"Set Up or Set Free? From Rivals to Brothers" ft. JC Almanza

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
JC (00:00):
thank you for the teaching.
Thank you for the lessons,storms and, and just the life
that you've given us.
There's not a day that I'm notamazed with what you've done
with us, and, uh, I just wannaask you to keep, keep continuing
teaching us and guiding usthrough, through this walk here

(00:20):
and, and letting us be theambassadors that you want us to
be.
Let it be your will, not ourown.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.

(00:46):
From the city of Chicago, a citymost recently known for its
crime and violence from thispodcast.
We will be sharing stories ofredemption from individuals
raised in the tough streets ofChicago and from around the
country.
Some of them were gang members,drug dealers, incarcerated
victims, and perpetrators ofviolence.

(01:06):
Listen to my guests as theyshare their experiences,
struggles, trauma, but also thestrength, hope, faith, and
perseverance these havedeveloped in them to keep
pushing and moving forward inlife.
Tune in to hear how their liveshave gone, from darkness to
light, and from wrong to strong.

Omar (01:26):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of
From Wrong to Strong.
I'm your host.
My name is Omar Calvillo, andtonight we got a very special,
uh, episode, very specialinterview, uh, on the podcast.
And we have JC Almanza, founder,creator, CEO of Wrong to Strong.

(01:47):
We're gonna get into thegenesis, uh, story of, how we
met the way God was workingbehind the scenes even then.
To what he was doing, what towhat God placed on this
brother's hearts to start, whichwas, uh, wrong to strong.
Uh, he's gonna share the vision,how it came to him, what he did
with it, and ultimately how wereconnected.

(02:08):
And we're gonna recap into the,basically the work that we're
doing today.
So, I'd like to welcome mybrother JC Almanza, to the
podcast.

JC (02:17):
Hey, what's up bro?
Thank you.
Uh, thank you for having me.

Omar (02:21):
I know for sure, man.
I mean, you're, you're, I mean,we're gonna get into it, but
basically you're the reason whywe're doing this, uh, podcast
today.
Uh, uh, I was just thinkingearlier in a month from now,
it's gonna be three years thatI've been doing this, man.
So it's been an, uh, an amazingrun and uh, it's been an
amazing, uh, a ride that I'vebeen on, man, and, and it is all

(02:41):
thanks to you.
And we're, we're gonna get intothat.
But, uh, I, I think I, I sharedwith you right before we started
re recording how the last timewe did a podcast interview was,
man, August 15th, 2023.
So man, it's been two yearssince we did a podcast together.

JC (02:57):
Yeah, yeah.
It's been, uh, it is been aminute.
Uh, we've both been busy and,you know, uh, I tell people, uh,
it's been great to see the, thekingdom just grow and what, what
God is doing.
And, and, um, more thananything, like, uh, I was
telling you earlier, uh, thechanges that I see in, in me as

(03:18):
a, as a person, um, I mean,sometimes I have to kind of like
take a step back because, uh,you know, he's, uh, he's really
cleaned me up, man.
And it, and it's, uh, it's beena couple of years now, but it
feels like just yesterday that,uh, I got on my knees and I

(03:39):
just, I just asked for help.
And it's, it's crazy becausethat's, that's how easy it was,
you know?
Um, I just had to humble myselfand ask for help.
And, uh, my whole life changed.
My whole life changed.
Uh, but, um, I'm gonna, I'mgonna go back, man.

(03:59):
I'm gonna go back to, uh, theChicago Times.
Man, I, I remember when, um,when I got tr, I remember when I
got to East Moline, I wanna sayit was, uh, early nineties, I
wanna say.
Uh, you know, it was like, uh,1998.
Yeah, just, I just rememberlike, you know, my, I always

(04:21):
tell people my life was going sofast, man, and it started at
such a young age that I, I justremember bits and pieces.
I remember the stories, but Idon't remember what years they
were, you know, so it is, itwas, it's just like a flash.
But I remember getting there.
What, right when I got toreceiving, there was an SD

(04:41):
working there, receiving, Iforgot his name, a Mexican dude
with black hair.
Um, so I started talking to himand he's like, yeah, you know,
there's a couple of the guyshere, blah, blah, blah.
And, uh, it, it just was likeheaven.
'cause everybody had their,their regular clothes on.
Um, I don't know, it just seemeddifferent.

(05:02):
I had already done a little bitof time, so, uh, I, I was in, I
was in heaven, obviously, man.
Um, the, the best memories Iremember from that prison are
the pizzas Digiorno's, the,Digiorno's pizza that they sold
in the, in the oven.
Um.

(05:22):
I think, I think when you werethere, you were, you were
working like at a job because Ithink you would buy one every
week for us when you, before yougot disappeared on me.

Omar (05:31):
Yeah.
So, uh, back then I was probablydoing, uh, what they call the,
uh, in, uh, industries.
So I remember, uh, I, I forget,I know I did a couple jobs.
They had a, a, a, a, um, theyhad the, uh, laundry department.
Mm-hmm.
We used to wash, uh, the sheetsand the blankets for the
hospitals and that demand, thatwas a dirty job, man.

(05:51):
Those hospital sheets, sometimesthey'll come in with all type
of, uh, what would you say?
Liquids.
Let's just put it that way, man.
Whether it be mud, whether itbe, whatever you could imagine
that comes out of a human.
Uh, and there.
So that was one job.
And then the other job that Ihad was in industries doing a
recycling.
They used to bring in the oldrefrigerators, stoves, and, uh,

(06:11):
we used to strip'em down, takethe sheet metal off, uh, take
the, the copper wires.
And basically we used to dothat, man.

JC (06:19):
I remember because I didn't have a job.
So I remember I would, uh, Iwould wait for you to come back
because after you got back fromwork, that's when we would, uh,
play handball with, uh, Loco.
And, and, and there was a,another ABR there that we used
to hang around with us a lottoo.
Uh, uh, I think it was Menace orOh, yeah, yeah.

(06:40):
Menace.
Yo,

Omar (06:41):
yo,

JC (06:41):
I was, uh, uh, van Delia and East Moline, so that was our
little group right there.
You know what I mean?
We used to play handball all thetime.
And then, um, and then youdisappeared.
Yeah.
You disappeared.
And, um, it's funny because whenI was there after you
disappeared one day I was on theyard and the, uh, the feds came

(07:02):
into the yard and, and snatchedme up on the yard and took me,
you know, uh.
I guess they had kind of likelost track of me since I had
gotten transfers from Mexicoand, and just, I got lost in the
system I guess.
So they were, I was like awanted man and uh, they took me

(07:24):
to downtown and brought me, andI ended up back in Vienna, you
know what I mean?
Because I straightened it outand everything.
I went back and it was so funnybecause when I got back
everybody was like, man, thatdude's the plug.
That dude's the plug.
And I started getting freepizzas.
I started getting blessed, uh,and they moved me all the way in

(07:44):
the back where, uh, all theworkers quarters, I guess it was
where you had your own cubicleand everything.
Like, and that's what I mean.
Like now I sit back and I'mlike, look at, look at how God,
like was still even without evenme knowing, you know, he was, he
was protecting me.
He was, and I just didn't knowhow to appreciate it, you know
what I mean?
Like, uh, uh.

(08:06):
Right away.
You know, I, I used it to myadvantage and I, I, you know, I,
I, uh, you know, I took a lot ofpizzas.
I took a lot of pizzas.
I, I ended up, um, you know,going home from there.
And, um, you know, honestly, Inever thought I would see you
again.
I, I, I've done plenty of timewith a hundred dudes and, and,

(08:30):
you know, uh, I never see'emagain.
Yeah.
You know, even if we were tight,even if we cried together, did
stuff together, like, there'speople that I never saw again.
So I really never thought Iwould see you again.
You know, you, you made animpact on me because like, you,
you, you cared about if I hadhygiene, you were always asking

(08:51):
me.
And, uh, I don't know if I, if Ismelled or you were just worried
that,

Omar (08:59):
you know what, go, go, go.
Going back to that, like, uh, Iremember back then when I got
there.
And, uh, uh, I'm sure peoplethat have been in, uh, locked up
know that somebody holds likewhat they call the box, right?
Like, like for the mob.
And I used to co collect the,uh, basically, uh, the new
ports, uh, shower shoes, uh,soap, uh, shampoo, food,
deodorant and all that.

(09:19):
So basically that's the reasonthat that, that, that, that I
looked out.
But, uh, well, when I look backtoo, I think it goes, goes back
to my family man.
Like, uh, learning, uh,hospitality.

JC (09:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm

Omar (09:30):
not like now, now when I look back and, and I see the way
I'm wired and why I do what Ido, it, it was from seeing my,
my family, like always beingthere from my other family.
Like, let's say we have familycame from a, um, Mexico, they
didn't have nowhere to stay.
They, they would stay there,they would give'em food.
Mm-hmm.
Try, try to help'em get a job.
So basically all, all that tosay that I believe that

(09:52):
hospitality came.
From seeing it active in myfamily.
And then going back to when yousaid that I disappeared on you,
uh, that's when I got, uh,caught getting a tattoo
basically on the deck.
Uh, I remember they walked in onus.
I got, they caught me getting atattoo.
They threw me in the hole.
I was there for, uh, for amonth, I think like, uh, 30
days.
And then from there, there theyshipped me to Danville, which

(10:14):
was in like middle of 99.
And I, I believe I did like mylast six months in Danville.
And that, that's when I got outin, uh, I got out in February of
2000.
But yeah.
Go.
Going back.
So you, you said you, youthought we weren't gonna see
each other again, right?

JC (10:31):
No, you know, um, like I said, I've, I've done time with,
uh, over a hundred SDS fromlike, everywhere from,'cause I,
I've hit a couple yards.
Um, I, I've been to East Moline,I've been to Jacksonville, um,
Joliet, uh, I was at that, uh,coed one.
Um.

(10:52):
That's like a mental institute.
Um, it's a medium.
Um, Dixon, is it Dixon?
Yeah, Dixon, uh, uh, Shawneewhen I went to the, uh, gang
program.
Um, so like, you know, I, I'vedone time, so like, and there's
been so many people that like, Iget out, dude, they get killed,

(11:16):
or I just, I just never see'emagain.
And I never really thought I, Iwould see you again.
So like, you know, uh, Iremember the day we spoke.
I was, I remember exactly, I wasin the garage.
I was working out and, and youknow, it was in a moment where,
where God was really likeputting some really crucial
components back together in me,man, because I don't think

(11:40):
people realize,

Omar (11:42):
I, I, I think you, you're going to, when you, when you had
that experience with God.

JC (11:47):
Yeah.

Omar (11:47):
Yeah.
But you know what?
We seen each other when, in, inthe streets before this
incident, man.
We did, you don't remember, itwas back, like in the early two
thousands, 2001.
Uh, we actually clubbedtogether, man.
What was the name of that club?
Velocities.
I remember.
Uh, yeah.
And, and you know what, uh, uh,you probably forgot this

(12:07):
incident, but you, you at, atone point, it was in the
summertime, and I was on cmac,and you came through in a silver
pickup, really jacked up withbig old tires.
I don't know if you rememberthat.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Oh, I, I, I, I, I remember mytruck.
Yeah, I remember that, thatincident because you pulled up
and I was hanging out there and,and you let me take it for a
ride, man.

