"I'm Gonna Help You Build This Thing!" w/ Hassan Anderson

There comes a time in one's life when God uses someone to speak into your life, encourage you, especially at a time when no one else does. Hassan Anderson played such a role in the life of JC Almanza, who is the founder of "Wrong To Strong." According to JC, Hassan was the first person to ever believe in his dream and in his vision. Interestingly enough, Hassan was JC's parole officer at the time. 
Growing up in a bad part of New Jersey had exposed Hassan to crime, violence and murders at a very young age. He also remembers times when the only thing in the fridge was a ketchup bottle and he had to go ask the neighbors for some food for him and his sisters. Though his mom and dad were never together, his dad emphasized the importance of him getting an education. He ends up getting a scholarship and playing football at Rutgers. But through a series of bad choices he finds himself catching a criminal case at that time. Tune in to hear how his story plays a huge role in what "Wrong To Strong" is doing today through it's various platforms, including this podcast.

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Episode Transcript

Haasan (00:16):
Hello

Omar (00:16):
everyone.
Welcome to another episode ofwrong to strong Chicago.
I'm your host.
My name is Omar Calvillo.
And uh, tonight we're doing azoom interview and we're doing
an interview with HassanAnderson.
He's all the way out in Arizona.
And I just like to welcome himto the podcast.
Welcome

Haasan (00:33):
brother.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me, mybrother.
Thank

Omar (00:36):
you.
I appreciate it.
Amen.
So, uh, I actually met Hassanthis past Friday.
we were doing a, a wrong tostrong, uh, Bible study, for,
for those of you that areinterested.
This is a Bible study that JCstarted, uh, I think it was
maybe over a year ago.
And, uh, right now, uh, Sean Raeis a brother out in, Colorado
Springs, Colorado.
He's, been, uh, leading thisstudy.
so you're guys are interested injoining us.

(00:56):
You know, jump under, uh, we'reactually doing a book right now.
It's called The, theFundamentals of the Faith.
So if, if you're like, man, Idon't know anything about the
Bible, you know, I've never readit.
Man, perfect time for you tojump on and join us, get
together with, just a group ofmen that are, not perfect, far
from holy, but man, we know whatGod's done in our lives and we
know that he's drawing us closerto himself and we draw close to

(01:18):
him through his word.
So feel free to join us onthere.
but anyways, I met Hassan onthere and he started sharing a
testimony, a testimony about himand JC, which eventually we're
going to get into as we goalong.
but I believe you were, JC'sparole officer, right?
And don't, don't share too muchbrother.
But, uh, what, what year wasthis?

Haasan (01:35):
Oh, this was, uh, 2013.

Omar (01:38):
Okay.
Oh man, that's a while back.
All right.
But, uh, yeah, definitely.
I know I was talking to JC andhe 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 himback then, but definitely what
we're going to get into thatpart of the story.
But man, hey brother, let me askyou, where did you grow up?
And maybe if you could, describethat area for those that have

Haasan (01:58):
never been out there.
Well, I grew up in New Jersey.
I'm from the East Coast rightnow.
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 outof there.
Um, I've seen a lot of things,you know, growing up, I did have

(02:21):
both my parents, but they had meout of wedlock.
So my father was a strong figurein my life.
My mother, you know, she did thebest she could.
God bless the dead.
You know, she did the best shecould with what she had.
She was always a hustler, butshe was never really at home.
I was like, what we like to calla latchkey child, you know, I
was always left at home.
Left to raise my sisters, youknow, fend for myself, whether
it's, you know, trying to get myown food, you know, not knowing

(02:44):
where the next meal was going tocome from, you know, sometimes
the lights might be off.
Only thing that might be in thefridge is a bottle of ketchup.
So, you know, I'm alwaysknocking on the neighbor's doors
trying to, you know, ask themfor food, things like that.
So I was always, I knew kind ofhow to hustle and kind of how to
get by at an early age, youknow, one of the things that,
you know, I have a seven yearold, you know, those are things
that I don't ever want him toexperience and, you know, I do

(03:04):
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 avery successful businessman.
Uh, my mother, you know, she wasa nurse.
But again, she was alwayshustling on the side.
So I've seen the life of, youknow, slinging drugs.
My mom actually had me do a lotof deliveries for her at the

(03:25):
time.
Yeah.
You know, something thatsomebody at the age of 10 should
never experience, but I didn'tknow any better.
I just knew that we got to dowhat we had to do to get by.
So I was kind of delivering alot of drugs.
So I've seen, you know, thestreet life.
I've had friends murdered infront 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

(03:46):
today, you know, you know, it's,it's tough when you think back
to those things, but I wasfortunate enough to get out of
that.
Thankfully, my father was astrong figure in my life.
He valued education.
So, even through all thenonsense, 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, Iwent to Rutgers, played

(04:09):
football, but I still didn'treally have no direction on
where I wanted to take my careerpath after school.
So I started hanging with thewrong dudes, got myself into a
situation where I caught a case,kind of got into an argument
with a gentleman, and I wound uppistol whipping him, and that
turned into a whole big deal.
And anybody that, you know, isfrom New Jersey, we have one of
the most strict gun laws, youknow, outside of New York and

(04:30):
California laws, and they don'tmess around.
So, uh, you know, I was able toget probation just because of my
background.
It was the first time I ever hada case like that.
the judge did show me somelegacy.
You know, but I don't want tosay it was the judge.
I want to say it was God, youknow, he was looking after me
because usually the situation Iwas in, most people don't get
out of that.
You know, can

Omar (04:50):
I ask you like, like, like moving back?
I know you mentioned that you'realready probably like in college
when this happened, right?
Like this

Haasan (04:55):
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 nextdirection.
And again, I was just kind ofhanging out with the wrong dudes
at this time.
I was hanging out with people inPhiladelphia, you know, some
parts over there.
That's not, you know, I wouldn'twant anybody to go over to
certain parts of, uh,Philadelphia.

Omar (05:15):
So what, what led you there to Philadelphia, I guess,

Haasan (05:19):
I had met some people out there just for me.
Like, so at the time I wasriding motorcycles a lot, like I
was riding around with a lot ofmotorcycle crews.
That was my thing.
So I meet up with guys, but Iwasn't getting, I wasn't doing
the right thing.
We was, we was getting intostuff.
We had no business doing.
And, uh, that's kind of led tome catching that charge, you
know?
You know, can I ask, ask you

Omar (05:37):
that?
You know, like, like going back,I, I know you mentioned like do
doing this, but even at the ageof 10, you know, already getting
into the, the drug game, Iguess, you know, like Yeah.
Like you said, you had to dowhat you had to do to help your
mom.
Did you ever get in trouble withthe law back then?

Haasan (05:51):
Thankfully again, this is just all God, man You know, I
never really I never reallycaught any cases That was the
only that that pistol would havebeen charged that gun charge was
the only charge I ever had Butas a kid, like I said, I guess
indirectly I was kind ofslinging drugs, you know, I'm
not going to sit here and sayI'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 thestreets cause I just was used to

(06:13):
seeing it.
And most people from where I'mfrom don't typically, typically
get out of those environments.
It's very tough.
Um, but I was able to do soagain, I think it's One God.
Two, my father played a strongpart in that, you know, he was
very hard on me my relationshipwith my father Developed later
in my years in my later yearsbecause in my early years we

(06:34):
just butted heads.
We never got along Okay, cuz Iwant I was a knucklehead.
I always thought I kneweverything and I just you know,
that's the cycle of life We knowwe think we know

Omar (06:41):
everything.
No, no, I know you mentionedlike some sisters Were you the
oldest one in the household or?

Haasan (06:47):
I'm the oldest one in the house and I had two younger
sisters.
My two younger sisters, youknow, they didn't really
experience as much as that Iexperienced.
They got to experience a goodpart of life later because my
mom wound up getting remarried.
So because of that, they got tolive a better life.
But prior to that, you know, Iwas kind of heavily involved
raising them because my mom justwasn't around.
She was always working, alwayshustling, doing whatever she had

(07:09):
to do to get a spot, you know,so that's just how it was for me
in those younger years.
Yeah.

