, Bible study, for, for those of you that are interested. This is a Bible study that JC started, uh, I think it was maybe over a year ago. And, uh, right now, uh, Sean Rae is a brother out in, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He's, been, uh, leading this study. so you're guys are interested in joining us. You know, jump under, uh, we're actually doing a book right now.
It's called The, the Fundamentals of the Faith. So if, if you're like, man, I don't know anything about the Bible, you know, I've never read it. Man, perfect time for you to jump on and join us, get together with, just a group of men that are, not perfect, far from holy, but man, we know what God's done in our lives and we know that he's drawing us closer to himself and we draw close to him through his word. So feel free to join us on there.
but anyways, I met Hassan on there and he started sharing a testimony, a testimony about him and JC, which eventually we're going to get into as we go along. but I believe you were, JC's parole officer, right? And don't, don't share too much brother. But, uh, what, what year was this?
Oh, this was, uh, 2013.
Okay. Oh man, that's a while back. All right. But, uh, yeah, definitely. I know I was talking to JC and he said that you played a big part, and what he's doing now, even though, maybe it was just a seed or word that you gave him back then, but definitely what we're going to get into that part of the story. But man, hey brother, let me ask you, where did you grow up? And maybe if you could, describe that area for those that have
never been out there. Well, I grew up in New Jersey. I'm from the East Coast right now. I'm living in, uh, Phoenix, Arizona area, but I was born and raised in, Orange, New Jersey, man, like, You know, I'm trying to think of the equivalent, man, because, I mean, it's not a nice place. I would put it like that. It's not a very nice place. Not a lot of people make it out of there. Um, I've seen a lot of things, you know, growing up, I did have both my parents, but they had me out of wedlock.
So my father was a strong figure in my life. My mother, you know, she did the best she could. God bless the dead. You know, she did the best she could with what she had. She was always a hustler, but she was never really at home. I was like, what we like to call a latchkey child, you know, I was always left at home.
Left to raise my sisters, you know, fend for myself, whether it's, you know, trying to get my own food, you know, not knowing where the next meal was going to come from, you know, sometimes the lights might be off. Only thing that might be in the fridge is a bottle of ketchup. So, you know, I'm always knocking on the neighbor's doors trying to, you know, ask them for food, things like that.
So I was always, I knew kind of how to hustle and kind of how to get by at an early age, you know, one of the things that, you know, I have a seven year old, you know, those are things that I don't ever want him to experience and, you know, I do everything I can. So he doesn't. but with saying that, you know, it was, it was a tough childhood. I had a good and I had it bad. You know, my father, he was a very successful businessman. Uh, my mother, you know, she was a nurse.
But again, she was always hustling on the side. So I've seen the life of, you know, slinging drugs. My mom actually had me do a lot of deliveries for her at the time. Yeah. You know, something that somebody at the age of 10 should never experience, but I didn't know any better. I just knew that we got to do what we had to do to get by. So I was kind of delivering a lot of drugs. So I've seen, you know, the street life.
I've had friends murdered in front of me, have friends held in my arms, you know, you know, bleeding out, you know, again, things that kind of You know, way on my mind as I get older today, you know, you know, it's, it's tough when you think back to those things, but I was fortunate enough to get out of that. Thankfully, my father was a strong figure in my life. He valued education.
So, even through all the nonsense, he said, Hassan, the way out of this is for you to, you know, get your education, focus on your books. So, I was a pretty good student, you know, I went through high school, got a scholarship, I went to Rutgers, played football, but I still didn't really have no direction on where I wanted to take my career path after school.
So I started hanging with the wrong dudes, got myself into a situation where I caught a case, kind of got into an argument with a gentleman, and I wound up pistol whipping him, and that turned into a whole big deal. And anybody that, you know, is from New Jersey, we have one of the most strict gun laws, you know, outside of New York and California laws, and they don't mess around. So, uh, you know, I was able to get probation just because of my background.
It was the first time I ever had a case like that. the judge did show me some legacy. You know, but I don't want to say it was the judge. I want to say it was God, you know, he was looking after me because usually the situation I was in, most people don't get out of that. You know, can
I ask you like, like, like moving back? I know you mentioned that you're already probably like in college when this happened, right? Like this
was after college I had graduated. So I was about 22, 21, 22, um, got out of school trying to figure out like, what's the next direction. And again, I was just kind of hanging out with the wrong dudes at this time. I was hanging out with people in Philadelphia, you know, some parts over there. That's not, you know, I wouldn't want anybody to go over to certain parts of, uh, Philadelphia.
So what, what led you there to Philadelphia, I guess,
I had met some people out there just for me. Like, so at the time I was riding motorcycles a lot, like I was riding around with a lot of motorcycle crews. That was my thing. So I meet up with guys, but I wasn't getting, I wasn't doing the right thing. We was, we was getting into stuff. We had no business doing. And, uh, that's kind of led to me catching that charge, you know? You know, can I ask, ask you
that? You know, like, like going back, I, I know you mentioned like do doing this, but even at the age of 10, you know, already getting into the, the drug game, I guess, you know, like Yeah. Like you said, you had to do what you had to do to help your mom. Did you ever get in trouble with the law back then?
Thankfully again, this is just all God, man You know, I never really I never really caught any cases That was the only that that pistol would have been charged that gun charge was the only charge I ever had But as a kid, like I said, I guess indirectly I was kind of slinging drugs, you know, I'm not going to sit here and say I'm a street dude or I was trying to live the street life. I've just seen a lot of things, you know what I'm saying?
So I was kind of immune to the streets cause I just was used to seeing it. And most people from where I'm from don't typically, typically get out of those environments. It's very tough. Um, but I was able to do so again, I think it's One God. Two, my father played a strong part in that, you know, he was very hard on me my relationship with my father Developed later in my years in my later years because in my early years we just butted heads.
We never got along Okay, cuz I want I was a knucklehead. I always thought I knew everything and I just you know, that's the cycle of life We know we think we know
everything. No, no, I know you mentioned like some sisters Were you the oldest one in the household or?
I'm the oldest one in the house and I had two younger sisters. My two younger sisters, you know, they didn't really experience as much as that I experienced. They got to experience a good part of life later because my mom wound up getting remarried. So because of that, they got to live a better life. But prior to that, you know, I was kind of heavily involved raising them because my mom just wasn't around.
She was always working, always hustling, doing whatever she had to do to get a spot, you know, so that's just how it was for me in those younger years. Yeah.
So you basically had to like grow up quick, right? Maybe you mature, take on responsibilities that maybe your young kids shouldn't be able to or shouldn't have to take on, right?
I had to grow up quick. It's funny because I had conversations with my father about a lot of things that I've done that he had no idea about because I never shared it with him. Um, it's kind of hard for me to talk about this, but I had a situation where I was, you know, sexually assaulted as a young child. Never told my pops. Never told my dad because I knew the type of person he was at the time. My dad was no joke. And my dad, you know, I love my dad, at, you know, so much.
I didn't ever want to see him to go to jail or something. Because he would have killed that person. I know my father, so I never told him. But we had this conversation about all these things, probably, I want to say about three or four years ago.
I share with him for the first time and just kind of let him know, you know, what I was going through to hurt the pain that I was dealing with because he didn't know he thought everything I was doing was just me being a knucklehead and me being rebellious, but not really understanding when I live with my mom, the stuff that I was dealing with the stuff that I was seeing that no child should have to deal with to see, you know, growing up.
