The Eric Metaxas Show - Herman Mendoza

Episode Date: August 26, 2020

Herman Mendoza was a drug lord from Queens who made a fortune selling cocaine, until he found freedom from his own destructive life; Herman takes us through his transition with stories from his book, "Shifting Shadows."

I'm the announcer and I've known Eric since he was a big nobody. In fact, I'm one of the people he stepped on as he climbed the ladder of success. And now my former friend, Eric Mataxis. Folks on this program, we often do a little thing we like to call Miracle Mondays, not just because it's Mondays, but because we believe in actual miracles. Sometimes it's just part of somebody's life, sometimes it's somebody's whole life story. Today, it's the latter. I have the privilege of having right now on the program Herman Mendoza,

whose story is practically unbelievable. He has a bookout called Shifting Shadows. He was a major, major figure in the drug world. He was a drug lord, as they say. And by the grace of God, he ain't a drug lord anymore. Herman Mendoza, welcome to this program. Thank you for having me, Eric. I want to know what period are we talking about

that you were working, you know, at the top of this criminal business? It was in the late 80s, but beginning in the early 90s, when I was engaged fully exposed and distributing cocaine across the eastern seaboard here in the United States of America. And it was during that time when I was fully engaged in this operation. When you were you said across the eastern seaboard, so you are not a local drug lord. You're talking about this is very high-level stuff. It's very high-level stuff and very sophisticated stuff.

So basically, the drugs was coming in from different parts of the borders of America and through the sea. And then we will have people in place in Miami to distribute the narcotics to New York and other parts of the northeast part of our country. I want to find out how you got into this whole thing. First of all, where did you grow up? I grew up in Corona Queens. I am the youngest of five brothers. What's the Greek in Corona Queens? 100 seconds tree between 32nd Avenue and 39 Avenue.

You know why I'm asking. I grew up in Jackson Heights and I went to school in the Queens at the Greek Orthodox Church there, Transfiguration of Christ, across the street. So I spent a lot of time in Corona a little bit before your time. But it's kind of funny. When we moved away, when we moved away, When we moved up to Connecticut in the 70s, people told me that it had gotten bad, that drugs had come in. And now I'm talking to somebody who was part of that.

So we're talking about Queens, New York, largely Hispanic. How did you get into this? I mean, at what age did this begin to enter your life? Well, again, I'm glad you mentioned about the demographics or the community spectrum of things, because Jackson Heights is so diverse nowadays. Corona was an upcoming neighborhood. My parents migrated to this country in the early 60s. And so at a young age, about 12 years old, 11 years old, is when I began sort of this criminal career, if you will.

Kids in the neighborhood, kids in the streets. I was drawn to this kind of lifestyle. My parents came from the Dominican Republic to America, seeking after the American dream. And unfortunately, three of her sons got involved in this drug culture, if you will. And so I got caught up in the gangs, you know, rap music was sort of hitting the streets. And it was sort of a fad. It was more of a culture thing.

And so I got sort of thrusted in that, the breakdancing era days of, you know, break dancing in the streets. And eventually at the age of 14, I was full. involved with a gang and got arrested for robbery, sent to a juvenile detention center. And from there, I did some time, was released. And my parents decided to send me to the Dominican Republic to sort of straighten my act out and my behavior, my conduct. And so they sent me there, send me over to my grandparents' house. And then from there, they just took hold of me and said,

we need to straighten out this young man, thinking that sending me to a private school, will sort of change my way of thinking and my behavior. I became more rebellious towards them, started to consume alcohol, which was really available for a young person in the Dominican Republic, unfortunately, and became a nuisance to my grandparents. And so my grandfather decided to contact my mom

and say, send them back to New York. I mean, we can't tolerate his behavior. So they sent me back to the United States. And then from there, I kind of strained my act off for a little bit. And we engaged with my wife as I met her in the Dominican Republic. She was going to the same high school I went to, which is Newtown High School. And I'm sure you're familiar with Newtown High School, Eric. You're from Jackson Heights.