Omar (07:14):
So you basically had to like grow up quick, right?
Maybe you mature, take onresponsibilities that maybe your
young kids shouldn't be able toor shouldn't have to take on,
right?

Haasan (07:22):
I had to grow up quick.
It's funny because I hadconversations with my father
about a lot of things that I'vedone that he had no idea about
because I never shared it withhim.
Um, it's kind of hard for me totalk 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 knewthe type of person he was at the

(07:43):
time.
My dad was no joke.
And my dad, you know, I love mydad, at, you know, so much.
I didn't ever want to see him togo to jail or something.
Because he would have killedthat person.
I know my father, so I nevertold him.
But we had this conversationabout all these things,
probably, I want to say aboutthree or four years ago.
I share with him for the firsttime and just kind of let him
know, you know, what I was goingthrough to hurt the pain that I

(08:05):
was dealing with because hedidn't know he thought
everything I was doing was justme being a knucklehead and me
being rebellious, but not reallyunderstanding when I live with
my mom, the stuff that I wasdealing with the stuff that I
was seeing that no child shouldhave to deal with to see, you
know, growing up.

Omar (08:21):
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 orwhat, how, how did that look?
I

Haasan (08:29):
guess though.
So it's funny because situationlike that, I'll have, that'll
happen when people have thosetypes of experiences.
It may cause them to lash out orbe angry at the world or be
angry, but that's not whathappened with me.
It actually affected me more onmy relationship side of things.
Funny enough.
Um, Not with that happening andthen not really having that,

(08:51):
that love and feelings that amother gives a child.
My mom never told me she lovedme as a kid.
She never held my hand, shenever gave me hugs.
She was just real tough, likeHassan, do this, do that.
And that was just kind of whatit was.
So when I actually became, youknow, got in a situation where I
got in a relationship withwomen, I didn't know how to act.
Right.
When a woman wanted to hold myhand, it affected me.

(09:11):
I was like, why do you want tohold 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 melike I don't need that type of
affection, but really I did needthat I was yearning for not
knowing it.
Yes, and so To your to yourquestion.
I didn't rebel but it did affectme when it came to relationships
Especially with women and Istill struggle with that now

(09:32):
like I'm 44 years old and Istill you know struggle with
with those things So right, youknow, but I'm always I like to
say I'm a work in progress, youknow guys always molding me

Omar (09:41):
So oh, yeah.
Yeah for sure.
You know what?
I think that's what that's agood reason Uh, or a reason that
we look back because a lot oftimes, like you mentioned, 44,
I'm 45 years old and God isstill revealing to me, um, like
things in me that, that he wantsto change or that are hindering
me, like you mentioned in like arelationship, like my wife, like
recently, she's like, man, thatLike there's still like a

(10:05):
childish, immature way.
Like when, when you don't getwhat you want, you turn into a
little kid.
And as a man, as a a 45 yearold, 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 stopand reflect like, man, why am I
acting like that?
Man, I'm still acting like that.
Like I haven't matured in thatarea and I think it's good to,
and then I look back and, andsee like maybe instances in my

(10:27):
life that made where I would dothat.
It's almost like, you mentioneda work in progress and um, god's
like peeling layers off us, likethe onion and trying to get like
to the center, like, man, what,what's really going on?
Like, like what's going on atthe core?
So I think that's, that's whywe, we need to look back, you
know, even though some of thosetimes we look back, they might
be hard.

(10:47):
Like you mentioned, like thestory you just shared.
You, you said it was hard foryou to share, but sometimes you
gotta go back and see how that'saffecting you today, you know?

Haasan (10:55):
Absolutely, man.
It's hard.
Like I, I never told anybodythis for the longest time.
I told like very, very, veryclose people to me that knew
about my situation, but foryears I never shared it.
And I think that was part of theproblem, not sharing my
testimony and sharing myexperience, you know, because
somebody else may be goingthrough the same thing or
dealing with what I'm goingthrough, man, you know, like,

(11:16):
you know, suicide is big, man.
A lot of times those type ofthings can cause somebody to
take their own life and youknow, 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 choseto do.
I chose not to let it controlme.
Did it affect me?
Yeah.
Like I said, I still strugglewith it today when it comes to
my relationships.

(11:36):
but you know, I, like I said,I'm still a work in progress,
I'm not perfect, you know, but Istill try to work on those
things.

Omar (11:42):
Okay.
Yeah.
So, now let's, let's jumpforward.
I know you mentioned, college,and I think we're at that point
where you were, you got thatcase.

Haasan (11:49):
Yeah, I got out of college and I just started
hanging out with the wrong guys.
You know, I was hanging out witha lot of people in Camden, New
Jersey.
Well, anybody that knows Camden,New Jersey at that time when I
was running the streets, youknow, Camden was like the murder
capital of the world at the timefor such a small city.
It was, uh, it was a lot ofthings happening and I was just
kind of running with the wrongpeople for no good reason.

(12:09):
I can't even tell you why.
Um, I just felt like they wasrelatable to me.
So I just kind of was connectingwith those people.
but again, I got myself in asituation where, you know, I was
kind of a hothead, a dudepointed a gun at me, you know,
if you're going to point it, youneed to use it.
He didn't, so I pulled mine outand I beat him with it, and it
kind of just, you know, fromthere, caught a case, like I

(12:31):
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 thatsituation.
Got me probation, uh, 30 daysprobation.
Nonetheless, that's how good hewas.
Yeah, I know he got me 30 daysprobation.
Cause I had a good background.
Like I said, a college degree.
I had a career, the judge, thejudge really was looking out for

(12:55):
me because you know, he'sseeing, he's like, this isn't,
this isn't really you.
When he looked at my wholebackground and everything I was
doing, like I didn't, I didn't,I didn't have a background.
Yeah.
You, you,

Omar (13:03):
I

Haasan (13:05):
have a jewelry record.
I have none of that.
So he was like, well, what areyou doing?
Why what is this?
Yeah, it's almost

Omar (13:10):
like in uh, what there was the word on an anomaly something
that's strange, right?
I

Haasan (13:15):
couldn't even believe it because my lawyer one day called
me and was like You want thegood news or you want the bad
news?
Then I was just ready to, I waslike, I already had made up my
mind.
I was going to do some time orsomething.
And he was like, he said,Hassan, when you're dealing with
me, there is no bad, there is nobad, uh,

Omar (13:31):
that's very humble or in this humble opinion.

Haasan (13:38):
When that moment happened, I'm not kidding.
You not, I cut out all thosepeople.
I like, I cut them off.
I changed my number, never sawthem again.
That was like kind of the startof a new thing.
I was still trying to figure outlife but it kind of was a
starting point for me.
It was kind of like I got tomake moves.
I got to figure out I got to getout of this.
So I had to change scenery.
So I told my parents.

(13:59):
I was like, Hey, I think I'mgonna go check out Arizona.
I'm looking for work.
So I casted out a big net, neverbeen to Arizona.
Everybody, all my friends, theythought I was crazy.
It's like Arizona.
What's out there?
Like, you know, our picture fromthe East Coast, we think in
Arizona, just dirt and dustballs.
Right, right, right.
Yeah, that was the only, thatwas all I saw.
So I was like, let me check thisout.
So I came out here and I waslike, I thought it was the most

(14:21):
amazing thing.
I was like, it was none of thenonsense that I was used to
being around.
I was like, this is great.

Omar (14:27):
Did you have any family or friends out there in Arizona?
I didn't know

Haasan (14:30):
anybody.
Oh, no way.
Not nobody.
I literally, at the time, I kidyou not.
I remember telling my bestfriend at the time I had a
Chrysler 300.
That's when it was hot backthen.
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, andkept going.

