1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,160 Welcome to the God's gonna podcast where our mission is to encourage and highlight God's 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:17,600 goodness and modern day miracles. We are your hosts, Josh and Shelley Hankins. Today we have 3 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,560 with us a special guest. You're gonna love it. We have Ralph Gatchal with us and he was 4 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:27,920 introduced to us by pastor Rick Cardell. He had a few episodes with us so check those 5 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:33,760 out. He has a playlist in YouTube. I got to add one more to it but we'll get there and you'll be 6 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:39,440 blessed and encouraged to listen to those episodes because they're pretty cool. And Ralph is going 7 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:45,360 to open our episode up with an opening prayer. So thanks for being here Ralph. Thank you. Lord Jesus, 8 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:50,720 I just come before you and I just ask the words that I speak be blessed of the Holy Spirit. Let 9 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:57,120 them flow for me as you would will to help anybody that would hear the podcast. Anything that I have 10 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:03,520 to say let it be of your blessing and let it come out with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I ask 11 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:10,160 that your holy and most precious name amen. Amen. Thank you for that. So where would you like to 12 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:16,640 start Ralph? Well I've gone through a rough time in my life at one point. Went through a pretty bad 13 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:25,440 marriage and when you lose a wife you start thinking differently and you become self-destructive. 14 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:33,440 In my case I got so self-destructive that I literally pointed again at the man that was with my ex 15 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:41,360 and as you all know when there's a weapon involved it doesn't take long. The police are on your door 16 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:49,920 and it cost me dearly. I lost my children. Everything was gone that I valued. My life I did 17 00:01:49,920 --> 00:02:00,080 not even feel like continuing living. At one point nearly took my own life. Very nearly. But God in 18 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:09,600 my conscience said no, no. That moment probably is what changed my life and brought me to why I'm 19 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:18,320 here today because I have such an awesome testimony only by the Lord Jesus. My life is valuable now. 20 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:24,720 I've been able to serve as a servant that I could not have done if I would have taken my life 21 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:30,800 and if I would have given up. Don't get me wrong. The early days were bad. Lots of bars, 22 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:39,040 women, all the wrong things. But I'm here today to tell you that no matter what your situation was 23 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:47,200 or still is, you can come out of it. You have to pray. You have to ask Jesus into your life. If you 24 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:53,760 do that, your life will change so drastically even you won't believe it. It has done that to me 25 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:59,840 and I have so many things I could even explain and share with you what God has done. I hope to 26 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:05,200 earn this podcast. Some of that will be revealed to you and I thank you for listening. 27 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:13,200 So I was wondering what was your relationship with Jesus before all that altercation went down, 28 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:20,240 before you were standing ready to take another person's life? I actually was raised Catholic 29 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:28,000 and we did attend a local Catholic church in the community but I did not know Jesus. I did not know 30 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:36,160 Jesus. I would go, we'd listen to the sermons, our children were baptized but I did not know Jesus. 31 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:43,120 I had no idea who he really was. Do you think being able to point a gun at another person 32 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:48,400 made it that much easier for you to rationalize being able to do self-harm? 33 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:56,640 I believe pointing the gun at another person at that point looking at myself and how I went down 34 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:02,960 that road to that point, I had given up. So I think I could have done anything to myself just to get 35 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:09,520 out of that. I thought the easy way out was to shoot myself, blow my head off. However, as you all 36 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:14,400 know you see, I'm here. I'm glad that you did that. Always fear it came within me and just 37 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:21,600 something happened. No, no, no and I did not. I was powerless. So did you ever question that 38 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:28,400 something in you that said no, no, no? I did but at a later time after I came to know the Lord Jesus 39 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:36,160 in the process of changing, I began to look back on my life and I saw where he came into my life 40 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:42,160 and was trying to help me but I did not recognize it back then because I did not know Jesus. I did 41 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:47,360 not know what the Holy Spirit was. That is so powerful because I think I even shared this 42 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:53,680 in a podcast, maybe my testimony, but at one point I asked God to show me where you're like, 43 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,760 or I kept asking where he was in my life on all those points but it's hard. You know, I was like, 44 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,400 if you only were in my life revealed to me sooner, I wouldn't make these mistakes now. 45 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:06,960 He let me down that road to see where I refused him and he was there the whole time 46 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:11,120 in every instance where I turned him down and it was and so when you said that, man, 47 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:17,360 I bet it really sparked a memory in me, you know. Obviously, I'm not alone in how God convicts some of 48 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:23,600 us. I think that's amazing. Please go on. How did you even get to that point where you would 49 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:30,960 even think of Jesus as someone? Well, after the police came and arrested me and I knew that I 50 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:36,880 was going to be doing some time, I was going to lose my house. The children were glad to go with her, 51 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:42,720 which honestly, I know they were raised okay. It was not a problem. The one thing I did when the 52 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:50,400 divorce was being finalized, I allowed her to keep the house, just pay any back taxes and did not 53 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:56,160 try to force a sale so that I would get half because I knew the children would have a place to stay. 54 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:03,200 At that time, I had a son eight years old and daughter seven. It was tough. I saw everything 55 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:09,200 losing. It was just all my whole life was going down the drain and I didn't think to call out to 56 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:17,760 God, but being as I was raised, even before I went into prison, I knew to get on my knees and pray. 57 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:23,920 When I'd come back from a night at the bar dancing and things you don't even want to know, 58 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,640 I didn't do any drugs. I didn't go out, but that didn't make it any less harmful. 59 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:35,360 I just get on my knees and I'd say, God, please, please, please help me. I don't want to be this 60 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:42,160 person that I am. I do not want to be me. Please, please, please help me. I do that every time. 61 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:47,760 I'd come in one o'clock in the morning drunk and still get on my knees and ask them to help me. 62 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:55,280 To this day, I believe that's why once I got to prison and I had time to think 63 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:02,640 and see, reflect on my life, that God came into my life through a series of events, 64 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:09,040 being invited to the chapel, meeting the right people to tell me who Jesus was and why I needed 65 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:17,760 him. It took a while. In 1991 is when I went to prison, Western Penitentiary, anybody knows that 66 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:24,000 place. It's not a very nice place. It was freezing cold over there. Is that the old Allegheny County? 67 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:29,520 Yes, the old Allegheny. I've heard stories about this. Yes, it was a prison. It was a prison, 68 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:37,600 but one night in my cell, something in my heart was just bouncing around. I knew I needed to do 69 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:45,360 more. I just called out my very words to this day. I can remember. I said, God, I have no idea why you 70 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:51,360 would even want a person like me. I'm bad. I've done a lot of bad things. You probably hate me, 71 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:58,480 but I said, if you really, really care about me, would you please, please, please come into my life 72 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:05,760 and help me? I still at that point didn't know Jesus. I still called upon God, three and one, 73 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:16,240 same entity, same person. But something happened and these huge tears started coming down. 74 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:24,720 It's still emotional. I still feel it. I still see it that day in the cell. Tears came down, 75 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:31,600 were dripping on my arm and I didn't know what that was. I looked down, saw these drops of water. 