Latest / DA CREW Podcast / SEASON 2 DA CREW PODCAST EPISODE #9 |HOST BLAQUE DIAMOND

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SEASON 2 DA CREW PODCAST EPISODE #9 |HOST BLAQUE DIAMOND · DA CREW Podcast

0:06
Hello, Hello heyo, and welcome to the Crew Podcast. I am the
0:13
Visionary Queen Angela and welcome to season two. I want to thank you for
0:20
tuning in and for all of your support throughout season one. We're back Demdvas
0:28
of the Airways, so thank you for joining us tonight. Share this with
0:34
someone in your circle. At Wings of Transformation Publishing, we are committed to
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helping our authors reach their goals and pursue their dreams of becoming published authors.
0:46
We work closely with each author to ensure a successful publishing experience, and we
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are dedicated to helping them tell their stories in the most meaningful and impactful ways.
0:57
We look forward to putting you on the path to writing your book.
1:07
The book A Song for Zuppora, written by David Harris, is a powerful
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historical fiction centering around the life and character of Moses's future wife, Zuppora before
1:19
they met. Book author David Harris brings the reader into the relationship between Moses
1:23
and Zuppora, which was gradual and lush. The story unfolds beautifully when Moses
1:29
finally acts Suppora to marry him. Purchase your copy of the book detailing this
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authentic story. A Song for Zuppora by David Harris. Today. It's available
1:38
online at Barnes Andnobleanamazon dot com. Basic Black after Dawn All Low Podcast Show
1:59
with your host Black Diamond. Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello everyone,
2:55
and thank you for joining me tonight. This is Black Diamond from the Crew
3:00
Network and you're listening to Basic Black After Dark podcast to show that meets you
3:06
where you are and give you what you ask for. Do you know that
3:09
your bodies are your temples of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom
3:15
you received from God. You are not your own, You were bought at
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a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. One Corinthian sixth nineteen
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through twenty. As drug addiction and substance abuse continue to become prevalent issues today,
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many are seeking guidance from a higher power to find a spiritual guidance and
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moral clarity. Tonight we will explore my guest scriptureous perspective on drug use and
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addiction, the mortality of drug use, as well as her journey to recovery
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from a faith based approach. Please welcome my guests, April Colfield Lambert to
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Basic Black After Dark. Hi, Hi, I are you? Oh,
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You're so welcome. Thank you for being here tonight and sharing your journey.
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First and foremost, I want to say, that is a beautiful background.
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I'm loving it. I'm loving it. I'm just loving your background. Thank
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you, Thank you so much. Well, it has been some time since
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I've even spoken to you. From the first time I've heard about your book
4:25
from Crack to christ a Witness, and to finally have you on this show,
4:30
it is truly a blessing for me, and I thank you so much.
4:34
Thank you. So I know that I have a full lineup for you,
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and I have so many questions that I'm almost not knowing where to begin.
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But one of the big questions I want to ask you is, and
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I know I know the answer, but I don't know your answer because everyone
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this topic is different and it means different things. But what I want to
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ask you is what is drug addiction? Is it the same as substance abuse?
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No, there are two different things. Substance abuse is is a substance
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that we abuse that's not labeled as drugs, like food or anything we over
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excess that would be considered a substance abuse. Drug abuse is a drug or
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anything that alters our mind and our body, we inhale it, we shoot
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it, or we drink it and it alters us and then and we abuse
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it, and then that's what the drug is. Wow. Okay, well,
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nicely said, nicely put a with a better understanding because I speak to
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individuals who I've had on as guess, and again, everybody have different reasons
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and seasons and and and understanding of what drug abuse is drug use is.
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But I'm gonna take it there. You are the author of the wonderful book
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that I have here, and we're gonna talk about that throughout, and we're
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gonna be talking about a little bit of religion and and everything else. But
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where I'm gonna go right now is how do you go from once using crack
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to Christ? Well, you know, on a journey such as that being
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a substance abuser. Let me just let me just clear it up. Things
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go on in a in a person's life, Well, let me use me.
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I can use me because I'm good at telling to myself. Things were
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going on in my life before I picked up a crack, before I drank
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a pink champelle, before I smoked the joint, Things were already going on
7:10
in my life. And because I didn't want to feel or deal with those
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particular things. I got high. And so we take for granted, I
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mean most of us. You know, well my generation, we smoked weed
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Panama, red Colombian Panama, red Colombian gold drink our, pink champelle.
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Some of us it led us to sniff. But basically because I didn't want
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to feel what I was feeling, my mom got rest of her soul.
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She was a heroine atic and so which put a lot of responsibility on me
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and to take care of my siblings. So a lot of times I didn't
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want to feel that way. It wasn't peer pressure. I didn't do it
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because everybody else does. I'm a leader, so usually people followed me.