(12:28):
And I remember driving throughthe other side of, of, of the
hood, like on 18 to 19th.
Mm-hmm.
I remember just the, the guyslike, man, they didn't know like
who was coming through in thisram basically.
But yeah, we, we, we basicallyhung out and I don't know if you
remember this incident too.
We actually went to arestaurant.
I had my hand in the cast andyou picked me up and we went to

(12:50):
a restaurant and we, we met, wemet with some people, and those
was probably the people that youwere working with back then.
I didn't even know,'cause Iwasn't in, I wasn't in that
lifestyle.
I was just basically gangbanging back then.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know if you rememberthat, but yeah, we, we did
connect in the street for, for,for a little

JC (13:06):
bit.
Um, you know, uh, there's,there's, uh, a lot of moments in
my life that, like, I alwayswonder like, man, like, did I do
like a lot of dr I mean, I knowI did a lot of drugs, but I, I
tell my wife sometimes too, Iknow that the, the beatings had
to affect me too.
Because like, I got hit in thehead a lot and, uh, I've been

(13:30):
noticing lately, like now thatI'm getting older, man, there's
certain things that I forget orlike, and I'm like, great.
I was like, I'm gonna messaround.
I have like old timers orsomething.
But, uh, uh, now I, uh.
I, I remember bits and pieces,and then I remember, I remember
Marlo used to always be in touchwith you.

(13:51):
Like, uh, he always, he alwaysknew something about you, you
know what I mean?
So like, uh, um, that's another,another, another story.
Yeah.

Omar (14:04):
I remember when I got out, I was actually like, I, I would,
uh, hang, hang out out there alot.

JC (14:09):
Yeah.
So like, I don't know, man, I,I, I, I look at those, those
days now, and I, I, um, Irealize like today, now, like
right now, I realize, um, howlost I was, man.
Like how, how, not even how darkmy soul was, but how naive and
how just lost.

(14:32):
Um, because I was never a badguy.
You know?
I was, I was just surviving.
I was mimicking what everybodyelse was doing.
And, um.
Man, bro, it is just, it's, it'sa blessing to see, like I said,
like to see us now to see you,to see just, just the, the
changes and what's happening is,is, is just, it's beautiful,

(14:53):
man.

Omar (14:54):
Yeah, man.
Alright.
So I, I, I know you, you weresharing to the part.
So now let's fast forward.
So like I said, we reconnectedin, in the street like around
2000, 2001.
I lo, I, I lost contact withyou.
It had to be like 2003.
Mm-hmm.
When I, I believe the last timeI, I heard from you or heard,
heard of you.
Yeah.
And, you know, and then it was,uh, going to now fast forwarding

(15:16):
2021, it had to be like in thesummer of 2021.
My, my younger brother, he cameto me, he's like, Hey man, uh,
uh, uh, j uh, jcs on YouTube andhe's making videos.
I'm like, what do you mean?
He's like, yeah, he's got achannel a, a wrong, the strong.
So I actually started followingyou, let's say the summer of
2021.
I started watching your videos,you know, what you were doing

(15:37):
back then.
And then, uh, fast forward to, Ibelieve it was around November,
if I'm not mistaken, of 21.
Mm-hmm.
That's when I, when I seen thevideo that you made saying that
you had this encounter, and Idon't know if you wanna share
what ha what happened that day?

JC (15:52):
You know, uh, I, I tell people, you know, um, I'm never
gonna try to explain to someonelike what happened that day, but
I, I know it was somethingsupernatural.
It was so, it was God.
Um, because, you know, uh, I, I,I got on my knees for the first
time in my life.
I tell people, you know, I, Ireally never looked for God when

(16:14):
I was in prison.
I really never looked for Godwhen I, I I was scared.
It, it was, it, prayer outtabeing scared is not looking for
God, you know?
Um, and that's what I would do.
You know, it would, it would beprayers when they were putting
the cuffs on me or putting me inthe backseat of the car and, uh,
uh, stuff like that.
But like, uh, that day.

(16:37):
I went downstairs knowing what Iwas gonna do.
Like I always, I I tell peoplenow, that day my discipline paid
off.
The discipline that I had beentraining my whole life, paid off
that day because I got on myknees with a purpose.
I got on my knees and I yelledto God to help me.

(17:00):
And as soon as I said that, youknow, as soon as I finished, uh,
it happened.
You know, and, and I believeit's because I, I, I asked, you
know, like, honestly, I askedfor help.
And, um, I got up a new man,man, I, I, I tell people I cried
for hours, you know?

(17:21):
Uh, I know it was that littlekid crying.
I know it was, it was, it was JCat 12.
It was JC at 10.
It was JC at four, I, it was jcand all those years, because.
God started putting me backtogether that day.
And, um, he knows how to dothings the best way.

(17:42):
You know, I, I tell people onceI let go of that, of the
steering wheel and he took over,that's when everything started
to change in me.
Like everything, the way Ispoke, the way, you know,
there's, there's charactersabout me that are still the
same.
I'm still very passionate.
I'm still very, uh, I guess youcould say rough around the edges
to some people, I guess becauseI'm, um, I guess, I don't know,

(18:07):
bro, I'm a lion.
I, I, I roar when I speak and,and now that, that I talk about
Jesus, sometimes people try tothrow buckets of water at me,
and I just, I shake it off and Iroar even louder.
Because like, I, I don't believethat nobody, if, if someone, if

(18:28):
a young Christian is on fire forJesus.
Don't, don't throw a bucket ofwater on him.
Like, you know, teach him.
Don't, don't, don't like, uh,chasta that, or like, tell, oh,
that's not right, or no, like,you know, teach'em, you know,
take'em under your wing.
Do it, do it with love.
Do it with, with care.
I tell people, well, I, I wentthrough some nasty moments in

(18:52):
my, the beginning of my, my walkbecause Christians that I didn't
look like were thinking like, Iguess less of me, or that I
wasn't, you know, I shouldn't bein that church.
I should be in another church orin a Spanish church.
And, and it was crazy because Inever left.

(19:13):
I, I stayed there because I feltthat God had me there for a
reason.
I was learning.
And yeah, I'm, I'm glad that Ilistened.
I'm glad I was disciplinedenough to stay there and just
take it and, and, and not makeit about me.
Not make it about how I felt,not make it about, oh my, my
emotions, my feelings.
No, uh, it, I was there to trainfor God.

(19:37):
I was there to learn what, whatit is to be more like Jesus and
less like me.
And, uh, you know, I watch someof my videos now, and I, I watch
myself talking.
Even when I went to the prison,I went to the prison and I
talked, and my buddy was blessedenough to go in with me.
And after my first speech, he,he calls me, he's like, jc, he's

(20:01):
like, as soon as you got upthere, it's almost like you
turned on the switch.
And I was like, nah, man.
That's just, that's just theHoly Spirit man.
I get happy to share how God haschanged my life, and I, I get
happy to share that.
This is something free thatanybody could have.
It is just not for me.
It's not just for you.

(20:21):
Like anybody could have this,you, you just, you know, you
just gotta really mean it.
I tell people, uh, words areempty without actions, you know?
And, um, I, I, I, I make sureman, like when I get up that I
tell him, man, thank you.
Like EE Even that takesdiscipline because there's days

(20:43):
that I get up and I don't say, Idon't wanna say thank you.
I mean, let's be honest, I wakeup tired sometimes, man.
I, I wake up, uh, I, I've beenthe one man circuit show for the
past seven years, so, you know,there's times that I don't wake
up, but like, I, I, I tell the,um, somebody at the gym today

(21:07):
told me something very powerful.
He said, uh, he's at JC for, forseven years now.
He's like, I've been watchingyou come into this gym and come
into the other gym where youwork out.
He's like, and you've beenthrough homelessness, you've
been through divorces.
He is like, but your morningschedule never changed.

(21:28):
Then I was like, yeah, becauseif I let that change, then
everything else falls apart.
That has to stay the same.
And, and, and, uh, you know, uh,I tell people, you don't, you
don't need to shout and screamthat you're a Christian and, and
that you, Jesus is Jesus.
That you don't even have to dothat if you're actually treating

(21:50):
and loving people the way youhave to, the way you should.
Amen.
The way that he tells us to, theway that he teaches us.

Omar (21:57):
Yes, sir.

JC (21:58):
Like, you know, I, I tell, I tell the guys I compare
everything to my gang life, tomy street life, because it's the
better way that I understand it,but I also believe it's the way
that he's telling me to teach.
You remember all those guys thatwould be always wearing the
colors and, and gang banging allhard and everything, and then
when they would get run up onthey, they would throw the signs

(22:19):
down and foul flag and, and, andeverything.
So what good was it for you tobe shouting and, and, and
representing and all that?
Then if you're not ready to diefor that cross, you get what I'm
saying?
Like, you know, I, I I believethat the way I treat people, the
way I love people, the way Irespect people, should represent

(22:41):
that I am a follower of Christ.
Amen.

Omar (22:45):
And, and, and it all began that day that, that you got on
your knees, right?
He did something dramatic inyou.
Now, I, I know a, a a littlewhile ago you said, I, I, I know
that's when we went back in thestory, but you said that you
remember that the day I calledyou, you said you were in the
garage.
So you remember the, theconversation when we basically,
uh, re reconnected after almostlike, I think 15 years or

(23:05):
something.

JC (23:07):
Yeah, I, I, um, and I was working out, I was doing legs in
there.
I, I was actually getting readyfor a competition.
Um, and, um, I don't know, itjust, it felt good because you
were telling me you were proudof me that day and, uh, that,
you know, my walk and stuff likethat.
And I, I was kind of still u newto it.

(23:30):
Um, not used to people, I guess,you know, giving me like high
fives on it and stuff like that.
Like, I, I was still, I wasstill kind of like in a stage
where I was like, Hey, don't,don't, don't trust me with the
gun yet.
I I, I, I might go back.
Yeah.
Like, don't, don't, don't,don't, don't count the chickens

(23:53):
before the hatch, you know?
So like, I, I wasn't liking thatpeople were, were, were, I guess
you could say celebrating somuch.
Got it.
A lot of people werecelebrating, you know, John was
celebrating, he was sending memessages from people in China
praying for me and, and, and allthis stuff.

(24:14):
And, and I was like, man, I'mabout to let all these people
down in China, the uk.
I was like, but the whole worlddown, man.
You know, little did I realizethat in that moment, I needed
all those prayers, man, because,you know, I, we came about some

(24:37):
of the hardest attacks thatwe've ever faced.
Uh, me and Bethany as, as a, asa couple, as as friends, as, as
followers, e everything, becauseI mean, it, it got to the point
where I felt that I was beingattacked so much.