Okay, so that maybe that gave him a better understanding. I guess that drove you to what, maybe anger, um, like to, I guess, act out back then or what, how, how did that look? I
guess though. So it's funny because situation like that, I'll have, that'll happen when people have those types of experiences. It may cause them to lash out or be angry at the world or be angry, but that's not what happened with me. It actually affected me more on my relationship side of things. Funny enough. Um, Not with that happening and then not really having that, that love and feelings that a mother gives a child. My mom never told me she loved me as a kid.
She never held my hand, she never gave me hugs. She was just real tough, like Hassan, do this, do that. And that was just kind of what it was. So when I actually became, you know, got in a situation where I got in a relationship with women, I didn't know how to act. Right. When a woman wanted to hold my hand, it affected me. I was like, why do you want to hold my hand? That's weird to me. Don't hold my hand. Why do you want to hug me? Like, that's weird. Like, I don't...
Like you don't have to touch me like I don't need that type of affection, but really I did need that I was yearning for not knowing it. Yes, and so To your to your question. I didn't rebel but it did affect me when it came to relationships Especially with women and I still struggle with that now like I'm 44 years old and I still you know struggle with with those things So right, you know, but I'm always I like to say I'm a work in progress, you know guys always molding me
So oh, yeah. Yeah for sure. You know what? I think that's what that's a good reason Uh, or a reason that we look back because a lot of times, like you mentioned, 44, I'm 45 years old and God is still revealing to me, um, like things in me that, that he wants to change or that are hindering me, like you mentioned in like a relationship, like my wife, like recently, she's like, man, that Like there's still like a childish, immature way.
Like when, when you don't get what you want, you turn into a little kid. And as a man, as a a 45 year old, man, that's hard to hear. Like, what do you mean? I'm acting like a little kid. I'm not, but when I, when I stop and reflect like, man, why am I acting like that? Man, I'm still acting like that. Like I haven't matured in that area and I think it's good to, and then I look back and, and see like maybe instances in my life that made where I would do that.
It's almost like, you mentioned a work in progress and um, god's like peeling layers off us, like the onion and trying to get like to the center, like, man, what, what's really going on? Like, like what's going on at the core? So I think that's, that's why we, we need to look back, you know, even though some of those times we look back, they might be hard. Like you mentioned, like the story you just shared.
You, you said it was hard for you to share, but sometimes you gotta go back and see how that's affecting you today, you know?
Absolutely, man. It's hard. Like I, I never told anybody this for the longest time. I told like very, very, very close people to me that knew about my situation, but for years I never shared it. And I think that was part of the problem, not sharing my testimony and sharing my experience, you know, because somebody else may be going through the same thing or dealing with what I'm going through, man, you know, like, you know, suicide is big, man.
A lot of times those type of things can cause somebody to take their own life and you know, I think it's important that I shared my story like, Hey, you can recover from this. Don't let it control your life. And that's kind of what I chose to do. I chose not to let it control me. Did it affect me? Yeah. Like I said, I still struggle with it today when it comes to my relationships.
but you know, I, like I said, I'm still a work in progress, I'm not perfect, you know, but I still try to work on those things.
Okay. Yeah. So, now let's, let's jump forward. I know you mentioned, college, and I think we're at that point where you were, you got that case.
Yeah, I got out of college and I just started hanging out with the wrong guys. You know, I was hanging out with a lot of people in Camden, New Jersey. Well, anybody that knows Camden, New Jersey at that time when I was running the streets, you know, Camden was like the murder capital of the world at the time for such a small city. It was, uh, it was a lot of things happening and I was just kind of running with the wrong people for no good reason. I can't even tell you why.
Um, I just felt like they was relatable to me. So I just kind of was connecting with those people. but again, I got myself in a situation where, you know, I was kind of a hothead, a dude pointed a gun at me, you know, if you're going to point it, you need to use it. He didn't, so I pulled mine out and I beat him with it, and it kind of just, you know, from there, caught a case, like I said, God was watching over me, because in situations like that, you know, I'm in jail.
You know what I'm saying? I'm not getting out of that. But I had a really good lawyer. You know, he got me out of that situation. Got me probation, uh, 30 days probation. Nonetheless, that's how good he was. Yeah, I know he got me 30 days probation. Cause I had a good background. Like I said, a college degree. I had a career, the judge, the judge really was looking out for me because you know, he's seeing, he's like, this isn't, this isn't really you.
When he looked at my whole background and everything I was doing, like I didn't, I didn't, I didn't have a background. Yeah. You, you,
I
have a jewelry record. I have none of that. So he was like, well, what are you doing? Why what is this? Yeah, it's almost
like in uh, what there was the word on an anomaly something that's strange, right? I
couldn't even believe it because my lawyer one day called me and was like You want the good news or you want the bad news? Then I was just ready to, I was like, I already had made up my mind. I was going to do some time or something. And he was like, he said, Hassan, when you're dealing with me, there is no bad, there is no bad, uh,
that's very humble or in this humble opinion.
When that moment happened, I'm not kidding. You not, I cut out all those people. I like, I cut them off. I changed my number, never saw them again. That was like kind of the start of a new thing. I was still trying to figure out life but it kind of was a starting point for me. It was kind of like I got to make moves. I got to figure out I got to get out of this. So I had to change scenery. So I told my parents. I was like, Hey, I think I'm gonna go check out Arizona. I'm looking for work.
So I casted out a big net, never been to Arizona. Everybody, all my friends, they thought I was crazy. It's like Arizona. What's out there? Like, you know, our picture from the East Coast, we think in Arizona, just dirt and dust balls. Right, right, right. Yeah, that was the only, that was all I saw. So I was like, let me check this out. So I came out here and I was like, I thought it was the most amazing thing. I was like, it was none of the nonsense that I was used to being around.
I was like, this is great.
Did you have any family or friends out there in Arizona? I didn't know
anybody. Oh, no way. Not nobody. I literally, at the time, I kid you not. I remember telling my best friend at the time I had a Chrysler 300. That's when it was hot back then. Everybody wanted a Chrysler. This was like 2008, 2007. And, um, I just packed my car, man, and it was winter time and drove cross country, man, and kept going. Came here, got my first apartment. I didn't even have no furniture, no TV, no nothing. I had a brand new apartment. No one lived in it. And, that was it, man.
I had an air mattress and that was all I had for like a good two months till I found work. And I started working and, you know, furnishing everything
and you know, what can, can I ask you, I know you mentioned you graduated college, but what was your, uh, the degree or
funny enough, law and
justice. Oh, yeah. Okay. So then you, you already had an idea that, that you wanted, like, well, what, I guess, uh, going to get that degree. What, what, uh, job were you looking to get or career,
I guess? Yeah. So that's, that's a great point. So to get to how I wanted to be a cop coming from where I'm from, coming from where I'm from is because. I just wanted at the time, I want to make a difference, man. I see how the cops was treating me. I was like, this is some BS. A lot of the cops wasn't even living in the hood, like from where I'm from, they was just there patrolling, but they didn't really know how to connect with the people. And I always thought like. I want to be a cop.
I could connect with my community and make a difference. You know what I mean? Not like kind of what we see in now where everybody just hates the police back then. You know, I just kind of wanted to make that difference and just say, you know, I want to help my community. And that's kind of how, like when I go to school, I knew I said, I'm gonna get my criminal justice degree. But when I got out of school, God plans for me again. I was trying.