Which high school? Newtown High School in Elmerst. Yeah. And so I attended that school eventually wasn't involved with. with narcotics at the time. My second oldest brother and my fourth eldest brother were also involved in the sales of narcotics. And at the time, I was fired for my job.

I actually laid off for my job and looking for a means of making money. And I knew what my brothers were involved with. And again, I didn't want to get involved fully back in that kind of business and that lifestyle because I knew where it took me before. I was basically at 13, 14 years old, I was selling drugs just to feed the habit. I had a drug habit. So you're selling drugs so you can pay for your own drugs. Exactly.

And I have to guess that it's also obviously very violent. I mean, this is a scary thing. This is, you know, you're not selling candy. This is a lot of money, a lot of power and violence. Yes. For a young person as myself back then, 13, 14 years old, it was driven out of that power and that adrenaline of really utilizing that cocaine or that heroin.

And so in my later years, as an adult, again, I saw myself without a job, and I contacted my brothers, and they said, look, all you have to do is count some money. You don't have to get full, you know, involved with this enterprise. and I went over to an apartment by Rigo Park in a very affluent neighborhood and we had a stash house there and I went to count some money.

It was about $1.2 million in cash for a 21-year-old. I was a lot of money in cash. So there were two Macs here. Imagine you're telling me you're 21 years old, you're in Rigo Park, Queens, and you're counting $1.2 million in cash. In cash.

I can't imagine that much of cash. 21-year-old. So from there, I was just blinded by my sinful nature, blinded by my acts of criminal activities, and seeing all this money, and I was rewarded by $10,000, $15,000. And so I took that further, and I started to engage even further in my criminal activities and selling hundreds and hundreds of kilos of cocaine, millions of dollars passing through my hands, very organized operation, living, supposedly. a lifestyle on top of the world,

going to the different clubs, Paladium back then, the China Club and, you know, Copa Cabana, you know, hanging out with different celebrities that were there. They didn't know what we were engaged in. I'm assuming,

since I had this title of an entrepreneur of a construction company, an owner. And so living this lifestyle, thinking I'm on top of the world in New York City. no one can stop me or touch me until early in the early 90s

Mayor Giuliani was governing the city of New York and so cocaine was a major problem as you know Reagan was fighting a war on drugs and so this war has been for many many decades and during my era drugs was so prevalent in our society.

And so I am fixed on this mission of, you know, having possession of property and, you know, being unfaithful to my wife and thinking I'm on top of the world. And one day, my world came tumbling down. And, you know, Hollywood always depicts drug lords as having a number of entourages, right? And they always escape. And they don't get caught.

Well, in my case, I had an entourage and I had a plan, but I got caught. And on my way, hold on right there because that's a good place to stop. This story gets crazier and crazier. We're talking to Herman Mendoza. The book is Shifting Shadows How a New York drug lord found freedom in the last place. He expected don't go away. Folks, I got some embarrassing news to share with you. But you know what?

This is just the kind of a show where I don't care. I'm willing to lay my heart, you know, on the line. And here's the issue. Mike Lindell with my pillow. You may notice that I have a bobble hell of him near me. He's here to remind all of us that when you go to mypillow.com, you get whopping discounts if you use the code Eric. Now, there are a lot of people who haven't done that,

and we have your names here. And Chris Heim's Ann Albin pointed out to me that there's like three pages of you whose first name is Eric. You, you're so, I mean, that's humiliating for me that even though your name is Eric, you're still not willing to use the code Eric. I mean, if you don't want to use it because it's my name, use it because it's your name. The point is that I see who you are, and I just feel humiliated by this. Please go to go to mypillar.com.

It's okay, Mike. It's going to be okay. Go to mypillar.com. Use the code Eric. You're going to get whopping savings and really high quality. products. Did I, did I mention that? Thank you. Hey, friends, I'm talking to Herman Mendoza, who has an amazing story. The book is called Shifting Shadows, how a New York drug lord found freedom in the last place he expected. Herman, you're talking about, you're living large, just like out of these

movies, right? You're going to clubs. You've got women. You've got everything. You're cheating on your wife. And you must be dripping with money. Because The level that you were at is just an astounding thing to me. And again, I want to come back to the violence. I mean, I cannot imagine that, you know, there are not people trying to take your place, trying to get what you have. How did you deal with that? I mean, were you somebody comfortable with violence?

