Planting Seeds in San Quentin

PLANTING SEEDS

Multiple Christian hip-hop artists graced the San Quentin “stage” on a clear day beside the San Francisco Bay. Spoken word artists performed, including a man with a stutter who initially felt nervous—an alarm going off in the yard forced him to the floor of the stage. But he overcame that interruption and his nerves to powerfully urge everyone to treat their families, the women in their lives, and their communities with respect.

Volunteers from local churches were there to talk with and pray for those who decided to attend. While most attendees were near the stage, Israel walked around the edges of the yard so he could interact with people.

“Even if it was something small that another person might think is insignificant, it was a seed being planted,” he says. “Later on, after I left, I realized that’s what we were there for, to plant seeds.”

An incarcerated young man was frustrated his efforts to reach people weren’t bearing fruit. Israel reassured him that he was simply doing his part, and the Lord would send others to carry on his work.

What sticks out for Israel is how he looked at the day itself. Years ago, he would’ve dismissed a similar event as foolish.

“Now, I see it as, Look at the power of the Lord,” he says.

FROM WAGING WAR TO MAKING PEACE

Volunteering and encouraging people at a Hope Event was new territory for Israel, given his past.

Relatives, including his parents, were in and out of prison. Israel became addicted to heroin at age 12, and his father was murdered when Israel was 17.

“I literally waged war against God,” he says. “I looked at God as my enemy.”

The glorification of gang members led Israel down a dark path and into prison. While incarcerated, he became a gang leader and forcefully removed Christians from the yard.

Israel’s gang affiliation later put him in Pelican Bay State Prison’s Special Housing Unit (SHU) for more than a decade. Amidst Israel’s period of crippling isolation, a pastor friend of his would send Scripture that included a detailed breakdown. He told Israel to do what he wanted with it.

Israel would occasionally read what was sent to him. It softened his heart over time, and he no longer hated God.

He left state prison in 2012 but soon found himself in federal prison on a new charge. To make matters worse, his mom also passed away.

Finding himself behind bars once again, Israel felt the desire to change. The woman who would become his wife bought him a Bible that was leather-bound so he wouldn’t throw it away. Around that time, he was invited to church and heard Michael W. Smith’s song Grace.

Israel reached the end of himself. Tears streamed down his face, and he fell to his knees as the lyrics penetrated his soul.

“I fought God all my life, and it was [to] the point where I was starting to get convicted of the things I was doing,” Israel says.

SURRENDER

After being released in 2020, Israel thought he was on the right track. In reality, he was starting a downward spiral by chasing after money and being unfaithful to his girlfriend.

After his brother was murdered in 2021, Israel returned to the gang life. He overdosed on fentanyl more than 25 times in just under a year.

A warrant was out for his arrest in March 2022 when he saw a sheriff’s vehicle drive by his motel.

“He parked his car, walked straight to me, [and] told me, ‘Put your hands up. I’m taking you to jail; I’m saving your life,’” Israel recalls.

Israel had a gun and drugs on him at the time, but that didn’t stop the arresting officer from praying for him once he was in custody.

“That was the day I completely surrendered to God,” Israel says.