76 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:39,280 It was me crying that deeply because I believe at that moment, even knowing not how to ask Jesus 77 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:45,200 into my life, He came. He sent the Holy Spirit at that moment, even through my own ignorance. 78 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:53,920 Something happened and it changed me. I could tell something was different and my life really 79 00:08:53,920 --> 00:09:00,480 changed from that day forward. I mean, God is faithful and He does say that there is no excuse. 80 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:05,120 If you look upon creation that you will see Him and praise Him and you went to your knees and you 81 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:10,080 praised Him and you worshiped Him and you begged Him and you told Him how much you cared for Him 82 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:17,280 and He did not leave you wanting. I think that's tremendous. I mean, absolutely tremendous to be 83 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:23,520 in that place where you don't do it all right. Right? Nobody did it by the book, but neither 84 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:27,280 did the thief on the side of the cross from Jesus. He didn't do it by the book either 85 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:32,640 and he still had salvation. He didn't know that Jesus was the way of the truth in the life. He 86 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:38,960 had no idea. Right? And so, I think we get wrapped up on semantics often and it's very confusing for 87 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:44,720 people who want Jesus, but they don't know how to invite Him in. They don't know how to open that 88 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,880 door and they think that there's a magic prayer and there's not. And most people acknowledge that. 89 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:54,160 Most decent Christians acknowledge that there's no magical prayer that is the prayer that you pray 90 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:58,880 and that what it is, it's the Spirit behind it where you say the quiet part out loud where you 91 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:04,640 acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. And so, even if you don't know His name, God is faithful to our 92 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:10,000 heart. He knows that our heart is toward Him and that is the catalyst that changes everything for 93 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,640 us is that when our heart towards Him, whether it's Him through the Holy Spirit demonstrated, 94 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:20,240 whether it's Him as Himself or the Father, whether it's Him as His Son is Jesus, like we turn our 95 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:25,040 heart towards Him is when things change in us and I think that's a tremendous story. I mean, 96 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:29,680 absolutely tremendous change for you and I'm so happy for you that you got to experience that. 97 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:36,240 That part resonated with me that you knew Jesus, well, you knew of Him and you would pray, 98 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:42,560 but you would still do the worldly things, not chasing after Jesus. But then when you decided 99 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:48,320 to chase after Jesus a little bit and turn towards Him, that's when everything changes and then 100 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:53,600 you build that relationship and then it's the gradual sanctification process. So, tell us more 101 00:10:53,600 --> 00:11:00,080 what happened when you were in the prison. Well, this is how I know that that night Jesus centered 102 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:05,440 my heart. Where I was at, when you're in the intake in Western Ben and Tentra, you were not 103 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:11,840 allowed to have anything. You could have commissary, you were allowed to buy some honeybuns, which was 104 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:17,280 a big deal back then. But you really weren't allowed to have anything, you were not allowed to 105 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:22,720 purchase anything until you were processed through. The fellow that was in the cell beside me, 106 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:30,720 he was getting ready to leave the very next morning. He came over to my cell and he handed me 107 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:39,040 a bunch of colored pencils and he said to me, Ralph, he said, I heard you last night. He said, 108 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:45,200 oh my, he said you had me in tears. He said, I don't know why, but something tells me 109 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:52,880 that I should just give you these and he did. He gave me colored pencils and it changed my time 110 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:59,040 immediately there because I was able to draw cartoonish figures on the envelopes that I made out 111 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:06,960 like a lot of inmates do. You have a lot of time. The cell was very small. It was six foot by eight 112 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:14,160 foot. My cell. Very small cell and I'm telling you, you had a little desk about a foot and a half wide, 113 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:20,640 a foot and a half deep. That's where you did everything. You usually had to sit on a great 114 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:28,000 white throne to do that. Should I say stainless steel throne? Anyhow, that same day I was out 115 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:34,160 in the yard and somebody said something to me about the church service that they had there. 116 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:43,680 And I no longer remember Billy Graham's right hand man's name, but he was actually volunteering 117 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:48,160 as a minister for the church service for the non-denominational church service there. 118 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:53,280 And one of the inmates said to me, yeah, you want to go check it out and get you out of your cell. 119 00:12:54,160 --> 00:13:01,760 So I did it and oh my, we went in there, they started singing and I never sang like that. We 120 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:07,600 didn't sing like that at our church. We didn't sing for Nisoul. We didn't sing blood of Jesus. We 121 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:15,520 didn't sing songs like that and it moved me greatly. It, something happened again that day 122 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:20,960 and I wanted to go back for more. The second time I went back, he gave me a Bible and he said, 123 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:28,400 if I were you and you're serious about trying to come to know the Lord, you need to be reading this. 124 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:34,240 And I suggest you start in the New Testament. He said, once you have the New Testament read, 125 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:39,040 I'll give you directions for where to go. He said, when you come back again, if you do, 126 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:48,800 I'll lead you to Jesus. And so be it. He led me to Jesus and I started reading. I found a lot of 127 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:56,640 enlightenment in the Bible and it showed me that no matter how evil I thought I was, which I was, 128 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:03,600 that Jesus forgives and that forgiveness is what gave me the hope. And once I accepted 129 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:08,720 Him as my Savior, from that point on, they had free Bible studies in there that they could 130 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:14,800 send you through the mail. I worked diligently, very diligently to learn and make sure I didn't 131 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:20,960 make any mistakes. I looked up the verses and funny thing is, when you start looking up verses, 132 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:27,760 you see yourself throughout the Bible. You see the people that were stoned because of their sins, 133 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:34,560 only you weren't. You see the people that were hanged because I, Jesus, only you weren't. You 134 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:43,680 had a second chance and I knew it. And so I thirsted so badly to get that done. And I quit 135 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:49,280 complaining about my situation, accepted it and tried to just move forward. 