Did people make attacks on your life? I mean, I cannot imagine that's not part of that world. Yeah, again, in my earlier days, as a teenager, I was involved in gang. And so I, a friend of mine, which I described in the book, was murdered right before me. And so not that I was prone to violence or raised in a sort of a violent background, but I witnessed violence around me.

Again, my friend got killed in front of me. In Jackson Heights, when there was Pablo Escobar, when he was spewing drugs across America, America, there were violence in Jackson Heights constantly. People were just, I mean, they were killing a lot of Colombian cartel, you know, folks that were involving in the cartel. For me to hear you bring this up, because as I mentioned, I grew up in Jackson Heights. When I was there, mainly like in the 60s, early 70s, it was all Jewish.

We were like the only Gentiles, you know, on my floor in my building at Jackson Heights and 91st Street, Northern Boulevard. And after we left, so many people said to us, wow, Jackson Heights is different. There's a lot of Colombian drug action going on. And we couldn't even imagine it. And here you are telling me you were there. You saw this with your own eyes. It's a fact.

I mean, I was engaging with these cartels on a personal level. So yes. And so, you know, thank God that as far as myself, I never took nobody's life, you know, physically with a gun. And so, you know, again, I'm, you know, involved in these activities, and I'm on my way to Manhattan to see a client. And this time, I'm driving my brother, one of my brothers that was with me, it was three of us. He's the passenger, he was on the passenger seat. And I noticed there was a cop behind me. And I try to get away, sway to the right, sway to the left.

And I finally get close to the Queensboro Bridge at the time. It was called Queensboro Bridge. And I still call it the Queensborough. me too me too Edward I Koch Bridge Godch Bridge doesn't make sense it's too difficult to say all right anyway so you're at the 59th Street Bridge

and I know it's a cop car come sort of a make a one of those traffic stops and going in front of each cars and my brother and I look at each other and we say hey this is for us I jump out and I was like really heavy then because I was drinking a lot of Kubasir

liqueurs and you know exos Ex-O and Louis the 13 and all these expenses, lacours. And so I'm heavy and I'm trying to run out the car, you know, and I didn't make it not even half a block. And I got arrested. And my brother got arrested.

And they confiscated 25 kilos of cocaine in that vehicle. 25 kilograms of cocaine in that vehicle. And they went to one of our stash houses and found an additional six kilograms of cocaine. And it was blasted in the headlines the very next day. And it said two brothers, the Mendoza brothers, arrested with $3.8 million of cocaine and facing life in prison. And Richard Brown was the prosecutor at the time. And when I picked up this newspaper, I'm incarcerated. And I look at this newspaper newspaper, I'm like, my life is over.

And at the time, I was about 23 years old. And so I'm facing life in prison. And again, I go back to that Hollywood story where they depict these drug lords getting away. In this case, I didn't get away. I had a plan that the car behind me, which is one of my entourage, was supposed to crash the cop car. I was supposed to get away with the drugs. It didn't happen that way. I got arrested.

And I'm facing now life in prison. We had attorneys in place, which I mentioned them in the book, one of the attorneys, which he allowed me to mention him in the book. and we had these Jewish attorneys in place, Kenneth Schreiber, and they represented us, and they got us a good deal, a good plea. And I got three to nine years of incarceration, and my brother got four to 12. And so I signed onto a program dubbed shock. And it was a program to basically reduce the sentence of drug addicts or people suddenly.

drugs where there was no guns involved in the crime. Yeah. And so I took advantage because there was a lot of inmates, a lot of people getting arrested because of narcotics. And we used sort of, to our defense, racial profiling as well, because at that time, it was racial profiling. And so it helped us in our case. And so I'm not following this.