I was applying for police jobs all over the place with, you know, with no with no luck. And I'm like, man, I was like, I'm not, I'm a smart dude. Like I got it, you know, everything is good. Like, why am I not getting any jobs? Well, I wound up connecting with a friend of mine and they got me a job working at a pharmaceutical company in Philly, uh, Pfizer. And, uh, yeah, I came up and it was a blessing. You know, I had, I really had good pay. It was a good job. Everything was good.
But what happened is that that location where I was working was going to be discommit, decommissioned, and they were going to move it, uh, to, to Michigan, Kalamazoo, Michigan. And I'm like, Kalamazoo, Michigan. What's out there? I said, I'm not going there. So now I'm back to square one. I'm out of work again. So that's kind of how I started casting this whole net to look for, uh, where I want to move next. I got to get out of Jersey. I got to get out of Philly.
Okay. Gotcha. All right. So, so you're in Arizona, you got your degree. So how does the job hunt go for you out
there, I guess? So here it is again, you know, I'm out here again. I still trying to be a cop. I'm like, I'm gonna be a cop. I'm gonna try to make a difference in the community. I was actually in going through the process of Phoenix police. this was like 2008 2009 ish that was going through that process. So I moved along. I passed the test. Um, I passed a physical. I was going through the background at that time. I don't know how it is now.
But at that time, when you pass the physical and they doing their background, they still want you to stay in shape. They want you to come back and keep doing the physical again because they want to make sure when you're ready for the academy that you're not out of shape. It was real strict with it at that time. And, I was still, I was still riding motorcycles like hard. Like, that was still like, kind of my side hobby.
And I came back to New Jersey, the one thing I didn't bring with me was my motorcycle, and I was doing a lot of racing on it, you know, just as a side hobby or whatever. And I had a bad accident, man. It was bad. I crashed at like 104 on the track. It was in a controlled environment. Yeah, 104, man. I broke like every bone in my hand and my wrist. Kind of messed up my back a little bit. So I was laid up for like eight months.
I had a cast on my arm that, you know, I still got a picture of it, my arm in an L shape for like six, seven months. I was in this cat. Yeah, I was in this cast for a long time, man. And, because of that, it pulled me out of the running for it about police thing. Cause I couldn't do the physical stuff. So there's God telling me and I'm not listening at this time. I'm still not listening. He's like, this isn't what I have for you. Just, you know, Trust me, but I wasn't doing that at that time.
I knew God, I knew God existed, but again, he was on the back burner for me. It was kind of more when I needed him. Now
God, how was God introduced to you? Like who introduced him to you? How did that look maybe as a kid or like when?
Yeah. So my mom, that was the one thing she did, you know, do for me was, you know, we did always go to church every Sundays, but you kind of know how it is as a kid. You kind of like, Oh, I'm not really trying to hear all this. Like you're just there.. And that's kind of how it was. I grew up in a, um, my mother was a Methodist. Okay. So we did, we practiced that, you know, it was cool, whatever. And I got baptized early, not knowing It wasn't my decision.
It was just kind of like something my mom made me do that you supposed to, so I kind of just knew God from that aspect, but at the same time, I'm like, where is there really a God? Because I'm living in the hood. I don't have food in my fridge. The lights is not on. My mom's not walking me to school these days. I'm going to school. I decided if I'm gonna go or if I'm not, if I don't feel like it, I just don't go.
You know what I'm saying, especially if I'm getting bullied on the way, those are things that I left out that happened, you know, for your lunch money on the way to school was not a pleasant feeling as well. No way. Yeah, for sure, man. All the time. Sometimes I had to take the long way to get to school. Same thing home and had to deal with that. So it's not like I had a crew. I had some homies, you know, trying to look out for me. It was just me. Oh, no way.
Yeah. So, so, you know, with that, you know, I did know God, but I didn't really know him the way I, you know, I know him now. Yeah. So, um, that experience didn't come until one day, like I told you, I had this apartment that I had that God blessed me with at that time. Apartments was cheap. I mean, we look at what things cost now. This apartment was nice to me. It is. The thing was immaculate and I'm paying 600 a month. Oh man. Yeah, that's nothing.
I know I was like, I'm, I'm calling my friends like, yo, y'all would not believe what I'm paying for this apartment. Like no one believed me. And anyway, one day I, I remember it like it was yesterday. I walked into my bedroom and I don't know what it was, but I had this feeling that ran through my body.
Now people think I'm crazy, but people that aren't, you know, of the kingdom don't understand this, but I had this feeling that went through my body and I kid you not, I just dropped to my knees. I dropped to my knees. And I just started crying and I said, and I could just feel this feeling in this, something just going through my mind. Like, like, like I'm waiting for you. And it was like, what is this feeling? Like, I didn't know what was happening.
Like, I was just bawling tears for no reason. Like, everything was good before it is like, I didn't have nothing going on. Life was good. Like, I didn't really have nothing to complain about. But that moment when I dropped my knees and started crying, I just kept saying the words. They just don't understand. They don't, they don't know. I just kept saying, I don't even know why I was saying, they just, I just kept saying, they just don't know. They just don't know. Um, forgive them.
Now later for me, it was that Holy Spirit, man. It was like that moment. God is everywhere. But at that moment, he just chose to touch me and just let me know that Hassan, I'm for you and I'm waiting for you. And it always resonated me like I never shared that story when it happened. I didn't know who to tell because nobody Nobody in my family is religious like nobody else.
Like my mom was going to church, but at that time, you know, she was in and out my whole side of my father's side of the family. They're they're atheists. They don't even believe they don't, you know, they don't even deal with that. So I had nobody to share this experience with. I'm like, what is happening? So I just kept it inside and I was just like, what is happening? And at that time I started going to church. I wasn't going to church.
Okay, but I had a friend that, uh, at the job that I had actually, when I became an officer who, he kept inviting me to church and I was just blowing him off like, nah, man, I'm good on that. And then one day I just told him, Hey, I, uh, he, I asked him where the church was and I just showed up. Um, and then from that moment, I kept going and kept going and kept hearing his word because I wanted to understand what this feeling was like, what is this feeling?
And again, I didn't have anybody to give me an answer. But I never forget the church that I was going to is called Fountain of Life. Okay. And, they really helped me, they really helped me, uh, come along. They took me from a baby Christian, helped me develop and understand, you know, who Jesus was and who, you know, what God did for us. And from that moment I had to understand and then I chose to take...
That pledge to get baptized again because now it was my decision and not a decision based on an adult. Right. This was something that I felt I was ready for. So I made that plunge and this was, this was 2011. Okay. 2010. Alright. Yeah, I made, I made that commitment. And then from there, man, everything changed for me, everything changed for me. as you know, we love God when everything is going well, but when things go bad, everybody want to be quick to turn it back sometimes.
I didn't do that, but I was like, what is happening? Cause at that time, good things were happening, but then I was getting hit with a lot of. Negativity just left and right outta
nowhere. You, you know. Could I ask you, I, I know you mentioned, there was a buddy that, invited you to church and, you were working as a, what'd you say? Uh, probation officer. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. Was, yeah, I was working as a PO at that time. It was the security. So, so that
happened after you, recovered from your injury or?
Yep. Okay. Well, I still was going through the injury. I still, I still had that cast and everything. Okay. Uh, during that time. Yeah, I was still injured, uh, during this time. All right. And you were able to
get a job?