(14:51):
Came here, got my firstapartment.
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 thatwas all I had for like a good
two months till I found work.
And I started working and, youknow, furnishing everything

Omar (15:04):
and you know, what can, can I ask you, I know you
mentioned you graduated college,but what was your, uh, the
degree or

Haasan (15:10):
funny enough, law and

Omar (15:10):
justice.
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
So then you, you already had anidea that, that you wanted,
like, well, what, I guess, uh,going to get that degree.
What, what, uh, job were youlooking to get or career,

Haasan (15:20):
I guess?
Yeah.
So that's, that's a great point.
So to get to how I wanted to bea cop coming from where I'm
from, coming from where I'm fromis because.
I just wanted at the time, Iwant to make a difference, man.
I see how the cops was treatingme.
I was like, this is some BS.
A lot of the cops wasn't evenliving in the hood, like from
where I'm from, they was justthere patrolling, but they
didn't really know how toconnect with the people.

(15:41):
And I always thought like.
I want to be a cop.
I could connect with mycommunity and make a difference.
You know what I mean?
Not like kind of what we see innow where everybody just hates
the police back then.
You know, I just kind of wantedto make that difference and just
say, you know, I want to help mycommunity.
And that's kind of how, likewhen I go to school, I knew I
said, I'm gonna get my criminaljustice degree.
But when I got out of school,God plans for me again.

(16:01):
I was trying.
I was applying for police jobsall 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 anyjobs?
Well, I wound up connecting witha friend of mine and they got me
a job working at apharmaceutical company in
Philly, uh, Pfizer.
And, uh, yeah, I came up and itwas a blessing.

(16:23):
You know, I had, I really hadgood pay.
It was a good job.
Everything was good.
But what happened is that thatlocation where I was working was
going to be discommit,decommissioned, and they were
going to move it, uh, to, toMichigan, 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 startedcasting this whole net to look

(16:46):
for, uh, where I want to movenext.
I got to get out of Jersey.
I got to get out of Philly.

Omar (16:50):
Okay.
Gotcha.
All right.
So, so you're in Arizona, yougot your degree.
So how does the job hunt go foryou out

Haasan (16:56):
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 adifference in the community.
I was actually in going throughthe process of Phoenix police.
this was like 2008 2009 ish thatwas going through that process.
So I moved along.
I passed the test.
Um, I passed a physical.

(17:17):
I was going through thebackground at that time.
I don't know how it is now.
But at that time, when you passthe physical and they doing
their background, they stillwant you to stay in shape.
They want you to come back andkeep doing the physical again
because they want to make surewhen you're ready for the
academy that you're not out ofshape.
It was real strict with it atthat time.
And, I was still, I was stillriding motorcycles like hard.

(17:38):
Like, that was still like, kindof my side hobby.
And I came back to New Jersey,the one thing I didn't bring
with me was my motorcycle, and Iwas doing a lot of racing on it,
you know, just as a side hobbyor whatever.
And I had a bad accident, man.
It was bad.
I crashed at like 104 on thetrack.
It was in a controlledenvironment.
Yeah, 104, man.
I broke like every bone in myhand and my wrist.

(18:00):
Kind of messed up my back alittle bit.
So I was laid up for like eightmonths.
I had a cast on my arm that, youknow, I still got a picture of
it, my arm in an L shape forlike six, seven months.
I was in this cat.
Yeah, I was in this cast for along time, man.
And, because of that, it pulledme out of the running for it
about police thing.
Cause I couldn't do the physicalstuff.

(18:21):
So there's God telling me andI'm not listening at this time.
I'm still not listening.
He's like, this isn't what Ihave for you.
Just, you know, Trust me, but Iwasn'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 Ineeded him.
Now

Omar (18:38):
God, how was God introduced to you?
Like who introduced him to you?
How did that look maybe as a kidor like when?

Haasan (18:45):
Yeah.
So my mom, that was the onething she did, you know, do for
me was, you know, we did alwaysgo to church every Sundays, but
you kind of know how it is as akid.
You kind of like, Oh, I'm notreally 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 motherwas a Methodist.
Okay.
So we did, we practiced that,you know, it was cool, whatever.
And I got baptized early, notknowing It wasn't my decision.

(19:08):
It was just kind of likesomething my mom made me do that
you supposed to, so I kind ofjust 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 toschool these days.
I'm going to school.
I decided if I'm gonna go or ifI'm not, if I don't feel like

(19:29):
it, I just don't go.
You know what I'm saying,especially if I'm getting
bullied on the way, those arethings that I left out that
happened, you know, for yourlunch money on the way to school
was not a pleasant feeling aswell.
No way.
Yeah, for sure, man.
All the time.
Sometimes I had to take the longway to get to school.
Same thing home and had to dealwith that.
So it's not like I had a crew.
I had some homies, you know,trying to look out for me.

(19:51):
It was just me.
Oh, no way.
Yeah.
So, so, you know, with that, youknow, I did know God, but I
didn't really know him the wayI, you know, I know him now.
Yeah.
So, um, that experience didn'tcome until one day, like I told
you, I had this apartment that Ihad that God blessed me with at
that time.
Apartments was cheap.
I mean, we look at what thingscost now.

(20:12):
This apartment was nice to me.
It is.
The thing was immaculate and I'mpaying 600 a month.
Oh man.
Yeah, that's nothing.
I know I was like, I'm, I'mcalling my friends like, yo,
y'all would not believe what I'mpaying for this apartment.
Like no one believed me.
And anyway, one day I, Iremember it like it was
yesterday.
I walked into my bedroom and Idon't know what it was, but I

(20:34):
had this feeling that ranthrough my body.
Now people think I'm crazy, butpeople that aren't, you know, of
the kingdom don't understandthis, but I had this feeling
that went through my body and Ikid you not, I just dropped to
my knees.
I dropped to my knees.
And I just started crying and Isaid, and I could just feel this
feeling in this, something justgoing through my mind.

(20:55):
Like, like, like I'm waiting foryou.
And it was like, what is thisfeeling?
Like, I didn't know what washappening.
Like, I was just bawling tearsfor no reason.
Like, everything was good beforeit is like, I didn't have
nothing going on.
Life was good.
Like, I didn't really havenothing to complain about.
But that moment when I droppedmy knees and started crying, I
just kept saying the words.

(21:16):
They just don't understand.
They don't, they don't know.
I just kept saying, I don't evenknow why I was saying, they
just, I just kept saying, theyjust don't know.
They just don't know.
Um, forgive them.
Now later for me, it was thatHoly Spirit, man.
It was like that moment.
God is everywhere.
But at that moment, he justchose to touch me and just let

(21:37):
me know that Hassan, I'm for youand I'm waiting for you.
And it always resonated me likeI never shared that story when
it happened.
I didn't know who to tellbecause nobody Nobody in my
family is religious like nobodyelse.
Like my mom was going to church,but at that time, you know, she
was in and out my whole side ofmy father's side of the family.
They're they're atheists.
They don't even believe theydon't, you know, they don't even

(21:59):
deal with that.
So I had nobody to share thisexperience with.
I'm like, what is happening?
So I just kept it inside and Iwas just like, what is
happening?
And at that time I started goingto 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 anofficer who, he kept inviting me
to church and I was just blowinghim off like, nah, man, I'm good

(22:21):
on that.
And then one day I just toldhim, Hey, I, uh, he, I asked him
where the church was and I justshowed up.
Um, and then from that moment, Ikept going and kept going and
kept hearing his word because Iwanted to understand what this
feeling was like, what is thisfeeling?
And again, I didn't have anybodyto give me an answer.
But I never forget the churchthat I was going to is called
Fountain of Life.

(22:41):
Okay.
And, they really helped me, theyreally helped me, uh, come
along.
They took me from a babyChristian, helped me develop and
understand, you know, who Jesuswas and who, you know, what God
did for us.
And from that moment I had tounderstand and then I chose to
take...
That pledge to get baptizedagain because now it was my
decision and not a decisionbased on an adult.