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So if I was like, yo, it is good, Yo, that
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that is good. I wasn't really much of a drinker. But one thing
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led to another for me, so in that it led me to being in
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dangerous situations. It led me to be a known prostitute. It led me
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to be incarcerated. So it is it is in my incarcerated times that I'm
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still enough to seek God like I and to have a relationship. My relationship,
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my relationship with Christ came into jail. So I wasn't in no big
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church or no cathedral. I was in a jail cell when Christ came to
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save me, delivered me and and bring me to the where I'm in,
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where I'm at thirty years later, because today, as I shared with you,
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is my thirtieth year being of my sobriety, clean and sober, which
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means thirty years ago on February sixteenth, in a jail cell, I was
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like, Oh God, please help me because I don't know how to stop.
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They say, Kolfield, pack up, and I would pack up,
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and I would do what I always did. That's why I got what I
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always get. But I knew that I was going to die. I knew
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it. I knew that whenever I was rescued by being arrested. I knew
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if I didn't change, I was going to die. So I cried out
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to a power greater than myself. That did it for h So as Christians
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returned to the Bible for guidance on how to live out lives. So what
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does the Bible say about substance or drugs? But do they you know,
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because I know some people when they're incarcerated, when they're just coming out.
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When they in halfway houses, I see their face their heads into the Bible
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and they're you know, I'm gonna hold your book up as if it's the
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Bible, and they're just deep into it and they're quoting from it. So
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what does it say about substance use in drugs? What message did you get
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from it? Help? I got, I got help. Psalm one says
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all of my help comes from the Lord and so and Psalm forty six,
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verse verse ten says, be still and know that I am God. We
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all know. We all know that there is a power, whether we have
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a relationship or not, even if we believe or not, we all know
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that there is a power greater than ourselves. So when we enter therapeutic communities,
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jails, wherever we seek to do better, and so that will lead
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you. And we have that material around us. We have in a material.
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We have aa material, and we have the Word of God, and
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most of us pick up the Word of God to to just read it.
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For me, it started with reading a psalm and a proverb, which I
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still do to this day, Psalms for strength and proverbs for wisdom, which
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led me to other chapters of the Bible, and of course those who prayed
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for me, those who were around me, those who always spoke life over
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me and prayed for me when they would say, oh, you know,
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April back over there on Tarvis Avenue, you know, April back in jail.
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You know, And this and this power and prayer its power when we
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have a conversation with who who I have relationship with and is Jesus Christ.
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And so that's where my journey led to. I always as a young as
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a young girl, my mother always sent us to church with with believers,
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you know, Easter, Sunday, Christ Smith. So you hear things,
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you you experience, things, you wonder about things, even as you get
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older. Latania says Psalms is my favorite book of the Bible. And I
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noticed that we had some visitors on as well, Sheanette as well as Patrius.
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Hello ladies, and thank you for joining us tonight. Now many people
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choose to experiment with rug drugs, believing that drugs has no moral implications.
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Work were you thinking at that time when you first started using? Did you
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think that you were going to be excused when when you you know, you
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first started using, and you know, like I won't get addicted. I
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can handle it. I'm better than that. I'm strong. No well for
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me with with UH crack, I knew not to I knew not to do
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that that started taking over my neighborhood. But I knew because of witnessing God
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Rest his soul what Richard Pryor did. When Richard Pryor said it was calling
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me, I knew why would I do something that would call me. It
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just so happened in the path that I was on. I you know,
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I was calling myself UH selling and and I had a person that said to
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me, clearly, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this.
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April yet she had the first cracked in on on Terrace Avenue, and
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I happened to go over there because people wanted to purchase stuff. And she
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showed me how that was done. And even though she said don't do it,
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I watched her pull that smoke out of that pipe, and I'm telling
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you I wanted to do it. I was like, let me just do
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it. She said, Okay, just pull a smoke. And for the
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X fifteen to twenty years after pulling that smoke, that was it. My
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kids were taking from me I was homeless, I was deep in the streets
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even more with prostitution. Now, I'm not selling my body to feed me
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and my siblings. I'm selling my body because I need to get hot,
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because I you know, and nobody giving you right prostitution. Nobody's giving you
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that. Not in those was your first choice of drugs crack cocaine. No,
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I didn't even see your friend who it was, this young lady who
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introduced you to crack cocaine? Yes, and I how old were you when
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you didn't cocaine? We called it free basin, right, that's that's a
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sophistic that's right, one to five base as. That's what we do.