(24:58):
I was on the floor, I couldn'tdefend myself, and she was
constantly praying for mebecause, you know, it was.
If we're gonna be transparent,you know, I, I suffer from a lot
of mental health issues, man.
And, and I believe it's one ofthe biggest forms that the enemy
has used to, to, to attack me.

(25:19):
You know, uh, hearing voices,uh, seeing shadows, um, just the
stuff that was diagnosed, youknow, schizophrenia, um, stuff
like that.
And, um, it was a time where,you know, Beth, Beth took a
spiritual, a spiritual beating.
You know, it, it was, it wasreally hard on her.

(25:41):
Um, she ended up in thehospital.
Uh, it, it, it was, it wasbattle.
It was battle, battle, battle.
And I believe that if all thosepeople weren't praying, it could
have probably been worse, youknow?
Um, we're barely, barely comingback from that war.

(26:02):
There was a lot of wounded inthat war, and, and, um, we're
just coming back.
Uh, we are stronger, our, ourrelationship, everything.
Um, but like, those are alllessons, man, lessons that like,
uh, I tell people when youbecome a, a when you, when you
start to walk the yard withJesus, you know, uh, there's

(26:24):
lessons that you're gonna gettaught with your partner, and
there's lessons that you'regonna get taught by yourself,
and there's lessons that you'regonna be taught with your kids
and, and, and, and they're, theydon't interwind.
Yeah, they're all the same, butthey're different lessons.
And, and this is why you have tobe paying attention and, and,
and, and, you know, keeping yourheart, your eyes open and, and

(26:46):
just, just listening, man, youknow, um, I, I believe that one
of the biggest gifts he's givenme today is that my mind is not
going, my mind's not going 150miles an hour no more.
It's only 90 now.
Got it.
But I, I'm grateful for, forthat because I, I'm able to at

(27:07):
least sit down and be still for,for a couple hours now.
Um, uh, you know, and, and ittook, it took years.
It took years of getting up,believing, praying, showing up,
and, and, you know, um, he, Ifeel like he hasn't given me a
easy task either.
You know, he's, he's given me alot of projects that have

(27:30):
required constant, constant workfor the past, you know, um,
three years I've been nonstopand, and everything.
And three months ago when Iwalked away from the gym, um, I
just knew it was time.
He was not playing no more.
You know, I, I felt that I gotinjured a bunch of times for a

(27:51):
reason and.
I wasn't listening.
And finally, uh, I, I had to putmy, my money scared to the side.
I had to put my ego to the side.
I had to put everything to theside and, and, and leave the gym
and, and walk in faith and, andknow that he wanted me and
needed me somewhere else.

(28:12):
And, um, I'm glad I made thatdecision, bro.
I'm, I'm, I'm happy because I'veseen the fruits that happened
from, uh, me leaving the gym.

Omar (28:22):
You know what, before we get into,'cause eventually, I,
I, I also want to get into whatyou're doing now.
'cause man, it, a lot hashappened.
Like I said, we haven't done apodcast in, uh, two years.
And actually, I, I, I listenedto the interview earlier just so
I could see like what's happenedlike from then till now.
Uh, but the reason why we didthis interview go, go into what

(28:44):
you, something you brought upright now about your mind going
150 miles per hour.
So.
We reconnected on the phone.
You know, that, that day wetalked, we then I think we maybe
text, I, I forget how wereconnected.
Uh, Snapchat.
I, I believe the first time wetalked was like through Snapchat
or something.
Or what's the other one?
Instagram and, well, well, oneof those.
I think it was

JC (29:03):
Instagram.

Omar (29:04):
Yeah.
So then, uh, months later.
So you, so you got saved in, Ibelieve, around November, 2021.
And then in April of 2022, youcame out here to get a, a
baptized in Aurora.
You, you, you wanna share that,that, that part of the story.

JC (29:20):
Okay.

Omar (29:21):
Um, so, uh, well actually what my, my bad, I think the,
before you went to Aurora,that's when you were supposed to
come over here, right?
So I don't, I don't, yeah,because it, I don't even, it
was, uh, the Saturday night.
So Saturday night was the nightthat we were supposed to gather
at my house.
And then the following day, thefollowing morning is when you

(29:44):
got baptized in Aurora.
So I, I, I forget.
I think you flew in on a Friday.
Then Saturday was the day youwere supposed to come over to my
house.
So the, the reason that I sharethat is'cause uh, uh, JC called
me, uh, two weeks ago and wewere talking on the phone, and
basically, uh, we've been doing,like I said, it's gonna, I've

(30:05):
been doing this podcast forgonna be three years.
So I believe we rec reconnected,let's say about three and a half
years ago.
Let, let, yeah, let, let's sayjust for the sake of time, three
and a half years ago.
Mm-hmm.
So, and then, then, and hebrought up something that this
almost never happened, like whatI'm doing.
And, and I mean, he, he probablywould've kept doing what he's

(30:27):
doing.
You know, I, I'm sure a guywould've used him, but this
relationship almost didn'thappen.
And he brought up something thathe's like, Hey man, after he
shared that, he's like, Hey, wegotta do a podcast interview and
talk about this.
So that, that's the reason whywe're here.
So I'm gonna throw it over toyou.
And you, you, you could sharelike when you came over here on
the Friday and then what, whathappened, you know.

JC (30:49):
I mean, it, it was my, my first kind of trip back to, uh,
back home, you know, um, back toIllinois and, and, uh, that,
that whole trip, man, God, Godwas showing me.
But at the same time, I, I wasbeing, you know, attacked.
You know, my, my old, my olddemons were, were, were around.

(31:13):
But, um, I, I'm gonna, I'm gonnago a little bit back.
Yeah.
Before I went to your house.
When I, when I landed and I wentto Aurora the first day, um, I
was out jogging at like three inthe morning.
And, uh, uh, a car stopped and abunch of the kids, a bunch of

(31:36):
kids, when I say kids, but itwas, it was, you know, they
jumped out a bunch of deuces andit, it was funny because.
I got really scared.
I got really scared because Ithought they were gonna like
shoot me or something.
And one of the guys was like,oh, that's, uh, JC Ron Strong.

(31:57):
And uh, it was funny because Ihad spoken to one of the leaders
before I, I flew out there, um,and he had told me that it was
gonna be all good, you know, um,that, uh, if they could go to
the church, uh, that theywouldn't cause no problems.
And it was just like, it, it wasjust God orchestrating a lot of

(32:20):
things.
But at the same time, I wastelling people I was paying
attention and it was happeningright in front of me, you know?
Uh, but just, just like goodthings happen, bad things
happen.
So on the next day, I'm supposedto go to your house and, um.

(32:42):
I'm back in the neighborhood,man.
You know, I remember as soon asI, I hit 63rd and Sister Row,
um, it just hit me hard, youknow, I, I got a lot, I got into
a lot of, a lot of drama in thatarea and, uh, you know, um, I

(33:02):
mean, you, you know, I, I hadhistory with the SDS at the end.
It wasn't, I didn't leave ongood terms and, and, and it was,
it was just bad blood, you know?
They wanted to hurt me and, and,uh, but vice versa, you know?
And, and, um, when I got to yourhouse, man, uh, man, the devil
really started messing with myhead man, because I remember

(33:27):
parking in front and justfeeling like a cloud of like,
fear just came over me likecrazy.
And I was hearing voices.
Um, like seeing things.
And, and I remember that Iwalked up the stairs and I rang
the doorbell, and then I heardvoices saying that he's here,

(33:49):
he's here.
So then I ran down, I went, Iwent the stairs down, and I went
through the back and I sawsomebody back there, and I was
like, I knew it.
I knew they were gonna try andset me up and, and, and kill me.
And I jumped in my car, man.
And I, I left so fast and, youknow, uh, I, I was, I was

(34:12):
shaking because, uh, I'm reallyhard on myself sometimes because
I, I feel that I'm too nicesometimes, or I let my guard
down sometimes.
And, and people have been ableto hurt me like that, you know,
uh, I trust people too fast or,or just so you know, I, I, it,

(34:35):
it's almost cost me my lifesometimes.
So, uh, to run and be so scared,man, I remember just, just
getting on, uh, that street thatcuts through the middle.
I, uh, it's a, a Archer Avenue.
Archer Avenue, and I was passingup McDonald's when you called

(34:56):
me.
And, um, I could hear the, um, Idon't know, like, uh, the worry
in your voice after I told youthat I left.
Um, I just trusted your voicewhen you said I was gonna be

(35:22):
okay, and I turned around.
It was hard.
I was scared, but, uh, Ilistened and I went back.
And, uh, I, I tell people, itended up being like a beautiful
night for me.

(35:42):
You know, I got to see Ernie,they sang all the songs that I
was really into back in thosedays.
I, back in those days, I waslike into three Christian songs.
That was it.
That's all I listened to.
It was, I didn't have Lauren,Lauren Dagel, I believe was, uh,
yeah, a couple.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it was all songs that mywife had like recommended I
listened to, and, you know, um,but those are the three songs

(36:06):
that like kept me alive forthose seven months, you know,
and, and, um, uh, it's why Itold you it was important to,
for us to make this videobecause, uh, me going back, you
know, it, it turned intosomething that God had already
planned.
And sometimes, but by us beingfearful or being doubtful or,

(36:31):
or, or just not listening, um,we missed the target.
And, and who knows when thetarget's gonna present itself
again.
You know?
Uh, yes.
We know that God directseverything, and even when we
make bad choices, he still usesthem.
But I believe that when welisten, the plan moves a little

(36:53):
bit faster.

Omar (36:54):
Yeah.

JC (36:55):
And, and, um, me being so afraid, man, to go back, uh,
just showed me how disciplined Iam, even, you know, uh, when I
was afraid.
You know, I, I, uh, I, I, I, Ithink, um, I think you spoke to,
uh, I, the Victorious Living,um, lady with, I had a brave

(37:20):
party.
No, no.

Omar (37:21):
Christina.

JC (37:22):
Christina.
Um, you know, they're, they'regonna share, they're gonna share
the story in the magazine abouthow.
When I was a kid and he wouldmake me jump into the water when
we would go to a public pool,um, even in fear and, and all
that, I would still jump inbecause I, I knew there was

(37:45):
gonna be consequences if Ididn't.
But I, I strongly believe thatmoments like that as a kid has,
has taught me to, uh, to, to bethe man that I am today.
You know?
Um, I even in, in fearfulmoments, I, I, I still listen
and, and, uh, I, I, I goforward, you know, there's,

(38:06):
there's times right now whereGod has sent me into rooms where
I'm the only one that looks theway that I look, and I'm scared
to be there.
I'm scared, I'm embarrassed.
People try to like, make me seemlike I'm dumb, you know?
Uh, the attacks come in manydifferent ways.

Omar (38:24):
Yeah.