What do you mean? Who helps you in your case? What does that mean? Yeah, so basically there was a case in Manhattan in Washington Heights where they arrested two Hispanics in a car. And so the attorneys used that as their defense where there were no probable cause to stop this particular car of two Hispanics being in the car. And then they eventually found drugs. And so that case was pending at the time that my case was open. And so that was sort of an argument that the attorneys made.

But we were, again... They made the case that you were pulled over because you're Hispanic. Exactly. That was one of the... That was one of their defenses that they're thrown in the face of the opposition. Yeah. Exactly.

But in reality, there was an investigation on us. And so we pleaded down the case to three to nine, my brother, four to 12. And I remember, Eric, I was sent to Rikers Island, notorious jail in New York City, and was sent to... EMTC, C74, and there were a lot of violence and gang activities from the Nietas and Latin Kings and the Crips and Bloods. And I didn't get involved in none of that, but I had even

people that I knew in prison that was out on the outside. I knew about my brothers. We were in a different level, a different position in the cartel. And so we were respected in that sense. And so being in Rikers was really tough. My parents were destroyed. They said, I didn't come to America for this. My oldest brother, he's a doctor, he was, you know, saying, how can my brothers get involved in this? It was very secret our involvement, what we were doing. And then eventually they sent me to this program called Shock.

And it's sort of a military-style camp where ex-marines get on your face and say, you know, get them parade, rest. You know, you've got to listen to what I say. and sort of like a scarce straight program, but with physical exercise and other, you know, other means to straighten the individual out. And I remember going to a chapel that very first week and to try to negotiate with God.

And I went there and I said, God, if you allow me to pass this program and get out of jail, I promise you that I will stop drinking alcohol for six months stupidity on my part ignorance instead of saying God change my lifestyle forgive me for the crimes I've committed and the hardship that I caused

my parents and my children at the time I had three kids forgive me no I was negotiated with God you do what's right for me or what I mean and I'll do what's right for you negotiated with God but he would start

at six years and then eventually work it down to six months. That's where you move it. Exactly. But you believed in God, though, Herman. In other words, that's interesting to me that you're doing all these things, but you did have some faith. I did have some faith. My mom was brought up in

Catholicism. My dad was a Protestant. They both went home to be with the Lord a few years ago, but my dad sort of stepped out of the church during those times. And my mom was a devoted Catholic, but she had no

a sense of Protestant ways and to lead me sort of to what we call a born again experience a more personal journey with God and she tried her best you know my mom did her best

but unfortunately I chose a different path and so I thought that you know religion as that I called it at the time would find its way with me now I want to point out a lot of the drug cartels across America and

in Colombia, they practice different kinds of Christianity. What they say is, which I did it myself, I said, God, may this 50 kilos of cocaine or 100 kilos of cocaine come through, may it pass through customers. These are the kind of prayers that I was praying for. So it was the start of view. The start of you. We'll pray to whoever for results. Exactly.

You find that you end up praying the demons and devils and idols because you just want to get what you want to get. We're going to go to a break. Folks, I am talking to Herman Mendoza. The book is called Shifting Shadows, How a New York drug lord found freedom in the last place he expected. Don't go away. All right, I'm talking to Herman Mendoza. The book is Shifting Shadows, how a New York drug lord found freedom in the last place he expected. So here you are.

you're at Rikers. You're trying to get straight. You're going to the chapel. You're in this shock system, which is like a, like you said, like a scared straight kind of military thing, designed to, it's voluntary, and you're saying that this is going to get me in good with whatever. I'm going to get out of here quicker. So what happens when you're negotiating with God to help you? So I eventually passed the program. I eventually did the six months, was released, was on row for nine years, but the very first six months, I kept to the promise. I was sober, and so when the six months ended, I wanted to celebrate my sobriety. And I went to a place where perhaps you're familiar with in Long Island City called Tequila Sunrise. And I went there to celebrate and drink

and party. And lo and behold, who I see across me and old acquaintance. And now this individual is the nephew of one of the cartels of Colombia. I'm not going to mention which cartel, but he's the nephew. And he sees me, he goes, hey, when did you get out? So I got out six months ago. And he says, could I have a word with you? And we had a drink. He says, now I'm controlling over a ton of cocaine.