136 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:55,600 And how long were you in prison for? I was in prison for seven and a half years. I had a nine 137 00:14:55,600 --> 00:15:02,960 year sentence. And at the time when I knew Governor had come in at the time, I can't remember 138 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:08,880 rightly what his name was, but he said, if you do serious crimes, you do serious time. And they 139 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:14,640 quit allowing you to get out on your minimum, which would have been at that point four and a 140 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:20,960 half years to nine. I would have been out at four and a half, first time offense. So the first time 141 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:29,200 that they gave me a hit, it was an 18 month hit. It broke my heart. But the nice thing about it, 142 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:37,920 God had a plan I was only at Western Penitentiary for maybe six, seven, eight months. They transferred 143 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:43,760 me to Greensburg SEI. And there they have a lot of programs that you can get involved in, a lot of 144 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:51,680 school classes. And just for the first year I was there, they opened up the Westmoreland County 145 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:57,920 Community Business College to the inmates. They came in, you were allowed to take classes. I felt 146 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:04,240 that I needed to learn to write better and know better English and know how to do things referring 147 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:12,880 to literature. So I took all the classes that I could get. And fortunately, I studied well enough 148 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:19,920 that I got A's on my tests. And for the one year that they allowed the inmates to have college, 149 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:27,600 I made the president's list. And that again was all by Jesus because I was working at three o'clock 150 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:33,040 in the morning. I had to get up and go down to the kitchen and start cooking and getting breakfast 151 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:39,280 ready for the inmates. You didn't get out of there till 10 o'clock the next day. So the classes were 152 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:44,720 two, eight o'clock at night. Inmates aren't very quiet from eight to twelve. So I got very little 153 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:51,520 sleep underneath my eyes for pure black all the time because I wasn't getting sleep. So I just said 154 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:56,480 a little prayer. Lord, would you please get me out of this kitchen? Give me a job somewhere where I 155 00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:07,120 can continue to do all this. And still be able to manage my classes. So not even a day later, 156 00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:12,720 somebody took me off at there was rooming the weight anyx. The lifting the weight anyx for the 157 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,240 inmates. They said they're hiring down there. If you get down there and you get in, you won't have 158 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:20,960 to get up at two or three in the morning and go to work. It'll start at nine in the morning or 10. 159 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:28,640 I went down, they hired me on the spot. And they said the only thing is we're gonna have to put you 160 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:35,440 outside in the snow because inside in the gym, those slots are all taken. I didn't mind. I did it. 161 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:45,040 I loved it. And it also by building physically, by building strength physically, adding to the mental 162 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:53,040 strength that I was gaining and being more secure inside the two together, it did something to me. 163 00:17:53,040 --> 00:18:01,120 I didn't see prison as such a horrible place to be. It was more a place to grow. And that's what I did. 164 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:09,360 A lot of stories that we've actually had in our podcast that come out of the jail system. And 165 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:18,080 I love the transformative power that that level of despair can cause a man to come to, 166 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:25,440 that he genuinely seeks Jesus, genuinely seeks God. The transformations that we have seen from so 167 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:33,680 many people. It is so much like Paul, right, when he's in prison and he just sings and the walls, 168 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,440 where all the prison doors like bust open wide and all the prisoners leave except him, right? 169 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:42,640 Because he still has a job to do and he still stays for the guard, you know. And it seems 170 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:49,440 that this is something as close to Jesus as God's heart to reach people in their desperation while 171 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:54,320 they're in prison to say that you are not irredeemable and let that be a lesson to everybody 172 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:59,360 listening that no matter what you think you've done, we've had people that have done, you know, 173 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:04,720 committed heinous acts against other people and God has forgiven them. God has allowed them 174 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:13,040 to be in their kingdom, to be adopted as the son of the most high God. And you are not any different 175 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:18,560 from these men and women that we have on our podcast, that you are worthy, you have worth, 176 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:24,960 you mattered to God and there's nothing you've done at all, at all that would cause him to not 177 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:30,960 allow the sacrifice of Jesus to be yours as well, to not allow that to cover you. I love the 178 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:36,560 transformation that we hear from from prisons and addictions. We have a lot of freedom of addictions 179 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:41,680 as well that, you know, is if you can't see God moving in our world with that, I don't know how 180 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:47,920 to help you. I don't understand people in prison and they don't, I guess, do the Jesus thing, 181 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:54,880 so to speak. You know, like what an empty life that would be without focusing on something. 182 00:19:54,880 --> 00:20:00,240 I met a man once when I worked at a busy beaver in college who had been to prison for five years 183 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:05,200 and he said the first two years he was just mad. He wasn't seeking Jesus, he was just dwelling in 184 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,360 his anger and the three years after that he said, then he would, he had learned his lesson and he 185 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:14,160 said it was miserable. So he went from angry to miserable and he didn't turn to anything because 186 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:18,960 he just turned to his own emotion and I think that's what causes people not to seek Jesus is 187 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:23,440 because they don't want to, they want to consult themselves with themselves. 188 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:31,120 I know that I could probably go on for days and tell you all the testimonies but I'll speak this 189 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:37,280 along a little. I want whoever out there that this needs, you need this in your ears, whoever you are 190 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:45,120 that are worried about things or not sure how God can help you in a situation with what God did for me 191 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:52,880 while in prison, after all my faults. If he can do the things for me that he did for me in prison, 192 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:56,480 you've got to remember he owns everything, he owns the whole earth, he owns everything. 193 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:04,240 He made ways for me in there that a lot of folks never got to see and it brightened my days, 194 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:09,680 it gave me hope. Hope was the most important thing you need when you're in prison, you need hope. 195 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,760 They actually, I was in the wait-and-exec for quite a while and I used to take on 196 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:19,520 inmates that couldn't defend themselves, the ones that people would steal their 197 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:25,520 commissary off of them. I would try and invite in people that were very weak and didn't have 198 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:30,880 any self-confidence because those are the ones that needed help, they needed to stand up for 199 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:37,600 themselves. I learned through praying that he can do all things through Christ and in Ecclesiastics, 200 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:45,280 as he states in Ecclesiastics, there's a time for everything and my time was then to grow in Christ. 201 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:52,720 So he gave me a heart that changed the way I saw others and those that were weak that would get 202 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:58,480 picked on it would just, oh, it would hurt me so bad when I would see it. So I started standing 203 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:03,920 up for them because I'd been lifting weights for a while and putting the weights away every day and 204 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:11,360 got pretty strong and actually at the age of 40 years old, God blessed me to be able to bench 205 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:18,720 315 pounds and I know there's a lot of stronger people and it wasn't about how much weight, 206 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:25,200 it was about where he brought me from the 100-pound day I started and how it helped me build self- 207 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:31,440 confidence in my life. I knew I could do anything in Christ. I started participating in the church 208 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:38,400 much more, many more Bible studies. Rima Bible College ended up sending me their whole course 209 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:45,120 and when I was done completing it, they can tell if you cheat if you stole the answers off of somebody 210 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:53,520 else because they have worded essays that you have to explain your answer. So I did well on those, 211 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:58,800 well enough when I was done with their course, I asked them if there was any way they could send me 212 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:05,840 things on manuscript writing, advanced English, anything that could help me become a better writer 213 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:11,840 to write articles because I was being so inspired to write while I was in there and 214 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:17,360 I got a letter from somebody there that said, I think we can help you with to check with your 215 