Testimony

Part one: The first step in the wrong direction.

When I was between the ages of ten and thirteen, I was introduced to marijuana. From that one time experience, my life was set up for a ride that would take me down a road that would lead to self-destruction in many ways.

When I woke up the first thing I wanted was marijuana. Getting high gave me a false sense of confidence and empowerment. It enabled me to face my fears. If I didn’t get high, life was difficult to deal with. I needed it to feel normal. Life would win against me if I wasn’t feeling confident and empowered. To me, I couldn’t live my life without marijuana in my system. It gave me not only the ability to face my fears, but to deal with life challenges that presented themselves.

In my own understanding, I thought marijuana was helping me to be productive in life, but in actuality it was debilitating me from having a productive life.

God revealed to me that marijuana was only a tool the enemy (Satan) used to set me up for a greater ride that would lead my life down another road that would bring great pain and humiliation.

Part two: Living life without hopes and dreams.

It was the end of the eighties when I was introduced to crack cocaine. One of the most powerful drug (tool) the enemy has used to destroy many lives. I can only thank God that my life was spared.

I was always a person that cared about the way I looked and carried myself. I tried to dress like Morris Day, and I had a jheri curl like Michael Jackson. I took pride in the fact that lots of girls wanted to be with me; and believe me, I took full advantage of those opportunities. As a matter of fact, having lots of girls in my life is where my self-worth came from. I learned from my two cousins to see women as sex objects; only to satisfy my sexual needs. When I started smoking crack cocaine I lost my self-respect . Not only did I stop having pride in the way that I looked and presented myself, but everything else in my life that mattered came to a stop; like playing the drums. Something that I loved and was really good at. Crack cocaine turned my life up side down.

I was on crack cocaine for about two years. Within those two years I did some things I never thought I would do. Not that I became a hard core villain who went off the deep end, but a lot of my morals and values I was raised with were compromised. I did things like stealing and lying to my family. I dropped out of school. Started hanging out in places and building relationships with people who were on drugs like I was. It was a way of life that killed all my hopes and dreams.

One night my friend and I had smoked a lot of crack. When we had smoked all that we had, I was left out in the street. He lived with his girl friend and her family, so he had a place to lay his head. As for me, I was a long way from my mom’s house. I will never forget it, I went to the pay phone and called my mom to come pick me up. As a loving and caring mother does, she got out of her bed to come pick me up. When she arrived, I got in the car. This was a very low point in my life. For the very first time, I confessed to my mom that I was hooked on crack cocaine. She already knew, but never turned her back on me. Then I said, Mom, I want you to take me to the Apostle (a true man of God) to get help to overcome this addiction. She looked at me and said, “I will do that for you”. A few days later, she took me to the man of God. When we got to his office he said that he was having a revival that week, and that he wanted me to come back on Wednesday for special prayer. We went back, and I received prayer.

Part three: A dream that was short-lived.

It was about two to three months later that my life started down another road that would open a door for me that I thought would never become a reality.

I had moved back home with my mom after getting special prayer. Life was going good! I had started to work again. On top of those great things, I was not smoking crack cocaine anymore. However, I still smoked marijuana.

One day when I had gotten off from work, something amazing happened!  It was when the L. A. Lakers won their back to back championship title. I got off from work, and started to take a walk to smoke some marijuana before the game. As I was walking, a van pulled up behind me that had Inspiration of Soul From Los Angeles California written on it. Lo and behold, my home boy that we called “Lamp” yelled out the window that he had come to get me. This was the person that trained me how to play drums professionally. Therefore, I always had a great deal of respect and admiration for him. By the way, he told me one day he would come back to get me. Well, that day finally came.

We went inside of my mom’s house so they could talk to her about me becoming a member of the group. They had already recorded some of their own music. It seemed like they were well established in the music world. After the owner of the group had finished his presentation, I just knew Mom was ready to give me her blessings. Little to my surprise, she looked at me and said, “boy, why do you want to go off and do something like this? You are doing good.” I said, Mom, this is what I always wanted to do. I can’t pass up this opportunity. When I said that, I could see the hurt in the eyes of my mom and family. However, I couldn’t see myself letting this opportunity pass me by. This was a dream to come true.