He says, if you want in, you let me know. Now, I'm here now. my conscience is fighting with my heart. My heart is fighting with my conscience. And it reminds me of a scripture in Proverbs 2016-11 where it says a dog returns to its vomit. Right. So a fool repeats its folly. I went right back in and I accepted it.

And I started to work again with the cartel now distributing hundreds of kilos of cocaine. move my family out of state into a private community in Pennsylvania. Thinking again, I'm on top of the world. My second oldest brother had a stint with the police. We bail him out on a half a million dollars. He introduces me to a client of his that he used to work with that used to transport the narcotics from Miami to New York in a truck.

He had a trucking company. that had compartments in it, secret compartments where they trapped the drugs. It's called, in Spanish, caletas. And he says, look, I can trust this guy, work with him. Let's give him the drugs. Let's send it out to Ohio and other states because the kilograms outside of New York City is worth more. It's worth $37,000 a kilo at the time. So we entrusted our business with this guy, the kilograms, and we gave him about $9,000.

kilos of cocaine. Turns out he was working for the DEA. And we eventually give him another two more kilos of cocaine or four more kilos of cocaine. We eventually get arrested by the DEA, drug enforcement agency. They arrested me and my brother, they sent me to NBC Metropolitan Detenters Center. I eventually get bailed out, half a million dollars. My brother, they revoked his first bail on the first stint that he had. And I'm trying to find a way. way out, a way of escape. I'm empty and void. I'm drinking every day, every single day. You're out on bail, but you know that you're going to have a trial and you're going to have a long time. Yes. And I went to visit my attorneys and they said, look, you're facing 25 years.

And that was sort of the tipping point for me. I was every day intoxicated in limousines, telling me my drivers, drive me here, drive me there, panicked out. Didn't know what to do. So one night of partying in a club, I told my driver, take me home. He drives me to my house. I get through the security. And the very next day, my wife picks up the handset, the phone set. And it was the cops. And they told her, your house is surrounded.

Tell your husband, if he has any guns, just surrender it. Give himself in before it gets worse. I opened the window and I try to jump out. Cops were there. I look at my wife, guns drawn. I told my wife, open the door, my life is over. They arrested me, hauled me to the adjacent vehicle. The marshals were there.

They were celebrating, rightly so, because they took a drug, you know, a cartel, a drug lord out of society. But at the same token, my wife was crying and saying, there goes my husband, there goes the father of my kids. And so on the way to the prison, I told the marshals, open the door, I want to end my life right here,

is worth nothing. You know, thank God the marshes didn't open the door. He says, you never know what could happen. You're in the federal system. And little did I know, Eric, that my brother, they got calling me in the federal rap. He gave his life to Jesus

because I was out on the run for six months. So just be clear, when you got out on bail and you're doing all this stuff, you're breaking your parole and that that's the issue that's why they surrounded your house yeah no i broke the conditions of this of the federal uh parole which is not parole it's probation they call it in the federal system right but i'm saying so you're even in bigger trouble way bigger trouble now than you were when they said you're looking at 25 years so now you said your brother

accepted jesus yes the one that got caught with me on the federal rap he accepted jesus i had no idea that he was a Christian. And his prayer was this, Lord, send my brother to the same prison, same housing unit so I could share the gospel with him. And the law would have it no other way. There would be no other recourse. And in the federal system, you talk about the con air, your inner airplane, you're strapped and, you know, chained up to your wrist. I mean, it was that kind of security system, like presidential kind of thing. They took me to NBC and I go into the same facility, same dormitory, which they don't accept that on a federal detention center where they have your co-defendant there.

Hold on. This is nuts, and we will be right back. Folks, I'm talking to Herman Mendoza. The book is shifting shadows. Herman, this is amazing. So you're telling me somehow your brother's prayer that you would get sent to the same place where he is happens. That's not supposed to happen.

not supposed to happen in the federal detention center. They send me to Five South, adjacent to Five North, and they hear that this guy, Mendoza, just arrived, a new inmate. They go and wake me up, one of the inmates, and I go to the recreation area where my brother was at, and I see him, and he extends his hands up in the air. He says, praise God, praise the Lord, answer prayer. And I look at him, I go, praise God, praise the Lord.