(23:04):
Right.
This was something that I felt Iwas ready for.
So I made that plunge and thiswas, this was 2011.
Okay.
2010.
Alright.
Yeah, I made, I made thatcommitment.
And then from there, man,everything changed for me,
everything changed for me.
as you know, we love God wheneverything is going well, but
when things go bad, everybodywant to be quick to turn it back

(23:26):
sometimes.
I didn't do that, but I waslike, what is happening?
Cause at that time, good thingswere happening, but then I was
getting hit with a lot of.
Negativity just left and rightoutta

Omar (23:36):
nowhere.
You, you know.
Could I ask you, I, I know youmentioned, there was a buddy
that, invited you to church and,you were working as a, what'd
you say?
Uh, probation officer.
Yeah,

Haasan (23:44):
yeah, yeah.
Was, yeah, I was working as a POat that time.
It was the security.
So, so that

Omar (23:48):
happened after you, recovered from your injury or?

Haasan (23:52):
Yep.
Okay.
Well, I still was going throughthe injury.
I still, I still had that castand everything.
Okay.
Uh, during that time.
Yeah, I was still injured, uh,during this time.
All right.
And you were able to

Omar (24:01):
get a job?

Haasan (24:02):
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

Omar (24:11):
big guy, yeah?
He was kind of telling histestimony.
He was pretty

Haasan (24:14):
big, right?
Yeah, Samoans is big.
Yeah.
Big folks, man.
But he was actually on thesmaller 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 theBible in and out, man.
He can tell you everything.
Yeah.
And that's how it kind of, westarted having conversations
because he, he was sharing histestimony, how he was a foster
kid and, uh, a family took himin and him and his siblings,

(24:37):
they took him in and didn't haveto, and raised him.
So, you know, he turned his lifeto Christ and he kept trying to
bring me along, but, you know, Iwas 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 likeshocked that I was there and
then that from there we kind ofbuilt a little bond and um, so

(24:58):
he was

Omar (24:58):
probably the guy that was sowing the seeds and probably he
was praying for you, right?

Haasan (25:03):
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, youknow, I don't know where they
are now that I lost contact withthem, but you know, they, they
were the ones that, that startedit.
They definitely started it

Omar (25:18):
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 thatthings were good and then they
started getting bad.
Yeah, it was just

Haasan (25:28):
little things started happening.
Like just, just, just randomthings just started happening.
My past basically was catchingup to me.
I had to pay the piper for somethings, whether it was financial
stuff I blew off, you know, Iwas charging up stuff on my
credit card, not paying themthings.
And I kind of blew it off.
I had a car.
This is when I was going througha difficult time.
I had a car that was repo.

(25:48):
So, and then, you know, I blew,I blew off, you know, the court
showing up to court, things likethat.
Stuff I was doing when I wasyounger.
Yeah.
And it caught up to me.
So, it was like, it was time topay the piper, basically.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, and I'm like, man, God, whyis all this stuff hitting me at
once?
I wasn't understanding.
But I had to, I had to makeright with those things to
continue to move forward.
And that's kind of whathappened.

(26:09):
I made right with all thosecreditors, got my, got my credit
and everything.
And now my credit is a one, youknow, everything's good.
and it's funny when I speak onthat too, not to go off on a
tangent, but I never grew upwith any financial fluency.
I think people, I think that'sone of the biggest things
outside of not knowing God ispeople having financial fluency.
Especially when you come in fromthe hood, that's not a thing.

(26:31):
Nobody knows about credit.
Like what is credit?
Right.
but I learned that the hard way.
Now I know how to educatepeople, you know, how to, you
know, not only make money, keepit longer and how to move it
correctly without, you know,legally, of course, without, you
know, putting yourself under alot of stress is as important,

Omar (26:47):
you know, what, that's a great point.
I don't think that's somethingthat, that we've talked about on
the podcast with any guests, butit's very important, man.
Like you mentioned, like megrowing up, I didn't know
anything about that.
Like in high school that thatshould be probably one of the
classes that they should teachyou man how to Handle save spend
and credit.
You know what?
I didn't know anything aboutcredit cards.
I remember, I, got, got, uh,locked up and I turned 19, 20

(27:08):
and 21 in there.
And when I got out about maybefour or five months later, I met
my, my girlfriend and she toldme she, had a credit cards.
She told me, you got a creditcard and I ain't got a credit
card.
I don't need one.
She's like, she's the one thattold me to get one.
I didn't see it back then.
Like what would be the benefitof it?
But I actually, I actually hadto pay to get a credit card
because I didn't have no credit.
So I paid, I got my credit card,started using it.

(27:30):
And long story short, I startedbuilding my credit and I was
able to buy a car on my ownwithout having somebody co sign.
And years later, of course,many, many years later, I was
able to get my house and allbecause she told me that, man,
you need, she told me why Ineeded it and how it was going
to help me.
And to be honest, I was already21, 22, not knowing that I

(27:51):
needed it.
So, so that, that, that iscrazy, man.

Haasan (27:54):
I think too, like to your point, they don't teach it
in the schools for reasons.
If you look at the environmentwe in.
They kind of want to keep youhandcuffed in the debt.
They want you to be in debt.
They make money off of thatinterest.
Um, like I said, I had to learnthe hard way.
Like I was running up debt.
I was like, to me, it was likefree money.
I was like, Oh, you give me acar.
You telling me I get 30 days topay this back.

(28:15):
Okay.
I was racking it up.
30 days came.
Minimum payment, 25 interest onthis, bro.
So I let it get out of hand, butI want to correct it at all.
And the one, the one, and I'mnot a person that values
materialistic things.
That's not at this point in mylife.
I don't, I don't put a lot ofvalue into that cause it don't

(28:36):
matter.
But the, one of the things thatI was proud of is that knowing
where I came from, like.
I got an American Expressbusiness.
I got an American Expressplatinum card.
I got an American Express goldcard.
I got an American Express Deltacard.
I got Those are like, you know,when people value American
Express, it's like a big deal.
Like if you have one of thecards, I got 14 credit cards,

(28:57):
you know what I'm saying?
I have over a hundred thousanddollars in limits.
And, and I'm not saying that's abrag or nothing like that.
I'm just saying that I was ableto position myself knowing where
I come from.
To me, that's kind of important.
That's a big deal because thatwasn'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 hadto, I was self taught.

(29:17):
So for me to be able to do that,to me, it was a big deal.
Just knowing where I'm comingfrom.
Okay.
Hey, you

Omar (29:21):
know what, now, now that you're seeking God and reading
the Bible, what, what's theimportance of, like you said,
uh, paying the piper in a sense,but, making right, especially
debt, I know like that there's ascripture that comes to my mind.
Like, I think it says, let nodebt remain outstanding except
the debt of love.
So it's like, well, what's, whatwas the importance, of, of
paying what you, what you owe, Iguess.

(29:41):
Right.

Haasan (29:42):
It was, it was a great point, man.
I just felt like, well, I gottamake it right.
You know what I'm saying?
I could have kept running fromit, you know, but I felt like if
I'm making these changes in mylife, 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 wasfunny too.
I even called people that I owemoney to, like for my past, no,

(30:04):
for real people that I owe moneyto.
That I was just like, you know,that I burned him.
I called him up and I apologizedand I said, I'm gonna get you
that money.
And, you know, I, I may, right?
'cause you know, I just feltlike it is just something I had
to do.
If I'm gonna make this walk, Igotta, you know, I'm gonna talk
it.
I gotta, you know, do what'sright.
So, yeah, I called people upfrom my past and I'm talking

(30:25):
like five years, like five to 10years.
Like, Hey man, I know I owe youthat money.
I, I, I made a way to find himand just kind of told him.
You know, they appreciated that

Omar (30:34):
man, that's, that's big there.
'cause uh, man, those, thosedon't show up on the credit
report.
Right.
Right.
For you to, for you, for you toremember those man, it had to be
like the Holy Spirit probablybringing them to you, huh?

Haasan (30:46):
Yeah, I, I remember them things, man.
So, you know, I, I, I try to doright.
I try to make some of my wrongsright when I can, you know?
Yeah.
And like I said, I'm not perfecteven today.
I, but I still try to, you know,do right by people,

Omar (30:58):
man.
Okay.
No, that's good.
All right.
So, so you were saying, youknow, faced what you had to
face, you, you paid that debtand how did life look as you
went forward from there?