Yeah. It was a security guy. Uh, I'll never forget his name. His name's Tyrell. Real nice guy, man. He was a Samoan cat. Okay. Um, yeah. Gotta be a
big guy, yeah? He was kind of telling his testimony. He was pretty
big, right? Yeah, Samoans is big. Yeah. Big folks, man. But he was actually on the smaller side. Oh, no way. It's kind of crazy. Oh, yeah. Yeah. He was on the smaller side. Yeah. But he was a real nice dude, man. He was, you know, he knew the Bible in and out, man. He can tell you everything.
Yeah. And that's how it kind of, we started having conversations because he, he was sharing his testimony, how he was a foster kid and, uh, a family took him in and him and his siblings, they took him in and didn't have to, and raised him. So, you know, he turned his life to Christ and he kept trying to bring me along, but, you know, I was listening, but I wasn't all the way in. And then I had that moment.
And then I was like, I started, I just showed up to church where he invited me and he was like shocked that I was there and then that from there we kind of built a little bond and um, so he was
probably the guy that was sowing the seeds and probably he was praying for you, right?
He up, he sowed it up him and his sister, he had a sister too. Her name was Rosalyn. I never forget her name. if I ever see them again, you know, I don't know where they are now that I lost contact with them, but you know, they, they were the ones that, that started it. They definitely started it
for me. And gotcha. Okay. So, so you said, man, you're, you're seeking God, you're going to church, serving them. And then you mentioned that things were good and then they started getting bad. Yeah, it was just
little things started happening. Like just, just, just random things just started happening. My past basically was catching up to me. I had to pay the piper for some things, whether it was financial stuff I blew off, you know, I was charging up stuff on my credit card, not paying them things. And I kind of blew it off. I had a car. This is when I was going through a difficult time. I had a car that was repo.
So, and then, you know, I blew, I blew off, you know, the court showing up to court, things like that. Stuff I was doing when I was younger. Yeah. And it caught up to me. So, it was like, it was time to pay the piper, basically. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and I'm like, man, God, why is all this stuff hitting me at once? I wasn't understanding. But I had to, I had to make right with those things to continue to move forward. And that's kind of what happened.
I made right with all those creditors, got my, got my credit and everything. And now my credit is a one, you know, everything's good. and it's funny when I speak on that too, not to go off on a tangent, but I never grew up with any financial fluency. I think people, I think that's one of the biggest things outside of not knowing God is people having financial fluency. Especially when you come in from the hood, that's not a thing. Nobody knows about credit. Like what is credit? Right.
but I learned that the hard way. Now I know how to educate people, you know, how to, you know, not only make money, keep it longer and how to move it correctly without, you know, legally, of course, without, you know, putting yourself under a lot of stress is as important,
you know, what, that's a great point. I don't think that's something that, that we've talked about on the podcast with any guests, but it's very important, man. Like you mentioned, like me growing up, I didn't know anything about that. Like in high school that that should be probably one of the classes that they should teach you man how to Handle save spend and credit. You know what? I didn't know anything about credit cards.
I remember, I, got, got, uh, locked up and I turned 19, 20 and 21 in there. And when I got out about maybe four or five months later, I met my, my girlfriend and she told me she, had a credit cards. She told me, you got a credit card and I ain't got a credit card. I don't need one. She's like, she's the one that told me to get one. I didn't see it back then. Like what would be the benefit of it? But I actually, I actually had to pay to get a credit card because I didn't have no credit.
So I paid, I got my credit card, started using it. And long story short, I started building my credit and I was able to buy a car on my own without having somebody co sign. And years later, of course, many, many years later, I was able to get my house and all because she told me that, man, you need, she told me why I needed it and how it was going to help me. And to be honest, I was already 21, 22, not knowing that I needed it. So, so that, that, that is crazy, man.
I think too, like to your point, they don't teach it in the schools for reasons. If you look at the environment we in. They kind of want to keep you handcuffed in the debt. They want you to be in debt. They make money off of that interest. Um, like I said, I had to learn the hard way. Like I was running up debt. I was like, to me, it was like free money. I was like, Oh, you give me a car. You telling me I get 30 days to pay this back. Okay. I was racking it up. 30 days came.
Minimum payment, 25 interest on this, bro. So I let it get out of hand, but I want to correct it at all. And the one, the one, and I'm not a person that values materialistic things. That's not at this point in my life. I don't, I don't put a lot of value into that cause it don't matter. But the, one of the things that I was proud of is that knowing where I came from, like. I got an American Express business. I got an American Express platinum card. I got an American Express gold card.
I got an American Express Delta card. I got Those are like, you know, when people value American Express, it's like a big deal. Like if you have one of the cards, I got 14 credit cards, you know what I'm saying? I have over a hundred thousand dollars in limits. And, and I'm not saying that's a brag or nothing like that. I'm just saying that I was able to position myself knowing where I come from. To me, that's kind of important. That's a big deal because that wasn't a thing.
Like people where I come from, don't. Don't know how to get to that. And for me to, you know, I had to, I was self taught. So for me to be able to do that, to me, it was a big deal. Just knowing where I'm coming from. Okay. Hey, you
know what, now, now that you're seeking God and reading the Bible, what, what's the importance of, like you said, uh, paying the piper in a sense, but, making right, especially debt, I know like that there's a scripture that comes to my mind. Like, I think it says, let no debt remain outstanding except the debt of love. So it's like, well, what's, what was the importance, of, of paying what you, what you owe, I guess. Right.
It was, it was a great point, man. I just felt like, well, I gotta make it right. You know what I'm saying? I could have kept running from it, you know, but I felt like if I'm making these changes in my life, this is what God wants for me. So I had to fess up, you know, do what I had to do, take care of business. I even, to your point, it was funny too. I even called people that I owe money to, like for my past, no, for real people that I owe money to.
That I was just like, you know, that I burned him. I called him up and I apologized and I said, I'm gonna get you that money. And, you know, I, I may, right? 'cause you know, I just felt like it is just something I had to do. If I'm gonna make this walk, I gotta, you know, I'm gonna talk it. I gotta, you know, do what's right. So, yeah, I called people up from my past and I'm talking like five years, like five to 10 years. Like, Hey man, I know I owe you that money.
I, I, I made a way to find him and just kind of told him. You know, they appreciated that
man, that's, that's big there. 'cause uh, man, those, those don't show up on the credit report. Right. Right. For you to, for you, for you to remember those man, it had to be like the Holy Spirit probably bringing them to you, huh?
Yeah, I, I remember them things, man. So, you know, I, I, I try to do right. I try to make some of my wrongs right when I can, you know? Yeah. And like I said, I'm not perfect even today. I, but I still try to, you know, do right by people,
man. Okay. No, that's good. All right. So, so you were saying, you know, faced what you had to face, you, you paid that debt and how did life look as you went forward from there?
Yeah, as things went, looking forward from there, you know, I was, you know, just living that regular life and then, um, that a moment came with JC. That was the moment. that kind of like change things between him and I and our relationship and how that started. He came in front of my desk and I've seen a ton of guys sit in front of me and tell me, tell me their story and what they went through and what they're going to do when they get out because it all sounds nice. Everybody has the plan.