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:23,520 journal to see if you're allowed to receive this but if so, we'll send it. They sent me three courses 216 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:31,920 on literature and manuscript writing, book writing, advanced English, everything to help you to word 217 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:38,320 your words so that they flowed smoothly and you weren't putting a lot of double words in there 218 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:45,760 that didn't need to be double negatives, double anythings and it helped me greatly but in the 219 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:52,000 course of doing that for some reason somebody gave me a calligraphy book and to this day, 220 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:58,880 to this day, just this past week a friend of ours was getting, their daughter was getting married 221 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:03,840 and they asked me to do the table, the people's names and table numbers in calligraphy because 222 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:10,080 they liked it so much and it was such a pleasure for me to do that as knowing that I learned that 223 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:15,840 in there. It was a God-given gift and I was able to utilize it to help somebody at their wedding 224 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:23,440 and it's just so much joy. Everything God gives you when you utilize it, it will come out as joy 225 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:28,560 in your heart. You'll know that it's joy. I'm telling you, I'm so happy when I did that and 226 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:34,640 they wanted to know if I wanted anything for doing the work. I got all I needed just for doing it 227 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:40,160 because of the pleasure of being able to do something that God blessed me with and I still 228 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:47,200 did a stay to it. I love it. I did a lot of the articles in calligraphy back then but God then 229 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:53,440 blessed me to go to the auto mechanic shop which I liked. I wasn't there six months and the teacher 230 00:24:53,440 --> 00:25:00,000 liked me so much he made me a teacher's aide so I got to stay outside the fence and work fixing 231 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:05,200 cars and guess who some of the cars are fixed? They're the very guards that watched over you. 232 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:11,760 So they get to know you and I ended up making some pretty good friends that were guards 233 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:17,280 helping them with their vehicles. I loved it because I wanted them to have the best job done 234 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:23,920 on their vehicle that could be. The minister there, Pastor Watkins at the time, he liked me and he 235 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:29,440 asked me if I'd consider going out and doing speaking engagements to Juveniles and they have 236 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:36,560 a juvenile center in Youngwood at Greensburg so you were allowed to wear your better clothes and 237 00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:44,000 he had me write a letter to the warden to get clearance to MC Clarence. He approved it and 238 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:50,400 there I was getting to leave the prison with the pastor in his car and eat at King's Restaurant. 239 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:58,320 Youngwood. Food that you just don't get in prison. Again, little things like that. 240 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:05,280 There's so much joy and all the years now since it's been that I've been there. I got to meet with 241 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:11,040 my pastor, I got to take him and his wife out for a steak dinner and we reminisced, we cried, 242 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:18,160 lots of tears because when God works on things he makes them permanent and our friendships with 243 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:26,080 those guys are permanent. So a wonderful experience there. I know I'm talking about prison but it was 244 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:31,040 a wonderful experience because God was in it the whole way. Well, isn't he the only one that can 245 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:38,240 make it a wonderful experience? Everybody that's ever mentioned their time in prison has always 246 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:45,760 had a better experience after their relationship with Boston with Christ, never before. And so 247 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:52,000 in prison was designed by men that know that this is a place that you don't want to be. That's right. 248 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:58,160 And Jesus can't take you out of the prison but he can take the prison out of you and that is 249 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:04,080 evidenced by the joy that you had being there, right? That he loved you so much that he rewarded 250 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:09,280 you for your faithfulness, that he is always faithful and you experience prison differently 251 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:14,560 than your fellow prisoner, right? You experience it through a lens of joy, 252 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:20,080 right? Isn't that right? A lens of praise. That's how we're supposed to be. We're not in all 253 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:25,040 adversity. That's how his children are supposed to be and he gives us the moments of joy and gives 254 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:30,080 us those moments to praise him and to glorify his name. He loves that. He loves pouring out into us 255 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:36,880 and I love to hear that. I noticed a theme throughout this episode that you would ask and then you 256 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:42,400 would receive. You would ask and then you would receive and you kept finding favor like Joseph 257 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:49,680 and when he was in prison he was appointed, you know, head over the prison or whatever the guards, 258 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:55,600 whatever he was but he was raised and his level was raised so it's just really neat that you kept 259 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:00,560 asking and then it took you to the next step and the next level up and you kept getting better and 260 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:06,400 better at various things and then he came out this well-rounded person and it was kind of like a 261 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:14,800 like a vacation so to speak. Intimacation, you do lose your freedom but sometimes in the silence 262 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:21,520 of not having freedom you gain a great ability to be able to better yourself because there's no 263 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:29,600 distractions and the truth is I tell my wife and this is a testimony in itself, I tell my wife 264 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:35,200 all the time that prison was actually good for me and people would think, are you nuts? 265 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:43,280 Well no, it depends on what you use your time for so I'll get right to it. I kept praying and praying 266 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:52,000 and praying for a good Christian pen pal to write to and the pastor told me at Grainsburg, Ralph, 267 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:59,520 if you want the best you need to pray and fast. You need to pray and fast for three days just 268 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:05,680 something to drink that don't eat any food, don't cheat because if you cheat you're cheating on God. 269 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:14,160 So I prayed and fasted and as it turns out on the third day when I was done and I went down to get 270 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:21,680 lunch I came back and the guard said, hey Ralph there's a letter here for you. It turns out that 271 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:28,560 one of those guys that had no self-esteem and my weight lifting group that needed a lot of help 272 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:35,680 and I pulled him into a group and helped them out with the help of God. He saw something that was 273 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:42,960 worth on. He got stronger, he helped his disabilities. When he left he went to this person and asked 274 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:50,000 them if they would consider writing to me. The letter came on the day of my that I ended my fast. 275 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:56,160 That woman, I sent her the first letter and told her why I was in there right off the bat, 276 00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:02,880 everything the truth, everything. It's now my wife we're going to celebrate 25 years this October 16 277 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:11,680 and you want to talk about blessing. She is the best woman you could possibly want. She loves me 278 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:17,840 in spite of myself at times and that's what God gives you when He gives you something. He gives 279 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:26,480 you the best and this woman Susan is the best. 25 years coming up on October 16th we're going to go 280 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:31,840 back to the cabin where we had our honeymoon this year up in Cook Forest and we're going to probably 281 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:39,600 have some tears but it's just one of the little things that happens if you just keep your faith 282 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:48,320 and don't give up. God is faithful even when we're not and our heart is in the right place. We often 283 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:53,680 fail anyway but God never fails so pray it's God for that. Excuse me that's a little bit 284 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:58,880 there for there. No, no you're okay this is the same place. We're all children of God here so it's 285 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:06,240 this is okay. I was tearing up the