I said, brother, we're in jail. what are you talking about? We're locked up. So I didn't understand his new language. His continents was different. His speech was different. And he started to share the gospel with me. And I didn't, you know, it was great, but I didn't want to listen to him.

I wanted to fix my problem. And so I, the little money I had, a higher attorney, they said, can't help you. Can't help you. And at that time, it was a breaking point. My wife left me. I didn't know what to do. And so he invited me to chapel. And it was being led by inmates.

And I was having this conversation with God. I was like, if you're for real, fill this void, I need peace. I'm going crazy in here. And I went to chapel and the jailhouse preacher was preaching the very same thing. I was like, what is this? And it was about 60 inmates there. And I knew it was for me. And he said, look, you know who you are.

God wants to save your life. He wants to change your life. And he says, come to the front, come to the altar. And I went to the front. I started crying Eric. And I felt convicted for the first time. And God showed me. It wasn't like in a vision.

It was just more of kind of putting in remembrance of all the people that I hurt that I wasn't seeing because I was in a different level in the cartel that were killing each other for drugs or perhaps different people that. were selling their bodies just to consume the very drugs that I was selling out in society. And I felt so convicted. So I contacted my mom. She didn't understand this new conversion. She was skeptical of my new, found Jesus in my life and my heart. So God was using my brother and I, in that prison, we became the pastors of that jailhouse. And it grew and grew and grew. and eventually my wife came to the Lord,

I led her to Christ, and then I was sentenced, and the prosecutor says, I have 120 petitions here on behalf of Mr. Mendoza asking for clemency and reduction on his sentencing. And I was sentenced and then sent to Lewisburg Penitentiary,

and then Allenwood, and when I was about to get released, the parole board picks me up and sends me to Rikers Island, because I violated it. the first parole. Then eventually I was released from Rikers Island back into parole, and here is where God does the miracle as well.

I started a non-for-profit organization working on behalf of young people, got recognized at the UN working on behalf of different ambassadors, sending aid to a lot of different countries to those that were affected by hurricane natural disasters. And with a Billy Graham organization, and then I became a chaplain. and now my friends are Supreme Court judges, which I counseled them, and one of the attorneys that was the attorney for President Reagan during his era, which he calls me for spiritual guidance to counseling.

And so I became a chaplain, my friends are law enforcement officers. I work. God sends me to a Korean congregation. I don't speak Korean to work on behalf of children on a mission or movement. dubbed four to 14 window to reach children and youth to train them up to become the leaders of tomorrow. This is bizarre, but this is what God does. You are, you know, you're about as changed a man as can be. And this is a thing. I'm always amazed that people don't, don't just see from the evidence of a changed life, the existence of God. I mean, it makes no sense that you can go

from that to this. I mean, you are now full-time using your gifts because that's usually, you know, when you're talking about drug lords and that level of criminality, there's tremendous brain power and resourcefulness, you being used for evil. You have now turned that to use for good

and you're doing so much. I read here that Alan Houston, former NBA All-Star, has given you a blurb for the book. I mean, you are... You're making a difference in lives today very dramatically. I mean, it's funny, Eric, what you said, yeah. It's the story of Joseph that you just quoted that God turned it around, right?

With the enemy meant for evil, God turned it off for good. And a lot of the folks that I'm engaged with now, I've been to a number of times to the Mets organization and spoken at chapel to the Major League Baseball players. I have friends that are Major League Baseball players. You mentioned Alan Houston, former NBA player. it's just crazy and this is what God is doing. And so I've been to over 50 countries training world leaders on the world stage.

And you would think, an ex-drug lord now educating and ministering and teaching other political figures or even lay ministers or just your common man and woman. And this is what God does. God can change your life. Well, you didn't just, you know, become a Christian. You're hardcore. I mean, you're a Jesus freak and you're all in, and that's the only way to fly. I mean, you're using your gifts to reach people that, you know, if it weren't for you, they wouldn't be reached.