But then when no one's watching, are you going to do the right thing? And you know, JC sat in front of me. I never forget. He'll probably laugh at me if I tell you this, but he had a frohawk
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think I've seen a picture like when he has something like that similar Yeah,
he had a frohawk. He wasn't wearing the glasses yet. He had the frohawk though, and he was a lot smaller than he was slender guy. He was real slender. He was just, you know, telling me his spiel, what he's going to do. And I'm like, all right, you know, I'm hearing him. But the more we kept talking, I don't know what it was, but something about him resonated with me. And he started, he would always come back with this new vision that he had and say, Hassan, I'm going to write a book.
Hassan, I'm gonna start, I'm gonna start a business. And it's going to touch people. He was telling me these things and I'm like, okay, and then as we kept talking, because I had him for a while, I had him for almost a year. He's okay. And, as we kept our talks going, we started, you know, this picture started being painted on what it looked like and what he wanted to do because he already had made the decision.
He was going to do something in the fitness world that he was already on that because he already started building up a clientele. And doing personal training with people. so he started touching people in that way, but, but, but the kingdom talk wasn't there yet. And he told me, he said, Haasan I'm gonna find you when I get out of here. And I said, look, if you serious about everything you talked about for, for these nine months, I said, come find me, man. I said, I'm gonna support you.
And I would say about. It was probably about a year or two later. He tried to connect with me. Um, he kept coming back to the office, to the probation office to find me, but I kept missing him. And then one day we ran into each other and we connected and he's like, I did it. He's like, I started a business. And he's like, it's "Wrong to Strong". I was like, you did it, huh? I was like, let's see what, let's see what you talking. And he showed me, he was like, this is all I'm doing.
These are all the people that are supporting me. He's like, I got shirts. He's like, I got all kinds of apparel. And he really did it. And I told him, I said, when you do that, I'm going to be with you. And here's something that's funny that no one's going to really understand is that. When he, when he, when he lived that dream and he did it and I followed him, I stopped, I stopped working. I stopped doing what I was doing. I had a transition.
I was getting burnt out and tired of what I was doing already. Like my job was, I was already 10 years in at this time. We're fast forwarding. I'm about 10 years in and I'm kind of getting tired of this. It was like the same old thing. And I said, I, I love helping people. I love trying to make an impact when people get out of prison and see them change their life. Like, like, it brought me joy, believe it or not, if that sounds crazy, it really did.
But I was like, I don't know, man, if this is really what for me and I, you know, and God has something else for me, man.
So I kind of was following JC doing his Wrong and Strong thing and I told him if I'm gonna do this with you I'm gonna be all in and not just ride your coattails And as you can see I'm still here like I don't want to say I wanted a founding fathers because he started it But I was one of the day ones that was there to help get this thing off the ground for him And, you know, all the other people was just along for the ride and they left.
And I told him, I said, man, when you cut that grass, man, you're going to see the snakes. I said, I said, remember that I said, you're going to see the snakes. Cause I could, I could see him, but JC is so giving and so loving. That's the way his heart is that he doesn't see it. And he had to just kind of see that for himself to know who is real and that's why I love him to this day for that man. I'll do anything for that man.
But yeah, when I had to make a career change and here's God working again, I have no experience in finance is zero and I had a friend of mine come up to me and say, hey, why don't you come work for American Express? And I said, American express. I said, I don't, I don't have a degree in finance. I know nothing about dealing with money and dollars. I mean, I know how to hustle, but I don't know anything about doing running numbers on an accounting aspect. And he was like, nah, they'll train you.
I promise you. So I was like, all right, I went in there, you know, submitted my resume. They liked me and everything. They hired me. They was actually like you overqualified for it. Cause I started at the bottom when I got into AMEX, this wasn't like, I didn't come into some high position. so I was like, all right, you know, the money wasn't right, but I was like, look, I'm a grind it out. I know God got me.
And I want to say one thing too, with all of this that I haven't touched on, I was not tithing at this time. So let, we're going to go back to that. I was not tithing. I was not being obedient with my finances. So, yeah, I started at the bottom and you know, I said I'm gonna keep to myself, I'm gonna grind and I'm gonna get where I gotta get to back to where I was financially. Uh, I've been at the company now, it would've been, it's been four years this past, uh, September.
praised God, he's got me to a place financially that I don't need for nothing. Hmm. Thankfully, like I don't need for, even in the climate of the environment we're living in right now, thankfully, I don't need for anything. Like, he's blessed me in more ways than I could imagine. Amen. Now when I tell you that, it's because. I made a choice to tithe. I made a choice to give God 10 percent of my money right off the top.
I was always tithing, but it wasn't really tithing when I'm giving 20 here, 10 here. That's not tithing. That's me saying, guy, I don't trust you. That's what that is. And I made a commitment one day. It was just a, uh, it was a fast. And I was like, I'm going to do a fast and I'm going to just try this tithing thing because I'm like at this time, I'm like, God, I don't know where I'm gonna get it. You want me to get it? How much out of my check? I had to trust man.
I'm telling you, I'm telling you, anybody that listens to this, it works. Give God a try. I promise you this. Give God a try. If it don't work out, the devil will always take you back. That's guaranteed. But I will say this, trust God with your finances. I'm a walking testimony of that. He has blessed me in more ways than none. When I never thought how I was going to get it, he always opened the door for me to have what I needed.
and every, no matter what, when I get paid, when that money hits my bank account, 10% comes right off the top. No questions asked. I don't care how much it is. That's the
first, the first step. That's the first step.
First step. Gotcha. First step he gets, he gets it, man, I don't, I don't argue it. I say think I don't care how much it is. Times I had to give, like, you know, I might get a bonus or something and it might have been seven K and I gotta give him two or three out of it. No questions that it's your father. You know, I'm grateful. God loves a cheerful giver. And I try to be, you know, he'd been blessing me. So I give that up, but that was the area of obedience. That was important to me.
And I still live that now, you know, that's just one area. You know, again, I'm a work in progress. There's other areas. I continue to need to show obedience.
Um, you know what, you know, let's, let's hang here for a little bit, cause you're the first guy that has brought this up on this podcast. And I think it's very important, before that fast, what was your mindset of uh, or why you were only given the 20 like, I know you mentioned that lack of trust, but was there more than that to it or
it was definitely a lack of trust. But I didn't want to feel like I wasn't giving something. You know what it was is that the girlfriend I had at the time, you know, this is where it was wrong. Again, I'm listening to her and she's like, no, you know, God wants you to just get it from your heart. I was like, yeah, but that ain't what the Bible says. You know, I've learned that way.
That was just me listening, you know, to somebody doing what they're living in the flesh, doing what they want to do too, and I'm just jumping right on it without, you know, verifying, so to speak. Gotcha. So, yeah, I would just throw a 20 in the pot, a 10 or a 5, whatever I had in my pocket, but that's kind of, that's a smack in the face. Yeah. To God, because he's not even asking for all his money back. He's just asking for a little bit of what he gave you. Yeah. So how can I not do that?
And that's just how I've been living, man. I just live by that, man. I'm trying to get to a point in the overflow. So my, my next move is to not just 10%, then up in a little bit more, get a little extra going, man.
You know what? I'm gonna, I'm gonna share this quick story. Uh, I grew up a Catholic, so I was used to just, you know, you mentioned whatever, five bucks, 10 bucks, or if I was really bad, you know, maybe a 20, you know, but then I got saved. And I remember when I started going to a Christian church, I had my family tell me, Hey man, be careful with those Christian churches, man. They just want your money. You know, so God did a miraculous work in my life, man. I did a one 80 from the lifestyle.