first time you had tears because it wasn't the Holy Spirit 286 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:12,640 just fills you. It just for me it just oozes out his tears. It was thick in the room. 287 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:20,320 I have been so moved that woman started coming to see me. She used all her vacation time, 288 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:26,000 all of it to come see me and when we were finally allowed to have picnics outside she'd bring a 289 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:32,160 whole feast of food, invite my father, my family, my mother and siblings and come on out and have 290 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:39,040 the picnic on the grill and I'm telling you the times that that was they are such fun memories 291 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:45,120 because they were only a part of God grooming me to be a better servant and how to be one. 292 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:55,040 But this woman stuck beside me and they finally transferred me to Wainsburg SCI 293 00:31:55,040 --> 00:32:04,960 which is down in Wainsburg. It's a state prison but it had no fence. It had no fence. I said what? 294 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:12,720 A prison with no fence? Well I had gained enough respect and the prison saw something in me to 295 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:19,040 allow me to keep the two MC clearance so when I got there they had a mechanical shop and I asked 296 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:25,760 them hey you need a mechanic. He said well as a matter of fact our mechanic's leaving in a week. 297 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:31,840 So a fellow by the name of Mr. Petrus at the time. I don't even know if he's still around but he was 298 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:38,320 a big part of my life. He said well I need you first. I need you first to work down our sewage 299 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:43,040 treatment plant. He said wear screens down there we got to clean out. Let's see how you approve 300 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:48,960 yourself. He said a topside defense it's a quarter of a mile away from the prison. I drive you down 301 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:55,760 there you're free. No cops know anything if you want to walk away you can. Well in that experience 302 00:32:56,400 --> 00:33:01,920 I got to see deer. I got to see squirrels. I got to see turkey. They come right up to you where 303 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:09,840 you're working when you're walking on the job. It was such a wonderful fulfilling sense of freedom 304 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:16,720 when I was out there. Yes it was a sewage treatment plant. Yes I found dentures in the screens and 305 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:23,520 amongst a few other things I don't care to talk about but the part was I had a job where I was 306 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:31,280 still being taught by God patience understanding and at that time I didn't know. Like I said there's 307 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:38,800 a time for everything. Ecclesiastics couldn't be clearer about that. He was teaching me and I didn't 308 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:45,360 know it at the time. He was teaching me he was preparing me but soon the mechanic left and he 309 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:51,680 needed me to work as a mechanic. I got down to work on a mechanic and what happens they get eight 310 00:33:51,680 --> 00:34:02,080 brand new prison vans outside the fence dodge vans in that year which was probably 90 or six or so 311 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:09,920 and he called me the office and he throws me the keys to all these brand new vans outside the fence 312 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:17,040 with five miles on them. Now just try to imagine being an inmate and your boss is 313 00:34:18,720 --> 00:34:25,200 a hand full of brand spanking and keys. Some kind of a vehicle with the keys. No fence. Here you go. 314 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:31,120 My face must have said it all because he looked at me and he said Ralph here's how it is. If this 315 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:36,640 prison system trusts you enough to give you a two mc clearance who am I to doubt you? He said if 316 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:41,120 you're going to go go. He said don't catch you though add five years to your sentence they'll 317 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:47,520 catch you but I have to trust you that's why you're here that's why you have a two mc. I said well 318 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:54,160 I'm not contemplating leaving I'm just so overwhelmed that somebody would trust me with brand 319 00:34:54,160 --> 00:35:00,080 new vehicles outside the fence. He told me to do hundred point inspections on it make sure everything 320 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:07,120 was up the par took a while but it gained my trust with him and he started taking me to east liberty 321 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:12,960 to their warehouse to get chairs and tables and that feed us some real food sometimes. 322 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:22,320 And it was also an adventure and it was a lesson and just to make this so that you can understand 323 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:28,320 that God has humor and we're created after his own image. He is humorous and you might not see it 324 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:33,680 a lot when you read his words but we're created after his own image where do you think we get 325 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:40,640 humor from? So he takes me out to east liberty to get some tables and stuff and on the way back 326 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:46,800 in my boss says hey Ralph your girl's here waiting for you for a visit and she lived in 327 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:53,600 Pittsburgh she came down to Winsburg to visit me so she had to wait for me to go up and change the 328 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:58,400 clothes and get shired and come back down to visit her whenever I was out where she's from. 329 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:05,040 It just kind of made me laugh because that's how God is. He gives you enlightenment when you need it 330 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:11,680 the most and he sure put a big grin on my face that day when I told her oh I was over in Pittsburgh 331 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:18,560 I'm sorry I didn't get back in time. I love how it just got stood corrected when I said that Jesus 332 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:25,520 can't take you out of prison. He did. He gave you the prison experience of freedom you know you knew 333 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:30,640 that if you left that you would be in a worse place right and so you enjoyed the freedom that you had 334 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:39,440 and enjoyed the work that you did and I mean long away just amazing. He blessed me so. I'm like I'm 335 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:42,880 sitting all confident oh yeah Jesus can't take you out of prison but you can take a prisoner out of 336 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:47,040 here like yeah well now he took you out of prison like while you were still there. If he walks again 337 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:53,120 anything is possible with Christ. Yep so I stand corrected I apologize I was wrong Jesus can take 338 00:36:53,120 --> 00:37:00,880 you out of prison. This is more favor. He definitely I ended up pursuing more things and enjoyed the 339 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:07,760 choir there was a woman there named Mrs. Long Helen Long who knows no longer with us but I loved her 340 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:15,040 dearly she was very good at teaching you to sing. I loved singing but my notes were about as flightless 341 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:23,120 a band cake she taught me how to sing and to use my baritone voice which isn't very popular with 342 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:29,840 singing but if it's fit in with the tenors and the bassist you can sound very well and you can fit 343 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:37,840 in and add to that choir. So she added me in and gave me some solo parts and I found great joy when 344 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:44,960 we'd have a big assembly meeting where we would put on Christmas shows or Easter shows and it just 345 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:52,240 built my self confidence and I continued to writing and started sending articles out to various churches 346 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:58,320 those churches sent them to various other places I started getting letters from the Philippines 347 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:05,440 from England from out west the oldest living martial in the United States he found one of my 348 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:12,720 articles the value of nothing. God blessed me to write those things and one of the people I met 349 00:38:12,720 --> 00:38:16,720 when they came out was still carrying one of the Minnows Bible he said I read that every now and 350 00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:24,160 then because it inspires me that's what Jesus does. He put those words sometimes in the middle of the 351 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:30,080 night it's stopping out of my sleep and I'd have to write in the dark and my lines were my words 352 00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:33,840 were all over the place because they weren't on the lines I had to figure them out in the morning 353 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:41,680 but he inspired me to write also maybe that's why I needed those courses. I was thinking earlier 354 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:46,400 when you're talking about your wife and how you would have picnics and the whole family getting 355 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:51,520 out on a picnic that that must have been some letter you wrote you know to get it going and of 356 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:56,160 course it makes sense that you had the grammar you had the literature you had the