I headed off with them to live a dream that I thought would never come true. I was traveling from city to city and from state to state. It was a wonderful experience. Then the day came when we entered the state of California. I will never forget the way I felt when we arrived. You see, I was raised in Pelham Georgia. A place that doesn’t offer many opportunities to better yourself. I always use to imagined what life was like on the other side of the world. You have to understand, this was real big for me!

As time went on, we did lots of singing throughout the city. I smoked a lot of weed while out there in California. Thanks be to God I never was exposed to cocaine while out there.  Unfortunately, there was something else that I was exposed to that influenced my life down another road that Would re-identity me for the worse.

Part four: Being influenced by being exposed.

While I was in California with the group, I was exposed to a certain group of people who captivated my attention. I had never seen anything like it before. They stood out in a way that inspired me to want to know more about them. They had a unique style about them that fascinated me. They had money, cars, and a great deal of respect. Who are these people I’m talking about? They are known as “Crips” and “Bloods.”

I never got involved in a gang while in California, but without knowing it I was being influenced by their lifestyle. Every now and then I would find myself wearing my pants down below my wast. Doing other little things to imitate them. I never joined a gang while in California because I was committed to my music opportunity. By the way, this is what I really loved and always wanted to do with my life. However, there was a major problem, the group was not all the manager pretended it to be. It was far from being a successful group, but it really didn’t matter to me. I was just happy that I had been given the chance to travel outside the state of Georgia.

The time came when it was time to go back on the road. We headed back to Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama. I don’t remember all the places that we went to, but I do remember when we made it back to Dallas. We decided to end the tour. It just wasn’t going that well, and Christmas was not far away. Everyone agreed it was a great idea. Well, for me, I decided to take a trip back home (Pelham, Ga) to spend some time with my family before going back to California. So I told the group that I would meet them back in California after Christmas.

I went home to spend some time with my family. We had a wonderful time. After spending a few months at home, I decided it was time to go back to California to get back with the group. Well, on my way back to California I was going to stop in Longview,Tx to spend some time with this family that I had come to know while singing there. They showed me lots of love. They showed me so much love that I ended up not going back to California. Longview became my home.

Part five: A life of pleasure and power.

It wasn’t difficult to make Longview my home. In many ways it was like Pelham,Ga. The people were down to earth, friendly, kind, and they like to cook and eat that good home cooking. They made me feel right at home.

By the time I got to Longview, I had already developed a mind set of a gangster. The lifestyle that I was exposed to in California had begun to influence my thinking and behavior. When Longview became my home, that was my opportunity to become a full developed gangster. By the way, everybody there already thought I was from California. As you can see, it was the perfect situation for me to take advantage of.

The name that everyone knew me by was “OOZIE.” That was the name that was given to me by Lamp when I went to California with the group. However, the group reconsidered the name because they thought I might have gotten killed with that name. Think about it, I was in California. This was one of the main weapon the gangs used for their life of crime. That name remained somewhere in the back of my mind just waiting to live. Well, this was that time.

I have always given myself completely to whatever I chose to do in life. I don’t believe in doing something half way. Therefore, this was no exception. Believe me when I say this, I committed myself fully to that lifestyle. Though I was portraying the life of a gangster, I still had some unique qualities about myself. With that combination, I was able to build relationships with all kinds of people. It was kind of like being a gangster and a person with good values at the same time. I guess you can say that I was living a life that expressed and demonstrated two personalities. 