I was, uh, living changed my heart changed me in like a lot of ways, but man, I had a hard time giving man. And, it was still like with the 20 and you know, like you mentioned 20 bucks, 10 bucks. Uh, but there's a story where, uh, my wife, it's a long story. I'm going to make a brief, uh, uh, she had, fell in her heart for her to stop working. And at this point she was making more money than I was, you know, she was making like a nice amount of money.
So anyways, she's like, man, I'm going to stop working. So at this point we had two, two car notes, you know, uh, you know, got a family apartment and everything. And like, Oh, I told her if you quit your job, that's fine. I'm going to stop tithing. That, that was my agreement with her. Right. So she put in her two weeks notice and I think it was like maybe that Friday before she, her last day and I'm at work, I'm praying, I'm worshiping.
And that scripture just came to my mind, Malachi, I believe it's chapter three, where it says, how do you rob God in your tithes and your offerings? And I, and I try to dismiss it, like, ah, you know, like try to think about something else that's just, that's just my mind, you know? So I, I came, you know, I'm, I'm, I work, I'm worshiping. And again, that scripture came to my mind, like, how do you rob God and your tithes and your offerings? Like, man, I couldn't shake it that second time.
So long story short, I came home and I told my wife, you know what, this is what happened to me at work. And I feel that cause I already made up my mind. I'm just going to stop giving at all, just to try to survive, just to try to give my family a head to pay these two car notes. I told you, you know what? I feel that God's telling me, not only am I going to continue to tithe. I'm going to increase when you quit your job.
So I went from 10 to 15 and let me tell you, brother, there was, uh, uh, you want to talk about God, uh, just blessing me, man, at work, I just started getting like a ton of overtime. Uh, they started paying for me to go to school, like to get certificates. And, uh, so man, I was able to pay both car notes and trust me, there was a, there was a season there where it was tough.
As far as like getting food, you know, and gas and, and I was driving, uh, I'm, I'm, I'm right now I'm on the South side of Chicago. I was driving to East Chicago, Indiana, paying the toll road each time I was going to church three times a week. And sometimes I'd be like, man, how am I going to get there? And God always made a way, but one, uh, the reason I want to share that is because you, you, first of all, you brought it up and I think it's important.
We haven't talked about it on here, but there's blessing in obedience and I've seen it personally. And, and your story, you know, you're, sharing that. So I think it's something I know we prayed before we started the podcast. I always pray God bring any story to remembrance, anything that the listeners need to hear. And like I said, this is something we haven't talked about, and I believe somebody that's going to listen to this podcast, watch this video.
They need to hear that, that they need to be able to trust God, even in their finances. Uh, another quick story, talking about finances. Uh, I read a book and they were talking about the crusaders back in the days. They, were hired like mercenaries. So they had a sword, you know, they did a lot of bad stuff when they were sent out. So they, they used to get baptized, the, the crusaders. So they had their swords, back then they had their shields and their swords. So whenever they got baptized.
They will get baptized, their whole body, and they will hold their sword outside of the water. And that symbolized like, God, you have control of everything of me, except the sword. The sword, that's me doing that. And in the book it said, a lot of believers are like that with their wallet. Like, God, you can have control out of my whole life. But the wallet, they keep it out the water, like the wallet. I'm going to take care of that God. Don't, don't worry.
Yup. No, that's just true, man. We put, you know, even today we put so much emphasis on, you know, materialistic things, money, how much we got, and that we just lose sight of it. We let it control us, man. And it's kind of a sad thing. You know, you know, I kind of teach my son, he's seven at an early age about finances, but don't put all your life and your value into that. You know what I mean? Like, don't let that corrupt you.
because it is, it's a thing that to your point, people don't want to tithe. They want to just get, they want to live in the flesh and get that next Gucci wallet or belt glasses or whatever, because that's, what's important to them, but that stuff they don't know, don't come with you, you know, you don't need that.
Right. Right. Definitely. Okay. So you mentioned the giving, you started experiencing the blessings and how to, how did life look from, from there
for you? Oh man, from there, life was good, man. Life, life was good. You know, I had no issues. really, you know, the only issues I really had that, you know, that I can say I wasn't really living obedient was my relationships. that was the one area that I struggled with. you know, having sex before marriage and, you know, I'm not married at this time and my girlfriend, she had moved in with me, you know, just doing it all wrong, man.
And that went on for about six years and it was just doomed from the beginning. And I was doing because again, I'm not living. I'm not moving the right way. Like I'm test driving a car without just trusting the car that I see in front of me and knowing that is going to be good. And maybe this is what God has for me. So that relationship didn't work out. Um, but we still have good friends today.
Luckily, like, we still have a great relationship, a great friendship, but that relationship led me into another bad relationship. which turned into a situation with my son's, my current, my, uh, my son's mother and my, I have one child and again, I was doing things the wrong way, not living obedient, man, you know, sex before marriage and then my, you know, I have not have a son, you know, that, you know, it was a blessing.
You know, because a child is a blessing from God, you know, because not everybody gets that and people take that for granted. But again, I didn't do it the right way. I didn't, you know, wait to get married and everything else. And that that relationship didn't turn out well either. And I guess you could say the curse with that is just kind of the relationship I have with my son's mom. You know, we, we, you know, it's a struggle.
We have our good days and our bad days, you know, 'cause I, you know, that is my child's mother and I always want to show her respect. Yeah. But you know, at times we just, you know, can't always get along unfortunately. But, um, so that's one, that's an area. If I had an area to tell anybody, like, don't test drive the car, man, do what God ask of you. Women are, you know, we have to put women at a higher pedestal.
You know, these are, these are daughters of God and we just kind of look at 'em, look at 'em as. You know, these these figures out here that we just we want to use and that's not the way that's not what God intended for us. And, you know, I've learned that and I try to move that way now, you know what I'm saying? I want to do things differently. Um, but yeah, getting to this point now, I'm like, life is good, but, you know, I still have those issues, but my love for God never wavers.
That's the one thing that's always going to remain constant through the good, through the bad. My love for God is always going to stay strong. No one's ever going to waver that from
me. Amen. Amen, brother. That thanks for, uh, um, sharing that part too. You know, there's, there's some men out there that they need to hear that. I remember when, when I got saved, I was with my girlfriend four and a half years. And, man, I got saved. I started evangelism, started doing everything. The one thing I couldn't do is get married and I was going to church at the time to feeling conviction and man, I just couldn't, couldn't do it.
And, like you mentioned, we have to do that right like because I guess the, the consequences, I guess, for what we do, right? Consequences
of it, right. I'm going to give you this child, I'm going to give you, I'm going to give you this child, but you're going to, there's going to be, you know, like a father does, you know, you know, you have to discipline your children and, you know, this is going to be, this is what you're going to have to deal with and, you know, that's what comes with it. So, you know, men out there do it right, man, if you got a good woman, cherish her. Because.
You know, like I said, women are God's daughter, man. You want to put them on a high pedestal, you know, treat them right. Amen, Amen,
brother and how does life look right now? Currently, what, what are you currently doing? I know you mentioned you were moving up at
Amex. Yeah, I'm still working at American express. I'm doing very well within the business. You know, one of the things I moved up very quickly every year, I had a promotion to another role, um, just cause I kept that focus, kept that mindset of, you know, just wanted to strive, you know, to be the best. And, you know, now just continue to move up that corporate ladder. life is good. You know, I got my son, you know, he's, he's one of the most important things for me outside of God.
