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A SUPERNATURAL ENCOUNTER
Fred was 17—and reading the Bible while high—when his life forever changed.
Some people put their faith in Jesus Christ after hearing a moving sermon, while others are influenced by loved ones. Fred came to faith at age 17 after getting high on marijuana in prison.
“I read the Bible, and I kept hearing voices, and I was really tripping out,” he says. “I accused my neighbor of lacing the weed with crack.”
Looking back now, Fred says what he actually heard was the Holy Spirit penetrating his mind with Scripture. The episode dramatically changed his life as he left his old self behind and embraced what God had in store for him.
ABUSE, ADDICTION, AND GANGS
The radical experience Fred had behind bars isn’t something he expected, given his rough childhood. His mother was deeply involved with gangs. The youngest of three, he was often left with anyone who would watch him. Those who were supposed to care for him violated his trust by sexually abusing him. The abuse left Fred with deep emotional wounds.
“I isolated, and I suppressed it,” he says. “I didn’t tell anyone, and I went through depression and mental health [issues].”
The abuse made Fred angry, and he decided to solve his problems through violence. He feared he would not be appreciated, loved, seen, or valued if people knew he had been abused. To cope with that trauma, Fred followed in his mother’s footsteps and joined a gang.
Fred became enamored with the gang life, but it led him down an unhealthy road. He was arrested for numerous carjackings at age 16 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
COMING TO FAITH
Fred wasn’t sent to prison immediately because he was under 18. He went to a juvenile facility where his encounter with Christ changed the trajectory of his life.
But it wasn’t a one-time event. Fred decided to get high for a second night in a row. This time, he threw his Bible under his bed.
The drug-induced haze began overwhelming Fred, who was alone in his cell. He had music blaring in his headphones, but he couldn’t hear it. He didn't know it at the time, but looking back he realized he was hearing Scripture. He looked around and saw his Bible was now in the middle of the floor. That brought him to his knees.
“God, I don’t know if this is real,” Fred recalls saying. “I don’t know if this is You, but if it is, I’ll take the first step if You’ll do the rest.”
The changes in Fred’s life were instant. He disavowed the gang life and began living for Christ.
“It rocked my world that Jesus wasn’t asking [any] of His followers to put in work or to hurt anyone,” Fred says. “He was asking them just to believe in Him and follow Him.”
The changes in Fred’s life were instant. He disavowed the gang life and began living for Christ.
LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD
Things that had happened in Fred’s life began to make sense. Memories would flood his mind each time he read the Bible. He was forced to stop and process those memories in order to understand them.
Fred hadn’t been raised with much of a religious background. His grandmother was religious, but he didn’t see her often. He had a basic understanding of the heroes of the Christian faith like Moses but had little else from which to draw. Even without much of a foundation, Fred saw God provide for him.
“God put a lot of people in my life who spoke life into me in the church and outside of the church,” Fred says.
One of those people was a chaplain at Fred’s first facility. She warned Fred about the persecution he would face and encouraged him with 1 Timothy 4:12: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
That stuck with Fred as he experienced the persecution she had warned him about, and persecution didn’t stop him from living out his new purpose.
“You have to serve Christ because He’s your Lord,” Fred explains.
Even without much of a foundation, Fred saw God provide for him.
PARENTING WHILE INCARCERATED
Parenting from behind bars is hard. Fred understands this firsthand. He had one biological child who was born in 2016 and also had two stepdaughters to think about while he was incarcerated.
Fred tried to be the best parent he could. A major part of that was signing up his kids for Prison Fellowship Angel Tree®. Angel Tree® Christmas gives incarcerated parents a way to provide a Christmas gift and a personal message, delivered by caring, local volunteers, as a tangible representation of their love.
“Angel Tree was a crucial part of being relevant in my child’s life,” Fred says.
The gifts helped Fred work through the internal struggle he was having.
“I dealt with a lot of shame of not being able to be there for my family and provide [for] them,” Fred says.
FINDING PURPOSE IN PAIN
Fred was released from prison more than a year ago. Two days later, his 12-year-old cousin was murdered.
“That really caused a lot of grief and shame to come to the surface,” Fred says.
Fred admits he was going through the motions of life after his cousin’s death. He eventually began to feel more like himself before tragedy struck again. His uncle was murdered in October 2023, and it sent Fred back into a tailspin. He struggled to journal, pray, or read his Bible.
Time has helped Fred process his emotions and renew his dependence on God.
“I’m so grateful for faith because you don’t realize you need faith until your faith is tested,” Fred says.
Time has helped Fred process his emotions and renew his dependence on God.
HELPING OTHERS HELP THEMSELVES
Fred has a passion for helping those who are still incarcerated. He works for a nonprofit focused on reentry and goes into prison each Saturday in addition to visiting juvenile halls on Wednesdays.
Fred knows the feelings associated with living behind bars, which is why he makes sure to share some encouragement.
“You’re not defined by whatever you’ve done or experienced or participated in that got you in prison,” Fred tells the guys. “It will only define you as long as you allow it and do not try to normalize or make the prison experience OK.”
Fred emphasizes to the prisoners that they should learn from his mistake of not looking beyond himself. He tells them he was in a Christian bubble where he would only pray, read his Bible, and talk with other believers. As a result, Fred’s patience wore thin when restricting himself to those activities. He admits he didn’t pay attention to Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). He challenges prisoners to look within and ask what Jesus died for.
Fred’s work behind bars is a foundation for what he wants to do in the future. He’s looking to go into ministry and start a small church. His dreams don’t stop there, as he also hopes to form a nonprofit or start a business that helps incarcerated people work on themselves.
For now, Fred is focused on being the father he couldn’t be while behind bars as he welcomed a new daughter into the world this fall.
“I feel it is a vote of confidence from God,” Fred says.
As he raises his daughter and thinks about what’s ahead, Fred knows his past is being used by God for a purpose.
“I always tell people, ‘I wasn’t arrested; I was rescued.’”
“You’re not defined by whatever you’ve done or experienced or participated in that got you in prison.”
—Fred