English courses 357 00:38:56,160 --> 00:39:00,800 that you took that was some letter that you wrote you know because you didn't see her right away 358 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:06,400 it was just correspondence right and that turned into something else from just the letters that's 359 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:12,400 incredible. I think the important thing is is God I prayed about the letter I wrote back and God 360 00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:19,360 told me don't hide the truth put it right up front in your first letter let her know the truth 361 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:26,400 and I did that I told her I said if we're to have a friendship it has to be built on the truth 362 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:32,160 because that's what God wants and she said when she got it she was rather taken back 363 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:39,680 a little but she knew in her heart that it was okay because I wasn't afraid to share it with her 364 00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:46,480 and sometimes we still talk about it I mean it's in the past but we bring it up once in a while 365 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:52,560 and enjoy how God brought us through that it's just so wonderful how he makes a way where there 366 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:58,480 don't seem to be one and he does it constantly in your life. He's really good at it. He's like 367 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:02,800 it's his forte so I just make my way it's where where there isn't one like I just create a way for 368 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:08,320 you out of the blue just right there you can't imagine it because it doesn't exist to you. 369 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:16,080 We actually had quite a few miracles in there and one of the women that I was writing through she 370 00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:22,000 was a school teacher and she came from England from Sherwood Forest and she moved to Wilmington 371 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:28,480 in North Carolina and she started sending me letters and she would send me literature to help me 372 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:35,040 improve on reading and writing and I was doing some poetry at the time and she encouraged me to 373 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:42,400 continue to do that. I'm glad I did because some of it got published and it isn't to me it's not 374 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:48,320 that it got published oh wow look I got something about God has nothing to do with it. What it has 375 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:54,720 to do with is for example the one poem that I wrote was called Emotional Glass about how the pieces 376 00:40:54,720 --> 00:40:59,680 of your life and soul are all over the place in your life and nothing's coming together but what that 377 00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:06,880 poem shows is how Jesus can bring all those pieces back together and put them in their correct place 378 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:14,320 and make it a song. It's just unbelievable the National Library poetry actually put that in there 379 00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:22,320 top 30 out of thousands of poems and I still have the book at home and I read it because I remember 380 00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:28,000 the moment the night that Jesus gave me that and sometimes when I know somebody going through 381 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:34,080 struggles that are suffering and they don't know how to get their life together or put the pieces 382 00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:39,520 of their life back together I'll let them read them and explain how Jesus got me through that 383 00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:46,160 that's why he gave me that so I can share it with them and I know when to do it because God 384 00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:52,320 leads you and tells you when to do it otherwise they just sit in a shelf they sit there with dust 385 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:58,480 on them sometimes but when the time is right they come out for the right person so I thank you Lord 386 00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:05,600 Jesus for that too you always encourage me at the right time I can move on to the latter stages 387 00:42:05,600 --> 00:42:12,800 if you would like sure okay as things progressed in prison of course by then I was pretty confident 388 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:20,160 I had no fear of other inmates sadly some of the worst ones actually like me for some reason I don't 389 00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:26,720 know why maybe because I would share a cookie or share a honey bun or whatever somebody needed 390 00:42:26,720 --> 00:42:32,320 something you try to give it to them it was the Jesus in you that they were sharing it's like a 391 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:39,680 moth to the light it just can't be stopped they're like oh what is that I like that the 392 00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:45,120 worst you are the more you need him one of the fellas that I actually had a lot of fear of because 393 00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:51,040 he was a pretty strong fella he came and sat with me at lunch one day and he said who are you 394 00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:56,560 how can you be so happy you're always smiling we're in prison you know he said we're eating 395 00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:01,600 prison food with bugs in it and you're sitting here enjoying your meal like if you're having a steak 396 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:08,560 dinner and I just told him I said put the blessing upon it ask Jesus to bless your food and you'll 397 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:14,960 like it a whole lot better it helped me to get through some of the meals that there is no doubt 398 00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:22,480 and on several occasions I did find bugs in my food especially at western venitentiary you have 399 00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:27,760 to push them aside and you have to eat because if you don't eat you're going to be hungry you have 400 00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:34,480 to eat so I ate anyhow just move whatever it was aside whether it be a broccoli or 401 00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:40,720 a worm or whatever it was and we did have several of them you just had to in your heart say well 402 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:45,920 this is what happens when you go to prison you're not going to have steak dinners you're not going 403 00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:50,800 to have french fries you're not going to have meatloaf you're not going to have roasted turkey 404 00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:58,480 you're going to have stuff that can be thrown together quickly a lot of starches but still you 405 00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:04,480 get used to it and you accept it and if you don't grumble about it you actually end up being able 406 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:10,640 to survive because you can enjoy it because the income wasn't much I actually made it all the way 407 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:17,840 up to 19 cents an hour oh wow for work when I was working when I was working as a mechanic at 408 00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:23,280 Williamsburg I got all the way up to 19 cents an hour I was able to buy shampoo real shampoo real 409 00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:32,000 soap and still have a treat and that was kind of nice but once my pen pal got to know me closer 410 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:38,080 she started leaving a little bit of money in the books for me to have a treat and hickory farms at 411 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:43,520 Christmas they used to allow us to bring a package in and she'd get me a hickory farms package and 412 00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:52,000 it was like a feast of a can you can sit and have that cheese and that sausage and M&Ms in some 413 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:58,160 packages and stuff you'd never get to get so we'd lay them all out at Christmas we'd go to each other 414 00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:05,120 dorms and we'd invite people in and share share the bounty because it would make such a difference 415 00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:10,800 in those person's lives that couldn't even have that it was so nice to see the smile on her face and 416 00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:17,040 it was just wonderful you don't mind giving away something when you know that those people are 417 00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:25,120 enjoying that so much I agree so it was pretty easy actually and my then girlfriend she made sure 418 00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:30,880 that I had enough stuff for those holidays to share with others and she'd say did you share 419 00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:37,360 did you share to this day she lets me know when I'm going five or eight miles over to speed limit 420 00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:44,400 believe me she lets me know that is what that is what a good christian moment 421 00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:53,600 do I get irritated oh yeah I get irritated tell me how to drive however in realistic view you have to 422 00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:58,480 look she's only doing that because she loves you she don't want you to get it to her get 423 00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:07,920 another accident so be it so continuing from the Waynesburg air I had gotten another hit so there 424 00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:14,240 I was I was up to doing seven and a half years out of the nine and when I went up for review 425 00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:22,880 at the parole board they told me do you have any work jobs in places you used to have to 426 00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:27,520 before you went to parole you had to get jobs set up so that when you get out you could go to a job 427 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:35,440 well I utilized so many