God is always first, but he's the second most important thing to me. you know, because I think it's important that a lot of my mishaps, I don't want him to ever have to experience that. so my, my son does know God. I make sure that's instilled to him. Um, thankfully his grandparents, you know, they're of the kingdom as well. So they instill in him as well. You know, God and what he's done for us. So my son has a very at seven. He has a very good understanding of what that looks like.
So, you know, I kind of continue to build upon that, especially in the environment we're in right now. Kids are pulled in all different directions and there's a lot of distractions out there. You know, the devil is working real hard to. To bring this thing down. And so, you know, to keep our children on the path, they had a future. So I'm trying to, you know, instill in him, you know, keep focused on what's important. Oh
yeah, especially now, man, I believe is more of a attack on them than ever before. You know, I'm sure we had our attacks, but now it seems like it's out loud. Like no, no, no holds barred, I guess, like against the kids, man.
Absolutely, man. Especially, you know, with these tablets, social media. You got these kids thinking this is what things look like. Sexuality is, is at the forefront of everything. Everybody's Questioning whether they're a man or a woman, you know, that's not for me to debate here. I know there's only a man and a woman. There's no, there's nothing else. You can't tell me anything else.
And that's kind of how I teach my son, no matter what, like this is, this is how God made us a man and a woman and that's it.
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. It's very, very important. You know, especially, uh, I know you mentioned your dad being like a strong figure, like a role model and man, it's important for, for the men to take that role and to teach our kids. Cause our words, they carry a lot of weight with our kids. We, we gotta, not, not just tell him, but model, what it is to, to, to be
a man. So, yeah, for me, it's finding that balance. Cause my father was always hard on me. My father was very militant. I'm not as militant on my son, but I am very authoritative towards him because I want to this life is not going to be kind to him. You know, the world is not going to be kind to him. And he has to understand that my son doesn't know what it's like to struggle because he's always had his good everything he ever needed. He's gotten it.
But at the same time, I want to raise a man and understand like, you know, Not to be dependent on a woman to do everything for you. That's not the intentions of what God has for you as a man. But I also want him to understand too, that, you know, he is a mixed race. My son is half black and he is half white, but you know, life, like when people see you though, they're going to see a person of color.
So understand that, you know, being that you are a person of color, everything's not always going to come easy to you, not everyone's going to like you. So, he has to understand those things and I just make sure he's just aware. Right,
right. No, yeah, yeah. For sure, man. You mentioned, you don't want to be hard. But, but life, life is hard, man. And if we try to, to, to shelter and, cuddle our kids, man, life's going to get them hard. You know? Yup.
No, for sure. But the flip side of that too, is I do what my parents really didn't do for me is show them that love too. I told my son, I love him all the time. I give him hugs. I kiss him on his forehead, you know, just showing him that love and affection because the one thing that. Kind of messed me up growing up was how cold like people think I'm a cold person But it's not it's not because I'm a cold person.
It's that I've seen a lot of things so I'm immune to it Yeah, so when you see a lot of bad things over and over and over again, you become immune. So Somebody could tell me oh, you know, my grandmother died, you know, I feel bad but I'm not having the same sympathy you're having because I've seen death. I've seen a lot of death, not natural causes, not dying from natural causes. I've seen murder and those things just make me immune to a lot of things in life.
So I may not have the same feelings other people share and they look at me like, man, you're just cold hearted. And I was like, no, by no means like I do feel I do have feelings is that I'm just immune to a lot of things that. Just affecting me from my past that just led me to just not show the same amount of emotions. Other people may show right?
No, you know what we get out was the word that the desensitized to a lot of things and I believe that's almost like a survival thing Like you mentioned not not getting too emotional like uh, like in my marriage like my wife's the more emotional she's more compassionate And I would say probably like compared to her, people might think that I'm cold, you know, cause I'm not going to break down and start crying.
Like you mentioned, like, when somebody passes away or that, and she might, but I think that's a good balance, you know, like what, we were both losing it, you know, like who's going to kind of like, you know, like be in control or, or, or know what, what step to take, what choice to make and, uh, in a matter like that. But unfortunately, I mean, those things shape us into the men we are today.
But you know, it has this bad sides, but it has this good sides too, you know, where we could still kind of like focus and try to just be in tune in the situation. Okay, this happened. What do I do now? Instead of like breaking
down and being self aware. I think a lot of it, if you just go through life and you know, you have these shortcomings and you just ignore them, then, you know, how did you do? What did you do to get better? Like, like night for me now. Even like, because I'm still a work in progress. When I do something wrong, I might offend somebody or they might say, Hey, it's on me, man. You're a cold dude, man. You're not even, that doesn't affect you.
I have to stay, I have to, you know, take a moment and think like, you know, you might be right. You know, I don't always want to be defensive. Because I, I'm very accepting of feedback. I wasn't always that way, but now I can accept feedback. And, you know, if it's for the better to make me a better person, I'm all for it. You know? Yeah. Yeah.
I think I would agree with that too. Like at first when somebody would tell me something, my, like natural thing is right away, put up a fence, like defensive, like, man, I don't want to hear it. And, like you mentioned, I'm more open to it and. You know, like, okay, well, why are they're telling me that? Is there some truth in that? It's something that I need to work on, especially as a man of God.
You know, if, if we're seeking on following on, maybe God's using that individual or that situation, whatever we just went through to me, he's trying to tell us something, man, you, you can't be that way. You know, you're, you're supposed to be an, an ambassador of Christ, you know, like, man, so we got to represent him here. So for
sure, for sure. No, absolutely. Hey,
I want to go back, with, with JC. We had a conversation he's like man, I want you to ask him some things man, oh, you remember what you told him in the beginning? Because he mentioned something like that. You were the first guy to ever believe in him. And, uh, he's like,, make sure you ask him, man. Like, do you remember some of those first things that you told him? Or how, like if you look back, like, in the, in those conversation, how, how did those go? You know. Yeah, it was
funny. Like I was telling you before, like when he, when he would come to my desk, you know, I'm like, Oh, here's another one with a story. You know, it was kind of like that, but we started building this relationship and it was just him. Keep in mind. I've seen hundreds of guys coming across my desk hearing the same stories, but it was something about him. I don't know what it was. It was something about his upbringing, the things he went through and everybody.
My story is not much different than other people. Everybody has a story. They've been through something. Yeah. And it's always somebody that's had it worse than me. So I don't want to make it seem like I had it bad. I had it bad, but there's other people that had it worse, but it was something about his story that just resonated with me. And I said, I was drawn to that. So we would just keep, we would just have these deep talks.
And I would just only that the one thing I could just remember telling them is said, JC, if you serious about it, come find me. I say, when you ready. Come find me and I never told anybody that I never told, I never people, you know, when they're all paper and they're done, I never see him again. I may run into him at the grocery store and they, you know, say thank you for making my, my time with you easy and not being on me. But that was the extent of it.
But with JC, it was something different with me and him and it was, we connected and not knowing that this was all, or this was all God bringing it full circle, especially with kingdom. but it was more of just, yeah, come find me and he, and he did that. He kept his word, he found me and I kept my word that if you serious, I'm gonna help you build this thing. You know what I'm saying? I'm gonna support you in every way possible.