I started out developing a group of guys to start my life of crime. We were doing all kinds of crazy things. Things I don’t care to make mention of. My name was becoming well-known throughout the town. Everyone started to talk and ask questions about this guy name “OOZIE.” It came to the point that I was looked at as a small town celebrity among some. To me, this was a lifestyle that I was accustomed to. It goes back to when I was in high school. I always use to dress and carry myself in a way that set me a part from others. In addition to that, when I was playing drums in groups, I experienced this kind of attention. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I was all of that, because the truth is I was a fool with very little understanding about life. Remember, I’m sharing my testimony. These are things that I believe God would have me to share. Thanks for your patience.

One day as I was hanging out in the street, something caught my attention. I saw these young guys wearing I lot of jewelry around their necks and on their fingers. They had big rolls of money in their pockets. This had a strong influence on me. At that moment, I decided that I was going to have me some money and jewelry like that. So my question was, how are they getting that kind of money? Well, that wasn’t a hard question to get answered. The answer was “Crack Cocaine.” Now it was time to take my crime life to another level.

Not long after that day of influence, I went over to talk to one of the person that was apart of that family that embraced me; I said to him, I’m thinking about selling crack cocaine. He said to me, I don’t see why not, everybody seem to like you. That was all I needed to take the first step in that direction. Remember, I use to be addictive to crack cocaine. Keep that in mind!

I had this guy take me to buy some crack cocaine to sell. I made my first investment toward my drug selling career. I was excited about the possibility to start making lots of money like those youngsters that I had met. I hit the streets that day as a drug dealer. I sold all that day, but I didn’t sell out. That night I heard a voice say to me, “go ahead and smoke that dope.” I when up stairs, and I smoked all that I had left. This was the first time since I had gotten special prayer that I smoked any crack.

The next day I had that guy to take me back to buy some more crack to sell. I sold all that day, but I didn’t sell it all. The next day when everyone was gone to the park, that voice said to me again, “go and smoke that dope.” I went up stairs and took one hit of that crack cocaine, and a sickness came over me like I never experienced before in my life. It wasn’t a physical sickness. This was spiritual. From that day to this day which has been about thirty four years as of 7/2023, I’ve never smoked crack cocaine again. I truly believe it’s because I had gotten special prayer from the man of God that mom took me to for prayer.

Now that I wasn’t tempted to smoke crack anymore, my career as a dealer was about to take off. Not only did I make a lot of money, but my life as a gangster went to a whole new level. This time I had power with it. This level of experience destroyed all of those values that I made mention of. I was totally overtaken by this lifestyle. I can truly say that the life of a dealer is just as worse as the smoker. The level of pride and arrogance that comes with that lifestyle is unbelievable!

There is so much to say about my life during those years. Like the shoot outs I’ve been in. The drug deals that could’ve ended my life. Having people wanting to kill me for different reasons. I can go on and on. At this point, I feel God would have me to move on to the next part of my testimony. The next part of my testimony will show the power of God in how He came into my life and changed everything!

Part Six: Life moving in the right direction.

Living life as a drug dealer was kind of a good and bad experience. I made a lot of money, and possessed a lot of things. Many people liked and respected me in the community. However, I was hated and despised by others. Not only that, I always had to worry about the police apprehending me, or some other gangster robbing or killing me. It is a lifestyle that you always have to watch your back. I can remember times when I wanted to end that way of life; one time I did. I got a job. I tried to only be with one woman. I was really trying to do the right thing. Sadly to say that it only lasted about three to four months, then I was back to my life as a dealer, gangster, and player.

Without getting in to all the details, the day finally came when my drug selling career ended. My partner in crime and I were coming from Dallas headed back to Longview with a large amount of crack cocaine when we were stop by a highway state trooper. He found the drugs and we were put in jail. So many times I was able to slip through the hands of the police. My cousin Robert once told me if you keep selling drugs the day will come when you will get caught. Well, those words were proving to be true. As they say, I was caught red-handed. I couldn’t get out of this one. It was time to pay the cost for being the boss.