Haasan (31:07):
Yeah, as things went, looking forward from there, you
know, I was, you know, justliving that regular life and
then, um, that a moment camewith JC.
That was the moment.
that kind of like change thingsbetween him and I and our
relationship and how thatstarted.
He came in front of my desk andI've seen a ton of guys sit in
front of me and tell me, tell metheir story and what they went

(31:27):
through and what they're goingto 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 ofme.
I never forget.
He'll probably laugh at me if Itell you this, but he had a
frohawk

Omar (31:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think I've seen a picture like
when he has something like thatsimilar Yeah,

Haasan (31:48):
he had a frohawk.
He wasn't wearing the glassesyet.
He had the frohawk though, andhe was a lot smaller than he was
slender guy.
He was real slender.
He was just, you know, tellingme his spiel, what he's going to
do.
And I'm like, all right, youknow, I'm hearing him.
But the more we kept talking, Idon't know what it was, but
something about him resonatedwith me.
And he started, he would alwayscome back with this new vision

(32:11):
that he had and say, Hassan, I'mgoing to write a book.
Hassan, I'm gonna start, I'mgonna start a business.
And it's going to touch people.
He was telling me these thingsand I'm like, okay, and then as
we kept talking, because I hadhim 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 onwhat it looked like and what he

(32:31):
wanted to do because he alreadyhad made the decision.
He was going to do something inthe fitness world that he was
already on that because healready started building up a
clientele.
And doing personal training withpeople.
so he started touching people inthat way, but, but, but the
kingdom talk wasn't there yet.
And he told me, he said, HaasanI'm gonna find you when I get

(32:52):
out of here.
And I said, look, if you seriousabout everything you talked
about for, for these ninemonths, I said, come find me,
man.
I said, I'm gonna support you.
And I would say about.
It was probably about a year ortwo later.
He tried to connect with me.
Um, he kept coming back to theoffice, to the probation office
to find me, but I kept missinghim.

(33:13):
And then one day we ran intoeach 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 toStrong".
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 thatare supporting me.
He's like, I got shirts.
He's like, I got all kinds ofapparel.

(33:34):
And he really did it.
And I told him, I said, when youdo that, I'm going to be with
you.
And here's something that'sfunny that no one's going to
really understand is that.
When he, when he, when he livedthat dream and he did it and I
followed him, I stopped, Istopped working.
I stopped doing what I wasdoing.
I had a transition.
I was getting burnt out andtired of what I was doing

(33:55):
already.
Like my job was, I was already10 years in at this time.
We're fast forwarding.
I'm about 10 years in and I'mkind of getting tired of this.
It was like the same old thing.
And I said, I, I love helpingpeople.
I love trying to make an impactwhen 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

(34:17):
me and I, you know, and God hassomething else for me, man.
So I kind of was following JCdoing his Wrong and Strong thing
and I told him if I'm gonna dothis with you I'm gonna be all
in and not just ride yourcoattails And as you can see I'm
still here like I don't want tosay I wanted a founding fathers
because he started it But I wasone of the day ones that was
there to help get this thing offthe ground for him And, you

(34:41):
know, all the other people wasjust 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 Isaid, 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 thathe doesn't see it.
And he had to just kind of seethat for himself to know who is
real and that's why I love himto this day for that man.

(35:03):
I'll do anything for that man.
But yeah, when I had to make acareer change and here's God
working again, I have noexperience in finance is zero
and I had a friend of mine comeup to me and say, hey, why don't
you come work for AmericanExpress?
And I said, American express.
I said, I don't, I don't have adegree in finance.
I know nothing about dealingwith money and dollars.

(35:26):
I mean, I know how to hustle,but I don't know anything about
doing running numbers on anaccounting aspect.
And he was like, nah, they'lltrain you.
I promise you.
So I was like, all right, I wentin there, you know, submitted my
resume.
They liked me and everything.
They hired me.
They was actually like youoverqualified for it.
Cause I started at the bottomwhen I got into AMEX, this
wasn't like, I didn't come intosome high position.

(35:47):
so I was like, all right, youknow, the money wasn't right,
but I was like, look, I'm agrind 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 atthis time.
So let, we're going to go backto that.
I was not tithing.
I was not being obedient with myfinances.
So, yeah, I started at thebottom and you know, I said I'm

(36:08):
gonna keep to myself, I'm gonnagrind and I'm gonna get where I
gotta get to back to where I wasfinancially.
Uh, I've been at the companynow, it would've been, it's been
four years this past, uh,September.
praised God, he's got me to aplace financially that I don't
need for nothing.
Hmm.
Thankfully, like I don't needfor, even in the climate of the
environment we're living inright now, thankfully, I don't

(36:29):
need for anything.
Like, he's blessed me in moreways than I could imagine.
Amen.
Now when I tell you that, it'sbecause.
I made a choice to tithe.
I made a choice to give God 10percent of my money right off
the top.
I was always tithing, but itwasn't really tithing when I'm
giving 20 here, 10 here.

(36:50):
That's not tithing.
That's me saying, guy, I don'ttrust you.
That's what that is.
And I made a commitment one day.
It was just a, uh, it was afast.
And I was like, I'm going to doa fast and I'm going to just try
this tithing thing because I'mlike at this time, I'm like,
God, I don't know where I'mgonna get it.
You want me to get it?
How much out of my check?
I had to trust man.

(37:11):
I'm telling you, I'm tellingyou, 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 devilwill always take you back.
That's guaranteed.
But I will say this, trust Godwith your finances.
I'm a walking testimony of that.
He has blessed me in more waysthan none.
When I never thought how I wasgoing to get it, he always

(37:33):
opened the door for me to havewhat I needed.
and every, no matter what, whenI get paid, when that money hits
my bank account, 10% comes rightoff the top.
No questions asked.
I don't care how much it is.
That's the

Omar (37:45):
first, the first step.
That's the first step.

Haasan (37:47):
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 howmuch it is.
Times I had to give, like, youknow, I might get a bonus or
something and it might have beenseven K and I gotta give him two
or three out of it.
No questions that it's yourfather.
You know, I'm grateful.
God loves a cheerful giver.
And I try to be, you know, he'dbeen blessing me.

(38:08):
So I give that up, but that wasthe area of obedience.
That was important to me.
And I still live that now, youknow, that's just one area.
You know, again, I'm a work inprogress.
There's other areas.
I continue to need to showobedience.

Omar (38:20):
Um, you know what, you know, let's, let's hang here for
a little bit, cause you're thefirst 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 wereonly given the 20 like, I know
you mentioned that lack oftrust, but was there more than
that to it or

Haasan (38:38):
it was definitely a lack of trust.
But I didn't want to feel like Iwasn't giving something.
You know what it was is that thegirlfriend I had at the time,
you know, this is where it waswrong.
Again, I'm listening to her andshe's like, no, you know, God
wants you to just get it fromyour heart.
I was like, yeah, but that ain'twhat the Bible says.
You know, I've learned that way.

(38:58):
That was just me listening, youknow, to somebody doing what
they're living in the flesh,doing what they want to do too,
and I'm just jumping right on itwithout, you know, verifying, so
to speak.
Gotcha.
So, yeah, I would just throw a20 in the pot, a 10 or a 5,
whatever I had in my pocket, butthat's kind of, that's a smack
in the face.
Yeah.
To God, because he's not evenasking for all his money back.
He's just asking for a littlebit of what he gave you.

(39:20):
Yeah.
So how can I not do that?
And that's just how I've beenliving, man.
I just live by that, man.
I'm trying to get to a point inthe overflow.
So my, my next move is to notjust 10%, then up in a little
bit more, get a little extragoing, man.

Omar (39:34):
You know what?
I'm gonna, I'm gonna share thisquick story.
Uh, I grew up a Catholic, so Iwas used to just, you know, you
mentioned whatever, five bucks,10 bucks, or if I was really
bad, you know, maybe a 20, youknow, but then I got saved.
And I remember when I startedgoing 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 amiraculous work in my life, man.