And to this day, I do that if he needs something or he need me to be somewhere just to represent wrong and strong. I'm gonna do it. It is never, he never has to ask me twice. Gotcha. Um, yeah. And so for, for that, I love him to death, man. I'm a, I'm gonna love him for the rest of, you know, our life here on earth, man. 'cause you know, he, the things he's doing and the way he's connecting through people, you know, God's really using him and, you know, I, I just love that for him.
And I always, and you know, you know, it's funny 'cause it was always in the back of my mind. I want this for him, but I know he's not ready yet. He's not ready to. He's not. He's not there. But when he made that commitment on his own and decided to let Christ in and let the Holy Spirit just move to him, man. Yeah, this is this is only the beginning. Like, this is just a small portion. It's going to get bigger for him. I can, you know, he's touching people. Look, you got your podcast in Chicago.
It's going to, it's, he's going to be touching people. He's going to be touching people all four corners of the U S at some point. I already know it. And the earth,
man, for real, this is all him. You know, that's, uh, I don't know if you know the story, but he said he was in prayer one day and he calls me, he's like, Hey man, I was praying and I feel God wants you to start a podcast just like that. I don't know nothing about no podcast, man. He's like, Like, all right. So from him, you know, like him, uh, praying, seeking God, I believe is all God and praying and then believing kind of like you, he, he, this is what he told me on the phone. He's like, man.
It gets me mad that, that he, he don't want to admit that, that he played a big role in where I'm at today, talking about you, about you believing in him and speaking to him.
Yeah, it's because you know what? I don't want to take the light off of him, man. I'm a big, I'm a big supporter of everything he's doing. But the foundation had to start somewhere and he started that he laid the foundation for what this was going to be. He did not see that it was going to go to this place where it involves the kingdom. He didn't see that. I didn't even see that at the time. I just knew that he wanted to start something and touch a lot of people doing it. And he did do that.
And now the next step is what's the message that you're going to give, you know, because you can talk about this. You can talk about that because. He could have took this in a whole different direction and start talking about all kinds of other nonsense But he didn't he didn't he shared his testimony He shared his life experiences that other people can relate to but then he now implemented that kingdom into it Yes, because that you know, God is first man, and that's the most important thing.
He realizes
that amen the gospel man That's one thing that said the gospel is going forth man on these stories in the podcast Man, all these stories, man, they, they point people to Christ and what he's doing in our lives, man. But, uh, oh yeah, I just wanted to retouch on that. Cause he's like, man, he's like,
man, I hope this conversation, even if it just reaches one individual, you know, hopefully, you know, whoever listens to this, it could just, you know, resonate with them and understand like, Hey, you're not alone, man. You're not alone. You know, we've all been through something, but what's the next step at some point you got to take the responsibility. And say, you know what? You know, let me, let me, let me take the best step forward and do what's right.
Um, let me let God in, you know what I'm saying? But the part that people have to realize when you make that commitment to Christ, life doesn't get easier. It actually gets harder. And I say that because you know, the devil is always when you praying, the devil's listening. Your prayer is not just God listening. The devil's listening to so he knows your weaknesses. And so with knowing that, yeah. Life is always going to be hard at some point.
Things are always going to be attacking you from different areas because we know that God isn't of temptation. That's the devil's work. And you know, because of that, you got to learn, you got to know separate the two and know what's what. And a lot of people don't always know how to do that. And that's why I tell people like you got to get in your word. You got it. Prayer prayer is powerful. People don't want to admit that, but prayer is powerful. And Yeah, just let God in, man.
Just let him in because he's waiting for you. I can tell you that. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be burning in hell for eternity. I mean, that's not me. I want to be in the kingdom and, you know, live it, live in that kingdom life, you know, for eternity. That's, that's, that's what we
strive for. Amen. Amen, brother. Thanks. Thanks for sharing that. And man, any final words? And then if you could close this out of the prayer, you
know, nah, I just want to say thank you for having me on here is it's a blessing in itself that, you know, we ran into each other and I'm able to be a part of this. Um, so I thank you for that brother, you know, you taking a chance. We just have this conversation. Oh, no, man,
for sure. As soon as I heard you share that, like we're doing the Bible study right away, man, I interrupted us. Hey man, I gotta have you at the podcast. We got to share that part of the story. Cause it's a huge part, man. Cause, I believe it's all God behind the scenes. You know, like working in you, but, uh, even you're like, man, I, you know, that's JC, but, uh, God used you to, to encourage that brother. Cause you already had your God encounter at that time, right?
You're, you're already like seeking God. And like you mentioned, maybe you didn't go right out and share the gospel with him, but man, like God through you encouraged that brother and, and sowed some seeds in his life that years later, like are bearing fruit and you're still part of that. And you get to see that. And now we're seeing a ripple effect of that. Like going into me, we got that brother, uh, Sean Ray, uh, uh, doing the Bible study.
And we got men that jump under from, there was a guy in, Pittsburgh, guys here in the city in Chicago. And the crazy part is you got men on a Friday night doing a Bible study together. Like, like on a Friday night, trust me, they'll be doing all types of stuff instead of doing a Bible study, but man, God's definitely moving. Uh, too Wrong To Strong as a ministry. And man, I believe it's just the beginning. I believe he's been connecting people on purpose and for a purpose.
And I'm, I'm excited to be a part of this or to write along JC, along you and all these other brothers that are, that are coming along, man. And, uh, man, let's see what God has in store for us, man. I'm just, I'm just riding the wave of the spirit, man. And Lord, wherever you lead me, I will follow, you know, and that's honestly, that, that's where I'm at at this point in life, you know.
That's it. That's it. Amen, man. Amen. Amen brother.
Yeah, I could close this I could Please do brother
in prayer. Yes I'm, not I won't say i'm the greatest at prayers, but I always speak what comes in my heart and yes You know what comes in my mind?
Amen Father God. I just want to take the moment in time to just thank you for allowing me to be here I know at any moment, you know, that can be taken away, you know, the wages of sin is death, but the fact that you sent your one and only son here to save me, to save us, for me to be here, to be able to be on this podcast, to be able to talk and give my testimony, I just pray that my words are able to at least reach one individual and for that individual to be, to be brought to you.
I know you love us, father. I know we don't always do the right things. But despite our disobedience, father God, you still love us. You still watch over us and thank you for the strength and the courage that you give each and every day. I want to pray for all the Wrong To Strong team, father God, that you watch over him. Whether there's some of our brothers that are incarcerated right now, some of our brothers that are going through a difficult time.
I asked father God that you watch over them and you be with them, father God. But it is in your name that we pray. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Thanks. Thanks for being out here, brother. And man, we're going to get ready to wrap up, man. Thanks for sharing that story. Uh, and I just want to, I want to share this real quick to those of you that have been listening to this podcast, if you guys could, I believe on Spotify and Apple podcasts, there's a way that you guys could, rate, if you could go on there and you could comment, leave a review, this will help the podcast get, gain more traction on there.
So I believe you could, you have the ability to like put five stars on there. So man, if you've been listening to this supporting this, uh, please just take a minute and do that. They'll definitely help get these stories out there to, to more people. You know, this platform is like we mentioned. Share what God's done in our life, how we've gone from darkness to light and from Wrong To Strong.
So with that, we're going to get ready to close out, uh, Matthew four 16 reads "The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." Alongside my brother, uh, Hassan. My name is Omar Calvillo. We are. Wrong To
Strong.