The next morning I told my partner I would take the case and he was not to worry about trying to get me out. I said take the rest of the money that was left and take care of your business. The only thing that I asked of him was to make sure that my daughter had a wonderful Christmas. She was one year old at the time. Life for me was getting ready to take a turn down a new road that would change my life forever. This is where God stepped in and showed Himself strong.

There I was in jail facing a drug case. After about a month in jail, I started trying to get out. All my attempts failed. It was as if God had closed every door to prevent me from getting out. All those so called friends I had were nowhere to be found. The life that gave me great pleasure and satisfaction was over. It was just me and those that I was locked up with. I was becoming very angry. I wanted to get out and do someone harm. I felt betrayed by those I thought were my friends.

One day this man came to the bars with a Bible in his hand. From time to time different persons would come to share with the guys things from the Bible. Well, on this particular day, I decided to go to the bars to hear what this guy was saying. When I got up to the bars and start listening to what this guy was saying, I heard God say to me, “Eddie, it’s time to come home; I still have a plan for your life.” When I heard God say that to me, my heart was overwhelmed! You see, I grew up in church. I’ve seen the power of God do some amazing things in people’s lives, but when I got up in age I turned to the life of the world. Now after all these years of turning my back on God and putting myself in jail, God says to me those powerful words. I began to cry! How can this be? I don’t deserve that kind of love from God. Those words changed my life. All of the hate and anger that I was feeling just went away. For the first time in a long time I had peace in my life. I thank God for His amazing love and grace!

I was experiencing peace and joy that I had never experienced before. A strong passion to know God was driving me to read the Bible and to share what I was learning with others. This was so wonderful! I felt like a new person inside!

Two and a half months later, my case was dismissed. I was released from jail. There was a flaw in my indictment. I believe this was the power of God at work on my behalf. The only person that I could get to come pick me up was one of my home boys. He and a woman friend of his picked me up. As we were headed back to Longview he pulled out some marijuana, and asked if I wanted to smoke some. Talk about the enemy being on top of his game; he didn’t waste anytime to tempt me. By the grace of God I told him no. I said that I was a christian. That was one temptation I overcame, but you know the enemy wasn’t going to give up that easy.

We made it to Longview. I ended up staying over another one of my home boy’s house. Keep in mind, I didn’t have any family in Longview. I was in a defeated situation coming out of jail. I was back in the same environment that I was in before getting busted.

About a month after being out, I was back to my old ways. Two months later, the court re-indicted me. I didn’t  want to turn myself in. My plan was to go to California and get back with the group, but I wanted to go pay a visit to my family back in Pelham, Ga first. When I got there, I told my mom what my plan was. She said to me, “God has already worked things out.” He had, but not the way I thought.

The time that I spent with my family was wonderful! This time was different from the times I had gone home before. I didn’t have drug money in my pocket like the other times. Trying to impress people that I was some “big shot.” Therefore, I was able to spend quality time with my family. It was the best time I had spent with them in a long time. However, the time came when I would leave to head back to California, but before I could go back to California, I needed to make a stop in Longview to sell my car to get the money I needed to get back to California. Remember what my mom said, “God has already worked it out.” I made it back to Longview. I was trying to sell my car, but I wasn’t successful. No one wanted the car, or didn’t  have the money to buy it. It was as if God prevented me from carrying out my plan. Why? Because He had another plan for my life.

One day I asked God what should I do? He said to me, “turn yourself in.” I didn’t  want to hear that. I tried harder to sell my car, but to no success. Then I turned to God again; His answer was the same. I got tired of trying not to face the consequences for the life I had chosen to live. It became more clear to me this is what God wanted me to do. His plan for my life was about to become so real to me that I would never be the same again.

Part Seven: A transformed life.

I turned myself in on 7/20/1994. This was the day that God revealed himself to me in a way that changed my life forever. I will always remember that day. It was a day that God showed me that He had a plan and purpose for my life. I will always be grateful for that day!