JC (38:24):
And, and, and I've, I've been.
I've been like, I don't, I don'teven know how to say it.
Like, you know, these past yearsit's been like a, you know, a
rock that gets hit with thewaves.
Um, you get, I've been humbledor molded,

Omar (38:41):
kinda like just molded man molded

JC (38:43):
and, and just smooth because like, I've been humbled so much
because I was such a mean, madperson.
And, and now, you know, I'mstill mean and mad.
But you, you know, what

Omar (38:58):
if, if I could go back and share, I, I, I think with the,
the, uh, I'm mistaken the womanis Christie, OO or Overton, uh,
that's the one that you did theinterview with.
And, and that's, I believe whereyou were talking about how even
when they used to jump in thepool, that's how you learn to,
even if I'm scared, man, I'mgonna jump into something, but I
wanna go back to like that day.

(39:19):
Like, uh, and the reason I wannabring it up,'cause when you,
when you, when we talk, uh, twoweeks ago on the phone, like.
Like this?
Almost never, uh uh, if, if youwouldn't have came to my house
that day, we probably wouldn'thave reconnected.
And I, I, I was even thinkinglike, man, you probably would've
thought that, man, yeah, thisguy's trying to set me up.
And like, I remember when youcalled me and they're like, man,

(39:40):
yeah, you, you're trying to tokill me.
I'm like, man, here I was.
I got my, my wife and kids andI, I I, I remember that day
'cause um, my, my kids were inthe backyard and, uh, I, I, I,
to be honest, I don't, I don'tremember hearing the doorbell,
but I remember my kids coming inthe, Hey dad, somebody just came
to the side, they looked andthey just left La la nah.

(40:02):
Like, I don't think it was thisguy.
'cause this guy would've, youknow, he, he would've let me
know he was here and somethingtold me to call you.
And that's when I called you.
You're like, man, I think youwere by McDonald's.
And that's when you told methat.
I'm like, man, like, and, and Iknow you mentioned something
about my voice reassuring you.
I, I believe that was the HolySpirit man.
'cause uh, that day I hadnothing but church people coming

(40:22):
over here.
You know, we basically, I knowyou mentioned singing the songs,
that that's because, uh, sobasically what we planned to do
that night was for you to comeover and share what God had been
doing in your life.
Like, basically share yourtestimony.
So I had, I had invited like abunch of church people, uh, and,
and then that couple came thatled us in worship, you know, uh,
husband and wife, uh, playingthe guitar and singing.

(40:44):
So it was worship.
So, uh, yeah, like, um, I, Ithink back, like basically fear,
not, not just fear, but traumaand, and I believe it's, um, it
was, uh, something that it was,I guess un un understandable to
have that.
'cause I, I, I go to certainarea, certain neighborhoods and,
and I have that, like, with me,it happens like I grew up, like

(41:08):
in Pilsen and, uh, all the wayto the age of 13.
And at 13 we moved into GagePark, which was like the totally
opposite, you know, like ganglike from where I grew up.
Mm-hmm.
And, and I remember likebasically.
Like going in and out my house,we, we always had to look out
the windows before we went inand out.
That, that was my life foryears, man.

(41:30):
I think for let's say like 10,15 years of living there, like
going in and out.
My house was like, I had to lookout the windows and then we,
you, you go in the alley, youlook side to side before you go
to your car.
And it's crazy how that affectsme to this day.
Like my, my wife trips out on mewhen, when I, even to this day,
man, I've been saved for 20years.

(41:52):
When I go outside, I turn off myporch light.
Like, like usually people.
Yeah, because you don't wannagive him a target.
It's crazy, man.
Like

JC (42:04):
that's a Chicago thing

Omar (42:05):
though.
So instead of turning, turningon the porch light, I turn it
off and my wife's like, man,dude, turn on.
Nah.
Like, like I don't want nobodyto see me.
Even when I go to work in themorning, like I still do it,
like I'll turn it off.
But you know what's messed up?
When I, when I get home atnight, let's say I turn it off,
I, I come home at night and Ican't even see to put the key in
the lock and my wife, like, yousee, you should have the light

(42:27):
on.
But, uh, all, all that to saythat it is understandable to
have that basically PTSD, right?
That, yeah, that trauma and thenthat kicks in, like you
mentioned, once you hear, hit acertain street, like, man, those
memories came and like youmentioned the, the history that
you had.
Yeah.
When you said the, your, yourold friends were basically
trying to hurt you and, and morethan hurt you, like, like, like

(42:49):
kill you.
So it was understandable to havethat.
But, uh, something that you saidon the phone, uh, uh, when we,
we talked that, that the enemy,like, like basically Satan
himself was trying to stop thisconnection because I remember
that night when you came and youshared your testimony and then
afterwards we ate.
And and when you first came,you, you, I could tell you were

(43:10):
still like, uh, nervous.
Like I know you mentioned themind racing.
I could see that your mind wasracing.
You were still like lookingaround, making sure you know
that everything's good.
But once we got into worship andprayer, you shared your
testimony and then we ate.
I, I still remember, I, I have apicture and actually when, when
I released this interview, I'mgonna post that picture because

(43:30):
I, I have a picture of you andErnie, matter of fact, right
where I, where I'm sitting rightnow.
We had a table, and I rememberwe, you guys were sitting and I
was sitting, uh, in front of youand then you, you, you looked
around and you looked back heretowards this area.
And even, even back then, youtold me, man, this, this would
be a good area to, to do apodcast.
And, and that was that day youcame.

(43:52):
And it wasn't until, that was inApril and it wasn't until
October.
No, no, it wasn't untilSeptember when you called me and
that's when you, you told melike that you were in prayer and
you're like, man, I feel thatGod wants you to start a
podcast.
So I share all that to say thatthe enemy basically didn't,
didn't want us to reconnect.

(44:13):
Because of what I'm doing andwhat you're doing now, I don't
know if you, you wanna sharesomething about that?

JC (44:19):
You know, I, I always tell people like he, he knows, he
knows a lot, you know, and, andsometimes, uh, he tries to take
us off that road.
That's why, you know, scripturesays that it's, it's a very
narrow road that, that we're on.
Um, because we could be easilytaken off and, and, and look at
how easy it could have been to,to have never started the, the

(44:41):
Chicago Round Strong Podcast to,uh, I mean, who knows if, if I
would've continued, you knowwhat I mean?
Because like, I, I can't sithere and say that I would've
probably kept on doing it.
I, I don't know that because infear a lot of people don't do
stuff, you know?
And, um, I could have probablybeen thrown by by then.

(45:03):
You know, I, I was getting beatup so much by, by Christians
that, that like.
That's probably what, what hetried to do to break the, the
camel's back to get me to, tocome back, you know?
Um, but after that, you know,that blessing of being there,
and Ernie, most than anything, Iwanna share this, that, you

(45:24):
know, uh, me and Ernie grew up,grew up together as, as kids.
And for him to hold, hold myhand literally, and tell me I'm
gonna stand right next to youthe whole night.
And he did, you know, he didstand right next to me and that
made me feel better.
You know?
It, it made me feel betterbecause me and, uh, me and him
have a lot of history.

(45:44):
A lot of history.
And then, uh, that, that mansaved my life a lot of times.
And, um, you know, him beingthere was, was just something
that I, I believe that God knewthat I needed.

Omar (45:58):
Yeah.

JC (45:59):
You know?
And, um, like I said, it endedup being a, a beautiful night,
bro.
I, I, the songs, everything,

Omar (46:06):
I actually have video.
Of you sharing your testimonythat night.
So I'm, when I release this, I'mgonna, I'm gonna see if I find
it, I'm gonna throw maybe a clipof you sharing your testimony
while you were here and the,while, the whole time, while you
were sharing your testimony,Ernie was standing like right on
the side of you, man.
And with his arms folded look,look like a bodyguard man.

JC (46:24):
Mm-hmm.

Omar (46:25):
And I'm sure, I believe you even shared that day that
that made you feel more

JC (46:28):
at ease.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, I have a lot oftrauma, man.
I have a lot of trauma and, and,and people, it, it's why I tell
people that one day, you know,my wife is gonna share the most
powerful testimony of them allbecause it's gonna be, you know,
our love story that, you know,God wrote for us because she got

(46:49):
to meet the real jc the, the,the one that got drowned, the
one that got raped, the, the onethat got locked in that room.
She got to meet that one.
And, you know, uh, she nevergave up on praying on me.
She never, she never threw meaway like everybody else.
You know, and I believe that,that God used her to be one of

(47:11):
my biggest teachers kept, do I?
Do we fight?
Yeah, we fight all the time.
But it, it's, it's because like,you know, we're passionate about
everything that we do.
Like if we're gonna do it, we'regonna do it right.
So like we, she's cleaning, weget into the biggest fight'cause
she didn't want me to step onthe floor.
It's right.
It's like, but, but, you know,um, like I said, all the stuff

(47:36):
that we went through, anybodycould have thrown in the towel.
Uh, we, we, we separated a bunchof times.
We, we moved out, but we stillkept trying to, to, okay, how,
how, what do we do?
Or how do we fix this?
And like, we didn't know what wewere doing, but we, we let God

(47:57):
lead the way.
And, and here we are today.
Like.
She's, she's, she's my wife, youknow?
Um, obviously God picked her fora reason because no one else
could have been able to dealwith me.
Yeah.
And, and, um, for her to back meup and everything that I'm doing
now, you know, uh, there's,there's, there's so much that's

(48:19):
happened in the past threeyears, uh, from being on the
prison tablets here in Arizonato, uh, going to be on the
prison tablets in Florida inNovember.
Um, visiting Colorado again, uh,

Omar (48:35):
this month.
Could I ask you, like, I, I knowyou mentioned being on the
tablets, but what exactly ofyours are, are you gonna be
having on, on, on under?

JC (48:45):
Well, um, my, uh, interview that, uh, that God has used the
most has been that interviewwith Chappy.
That interview is on all theprison tablets all over the
United States and federal stateprisons.
Amen.
And, uh, people have watched my,my testimony have, have written

(49:08):
me letters, uh, uh, just telling'em, you know, that I guess that
must've been the most like, um,'cause I was at the beginning of
my walk, so I was like, in atransition of learning and
everything, but it was the mostraw and authentic right before
the change because now I soundlike I'm educated.

(49:28):
It's like,

Omar (49:30):
you know what?
I'm, I'm gonna put a link tothat interview when I released
this.
So, so, uh, make sure you justclick on there and you'll be
able to hear it.
It's one of the most, like, likeyou mentioned, raw, deep.
If, if I'm mistaken, it wentover a million downloads, a
million views, right?

JC (49:46):
Yep.