(39:56):
I did a one 80 from thelifestyle.
I was, uh, living changed myheart changed me in like a lot
of ways, but man, I had a hardtime giving man.
And, it was still like with the20 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.

(40:16):
And at this point she was makingmore money than I was, you know,
she was making like a niceamount of money.
So anyways, she's like, man, I'mgoing to stop working.
So at this point we had two, twocar notes, you know, uh, you
know, got a family apartment andeverything.
And like, Oh, I told her if youquit your job, that's fine.
I'm going to stop tithing.
That, that was my agreement withher.
Right.

(40:36):
So she put in her two weeksnotice 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 tomy 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 elsethat's just, that's just my

(40:58):
mind, you know?
So I, I came, you know, I'm,I'm, I work, I'm worshiping.
And again, that scripture cameto my mind, like, how do you rob
God and your tithes and yourofferings?
Like, man, I couldn't shake itthat second time.
So long story short, I came homeand I told my wife, you know
what, this is what happened tome at work.
And I feel that cause I alreadymade up my mind.

(41:18):
I'm just going to stop giving atall, just to try to survive,
just to try to give my family ahead 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 youquit your job.
So I went from 10 to 15 and letme tell you, brother, there was,
uh, uh, you want to talk aboutGod, uh, just blessing me, man,
at work, I just started gettinglike a ton of overtime.

(41:41):
Uh, they started paying for meto go to school, like to get
certificates.
And, uh, so man, I was able topay both car notes and trust me,
there was a, there was a seasonthere where it was tough.
As far as like getting food, youknow, and gas and, and I was
driving, uh, I'm, I'm, I'm rightnow I'm on the South side of
Chicago.

(42:01):
I was driving to East Chicago,Indiana, paying the toll road
each time I was going to churchthree times a week.
And sometimes I'd be like, man,how am I going to get there?
And God always made a way, butone, 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 onhere, but there's blessing in
obedience and I've seen itpersonally.

(42:22):
And, and your story, you know,you're, sharing that.
So I think it's something I knowwe prayed before we started the
podcast.
I always pray God bring anystory to remembrance, anything
that the listeners need to hear.
And like I said, this issomething we haven't talked
about, and I believe somebodythat's going to listen to this
podcast, watch this video.
They need to hear that, thatthey need to be able to trust
God, even in their finances.

(42:42):
Uh, another quick story, talkingabout finances.
Uh, I read a book and they weretalking about the crusaders back
in the days.
They, were hired likemercenaries.
So they had a sword, you know,they did a lot of bad stuff when
they were sent out.
So they, they used to getbaptized, the, the crusaders.
So they had their swords, backthen they had their shields and
their swords.

(43:03):
So whenever they got baptized.
They will get baptized, theirwhole body, and they will hold
their sword outside of thewater.
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 lotof believers are like that with
their wallet.
Like, God, you can have controlout of my whole life.

(43:25):
But the wallet, they keep it outthe water, like the wallet.
I'm going to take care of thatGod.
Don't, don't worry.

Haasan (43:31):
Yup.
No, that's just true, man.
We put, you know, even today weput 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 ofteach my son, he's seven at an
early age about finances, butdon't put all your life and your

(43:52):
value into that.
You know what I mean?
Like, don't let that corruptyou.
because it is, it's a thing thatto your point, people don't want
to tithe.
They want to just get, they wantto live in the flesh and get
that next Gucci wallet or beltglasses or whatever, because
that's, what's important tothem, but that stuff they don't
know, don't come with you, youknow, you don't need that.

Omar (44:09):
Right.
Right.
Definitely.
Okay.
So you mentioned the giving, youstarted experiencing the
blessings and how to, how didlife look from, from there

Haasan (44:15):
for you?
Oh man, from there, life wasgood, man.
Life, life was good.
You know, I had no issues.
really, you know, the onlyissues I really had that, you
know, that I can say I wasn'treally living obedient was my
relationships.
that was the one area that Istruggled with.
you know, having sex beforemarriage and, you know, I'm not

(44:36):
married at this time and mygirlfriend, she had moved in
with me, you know, just doing itall wrong, man.
And that went on for about sixyears 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 carwithout just trusting the car
that I see in front of me andknowing that is going to be
good.
And maybe this is what God hasfor me.

(44:58):
So that relationship didn't workout.
Um, but we still have goodfriends today.
Luckily, like, we still have agreat relationship, a great
friendship, but thatrelationship led me into another
bad relationship.
which turned into a situationwith my son's, my current, my,
uh, my son's mother and my, Ihave one child and again, I was
doing things the wrong way, notliving obedient, man, you know,

(45:20):
sex before marriage and then my,you know, I have not have a son,
you know, that, you know, it wasa blessing.
You know, because a child is ablessing from God, you know,
because not everybody gets thatand people take that for
granted.
But again, I didn't do it theright way.
I didn't, you know, wait to getmarried and everything else.
And that that relationshipdidn't turn out well either.

(45:42):
And I guess you could say thecurse with that is just kind of
the relationship I have with myson's mom.
You know, we, we, you know, it'sa struggle.
We have our good days and ourbad days, you know,'cause I, you
know, that is my child's motherand 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'san area.

(46:02):
If I had an area to tellanybody, like, don't test drive
the car, man, do what God ask ofyou.
Women are, you know, we have toput women at a higher pedestal.
You know, these are, these aredaughters of God and we just
kind of look at'em, look at'emas.
You know, these these figuresout here that we just we want to
use and that's not the waythat's not what God intended for

(46:24):
us.
And, you know, I've learned thatand I try to move that way now,
you know what I'm saying?
I want to do things differently.
Um, but yeah, getting to thispoint now, I'm like, life is
good, but, you know, I stillhave those issues, but my love
for God never wavers.
That's the one thing that'salways going to remain constant
through the good, through thebad.

(46:44):
My love for God is always goingto stay strong.
No one's ever going to waverthat from

Omar (46:48):
me.
Amen.
Amen, brother.
That thanks for, uh, um, sharingthat part too.
You know, there's, there's somemen out there that they need to
hear that.
I remember when, when I gotsaved, I was with my girlfriend
four and a half years.
And, man, I got saved.
I started evangelism, starteddoing everything.
The one thing I couldn't do isget married and I was going to
church at the time to feelingconviction and man, I just
couldn't, couldn't do it.
And, like you mentioned, we haveto do that right like because I

(47:10):
guess the, the consequences, Iguess, for what we do, right?
Consequences

Haasan (47:13):
of it, right.
I'm going to give you thischild, I'm going to give you,
I'm going to give you thischild, but you're going to,
there's going to be, you know,like a father does, you know,
you know, you have to disciplineyour children and, you know,
this is going to be, this iswhat you're going to have to
deal with and, you know, that'swhat comes with it.
So, you know, men out there doit right, man, if you got a good
woman, cherish her.

(47:33):
Because.
You know, like I said, women areGod's daughter, man.
You want to put them on a highpedestal, you know, treat them
right.
Amen, Amen,

Omar (47:41):
brother and how does life look right now?
Currently, what, what are youcurrently doing?
I know you mentioned you weremoving up at

Haasan (47:47):
Amex.
Yeah, I'm still working atAmerican express.
I'm doing very well within thebusiness.
You know, one of the things Imoved up very quickly every
year, I had a promotion toanother role, um, just cause I
kept that focus, kept thatmindset of, you know, just
wanted to strive, you know, tobe the best.
And, you know, now just continueto move up that corporate
ladder.
life is good.
You know, I got my son, youknow, he's, he's one of the most

(48:08):
important things for me outsideof God.
God is always first, but he'sthe second most important thing
to me.
you know, because I think it'simportant that a lot of my
mishaps, I don't want him toever have to experience that.
so my, my son does know God.
I make sure that's instilled tohim.
Um, thankfully his grandparents,you know, they're of the kingdom
as well.
So they instill in him as well.