So this is a very happy story, Herman. I think you know that. Yes, it is. It is. We work with the police academy adjacent to our building here in Flushing Queens, where I am one of the associate pastors at Promise Ministry International. And we're building this sort of this relationship with community and police by training our youngsters to learn more about the police culture and our cadets to learn more about our community. And it's been a success.

And yes, I'm that kind of sold out individual for God and speaking truth because I know where I came from. I know where God took me out of. And, you know, even though people may say the minority. community can't be successful. I am a living example of one that lived a life that was totally, you know, against, you know, police or against the law of the land. And look what God has done. Now, now I'm in favor of police.

I am working on behalf of our community and the police so we can have a stronger relationship. You're doing exactly with our law enforcement. By God's grace. We're going to be back final segment with Herman Mendoza. are the author of Shifting Shadows, how New York drug lord found freedom in the last place. He expected, don't go away. Folks, I'm talking to Herman Mendoza.

We have two things in common. We started life in Queens, and we love Jesus. The middle part, not that similar. I was not a drug lord that I know of. You said that you speak at Mets, New York Mets Chapples. I mean, look, I grew up, and you grew up, like, very close to Shaston.

Now at City Field. I'm still a Mets fan. And I know you speak at chapels there. The next time you speak at a Mets Chapel, I'm asking you, please take me with you, brother. You have an invitation. That would be fun. That would be fun.

So you're speaking everywhere. I mean, you're speaking at chapels, sports chapels, and you're dealing with cops. What else are you doing these days? Well, now, you know, again, now we're sort of waiting, because we're in this city, and this city has a lot of issues with the governance of these politicians, which is crazy in its sense.

I mean, they're off the chart. So what we're doing is pretty much preaching the gospel, letting people know that there's another voice. There's a voice from my person that someone that's come out of the hood, if you will, and has made it in society that I want people to understand that don't have a victimhood mentality. and stay in that place, that you can rise above issues. You can rise above any circumstance and become successful.

And really follow your heart. Follow Christ, follow Jesus. And you'll be successful. And that's what I did. People counted me out. And my social studies teacher said, he's going to amount to nothing. He's not going to be successful.

they're going to kill them. Some of the things did happen. I went to jail. But now I've become successful. So I just want people to know that, that reading my book, Shifting Shadows, that they can really understand what God can do in a life and that God does not shift like Shifting Shadows. I always say, I always say we need heroes because it gives us hope and it inspires us. So when somebody today reads your story and your book Shifting Shadows, they see something that they might not know of. And they need to know that when somebody's preaching this victim thing, that you're a victim, that's the voice of the devil. That is the voice of the devil trying to keep you down and you need to reject it and know that God is saying exactly the opposite. I love you. I died for you. I have a

plan for you. I want to lead you in places you cannot dream of. Do not listen to the voice of the devil. Listen to my voice because I'm the one that loves you. That message needs to be preached. I know you're speaking that so many places. Now you're speaking it on TBN and other places. A lot of people are going to hear this. And it thrills me, Herman, just to get to know you. I had no idea. You're in Queens.

That's just the cherry on the sun. We share a lot in common, but not the center, not the middle. Center park. I don't remember the four years. No, but seriously, it's so amazing to me that you come to this place now where we are brothers in Christ. And we know where real hope lies. And you have to learn it the hard way.

My hard way was not as hard as yours. But trust me when I tell you, you know, suffering is suffering. No matter how you go. When you don't live life, you don't know where you're going. And there's so many people in that place. And they need to know the stories of people who found the way out. So we're out of time. But I'm just so proud of you and thrilled to know you.

Folks, check out the book. Shifting Shadows, Herman Mendoza. I think most people can spell that. Herman Mendoza, thank you for your time and for your testimony. It's a joy to get to know you. Thank you. Thank you for having me on. I do appreciate it.

Thank you. God bless you. Take care of. Bye-bye.