The Story of Faith Over Fear

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There are a set of rules you live by when working for the devil. These are the ‘hood rules’. They are as follows; my neighborhood comes first, caring for others is soft, it’s not ok to do better, don’t believe in what you can’t see, hustling is the only way to live, and the more babies you have with different women  the bigger man you are. In 1994 everything changed for me. My Baby Kachiri Was born and for the first time I realized working for the Devil was not good enough. I knew I wanted to change but did not know how.  I started hearing a different type of voice telling me something that I thought was a lie. Like, “you can do better for her if you start saying no.”  “NO I won’t hang out,” “No I don’t want to sell drugs.”  But, saying no was hard for me these were my friends. I have done time and crimes with them and now this voice is telling me to choose between them and my baby. 

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2003 was my last time going to jail.  It was the hardest time for me because I felt like I had let my baby down. So I started to do odd jobs to replace the income of selling drugs.  I started working with a handy man and he showed me a different way to work.  He showed me pluming and dry wall. The more I did in a positive light the more other friends would want to learn how to stay out and not hustle. So, it started to be more than me others were depending on me to stay out.

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In 2004 my mom and her Sisters and I were in a car accident.  My mom got hurt bad and she was sent to a convalescent home to get better.  This is when my faith began to change. I now know, that through God I can do all he asks of me. I am walking in my gift whether I want the gift or not. I never chose to be a servant to all but the God in me is in control.  Walking on the faith that I get from Jesus, this is how I live the best way I can.  We feed because we know that starting a relationship starts with trust.  Most homeless people don’t always get breakfast or dinner. We feed those that need it most. We mentor to those that most have given up on.  Jesus walked with those that didn’t have.  He fed those that could not feed themselves. He said when you feed the least of them you have fed me. I am one of them and we want to feed those that are the least.  We will feed the youth that most say are high risk. These are the ones that need to know that the hood rules are wrong but you must first build that trust. Faith Over Fear Hospitality Bus is an old access van that we turned into something we can feed out of and provide resources otherwise they would not have access to.  It is still undergoing work to update it to where we would be using it more. The bus gives us an opportunity to teach the youth to pay it forward reach one teach one. I have been doing this same work in Pasadena with some of the younger gang members that want something better. So I know it work, change their way of thinking, by giving them the key to reality.