Omar (49:46):
Probably gotta get it be way,

JC (49:48):
way over that.
Now, a lot of people viewed it,a lot of people, uh, just, I
mean, to this day they tell me,they're like, and, and, and it's
funny because I'll go speak at aprison.
As soon as I start telling mystory a little bit, they'll be
like, I heard your story.
And, and it's, uh, it, it's Godjust, you know, using someone

(50:10):
that looks just like them,that's been just through stuff
like them, um, and showing themthat, you know, if he could put
me back together, he, he coulddo it for them too.
You know?
Um, I, I believe that right nowpeople's hearts are so hard and
so made outta stone just becauseof how the world is now that,

(50:34):
um, they have to build a littlebit of trust first.
Oh, you know, um, they have tofeel.
They have to, they have to knowhow much you care before they
believe you.
You know?
And, and, and, um, I, I believethat, uh, that's why, um, you
know, when I, when I go in thereand I speak, and I, I give it to

(50:55):
them pretty raw and just, just,I meet them right where they're
at and I tell'em, Hey, I, I, Isat in all those chairs.
I walked all these yards.
I, I did, and I was good at it,you know?
Um, I, I used to, I used to begood at it.
And, and the thing is, is thatit's because I let the enemy
convince me that that's, that'swhat I all, I was meant to be a

(51:16):
gang member, uh, a prison inmateand, and.
It's, it's the biggest lie, thebiggest lie ever.
Like, we, we are not, we're notsupposed to be in prison.
We're not supposed to be, youknow, slaves to anything.
You know, God created us in sucha powerful image that people
don't realize this.
It's why, like, um, I hear thisa lot when people tell me, um,

(51:39):
man, you're just, you'reglowing, you're shining.
And it's, it's my happiness,it's my peace.
It's, it's my, um, my joy that Iget to experience because I, I
spent a little bit of time withGod every day.
And I say it like that because,uh, it says in the scripture,
uh, it's the size of a mustardseed.

(51:59):
Yeah, man.
If, if, if that doesn't sellyou, then I don't, I don't, I
don't know what does then, youknow, and, and that's just what
it is, man.
I, I live my life very, Icreated a system.
I, I tell people I created asystem just like in prison.
I can function out here and Godis, is the motor that runs my

(52:23):
system.
Amen.

Omar (52:25):
You know what I, I know you mentioned like the, uh, the
prison getting on the tablets.
Uh, you, do you wanna share whatyou're cur currently do doing
now?
Because I know, I don't know ifyou wanna share this, but
there's something that you justwere able to do that you were
trying to get for.
I, you mentioned that you saidfor years you were trying to do
this and finally you did it.
I believe like, uh, like a, um,last month, if I'm not mistaken,

JC (52:47):
I was, uh, I was trying to become a nonprofit, you know, I
was trying to become a federal,uh, compliant nonprofit where if
people donate money, land,whatever it is, they're act,
they're actually able to writeit off their taxes, you know?
Um.
This is, this is good for like,you know, wealthy donators, uh,

(53:09):
uh, people that wanna help, youknow, the mission.
Um, I also believe that itdidn't happen because it wasn't
my time for it to happen.
It's funny how easy it happenedwhen it needed to happen.
I, I, I, I told God, sometimesI, I look up and I just laugh
and I'm like, I forget that youhave a sense of humor.

(53:29):
You know, because he created usin his image.
So that means he has a sense ofhumor.
And we we're probably, weprobably make him laugh more
than anything.
You know, we're over here makingour plans and everything and,
and, you know, he's, he's outthere like, man, what have I
taught you, son?

(53:51):
So we'll be done, man, you know,uh, getting that letter and,
and, and just.
Man, just get it.
It was a happy day for me, I'mnot gonna lie.
It was a happy day for me.
Even my wife knew how happy Iwas because, uh, I had tried so
hard, I almost had given up onit.
And, um, just putting thattogether and, and, and launching

(54:12):
the programs we're about tolaunch and, and, and the, the
job I just got at a SU and, andjust, you know, what, uh,

Omar (54:22):
for, for people that don't know, what is a

JC (54:23):
SU and what is this job?
Uh, a SU is the Arizona, uh, uh,college, state College of, uh,
Arizona.
Um, they, they gave me a job tohelp put together a program.
It's called Be the Man Whereit's, it's a, a program based to

(54:44):
stop new human trafficking.
Um, but it's basically a, a, aplan to teach men, uh, I'm, I'm
gonna say pretty like.
Black and white.
Yeah.
A, a program to teach men how totreat women.
So I call it Jesus with a skimask.
Like, you know, the, the, the,the head lady running the, the

(55:05):
program says, why is it okay ifa man could walk to the store at
two in the morning?
And a woman has to fear for herlife when she does it.
And, you know, it's crazybecause knowing my background,
you know, trying to protect mysisters as a kid, uh, protecting

(55:28):
my mom, um, all that, this, thisfalls right into my realm also,
uh, of wanting to, uh, to teachmen, you know, how to be
protectors, man.
How, how to, to be men of God,you know?
Uh, he, he didn't, I don't, Idon't believe.
He created weak individuals.

(55:50):
I, I, I find that hard tobelieve, especially because
we're, we're created in, in, in,in his image.
And, and, uh, I believe that,uh, we're supposed to be strong
man, like, uh, a, a, a strong,it's why, like, I don't, I
don't, um, I don't let peoplebully me around.

Omar (56:08):
Mm-hmm.

JC (56:09):
You know, I don't, I don't, I don't let spiritual, uh,
religious people bully mearound.
I don't, I, I just, you know, I,I put my head down and, and I do
what I feel I need to do.
And, um, I don't look forapproval.
I don't, I don't look forjustification.
Uh, you know, if I would'velistened to everyone seven years

(56:31):
ago when everybody was tellingme, don't go to the prisons.
Don't go there until they payyou, then wrong to strong.
Would've never been born.

Omar (56:40):
Look at that.
That's crazy to, to do it formoney, man.
But, but man, you've been doingit.
And you wanna share how God'sopened the doors to various

JC (56:48):
prisons.
Now, I mean, I, I tell peoplemy, my LinkedIn account is more
busy than my Instagram.
It's like, uh, uh, my LinkedInaccount has become my number
one, uh, asset business card.
Uh, all my friends under our,our wardens, uh, correctional
officers, law enforcement, um,pretty much, uh, everything that

(57:13):
has to do with this new chapterthat God has given me.
You know, uh, I knew that oneday I was gonna leave the gym.
I just didn't know, uh, in like,what was I gonna do?
But, you know, I, I realizedtoday that, uh, he's turned my
life into a classroom, you know,and I'm blessed to be able to

(57:34):
teach people, uh.
Parts and bits and pieces of, ofmistakes that I made, you know,
but now God has used that toturn it into a, a classroom, you
know?
Um, and that's what I'm gonna,so a s u's gonna pay me to put
the program together, and thenthey're gonna pay me to go to
the prisons to teach it.

(57:54):
Wow.

Omar (57:55):
That's a blessing.
You, you, you, you, you wannashare how, I know you were
telling me like, man, like, Inever see myself, you know,
with, with my education, with mypast, with my history to be
hired at, uh, on, at a collegeto teach.

JC (58:11):
Well, I just, you know, I, I, I tell people I didn't, I
didn't even go to school.
Like I, I barely knew how toread and write and, and I was, I
was, uh, what do they say it inSpanish?
Aro?
I, I, uh, a donkey.
I, I, uh, I didn't, I don't evenknow my timetables.
I don't even know my seven, mytime, my seven, my seven

(58:32):
timetables.
Uh, I think, yeah, my seven andmy eight.
I was never really good atschool, you know?
Um, I just had a hard time.
And to see, to see him using meas a teacher, I mean, it, it
brings tears to me.
Like, it, it brings tears to me.
It humbles me.
Um, uh, I forgot what the, uh,how the kids said it when we

(58:55):
left Yuma, but he said, man, youmust really feel like a badass
when you leave.
And I said, no, man.
I, uh, I leave in tears.
I leave in tears because I knowhow I felt when I was on those
yards.
And, um, I, you know, I wishsomeone would've came in with

(59:16):
that flashlight and gave me alittle bit of hope because
maybe, maybe my darknesswouldn't have been as, as long
as it, it, it, it was, you knowwhat I mean?
Like, uh, um, if someonewould've just tried to, uh, to
show me it,

Omar (59:31):
it, it, it, you know what, it is pretty deep.
Like you mentioned, you go inthere.
And you talk to them.
Then you go home, you know, yougot your, your, uh, your
apartment, you got your wife,you got your nice comfortable
bed tv you could cook or orderwhatever you want, and mm-hmm.
The guys you leave behind, like,I like, it hits me too.
Like I, I be going into to, toCook County and I was just

(59:54):
there, uh, last night and, andit was crazy.
I was there and this young mancame in, right?
And, uh, I went to greet him,you know, I greet him, said,
hello, Hey, you know, I'm Omar.
He's like, man, I, I, I, he'slike, I, I remember you.
And he's like, you remember me?
And I looked at him like, nah,man.
He's like, he's like, you, youcame on the deck.
So last year they let us, uh, weusually hold our Bible study in

(01:00:17):
the gym.
Uh, but last year they give usthe opportunity to go on the
actual deck.
Where you got the, where you gotthe cells, where you got the
tables, the TVs, you know, thephone.
Basically, we were on the deckwhere everybody, so they give us
the opportunity to walk aroundand whoever wanted to basically
hear what we had to say, theycame around us.
And I remember this young man,he had just gotten on the deck,

(01:00:39):
you know, with, they make'embring in their, uh, mattress,
uh, yeah, their mattress.
Yeah.
He had his little bag ofclothes.
He went and put'em in there.
So I could tell he was like, uh,he was, uh, nervous, you know,
to, to be there.
Like he didn't know who his cellhe was gonna be.
And so I started talking to himand I was, remember I prayed for
him and he joined us as we weresharing testimonies.

(01:01:02):
Anyways, that was last year.
So back to, uh, last night, he'slike, like, he's like, man, you
don't remember me.
And then he's like, he's like,you prayed for me.
He's like, you were prayed forme last year.
And he almost had like a smileon his face.
Like, and, and just in ourlittle interaction last night,
like I could tell that, uh, thatmy prayer, that our prayer that,
that our presence.

(01:01:22):
Like was something that heneeded at that moment, like I
said.
Mm-hmm.
He was nervous and, but, butthen going back to what we were
talking about, like I see them,I interact with'em, I've been
going there for like two yearsand I was telling my wife, like,
man, a lot of these guys beenthere for the two years that
I've been going to, to do theBible studies.
They've been in there.
Yep.

(01:01:43):
So in two years you, you build arelationship with these guys and
they're happy to see you.
But like I said, man, as soon asI walk out, as soon as we hit
the, the sidewalk and you lookback like it hits you, like,
man, these guys gotta staythere.
You know, I, I and I, I havethe, the blessing to go home,
but it does a, it does a, aaffect me.