good ones earlier in the times that I went up for parole that there were 428 00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:43,040 no more there were no more so when I went up they said what what job do you have in place I said well 429 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:49,280 I had good jobs in place the last couple times I came up for parole and you rejected me so I lost 430 00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:57,440 those forever I said as it stands I have none I said however I am not afraid to work and when I 431 00:46:57,440 --> 00:47:05,040 get out if I'm sent to Johnstown I said I'll find a job I'm not afraid to work I said I'll get a job 432 00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:11,920 I said I know I will and I said that's where that stands I don't have anything in place 433 00:47:12,720 --> 00:47:18,880 and I thought they were just going to tell me well another six months came back my green sheet 434 00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:22,800 which they called was the decision that they would make by the parole board it would come 435 00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:30,960 in a male green sheet approved to go to a halfway house in Johnstown yeah but he cried on that one 436 00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:37,440 oh my god I could not wait to share that with my girlfriend who by that time we would have been 437 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:45,360 together for like three years already time flies you know she came all the time to support me 438 00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:56,560 so I got released in November of 1998 just a few days before my birthday the first thing we did was 439 00:47:56,560 --> 00:48:03,600 ran straight to Burger King and had two whoppers three large fries a big milkshake and believe me 440 00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:09,200 I know that's not what God wanted me to do but forgive me it was delicious I'll never forget 441 00:48:09,200 --> 00:48:17,280 that my family came and enjoyed that time with me now you're out after so much time you're not 442 00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:23,200 allowed to handle money all of a sudden now you have bills in your hand there's a great amount of fear 443 00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:28,240 because you know if you have bills in your hand or money that's contraband you're not allowed to 444 00:48:28,240 --> 00:48:34,080 have that you're going to go to the hole place they lock up with no light no windows and so it 445 00:48:34,080 --> 00:48:41,280 takes a quite an adjustment the longer you're in prison the harder that adjustment is but my girlfriend 446 00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:46,640 would ride the train in from Pittsburgh and come and come to see me over at the halfway house and 447 00:48:46,640 --> 00:48:52,800 would go out you were allowed to go out three hours at a time until you got a job and would walk 448 00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:58,720 down and would talk about things and she helped enlighten me and take away some of the fear she 449 00:48:58,720 --> 00:49:06,560 prayed with me often and again when God puts somebody beside you a companion most likely 450 00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:12,560 you're not going to find anyone like that person because it's God sent she helped me through a lot 451 00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:19,680 of fear back then one little thing I will add it's a little funny I'll put it in here I went to 452 00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:25,920 call her one day from the phone in the park I picked up the phone I dialed the number and the 453 00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:34,160 phone made this crazy note and I couldn't get through what what the heck is going on I said 454 00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:41,120 and when I finally got through to her she said that's the facts I said what's the facts what's 455 00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:48,480 wrong with this machine she said you don't know what a fact is I said uh no you lose time when 456 00:49:48,480 --> 00:49:54,160 you're in there you lose track of what's going on in society it passes you up it blows by you and 457 00:49:54,160 --> 00:50:00,640 you don't know what has changed in society to this day we still laugh about it because I'll do that 458 00:50:00,640 --> 00:50:08,160 every now and then so look at me and bust a gut laughing because now I know what a fact is but 459 00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:14,640 I got a job at a furniture store moving washers and dryers I had a driver's license which I did 460 00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:21,200 not lose and I got to drive the truck and deliver appliances and I liked it because it let me be 461 00:50:21,200 --> 00:50:26,720 out of work all day I would get to go to st. Vincent de Paul's in Johnstown and those people 462 00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:35,600 so gratefully shared their time to serve people in need for food and oh man was that good food I was 463 00:50:35,600 --> 00:50:40,080 spoiled rotten going to st. Vincent de Paul some people wouldn't even want to go through that line 464 00:50:40,640 --> 00:50:48,640 but let me tell you those people give from their heart and that food was delicious I'd go for lunch 465 00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:56,880 every day delivering washer and dryers and the boss was eighty eighty four eighty five and she 466 00:50:56,880 --> 00:51:04,640 got sick after I was working there for three months her son was a cancer specialist in New York 467 00:51:04,640 --> 00:51:10,640 a big top of the line cancer specialist I had to make the call I found her bleeding laying on the 468 00:51:10,640 --> 00:51:17,200 floor and I called I got through to the hospital where he was working and told him that was up 469 00:51:17,200 --> 00:51:24,320 and I told him I'd keep the store after keys I'll run the store he came in and he came to visit with 470 00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:30,320 me a little bit and he said what am I going to do I said let's pray first this is what having 471 00:51:30,320 --> 00:51:37,840 God in your life can teach you always always pray when you lose that key in the snow or you lose 472 00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:42,880 your wallet or you don't know where you put your phone don't go hunting for anything just say lord 473 00:51:42,880 --> 00:51:47,280 you know where it is you have the eyes you see it would you please lead me to it that's what happens 474 00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:54,960 so I prayed with this man and he looked at me and he said you know my mother told me you're one of 475 00:51:54,960 --> 00:52:00,480 the best employees she's ever had you do everything that she asked of you and she trusts you and I said 476 00:52:00,480 --> 00:52:06,000 well I hope so I'm a Christian I assumed all Christians were honest well let me tell you 477 00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:14,720 that's not necessarily the truth but Christians are fowlable we're not perfect I make mistakes once 478 00:52:14,720 --> 00:52:21,040 in a while even to this day I'll let a word out that I would never let out normally but I know I'm 479 00:52:21,040 --> 00:52:28,640 not perfect I go before God and ask forgiveness so he said would you run the store and come in here 480 00:52:28,640 --> 00:52:34,240 in the morning keep this place going till we can figure out what to do at this time my wife was in 481 00:52:34,240 --> 00:52:40,560 a count where she worked and she came in and she laid out this spreadsheet how we could liquidate 482 00:52:40,560 --> 00:52:46,720 that store for them the model number the value what was paid how much you were going to sell it for 483 00:52:46,720 --> 00:52:55,440 taxes etc etc etc down the line and move everything and so I told him I can do this even though I 484 00:52:55,440 --> 00:53:02,080 was an inmate I was still living at the correction center I can do this I'm sure I can do this he 485 00:53:02,080 --> 00:53:09,840 trusted me he trusted me and guess where my help came from I know where this is going the correction 486 00:53:09,840 --> 00:53:17,200 center I hired the people that I trusted to help me get stuff ready to get it on the truck and one 487 00:53:17,200 --> 00:53:23,520 gentleman had a license that I knew trusted him to deliver to the people and you want to know what 488 00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:33,200 that is so $40,000 worth of appliances in the first month and that's because God had his hand on me 489 00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:40,240 he was making it work he was showing people that no matter what your situation was you could be a 490 00:53:40,240 --> 00:53:46,000 good servant you could be trusted I love the fact that these people trusted me enough to 491 00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:52,720 liquidate their store and I'm living in the correction center this testimony is important to me because 492 00:53:53,600 --> 00:53:59,120 this man he would check the bank every now and then he'd call me and tell me Ralph I don't think 493 00:53:59,120 --> 00:54:04,080 if I could hire somebody I could have this done this well he said I don't know how you're doing 494 00:54:04,080 --> 00:54:10,880 this but keep it up I would always tell him I'm doing this through Jesus because Jesus is the one 495 00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:16,560 who gives you the right things to do he tells you he got you and he helped me through that so we 496 00:54:16,560 --> 00:54:22,240 liquidated his store in three months and all the stuff he didn't sell he said I was allowed to put 497 00:54:22,240 --> 00:54:28,400 out for garbage or sell guess what I had big yard sale on the big glass windows ended up making a few 498 00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:33,040 thousand extra office stuff that would have went into garbage that he allowed me to keep and then 499 00:54:33,040 --> 00:54:42,320 my wife to be in October of that year we'd be getting married it was July 15th or so we were 500 00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:52,240 done with the store liquidated cleaned out I moved her father let me move into their house where my 501 00:54:52,240 --> 00:54:59,200 then wife was living by herself and she had to move out and live with a girlfriend so that I would 502 00:54:59,200 --> 00:55:05,120 have a place to come to pitchburg and stay while I was trying to find a job and that's the kind of 503 00:55:05,120 --> 00:55:13,840 Christian father she had now you understand why my wife is as she is and her sisters they're the same 504 00:55:13,840 --> 00:55:20,560 everybody tries to help each other so there I am living in their house and her father hardly 505 00:55:20,560 --> 00:55:27,200 