A good friend of mine  took me to the county jail in Tyler, tx to turn myself in. The jailer booked me in. There I was in this holding cell with lots of people. We were in there like a can of sardines. About a hour later, we heard this man coming down the hallway preaching loudly. He was a preacher. Believe me, he was not ashamed of the gospel. After he made it to the cell I was in, he started to preach to us. It was about ten minutes in his preaching when he stopped, looked at me and said, “God has a plan for my life.” There were many things that he said in regard to God’s will to use me in a special way. At that moment, I only took it that I had done what God wanted me to do-turn myself in. After being so deeply touched by the things that he told me, I made a decision to surrender my life completely to God. It would be nine years before I would be a free man again. God had me just where He wanted me. Now it was time for Him to start the transformation process that would bring my life into the manifestation that was spoken to me by that preacher. There are so many dynamics that entails the nine years of the transformation God worked in my life that time just won’t allow me to share.

I had such a passion to know God, and to grow as a christian. Unfortunately, I was a man who had very little education. I couldn’t read and write that well, but my desire to read the Bible wouldn’t allow me to give up from knowing what God wanted to teach me about my new life in Christ. Everyday I spent time in God’s word. I prayed and asked God to help me to read and understand His word. As time went by, I was learning more and more. When I needed help, I would ask other brothers that were more knowledgeable than me. They served us breakfast early in the morning. Rather than going back to bed, I would spend time in prayer and reading God’s word. I fell in love with God’s word. The Bible became the source of life for me. God was teaching me so many things from His word. It was like I could see for the very first time. One day I came across a verse in the Bible that changed my life in a powerful way: “And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). God taught me from this verse that if my life was going to become what He wanted it to be then I would have to renew my mind with His word. I made a commitment that I would allow the Bible (God’s holy word) to have full authority in my life. When I made that commitment, God was able to do an amazing transformation in my life. I gave up control, and gave Him total control of my life.

After about four years into my transformation, God called me to preach His word. I started out preaching to the walls in my cell. Then one day I stepped out by faith to preach. I told the brothers that God had called me to preach, and that I would like to preach at the church service. It took them a little time to let me preach, but the day came. I have never forgotten it, my first sermon was titled: “Don’t Be Deceived.” When I preached that sermon, there were brothers that cried and repented. God was confirming to me that He had called and anointed me to preach His word. That has been twenty six years ago as of (2023), and I have been committed to preaching and teaching God’s word from that day until this day. I am very committed to God’s call on my life.

I spent nine years in prison. Those were the most defining years of my life. Why? Because God used those years to transform me into the man of God I never imagined I could be. He gave me a new life, brought me to a new city (Austin,Tx), to fulfill His purpose and plan He has for me.

Part Eight: Living life in God’s will.

I was released from prison on August 6,2003. What a lovely day that was! I paroled to a transitional home Called “Nehemiah House”. Being out as a new person was wonderful! I didn’t see life the same way I had before I went to prison. God had done a powerful transformation in my life. I didn’t have a desire for the worldly life anymore. All I wanted was God’s will to be done in, for, and through my life.

After being out for a year, God blessed me to meet my wife. I met her at Church. God set her right by me. Not to get into all the details, nine months later we got married. As of 8/2023 we have been married For eighteen years. She is an amazing woman of God! We have a sixteen year old son who is a blessing from God. We have experienced God’s love, favor, and power in so many ways. Truly He has given me more than I deserve!

I have been preaching and teaching God’s word since I’ve been out. I’ve been given some great opportunities to do what God has called me to do. He has given me a clear understanding in how He wants to use my life for His glory. I am so grateful that God saved and called me to be a part of His family and to teach His word.

I pray that my testimony has blessed you. I’m a living testimony how the power of God can transform one’s life. If you totally surrender your life to Him, you will be amazed at how your life will turn out! If you haven’t surrendered your life completely to God, I urge you to do so! You will never experience the fullness of His power and will for your life if you don’t surrender all to Him. Be wise and surrender your all to Him.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Cor. 5:17 )

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Min. Eddie Sanders