(01:02:04):
Like knowing that like, man, I,I come here and I think about,
man, just the hard bed.
I think about being there withanother man with the toilet and
the little room and.
The food they feed you.
Right.
I

JC (01:02:16):
think that's why, I think that's why, I think that's why
God uses us, because we know thefeeling of the emptiness and uh,
we know the feeling of peopleleaving us in the visiting room.
Uh, we know the feeling.
So, uh, I, I believe he pickspeople that have the heart to do
some of the work.
You know, like Bethany, my, mywife, she, she loves, uh, a

(01:02:40):
homeless ministry.
Um, I don't have a heart fromministry.
You, you,

Omar (01:02:46):
you, you, you, you know, go, going off that point, my
wife right now works at ahomeless, uh, shelter.
And we were talking about that.
Like why she, she was telling melast night, uh, no, this morning
when I shared what happened lastnight, I was telling her mm-hmm.
And she, she told me, man, whyis it that God called us into
some of the toughest ministrieslike you in prison?

(01:03:07):
Her with the homeless, andthere's a lot of trauma, there's
a lot of help that happens inthe homeless shelter.
Kind of like the prison man.
It's kind of like severe.
Yeah,

JC (01:03:15):
no,

Omar (01:03:15):
it's,

JC (01:03:16):
it's a lot of mental health.
It's just, it's different,different storms.
Yeah.
You know, uh, but it's almostthe same.
But I, I remember one time wewent to go do some, some
homeless run, and by the time wewere done, you know, I was
giving hugs to people becausethey were like trying to gimme
hugs.
And I was getting in the back.
By the time we were done, Ismelled like pee.

(01:03:36):
I was like, this is why I hatedoing,

Omar (01:03:45):
you know what I, I believe God calls us each to different
ministries.
You know, like, I believe, like,there's not like one guy that
does'em all, like good.
I believe he, you know, we, we,we go in like to our lane.
And then, and, and stay there.
Well, think

JC (01:04:01):
about it.
We've been in training and, andin it for our whole lives.
That's why God picks us to dothe jobs.
It's just sometimes, you know,the, I I've noticed there's a
lot of self appointments.
There's, there's, there's, uh,uh, people sometimes try to
start minutes ministries whenthey're not called to start one.

(01:04:22):
You know, uh, people believethat in order to show share,
Jesus, you need to have anonprofit or you need to have a
ministry.
And they don't realize all youneed to do is just tell someone
about it, man.
That's it.
Like, that's the whole conceptof this whole thing is that if
once you become new, you'resupposed to just share what he's

(01:04:46):
done in your life.
Amen.
It's pretty black and white.
No.
Yeah.
You know what, going back tothat point, but, you know, uh, I
feel like I was called to, uh.
Go ahead.

Omar (01:05:04):
Oh, no, no, I thought so.
No, no.
I was gonna say, back, back tothat point, I know you mentioned
earlier about, uh, it taking solong to get the nonprofit, and I
know when, when you told me, Ithink it was last month when you
finally got it.
It's crazy.
'cause you, you're the one thatchallenged me to, to start to
basically turn what I was doingout here and to a nonprofit.
And God willing, by the end ofthis month, maybe early October,

(01:05:25):
uh, from what I'm doing outhere, from Wrong to Strong is
basically gonna be from, from,from, from Wrong to Strong.
Podcast is gonna be from Wrongto Strong Ministries as a
nonprofit.
So I believe it's all like God'stiming, man.
So that, that, that, that's whywhen you call me and you mention
it, man, this, this almost neverhappened.
And, and in God's timing, you'redoing it out there.
And I'm, we're doing it outhere, the, the team that we got

(01:05:47):
out here.
And man, it's just, I'm, I'mjust excited to see what God is
doing.

JC (01:05:54):
I wanna add something to that today because, um.
Today I was, I was talking to a,um, a friend and he's like, Hey,
so, you know, I, I realizedthat, you know, there's wrong
and strong in Chicago and youknow, there's wrong and strong,
blah blah.

(01:06:14):
And I'm like, okay, I, I alreadyknew where he was going with it,
you know?
Um, he's like, have you everthought about putting an
umbrella over everything?
And I was like, I'm gonna stopyou right there before you say
anything.
I said, uh, God, don't makemistakes.
Okay, I'm gonna start off withthat one.
God don't make mistakes.

(01:06:35):
And if God appointed theseleaders in my organization,
that's him appointed, I'm nobodyto pick nobody.
It's just I know that God ispicking the team.
I know God is doing the work.
We're just showing up.
We're being disciplined.
That's it.
Like, it's, we're just on, yeah.

(01:06:59):
Just being

Omar (01:06:59):
obedient and, uh, answering the call.
Sorry, I get really, uh, uh,yeah, yeah.
You know, I assume, oh, I, I, I,I, I, I hear what you're saying,
but I could also like maybe.
See from somebody's perspectivewho might, who maybe has that
mindset of, uh, organization,uh, maybe business, you know,
some, some business.

(01:07:20):
'cause a, a nonprofit isbusiness, so, you know,
everybody comes from their own,I guess perspective.
But no, yeah, that there'sdefinitely, I, I know I say it
like this,

JC (01:07:28):
he said they mess, they mess up in Chicago.
I'm like, I doubt Omar's gonnamess up in Chicago.
God willing, God won't, man.

Omar (01:07:40):
That's why I rely on God, man, putting God first and like
Yeah.
And answering the call.
Like, like you mentioned, justbeing obedient, stepping out in
faith, uh, uh, being sensitiveto his voice.
Like when you call me, he said,Hey man, God wants you to do
this.
I, I I took off and running withit.
And I, you, you, you know whatI, I was thinking,'cause like

(01:08:00):
lately I, I've been getting putinto positions of, uh, uh,
titles of leadership.
Right?
And, and I'm very uncomfortablewith that.
Like, like leader, you know,like a, you know, like being a
leader.
Uh, but, but I was thinkinglike, what, what makes me a good
leader is that I'm a greatsoldier, man.
Meaning that if it comes down,all you gotta do is tell me to
do something, and I'm gone, man.

(01:08:22):
And, and I think, uh, justbeing, just putting, uh, uh,
putting faith to my faith, uh,uh, faith in action, and that's
all it is.
I, I think it's, it's, it's so,like, like I said, I don't know
why that came to me.
What makes me a good leader isthat I'm a great soldier.
Yeah.
Tell me what to do.
And I'm gone.
And

JC (01:08:41):
you have to be a soldier to become a leader.
Like, there's no, there's nojumping the spot.
And people, if you're looking atfrom a worldly aspect, you know,
being a leader, they, they thinkabout as power, but no, in a
spiritual aspect, it'sresponsibility.
Yeah.
You're responsible for the menin your group, you know.

(01:09:06):
Good leaders in prison.
I, I saw leaders that threwtheir whole car under the boat
just for drugs, you know?
Uh, uh, and I also saw reallygood leaders that, that were,
that were all about theirpeople, you know?
Um, I, I learned some of thebiggest lessons in prison, man,
you know, and I just used it nowfor the kingdom.
Um, I, I carry myself with, witha system, like I said, and, and,

(01:09:28):
um, it's why I believe thateverything's happening, you
know, the halfway house, the,uh, the ranch, the, the, going
into the, uh, juvenile prison,uh, that starts in, uh, in
October.
Um, we're gonna be visiting thejuvenile prison, uh, every
Saturday, uh, for two hours.
Um, teaching them, trainingthem, and then as they get

(01:09:52):
transferred into the adultprisons, we're gonna follow them
all the way until the end, allthe way to the end, whatever
yard they're going to, that'swhere we're gonna follow them.
Right.
And in five years we're gonnaimplement 25 kids into the
prison system every year thatare gonna be wrong to strong

(01:10:13):
mentors.
And this is what I sat down andI talked with DOC about the
wardens, everybody'cause D C'sbehind me on all this.
I said one day, I wanna seewrong to strong to have a table
inside that prison.
And he's like, Ooh.
He's like, I love the way you'rethinking.
And I was like, yeah, I, I said,we're gonna do the same thing

(01:10:33):
that all those kids have beendoing their whole life.
They've been preparing for war.
We're gonna take all thoseassets and sharpening them, but
we're gonna do it for God.
And we're gonna teach him tohave a purpose in life.
In five years, I believe wecould change the dynamics of the
adult prison and DOC here inArizona if we do this right.

Omar (01:10:54):
Man, that's, that's a, a God-given, uh, V vision mission.
Yeah.
That's amazing to, to even justto try to, uh, wrap my mind
around that.
But that, that's amazing, man.
Basically, disciples, youngdisciples, right, that you're
gonna be creating as they gointo prison.

JC (01:11:14):
16 to 16 to 19 years old, you know, uh, clay, man, clay,
clay, clay.
And, and, and, uh, you know, Itell people, this is why we're
gonna be showing up more than,than more than once a week.
We're gonna be seeing'em twice aweek, but, you know, we're gonna
be showing up to theirgraduations.
We're gonna be showing up.

(01:11:34):
It, it's gonna be, were theygoing to know that we're there
for them?
They're gonna feel comfortablethat we're there for them.
They're, we're gonna give'emeverything that the gangs
promise and lie about.
We're going to give it to them.
Amen.
You know, and, and, and I, I, Itold, I told the warden, you
know, they, I have theirbacking.
I said, every, if we implementthis right.

(01:11:58):
We, you know, uh, we, we becomealmost like a, a prison gang of
mentors, man.
We, we've, we've, we've done alittle bit of legwork going into
the devil's territory, takingsome territory back.

Omar (01:12:14):
Amen.
Amen.
That's, that's amazing, man.
And saving souls in the process,creating disciples and changing
the culture, man.
Like you mentioned, sending themin there for them to have a
table and disciple makingdisciples.

JC (01:12:29):
Yeah.
Yep.
We, we, you know, and I tellpeople that's what makes me
different from everybody thatgoes into these places, you
know, uh, the prison systems,the rehab centers, all these
places, they, they try to changeyou.
They try to change youridentity.
They try to change everything.
And that's why it doesn't work.
No.
You have to, a good coachfigures out what your assets are

(01:12:53):
and what the, the bad stuff isfor you.
And a good coach will design asystem for you, for you to be
able to shine.
That's why coaches will make thedecision to make you a
quarterback or make you arunning back because they see
your gifts.
It's not about changing you.
Yeah, no, it's, it's abouthaving someone that's has more

(01:13:15):
wisdom around you to be able toteach you And,

Omar (01:13:18):
and, and usually, you know what, people from the outside
could see what we can't see.
Yeah.
They, they, they see certaintalents and abilities and the,
those mentors are the ones that,that basically call that outta
you.
Like, man, I see you like doingthis or you're gifted in this
area.
And a lot of times we're blindedto that, but thank God for
those, uh, mentors that God lets'em basically speak or, or call

(01:13:42):
out a certain nature out of usman, or a certain vision, or
that

JC (01:13:48):
in a sense, like a purpose.
And that's what I mean, is liketo see that God is, is using me
as a teacher, you know?
Um, I mean, I, I, uh, I, I loveit.
I'm not gonna lie, sit here andlie.
I, I, I love sharing my stories.
Um, I'll also be working withthe, um, every Saturday I'll be
going to Yuma first.

(01:14:10):
I'll be going to, uh, Dakota,uh, that's their max yard, I
believe.
And I'll be working with theSTGs, the gang members, the, the
most violent of the violent,pretty much, uh, all gang
members.
But I'm gonna be working hand inhand with the staff.
For the first time ever inhistory.