knew me at all and trusted because he said if my daughter trusts you I trust you and I moved into her 506 00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:35,440 house she moved out in an apartment with a girlfriend so now to wind this down a little bit and sum it up 507 00:55:36,160 --> 00:55:43,760 comes the best part of all and I'm just telling you to this day it still makes me cry because 508 00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:52,800 it just goes to show how good God is he's a really good God I wasn't in Pittsburgh two days 509 00:55:52,800 --> 00:56:02,480 and in July of 99 I believe that was in July of 99 yes that's when we had the microburst in 510 00:56:02,480 --> 00:56:10,000 pitchburn and I had her out to lunch from her work across the street from a golf course South 511 00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:16,000 Hills Country Club pretty prestigious place private club she worked at the GBU which is an 512 00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:23,200 insurance organization and I had her out the sky turned green and the wind started blowing 513 00:56:24,320 --> 00:56:30,000 and it started shaking the car around really bad I said just just stay tight stay tight while we 514 00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:35,120 were in the car we were watching all these huge trees fall on the road fall over at the country 515 00:56:35,120 --> 00:56:40,720 club big oak trees pine trees they were just coming down right left and it was raining so hard 516 00:56:40,720 --> 00:56:46,400 it put down like three inches and less than 25 minutes that's how hard it was raining it flooded 517 00:56:46,400 --> 00:56:53,600 the road trees were down and I just jokingly said to her wouldn't it be something if I got a job 518 00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:59,280 right across the street from where you've been working for 20 some years guess what that's what 519 00:56:59,280 --> 00:57:05,760 happened God let me the very next morning I went into that golf course and I'm gonna I'm 520 00:57:05,760 --> 00:57:11,040 my hands do I do things with my hands I like to work with my hands I'm outdoorsy I walked into there 521 00:57:11,680 --> 00:57:18,160 and they had trees down everywhere that a small group of people I knew how to run a chainsaw I 522 00:57:18,160 --> 00:57:25,680 was from the country I knew how to run one and I said look I need a job I'm right out of prison I 523 00:57:25,680 --> 00:57:32,080 told them you know I told the guy the story and I said look I'm a good worker and if you want you 524 00:57:32,080 --> 00:57:38,000 could hire me without pay for a couple weeks and I'll show you that I can be trusted I can do the 525 00:57:38,000 --> 00:57:45,280 job and he said well at this point whether I trust you or not I need help we got you see what's 526 00:57:45,280 --> 00:57:52,560 out there in that course he said our car is closed we got trees all over everywhere so he hired me on 527 00:57:53,520 --> 00:58:00,160 and I liked working with the chainsaws I knew how to sharpen the chains so he gave me devices to do 528 00:58:00,160 --> 00:58:06,320 that and one thing led to another to another to another and before you know it he was raising me 529 00:58:06,320 --> 00:58:12,160 from the seven dollar and honor start wage up to about eight dollars which back then in the 90s 530 00:58:12,160 --> 00:58:18,320 starting out out of prison that that was way better than minimum wage and he just kept bumping me up 531 00:58:18,320 --> 00:58:26,000 bumping me up and his job positions open he wanted to keep me and he did but during this entire time 532 00:58:26,000 --> 00:58:33,760 my wife she had one hour from lunch guess where we had lunch every single day except for one or two 533 00:58:33,760 --> 00:58:40,480 bad stormy days in the golf course parking lot we got to share lunch I had a half hour she had an 534 00:58:40,480 --> 00:58:48,560 hour she'd be waiting with the air conditioner on to keep me cool and we enjoyed that meal so much 535 00:58:48,560 --> 00:58:56,000 together we got to do that for a lot of years a mile from where we lived so no big miles on the 536 00:58:56,000 --> 00:59:05,600 vehicle we practically walked there it was wonderful I just retired from there eight years ago now 537 00:59:06,160 --> 00:59:12,240 and I had 18 years in with that golf course and she's retired now when we go by there we still 538 00:59:12,240 --> 00:59:19,200 smile because the story was I mean come on what more of a blessing could you have it's got to work 539 00:59:19,200 --> 00:59:23,520 right across the street tell us that you uh you'd get like a bag of Wendy's and just sitting 540 00:59:23,520 --> 00:59:30,560 apart and not reminisce once in a while it's wonderful it's been and that's just how my life 541 00:59:30,560 --> 00:59:37,920 has been our wedding was wonderful and we both got to work our working years and now we're retired 542 00:59:37,920 --> 00:59:44,960 and we're enjoying life I did do prison ministry in Elginie County jail for a while they allowed 543 00:59:44,960 --> 00:59:51,440 me to take their security class and at that time the warden would allow people that had convictions 544 00:59:51,440 --> 00:59:58,800 in there and do church service for the inmates so fortunately for about a year or a year and a half 545 00:59:58,800 --> 01:00:05,920 I was able to do that until a new warden came in and didn't like having convicted felons doing 546 01:00:05,920 --> 01:00:12,640 one things like that so he stopped it but I made a few friends at that time I write to a few of 547 01:00:12,640 --> 01:00:20,480 those guys to this day and it was a time it was the season as the ecclesiastic says it was the 548 01:00:20,480 --> 01:00:26,960 season and it worked out perfectly and I still know some of those fellows and I encouraged them to do 549 01:00:26,960 --> 01:00:33,120 well and it makes me feel so good to be doing God's work instead of doing the work I was doing 550 01:00:33,120 --> 01:00:42,800 the devil's work it's such an improvement let me tell you so and now three of the prayers I did when 551 01:00:42,800 --> 01:00:48,960 I did that fasting I'll sum this up three of the prayers one of the most tomorrow find a good pen 552 01:00:48,960 --> 01:00:53,840 pal which you all know now how that worked out the other was my brother would not speak to me 553 01:00:54,560 --> 01:01:00,320 and a fellow that was abused badly sexually as a young boy where fishnet's talking to 554 01:01:00,320 --> 01:01:06,960 the cell he was crying all the time and very I asked if God would come into his cell and steal 555 01:01:06,960 --> 01:01:12,560 him give him his peace make him calm bring tears to his eyes let him know that he was loved 556 01:01:13,360 --> 01:01:19,440 and I prayed for my brother to be restored to me all of the above were answered all of them 557 01:01:20,640 --> 01:01:27,520 not all in that immediate moment they fell in the other cell he came and told me that evening 558 01:01:27,520 --> 01:01:31,920 were you praying for me I said yes he said what did you pray I told him he said oh my 559 01:01:32,800 --> 01:01:39,280 he started crying God actually came in this cell the Holy Spirit entered him and gave him a comfort 560 01:01:39,280 --> 01:01:46,240 like that you can only get from God and he told me all about it when he was crying telling me so I 561 01:01:46,240 --> 01:01:53,120 know I know when you pray and fast there's even more power in your prayer my brother after I was out 562 01:01:53,120 --> 01:01:58,720 for a year invited us for a picnic I finally got to know him thankfully I got to know him very well 563 01:01:58,720 --> 01:02:05,360 because at 61 years old he passed away to do the COVID so I got to restore my relationship 564 01:02:05,920 --> 01:02:14,160 as for my children last August my daughter was in the hospital and nobody was really coming to 565 01:02:14,160 --> 01:02:20,240 see her and she was desperate and she had blood clot in her legs and problems going on and she 566 01:02:20,240 --> 01:02:26,160 said she was laying there wondering if her father was in her life what would I be there well of 567 01:02:26,160 --> 01:02:33,520 course I'd be there I knew I'd be there she reached out to me last August so now we've had a year 568 01:02:34,400 --> 01:02:43,440 already of reestablished relationship and it is wonderful and I believe eventually that my son 569 01:02:43,440 --> 01:02:50,560 will come around it please and God I have faith that that's going to come in his time also so I 570 01:02:50,560 --> 01:02:58,400 would say the last piece of the puzzle that needs to be put into place is the day that we're called 571 01:02:58,400 --> 01:03:06,240 home until then I'm just going to try to do what he has been giving me to do including this podcast 572 01:03:06,240 --> 01:03:12,560 I'm not going to tell you I wasn't nervous I was but I think it's important some of you out there 573 01:03:12,560 --> 01:03:19,760 that may hear this might say man and I think I have problems well I was there I'm just telling you 574 01:03:20,320 --> 01:03:30,000 please no matter what it is how serious how simple just go before Jesus ask him please ask him to 575 01:03:30,000 --> 01:03:36,960 help you just a simple thing of something you lost or you've got a relative that said now remember 576 01:03:36,960 --> 01:03:41,520 praying for them to be revived and come back and be healthy isn't always the right correct way to 577 01:03:41,520 --> 01:03:48,720 pray always put in and yet that God's will be done because God might have a better plan than you know 578 01:03:48,720 --> 01:03:56,560 for sure that person you must let God make that choice but by praying for that choice he will give 579 01:03:56,560 --> 01:04:03,360 you the understanding when the time comes and you will understand as I now do thanks to God coming 580 01:04:03,360 --> 01:04:11,120 into my life way back when I was in Med Salon Western Benitentiary and it's been a wonderful ride 581 01:04:11,120 --> 01:04:17,920 I'm loving it it sure does make a person a whole lot happier inside the fear is gone 582 01:04:18,560 --> 01:04:26,400 the sting of that death is gone I'm ready whenever that time is bring me home Lord 583 01:04:27,040 --> 01:04:32,560 awesome yeah I'd love that absolutely love that Ralph how am I thank you so much for sharing 584 01:04:33,600 --> 01:04:39,120 a tremendous testimony for opening up for being vulnerable with us and our listeners 585 01:04:39,120 --> 01:04:45,840 I thank you so much for leaning into the teachings of Christ and hearing how he has blessed you for 586 01:04:45,840 --> 01:04:51,440 every time that you step towards him I just loved hearing about that we enjoyed having you on as a 587 01:04:51,440 --> 01:04:58,720 guest Pastor Rick recommended you and he did not disappoint Pastor Rick and I genuine man of God 588 01:04:58,720 --> 01:05:05,200 yes for sure and if this episode is blessed you we ask that you pass it along and be an encouragement 589 01:05:05,200 --> 01:05:11,120 to somebody else so they can be inspired and live closer to Jesus as well because he changes everything 590 01:05:11,120 --> 01:05:35,520 and with that we'll talk to you next time