(48:30):
You know, God and what he's donefor us.
So my son has a very at seven.
He has a very good understandingof what that looks like.
So, you know, I kind of continueto build upon that, especially
in the environment we're inright now.
Kids are pulled in all differentdirections and there's a lot of
distractions out there.
You know, the devil is workingreal hard to.
To bring this thing down.
And so, you know, to keep ourchildren on the path, they had a

(48:50):
future.
So I'm trying to, you know,instill in him, you know, keep
focused on what's important.
Oh

Omar (48:54):
yeah, especially now, man, I believe is more of a attack on
them than ever before.
You know, I'm sure we had ourattacks, but now it seems like
it's out loud.
Like no, no, no holds barred, Iguess, like against the kids,
man.

Haasan (49:06):
Absolutely, man.
Especially, you know, with thesetablets, social media.
You got these kids thinking thisis what things look like.
Sexuality is, is at theforefront of everything.
Everybody's Questioning whetherthey're a man or a woman, you
know, that's not for me todebate here.
I know there's only a man and awoman.
There's no, there's nothingelse.
You can't tell me anything else.

(49:27):
And that's kind of how I teachmy son, no matter what, like
this is, this is how God made usa man and a woman and that's it.

Omar (49:34):
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
It's very, very important.
You know, especially, uh, I knowyou mentioned your dad being
like a strong figure, like arole model and man, it's
important for, for the men totake that role and to teach our
kids.
Cause our words, they carry alot of weight with our kids.
We, we gotta, not, not just tellhim, but model, what it is to,
to, to be

Haasan (49:50):
a man.
So, yeah, for me, it's findingthat balance.
Cause my father was always hardon me.
My father was very militant.
I'm not as militant on my son,but I am very authoritative
towards him because I want tothis life is not going to be
kind to him.
You know, the world is not goingto be kind to him.
And he has to understand that myson doesn't know what it's like
to struggle because he's alwayshad his good everything he ever

(50:11):
needed.
He's gotten it.
But at the same time, I want toraise a man and understand like,
you know, Not to be dependent ona woman to do everything for
you.
That's not the intentions ofwhat God has for you as a man.
But I also want him tounderstand too, that, you know,
he is a mixed race.
My son is half black and he ishalf white, but you know, life,

(50:35):
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 alwaysgoing to come easy to you, not
everyone's going to like you.
So, he has to understand thosethings and I just make sure he's
just aware.
Right,

Omar (50:50):
right.
No, yeah, yeah.
For sure, man.
You mentioned, you don't want tobe hard.
But, but life, life is hard,man.
And if we try to, to, to shelterand, cuddle our kids, man,
life's going to get them hard.
You know?
Yup.

Haasan (51:02):
No, for sure.
But the flip side of that too,is I do what my parents really
didn't do for me is show themthat love too.
I told my son, I love him allthe time.
I give him hugs.
I kiss him on his forehead, youknow, just showing him that love
and affection because the onething that.
Kind of messed me up growing upwas how cold like people think

(51:22):
I'm a cold person But it's notit's not because I'm a cold
person.
It's that I've seen a lot ofthings so I'm immune to it Yeah,
so when you see a lot of badthings 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 nothaving the same sympathy you're

(51:43):
having because I've seen death.
I've seen a lot of death, notnatural causes, not dying from
natural causes.
I've seen murder and thosethings just make me immune to a
lot of things in life.
So I may not have the samefeelings other people share and
they look at me like, man,you're just cold hearted.
And I was like, no, by no meanslike I do feel I do have
feelings is that I'm just immuneto a lot of things that.

(52:05):
Just affecting me from my pastthat just led me to just not
show the same amount ofemotions.
Other people may show right?

Omar (52:12):
No, you know what we get out was the word that the
desensitized to a lot of thingsand I believe that's almost like
a survival thing Like youmentioned not not getting too
emotional like uh, like in mymarriage like my wife's the more
emotional she's morecompassionate And I would say
probably like compared to her,people might think that I'm
cold, you know, cause I'm notgoing to break down and start

(52:33):
crying.
Like you mentioned, like, whensomebody passes away or that,
and she might, but I thinkthat's a good balance, you know,
like what, we were both losingit, you know, like who's going
to kind of like, you know, likebe in control or, or, or know
what, what step to take, whatchoice to make and, uh, in a
matter like that.
But unfortunately, I mean, thosethings shape us into the men we

(52:54):
are today.
But you know, it has this badsides, but it has this good
sides too, you know, where wecould still kind of like focus
and try to just be in tune inthe situation.
Okay, this happened.
What do I do now?
Instead of like breaking

Haasan (53:07):
down and being self aware.
I think a lot of it, if you justgo through life and you know,
you have these shortcomings andyou 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 awork in progress.
When I do something wrong, Imight offend somebody or they
might say, Hey, it's on me, man.
You're a cold dude, man.
You're not even, that doesn'taffect you.

(53:28):
I have to stay, I have to, youknow, take a moment and think
like, you know, you might beright.
You know, I don't always want tobe defensive.
Because I, I'm very accepting offeedback.
I wasn't always that way, butnow I can accept feedback.
And, you know, if it's for thebetter to make me a better
person, I'm all for it.
You know?
Yeah.
Yeah.

Omar (53:46):
I think I would agree with that too.
Like at first when somebodywould tell me something, my,
like natural thing is rightaway, put up a fence, like
defensive, like, man, I don'twant to hear it.
And, like you mentioned, I'mmore open to it and.
You know, like, okay, well, whyare they're telling me that?
Is there some truth in that?
It's something that I need towork on, especially as a man of
God.
You know, if, if we're seekingon following on, maybe God's

(54:06):
using that individual or thatsituation, whatever we just went
through to me, he's trying totell us something, man, you, you
can't be that way.
You know, you're, you'resupposed to be an, an ambassador
of Christ, you know, like, man,so we got to represent him here.
So for

Haasan (54:19):
sure, for sure.
No, absolutely.
Hey,

Omar (54:22):
I want to go back, with, with JC.
We had a conversation he's likeman, I want you to ask him some
things man, oh, you rememberwhat you told him in the
beginning?
Because he mentioned somethinglike that.
You were the first guy to everbelieve in him.
And, uh, he's like,, make sureyou ask him, man.
Like, do you remember some ofthose first things that you told
him?
Or how, like if you look back,like, in the, in those

(54:43):
conversation, how, how did thosego?
You know.
Yeah, it was

Haasan (54:47):
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 likethat, but we started building
this relationship and it wasjust him.
Keep in mind.
I've seen hundreds of guyscoming across my desk hearing
the same stories, but it wassomething about him.
I don't know what it was.
It was something about hisupbringing, the things he went

(55:09):
through and everybody.
My story is not much differentthan other people.
Everybody has a story.
They've been through something.
Yeah.
And it's always somebody that'shad it worse than me.
So I don't want to make it seemlike I had it bad.
I had it bad, but there's otherpeople that had it worse, but it
was something about his storythat just resonated with me.
And I said, I was drawn to that.
So we would just keep, we wouldjust have these deep talks.