(01:14:32):
I'm gonna be able to train thestaff and the inmates together,
and the staff is gonna wearregular clothes so the inmates
don't feel a certain way.
No way.
Yeah, man, that, that's big.
So, um, I'm really excited, man,because the staff, uh, you know,
God has opened up a lot of a, alot of doors for me here in DOC

(01:14:54):
and a lot of the staff, uh, uh,God has, uh, softened their
hearts.
And, um, it's funny.
Um, so you, you know how I am,man.
I'm gonna share this.
Uh, you, you know thatsometimes, um, I could come off
a little too strong.
You, you, you

Omar (01:15:11):
get my feelings if before you share about what God's doing
in, in the guards, sh I want youto share what God's doing in, in
you.
'cause uh, we had theopportunity to go into East
Moline together, uh, I think,man, maybe a year and a half ago
now.
I remember when, when we werewalking in, uh, a shout out to,
um, uh, Sarah, uh, the counselorat East Moline.
She was the one that got us inthere.

(01:15:32):
So me and JC went back in thereinto the prison.
25 years later in the prisonwhere we met, we got an
opportunity to go back in there,to walk the yard.
Uh, jc uh, said, man, let's prayat the handball court.
We, we, we, we were able to stopand pray at the handball court,
but before all that, we'rewalking in and I'm shaking the
hands of the officers and I, I,I didn't think twice about it,

(01:15:55):
but I remember on the way out,you, you, you told me something.
You, you wanna share that

JC (01:16:03):
and nah, it's just, I don't know, man.
Every time I go anywhere, I feellike the officers are sizing me
up and most of them are, most ofthem are, and they, they treat
me a certain way.
But I've gotten to the pointwhere I don't let myself get
treated like that no more.
Like I, I feel that.
I don't know.
I'm not saying that God'stelling me.

(01:16:24):
Yeah.
Do you know do it?
No, I'm saying that there's afeeling in me that says it's not
okay to let another person treatyou like that.
You know?
So I say something and, uh, Iheard that what I told you, but
because you didn't even noticeyou were, I, I, I didn't notice.

Omar (01:16:42):
So, so basically what happened, um, Sarah's
introducing us to all theofficers as we're making our way
through the prison.
So as soon as she introduces me,I went to go shake their hand.
And then after I shook theirhands, you, you shook their
hands.
But on the way out is when youtold me, she's like, man, you
told me, man, what, what?
Why did you shake their hands?
And at first I'm like, I thoughtyou were talking about maybe

(01:17:03):
some of the inmates that weinteracted with.
But then they're like, nah.
The officer is like, man, he'slike, the only reason I shook
their hands is because you shooktheir hands.
And I didn't catch it like withme, like, man, hey, they're
introducing me man.
I I was seeing them.
Don't wanna shake your hand.
I was seeing beyond the, theuniform, but I, I could see

(01:17:23):
where you would have thattrauma, man.
'cause there is that interactionthat, that you have with the
officers.
And it's crazy.
Here, I'll share this realquick.
Uh, I was telling people thatwhen I go into Cook County, it's
crazy that I get more nervousaround, I call'em white shirts,
which would be like thelieutenants or basically the
officers.
I get more nervous around theofficers than the inmates or

(01:17:46):
the, what they call yeah, iiccs, the individuals in custody.
And it's just that, I don'tknow, going back to that PTSD or
just the interactions that youhad with him.
But But go ahead.
So, so you said, uh, now God'sdoing something in the officers,
but at the same time I believehe's doing something in you as
well, right.

JC (01:18:03):
Oh yeah.
You know, but I, I'm still, youknow, I'm still rough around the
edges, so I still kind of likehave my interactions with it,
but the best part is thateverybody already knows me for
that.
So it's like, uh, so we get toYuma, right?
Uh, my, my driver cancels on melast minute, so I had to get
another driver that, um, just,you know, filled in the spot,

(01:18:28):
wasn't cleared at the prison,nothing just filled in my spot.
I wasn't gonna get him in.
He was gonna wait outside, blah,blah, blah.
We get to the prison gate andthey have to clear you before
you even go into the prison.
'cause here they're hugecompounds.
You go in with your car.
Oh wow.
Um, so, uh.
I could tell right away I waspulling out my ID and the

(01:18:50):
guard's like, what are you doinghere?
And I'm like, I'm the speaker.
And he's like, oh yeah.
And he was already like, youknow, sizing me up and I was
like, okay, I'm gonna be nice.
I gave him my id, my, my boy waswith me, so I was like, I gotta
keep a reputation here that I'm,you know, I'm a god-fearing man.
So, but 10 minutes passed by andI already know what he's doing.

(01:19:16):
I already know what he's doing.
And the warden had already toldme, we're waiting for you soon
as you get cleared that wealready called up there, blah,
blah, blah.
Come in fast.
I know what he is doing.
So I told, I tell my guy, turnaround, turn around, go to the
gate.
He's like, whatcha talkingabout, you know, and people get
scared when they see me likethis because like, I'm very,

(01:19:38):
very like, just dead on raw.
Like, go, go, go, go.
He pulls up to the gate, theguard comes out, sticking his
chest out.
I'm like, give me my id.
He's like, wh what?
I said, give me my id.
And he gives it to me.
Right?
And I grab it.
I was like, let's go.

(01:19:58):
I'm, IM take off.
The warden calls me like, twominutes.
I'm already on the road, callsme.
She's like, uh, what's up?
Where, where you at?
I said, uh, I left that guard,uh, had me in front just, you
know, waiting and all hell brokeloose.

(01:20:19):
Uh, uh, she said, I'm gonnahave, uh, deputy warden, uh, I
forgot his name, RA and Frank,because these are all, uh,
they're all, uh, Latinos.
They're all Mexicans from ourPieta almost.
So they, you know, they, wespeak the same language.
Yeah.
Um, she's like, hell no.
I turned around and I, I turnedaround and, uh.
It's almost like I came in, likesecret services, the door open

(01:20:41):
like this.
And I went in.
But it was funny because as soonas I got there, the commander
ran up to me and it, and it's apretty big dude.
He ran up to me.
He was like, Hey, jc, I want, Ijust wanna tell you that, uh,
you know, that incidentshouldn't have happened, blah,
blah, blah.
We already took care of it.
Um, he's known to have a littleattitude here, here and there.

(01:21:04):
That's why he's out there.
So, you know, it gave me, it, itgave me that, like I told my guy
as soon as I looked up, you see,I was like, you see, I'm not
crazy because, you know, a lotof people try to convince me
that I'm crazy.

Omar (01:21:15):
Yeah.

JC (01:21:16):
And it, and it's not that I'm crazy, it's just that I, I
see with different eyes.

Omar (01:21:21):
That's all my, my wife tells me sometimes I, I project
that you call it projection.
You, you project what you'refeeling onto another individual.
Like what you're imagining theyare, you're just projecting
them.
And you're making, but in thissense, it sounds like it wasn't,
it wasn't the case.
It sounds like you already had ahistory of doing this.
You

JC (01:21:39):
know, I don't, dude, I I, I, I try to act so humble with the
officers.
I even keep my vision down.
Like I know how to approachthese people.
I've done time in some of thecraziest places.
I know how to respect them.
I know how to not to talk back.
I know how to, you know, complywith them.

(01:21:59):
But I will not let them treat melike I am still an inmate when I
am going in there on my own timeto go share hope and, and, and
your own dime.
They need it too, but man, theyneed the not my dime.

(01:22:22):
No.
Uh, they need it.
They need it too.
But like, they also be taughtthat it's not okay to be
bullies.
Right.
You know, gonna be bullies.
I don't know.
I don't know, man.
It, I, I know that I'm intraining for the rest of my
life, so maybe one day, one daywhen they do that to me, I wanna

(01:22:47):
be like, well count to joy ofhappiness and, you know, I don't
know.
I know I'm not a d I'm adifferent man from yesterday, so
who knows, man, you know?

Omar (01:23:00):
Yeah.
Amen.
Amen.
No, man, God's doing a lot.
I know.
Like, uh, all this ministry, Iknow you mentioned the juvenile,
the non-profit, going into allthese prisons, you, me, you
mentioned a SU, so man, bebasically, uh, covered a lot.
Forgotten yards.
Well, what is that?
You,

JC (01:23:20):
you, you, you wanna touch on that?
But Forgotten Yards is, uh, isthe other program that's
starting in October.
That's.
Part of the Yuma one, so we'regonna go to Yuma first, but the
Forgotten Yards program is allthe level four yards that are on

(01:23:42):
the outskirts of Arizona.
The state that nobody visits mebecause they're three, four
hours away, so nobody goesthere.
So I launched a program calledThe Forgotten Yards, where we're
gonna visit these yards aminimum of once a week.
Also, you know, not to just gohave church on to train these

(01:24:04):
men and, and teach'em habits,discipline, you know, just, you
know, system A, them to surviveand there, and a system that
they'll be able to learn tosurvive when they get out.

Omar (01:24:14):
Amen.
Amen.
Man, that's sounds like you gota lot, man.
I pray that God, God continue togive you the strength and.
Just the energy to do all that.
Man, I know we're talking awhile back about sometimes it's,
it, it's a, it takes a toll,right?
I, I know you mentioned carryingyou, you mentioned something
like, I'm carrying like sevencrosses.

JC (01:24:37):
Yeah.
You, you know, um, uh, it'shard, bro.
It's hard, but it's not hardwhen you love what you do.
Amen.
And, and, uh, I love what I do,and I tell people, you know, I
wake up with purpose.
That's why I'm so eager to getup at two in the morning, you
know?
Yeah.
Everybody thinks I'm crazy, butit's because I wake up with

(01:24:57):
purpose.
Yes.
I wake up with purpose and I, Iwake up with a to-do list, you
know?
And, and, uh, I'm grateful thatGod has given me that, that, uh,
that hunger, that likewillingness to work, because
these are all gifts from him.
You know, I didn't develop this.
I didn't, you know, I, I, I, Iwasn't born that lucky.

(01:25:20):
I, I, you know, uh, God gave megifts.
And I've just been able toutilize them and, you know, and,
and, and build this kingdom man.
And, and that's what I, uh, II'm doing, you know, I, I tell
people I didn't wish for this.
I didn't pray for this.
Um, it was, uh, an assignment.

(01:25:43):
And, uh, any good soldier knowsthat when you get an assignment,
you have to foresee the end ofthe mission, and that's what
it's gonna be.
Amen.
So, uh,

Omar (01:25:55):
you, you, you know what, uh, uh, uh, uh, last night when
I was in Cook County, I had toshare, and then the Bible study,
my, my portion of scripture wasin Acts chapter nine, verses 10
through 19.
And that, uh, prior to this,that's when, uh, Jesus had
appeared to Saul on the road tothe, the Damascus.
And that's when he had, he wasblinded.