(55:31):
And I would just only that theone thing I could just remember
telling them is said, JC, if youserious about it, come find me.
I say, when you ready.
Come find me and I never toldanybody that I never told, I
never people, you know, whenthey're all paper and they're
done, I never see him again.
I may run into him at thegrocery store and they, you
know, say thank you for makingmy, my time with you easy and

(55:53):
not being on me.
But that was the extent of it.
But with JC, it was somethingdifferent with me and him and it
was, we connected and notknowing that this was all, or
this was all God bringing itfull 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 meand I kept my word that if you

(56:14):
serious, I'm gonna help youbuild this thing.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm gonna support you in everyway possible.
And to this day, I do that if heneeds something or he need me to
be somewhere just to representwrong and strong.
I'm gonna do it.
It is never, he never has to askme twice.
Gotcha.
Um, yeah.
And so for, for that, I love himto death, man.
I'm a, I'm gonna love him forthe rest of, you know, our life

(56:34):
here on earth, man.
'cause you know, he, the thingshe's doing and the way he's
connecting through people, youknow, God's really using him
and, you know, I, I just lovethat for him.
And I always, and you know, youknow, it's funny'cause it was
always in the back of my mind.
I want this for him, but I knowhe's not ready yet.
He's not ready to.
He's not.
He's not there.
But when he made that commitmenton his own and decided to let

(56:58):
Christ in and let the HolySpirit just move to him, man.
Yeah, this is this is only thebeginning.
Like, this is just a smallportion.
It's going to get bigger forhim.
I can, you know, he's touchingpeople.
Look, you got your podcast inChicago.
It's going to, it's, he's goingto be touching people.
He's going to be touching peopleall four corners of the U S at

(57:20):
some point.
I already know it.
And the earth,

Omar (57:21):
man, for real, this is all him.
You know, that's, uh, I don'tknow if you know the story, but
he said he was in prayer one dayand he calls me, he's like, Hey
man, I was praying and I feelGod wants you to start a podcast
just like that.
I don't know nothing about nopodcast, man.
He's like, Like, all right.
So from him, you know, like him,uh, praying, seeking God, I

(57:42):
believe is all God and prayingand then believing kind of like
you, he, he, this is what hetold me on the phone.
He's like, man.
It gets me mad that, that he, hedon't want to admit that, that
he played a big role in whereI'm at today, talking about you,
about you believing in him andspeaking to him.

Haasan (58:01):
Yeah, it's because you know what?
I don't want to take the lightoff of him, man.
I'm a big, I'm a big supporterof everything he's doing.
But the foundation had to startsomewhere and he started that he
laid the foundation for whatthis was going to be.
He did not see that it was goingto go to this place where it

(58:22):
involves the kingdom.
He didn't see that.
I didn't even see that at thetime.
I just knew that he wanted tostart something and touch a lot
of people doing it.
And he did do that.
And now the next step is what'sthe message that you're going to
give, you know, because you cantalk about this.
You can talk about that because.
He could have took this in awhole different direction and

(58:43):
start talking about all kinds ofother nonsense But he didn't he
didn't he shared his testimonyHe shared his life experiences
that other people can relate tobut then he now implemented that
kingdom into it Yes, becausethat you know, God is first man,
and that's the most importantthing.
He realizes

Omar (58:59):
that amen the gospel man That's one thing that said the
gospel is going forth man onthese stories in the podcast
Man, all these stories, man,they, they point people to
Christ and what he's doing inour lives, man.
But, uh, oh yeah, I just wantedto retouch on that.
Cause he's like, man, he's like,

Haasan (59:14):
man, I hope this conversation, even if it just
reaches one individual, youknow, hopefully, you know,
whoever listens to this, itcould 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 throughsomething, but what's the next
step at some point you got totake the responsibility.
And say, you know what?

(59:35):
You know, let me, let me, let metake the best step forward and
do what's right.
Um, let me let God in, you knowwhat I'm saying?
But the part that people have torealize when you make that
commitment to Christ, lifedoesn'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.

(59:55):
Your prayer is not just Godlistening.
The devil's listening to so heknows your weaknesses.
And so with knowing that, yeah.
Life is always going to be hardat some point.
Things are always going to beattacking you from different
areas because we know that Godisn'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 knowwhat's what.

(01:00:16):
And a lot of people don't alwaysknow how to do that.
And that's why I tell peoplelike 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'swaiting for you.
I can tell you that.

(01:00:36):
I don't know about you, but Idon'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, foreternity.
That's, that's, that's what we

Omar (01:00:46):
strive for.
Amen.
Amen, brother.
Thanks.
Thanks for sharing that.
And man, any final words?
And then if you could close thisout of the prayer, you

Haasan (01:00:54):
know, nah, I just want to say thank you for having me
on here is it's a blessing initself that, you know, we ran
into each other and I'm able tobe a part of this.
Um, so I thank you for thatbrother, you know, you taking a
chance.
We just have this conversation.
Oh, no, man,

Omar (01:01:08):
for sure.
As soon as I heard you sharethat, like we're doing the Bible
study right away, man, Iinterrupted us.
Hey man, I gotta have you at thepodcast.
We got to share that part of thestory.
Cause it's a huge part, man.
Cause, I believe it's all Godbehind 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

(01:01:30):
that brother.
Cause you already had your Godencounter at that time, right?
You're, you're already likeseeking God.
And like you mentioned, maybeyou didn't go right out and
share the gospel with him, butman, like God through you
encouraged that brother and, andsowed some seeds in his life
that years later, like arebearing fruit and you're still
part of that.
And you get to see that.

(01:01:50):
And now we're seeing a rippleeffect of that.
Like going into me, we got thatbrother, uh, Sean Ray, uh, uh,
doing the Bible study.
And we got men that jump underfrom, there was a guy in,
Pittsburgh, guys here in thecity in Chicago.
And the crazy part is you gotmen on a Friday night doing a
Bible study together.
Like, like on a Friday night,trust me, they'll be doing all

(01:02:14):
types of stuff instead of doinga Bible study, but man, God's
definitely moving.
Uh, too Wrong To Strong as aministry.
And man, I believe it's just thebeginning.
I believe he's been connectingpeople on purpose and for a
purpose.
And I'm, I'm excited to be apart of this or to write along
JC, along you and all theseother brothers that are, that
are coming along, man.
And, uh, man, let's see what Godhas in store for us, man.

(01:02:35):
I'm just, I'm just riding thewave of the spirit, man.
And Lord, wherever you lead me,I will follow, you know, and
that's honestly, that, that'swhere I'm at at this point in
life, you know.

Haasan (01:02:45):
That's it.
That's it.
Amen, man.
Amen.
Amen brother.

Omar (01:02:48):
Yeah, I could close this I could Please do brother

Haasan (01:02:51):
in prayer.
Yes I'm, not I won't say i'm thegreatest at prayers, but I
always speak what comes in myheart and yes You know what
comes in my mind?
Amen Father God.
I just want to take the momentin time to just thank you for
allowing me to be here I know atany moment, you know, that can
be taken away, you know, thewages of sin is death, but the

(01:03:12):
fact that you sent your one andonly son here to save me, to
save us, for me to be here, tobe able to be on this podcast,
to be able to talk and give mytestimony, I just pray that my
words are able to at least reachone individual and for that
individual to be, to be broughtto you.
I know you love us, father.

(01:03:33):
I know we don't always do theright things.
But despite our disobedience,father God, you still love us.
You still watch over us andthank you for the strength and
the courage that you give eachand every day.
I want to pray for all the WrongTo Strong team, father God, that
you watch over him.
Whether there's some of ourbrothers that are incarcerated

(01:03:55):
right now, some of our brothersthat are going through a
difficult time.
I asked father God that youwatch over them and you be with
them, father God.
But it is in your name that wepray.
Amen.

Omar (01:04:08):
Amen.
Amen.
Thanks.
Thanks for being out here,brother.
And man, we're going to getready to wrap up, man.
Thanks for sharing that story.
Uh, and I just want to, I wantto share this real quick to
those of you that have beenlistening to this podcast, if
you guys could, I believe onSpotify and Apple podcasts,
there's a way that you guyscould, rate, if you could go on
there and you could comment,leave a review, this will help

(01:04:28):
the podcast get, gain moretraction on there.
So I believe you could, you havethe ability to like put five
stars on there.
So man, if you've been listeningto this supporting this, uh,
please just take a minute and dothat.
They'll definitely help getthese stories out there to, to
more people.
You know, this platform is likewe mentioned.
Share what God's done in ourlife, how we've gone from
darkness to light and from WrongTo Strong.

(01:04:49):
So with that, we're going to getready to close out, uh, Matthew
four 16 reads"The people who satin darkness have seen a great
light and upon those who sat inthe region and shadow of death
light has dawned." Alongside mybrother, uh, Hassan.
My name is Omar Calvillo.
We are.
Wrong To

Haasan (01:05:07):
Strong.