(01:26:16):
And then Jesus told him to go toa certain house.
To a certain place.
And then he calls a, a Ananiasand Ananias it says that he was
a, a, a, a, a disciple of theLord.
And then, uh, Jesus spoke toAnanias and he told him, man, I
want you to go to this house of,uh, house of Judas on straight a
straight street.
And I want you to go and prayfor this man Saul, for he is

(01:26:38):
praying and anani like, man,nah, I don't want to go there
man.
This guy is known for, he'srounding up the Christians, uh,
having him arrested, basically,uh, putting him to death as
well.
Uh, but Jesus told an Anaya, isthis go for, he is my chosen
instrument.
So basically from the beginningof time, God had already

(01:27:01):
predestined or chosen Saul whowould become the Apostle Paul to
do the, the work that he hadordained from him since the
beginning of time.
And I know right now youmentioned like, man, I didn't
choose this.
I didn't pray for this.
And the same way I believe thatyou are God's chosen instrument.
From the beginning of time hehad chosen, predestined and set

(01:27:22):
apart.
And I, I know, uh, uh, when youshare your testimony, like going
back, like you, you, you see whyyou had to go through everything
you went through to, to thispoint.
And I, you could connect andrelate to certain people that
other people can't.
That's why when you shared yourtestimony with, uh, chappy, I

(01:27:44):
believe one of the main reasonsit had a big impact is'cause how
deep you got into yourtestimony, how real you were,
and you shared traumas thatother men wouldn't be willing or
able to share.
And, uh, I, I know, I, I knowyou, you've had a lot of men
tell you that by you sharing it,it made them open up about their

(01:28:04):
hurts, their traumas, theirabuse, and by sharing and
opening up, that's when healingcould take place.
But I just wanted to share thatbrother.
I believe that man, you areGod's chosen instrument and it's
obvious by the fruit.
I know you mentioned earlier.
The, the fruit that that's beingproduced from wrong to strong,
you know, out in Arizona andeverything that you're doing.

(01:28:25):
It's definitely God workingthrough you, brother.

JC (01:28:30):
Well, not just in Arizona.
In Chicago too, you know, and,and the places that like people,
you know, we have a pretty bigcrew and, you know, I, I wanna,
I wanna, you know, everybodyknows who they are.
I don't need to say you guys'name.
Um, shout out to everybody, tothe crew, to our soldiers that
have been there and, and havestands with us on everything

(01:28:52):
that we're doing, Bible studieson Friday.
Uh, you know, um, it's been ateam effort, you know, and
that's, that's one thing that Ilearned from that Navy Seal.
You know, Taylor, uh.
He said, yeah.
You know, um, when they wannaget, you know, stuff done, you
know, they'll send one guy realquick, but when they want real
big stuff done, they send ateam, you know?

(01:29:13):
And it makes sense, you know?
Uh, I believe that that's whyGod chose this team, and, and
it's, um, it's, we're justgetting started, man.
That's what people don't evenrealize.
We're just getting started.
And, I mean, all I can say is,you know, we're coming.
Stay, stay tuned.

Omar (01:29:34):
Mm-hmm.
Stay tuned, man.
All right, brother.
You know what, we've been, it'san hour and a half into this,
man.
So I wanna give you anopportunity.
Is there anything that we didn'tget a chance to talk about?
Anything, any last words,anything you wanna share before
we get ready to, to sign off?

JC (01:29:50):
I mean, I just, I wanna, I just wanna motivate everybody
that's out there struggling intheir marriage.
Their, their, their, you know,their significant other that,
you know, um.
I, I don't believe that it'ssupposed to be easy.
Yeah.
There's moments where there's,you know, love in the air.
The aroma is great.

(01:30:12):
Those are the days that weshould be, you know, praying
and, and being really humble.
But, you know, um, it's noteasy.
And, and, and, and, but that's,that's what makes love so, so
great, man.
And, and, um, if we would'vethrown in the towel a long time
ago, I wouldn't have had thatbeautiful blonde that's sitting
back there, you know, she'sgained a couple pounds now, but,

(01:30:35):
you know, that just, yeah.
I, I,

Omar (01:30:38):
I don't think there's gonna be a follow up interview
after this one.
Man.
I'm

JC (01:30:43):
gonna enjoy this.
I, I think you should put a clipof that video we did together.
Uh, uh, uh, uh, remember thatvideo we did together with me
and Bethany and it was you andyour wife?
Man, I, I don't have it.
I, I think you're the one thatrecorded that.
I, I, I don't have that.
I, I think I have it on our, onour channel, but, um.
Uh, it, it is been a blessing tohave a, a, a, I call it a, a, a

(01:31:04):
cellmate, a soldier, and close,close, you know, uh, what is
that called?
Close quarters.
Yeah.
Um, because she's been one of mybiggest mentors, you know, she's
been one of my biggest, one ofmy biggest teachers.
And, uh, men sometimes have ahard time being told what's
right and what's wrong from awoman.

(01:31:25):
And I, and I, you know, and Ibelieve it's because of ego and,
and, and just, I guess the waythat we're led to believe that
we're the, we're the shockcollars of the house and stuff
like that.
But, um, if you soften yourheart a little bit, you'll see
that she is your helper, yourteammate.
She's there to uplift you, buildyou.
She's not your enemy.

(01:31:46):
She's not against you.
She's not conspiring, you know,uh.
And, and that's, that's, that'straining on itself.
So I just wanna motivateeverybody that's out there,
that's struggling right now and,and, and going through that.
I don't know why, but I felt itin my heart that I, I needed to
say that.

Omar (01:32:04):
Hmm.
Amen.
You know what, you know what'scrazy?
Uh, that, that things forsharing all that, I, I listened,
like I told you, I listened toour last interview, which was
two years ago, and you mentionedyour wife a lot too, back then.
You mentioned how God puts ustogether.
So right now you're basicallyreaffirming what you shared in
our last pod podcast as well.
'cause back then you, you spendlike a, um, a nice section of

(01:32:26):
the interview talking about her,talking about marriage, why God
puts us together, uh, for themto be our helpmate, uh mm-hmm.
You know, like to help us grow.
You know, they're, um, the Biblesays, uh, for this reason, uh,
uh, uh.
Man shall leave his father andmother and be united to his
wife, and the two shall becomeone.

(01:32:46):
And you, you were talking abouthow the enemy fights us.
That's why the enemy fights andattacks the marriage.
Mm-hmm.
Attacks the relationship.
'cause he doesn't want us to beone, because when, when we we're
one man, when we're on the samemission, on the same team, man,
the enemy hates that.
That's what he,

JC (01:33:02):
and people don't, people don't realize that when you're
together, you know, and you'reout on the street and she's
praying for you, she's thatpower line that's keeping that
shield around you.
You know?
Uh, people don't realize that,you know, um, God gave us a
helper for a reason.
You know?
Um, he, he knew the battles thatwe were gonna be in and he knew

(01:33:24):
that we were gonna need, we weregonna need a, a, a soulmate, you
know?
And, um, it could have been easyto start all over again.
But it wouldn't, it wouldn'thave been as fruitful and as
beautiful as my relationship iswith my wife, man, because God
picked her for a reason.
And I, I, I tell people, um, it,everything is a lesson if you,

(01:33:50):
if you learn from it.
But like, if you keep making thesame mistake, then you're gonna
live like miserable.
Like that because that was my,that was the way I, I lived.
I, I knew that if I drank, I wasgonna get in trouble.
And, you know, um, I was justtalking about this the other day
when I, when I got in trouble,you know, a couple years back,
uh, uh, like, I was like, man,like if I don't learn from this,

(01:34:14):
then I'm gonna keep making thesame mistake.
And I feel that that's, that'show, you know, we have to learn,
bro.
It's just teaching man.
Um, she's been my biggestteacher.

Omar (01:34:24):
Amen.
Amen.
To thank God for your wife.
God bless your marriage.
And, uh, on that note.
You wanna close this out in aprayer, maybe, uh, pray for the
marriages out there and pray forwhatever else.
Yeah.
A God plays this on your heart,brother.

JC (01:34:37):
Right?
Father God, thank you for thismoment.
Thank you for just the classroomthat you always place in front
of us.
Thank you for the storms.
Thank you for the lessons.
Uh, I, I wanna pray for all thecouples out there that are
struggling, Lord, that are, thatare just trying to do their own

(01:34:58):
plans.
Not knowing, Lord, that you arethe main plan, Lord, that when
they put you first, everythingelse falls into place, Lord.
But like I said, it all, it'sall training Lord, and sometimes
some people get it faster thanothers.
I just wanna pray that you opentheir hearts up and that they
learn as fast as they can Lord,so they can appreciate the
peacefulness and the joy thatcomes with it.

(01:35:20):
I wanna ask that, uh, you blessjust the ministry, you know,
wrong, strong Chicago, wrongstrong Arizona, and that you
keep guiding us in whatever itis that you want us to do, not
us.
Whatever it is that you want usto build, not us.
I wanna, I wanna ask you forOmar, his family, his kids, his

(01:35:42):
wife, for his ministry, histeam, his podcast, and
everything that you're doing to,you are getting together, you
are getting, I wanna ask you allthis in the name of Jesus.
Amen.

Omar (01:36:02):
Amen.
Amen.
Brother.
Man.
Uh, man, as soon as you do, youcall me last week and say you
wanted to do this, man, I wasexcited.
Uh, just to like, in a sense,like go back and I guess
reminisce from then the journeyreconnecting and where we're at
now.
And man, like, uh, reconnectingwith you.
I, I've shared it before on, on,on the other podcasts that we

(01:36:22):
did together, but it, it kind oflike reignited my faith and it
like, gave me a, uh, like a newpurpose, I guess.
Like a new mission.
Like, I, I believe if, if wehadn't reconnected, if I hadn't
been doing this, uh, there's noway I, I would've been back
doing prison ministry.
'cause that was like, not evenon my radar.
Not something that, like youmentioned earlier, not something

(01:36:44):
that I prayed about.
Oh, this is what I wanna do.
Mm-hmm.
But, but it is been a, a, aripple effect of what God did in
your life and the, theconnections, the reconnecting
and what God's doing now.
And like something you saidearlier, man, we've only just
begun and next month's gonna bethree years.
I'm excited to celebrate threeyears that, that I, that I've
been doing this out here, butI'm excited for what's yet to

(01:37:06):
come, man.
So, uh, I thank God for you, Godbless your marriage.
Your family, children,grandchildren, and grandpa now,
you know?
So throw that out there.
But, uh, man, I appreciate you,brother.
I, I I love you and man, keepdoing the, the work of God out
there, man.

JC (01:37:24):
Thank you, bro.
Thank you.
Appreciate you, bro.

Omar (01:37:27):
All right.
And with that, we're gonna getready to, to sign off.
Oh, Matthew four 16 reads, thepeople who sat in darkness have
seen a great light, and uponthose who sat in the region and
shadow of death light has dawnedalongside my brother JC Almanza.
I'm Omar Calvio and we arewrong.
Too strong.

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