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Yeah. See, I can smile with April, and I want to do
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the disclosure because I know April outside of us just doing this. So the
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neighborhood that she's talking about, I do know it, and and I do
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remember that time when they would say freebasing. I would hear it all the
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time. You know, Oh they freebasing or something like that. So you
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know, we can sit and be very comfortable with each other. And I'm
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very happy that she's comfortable with me. Yes, indeed, yes, So
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when we become addicted to something, we become the center of our lives besides
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your relationship with family and friends. How has substance abuse farmed your relationship with
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God? It drew me closer when because when you surrender, you're surrendering all
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So, as I stated, I wasn't in a place where I could go
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to Bible study and things like that. I was in a jail cell.
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I was in a jail cell and locked in a jail cell. How long
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were you incarcerated in and out? I was incarcerated from nineteen ninety five to
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in and out, in and out most of my adult years, all of
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my twentieth after I had my kids, I have I had one hundred and
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ninety two prostitution arrest alone. Oh wow, yeah, being known known in
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that area. You mentioned that you were selling at a time, and what
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I want to I want to ask you, was there ever a person that
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would come to you to want to purchase and it was their very first time
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and you would you ever say to them this is not for you or would
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you just be interested in just selling it? No? I was just interested
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in selling because I needed the money, and those I was linquid, they
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would front that to me what I did, what I knew. What I
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knew was something was happening. Was the people that was purchasing it from me
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were saying to me, oh, this comes back good. And so I
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didn't know what that meant. So the people who was fronting it to me,
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I was like, why do the people keep saying this come back good?
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They said, that's because they freebasing it. I said, like,
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we're Richard Pryor did, and they were like, yeah, they're cooking it.
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I was like what. And then I met the neighbor who I witnessed
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doing that and witnessed this powder turned into its purest form and smoking it,
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and then my life turned different, turned downhill on that block called Terrace Avenue
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as you know and everything I mean, being a part of the first crack
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there cooking up for people, people feeling safe around me because that that game
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became vicious. As you know that that game was was no joke that that
18:15
game. I mean, you've been going as far as learning to drive all
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the way to Queens because we wanted to smoke and make money until the point
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where we just smoked from the corner of the corner. I remember one time
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this was years ago. I came out to Terrace and somebody had mentioned that
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it was from corner to corner, you know, And that's how hot it
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was out there, from corner to corner. And you're just thinking about it
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now, just visualizing. You know, the area has been decades since I've
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been out there, but just that's the way it was. They just said
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it was from from corner to corner. We are called to love and care
18:56
for each other, not only ourselves, but also those around us, and
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we have responsibilities to love and care for those in our community. You're doing
19:06
some wonderful things in your community. How are you pouring back into your community?
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And are you pouring back into that same community terrorist yes. So once
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my book was released, people started contacting me. They were like, you're
19:30
a You told our story. I said yes. They was like, yo,
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ay, that is amazing once they realized that. And so these were
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people I had not seen and I didn't know whether they were alive, if
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they were in jail. But those who did know and were talking about it,
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even though they were still addicted, they was like, yo, you
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know. Miss Clfier wrote a book. She called it for pract the Christ
19:53
A witness and there's chapters in there called Tervice Avenue. So that that is
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how I gathered. I gathered us in the middle section of one hundred terrorists
20:06
to pray. They was like, we need to get together. Say yeah,
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let us get together and pray and our first Terrace Avenue reunion. They
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came from everywhere. They came from beMore, they came from Atlanta, wherever
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they were at. They came and we formed a circle on a block that
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would have killed us had it not been for God. Even the police.
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Yes, I saw I saw the video and you mentioned police officer and the
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one officer that come to mind, but I won't say his name, but
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yeah, yeah, I know what, Yeah, I know that officer was
20:44
there in the beginning too, because we were not recognizable to him because God
20:49
has changed us and we're in the midst of praying. And so our colors
20:55
were are white and purple, the white, supurity and royalty. So we
21:00
were released the balloons for those who did not survive. So what we started,
21:06
what started happening was every year the generations of those family members, the
21:12
children started coming to me saying Aunt Tie or miss April or minister listen and
21:19
I remembered them when they were little, and I remembered when their parents got
21:25
arrested or their parents got killed. I remembered all of that. So they
21:27
started joining the past the prayer circle, and it just got bigger, and
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so the pandemic kick. We did it for nine years, we gathered,
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we gathered the talk about coming back and doing it again. What has happened
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on Terrace Avenue. Yes, it can, but it just cannot be on
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Terrace Avenue. We would need to go like by Denton Park. We would
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need to go in a different app sphere because it's not it's gotten a lot
22:03
more dangerous. The more cameras they put up there, the more dangerous it
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becomes. And you know, and people are saying, since we stopped praying
22:14
over there, a lot of people have been killed, a lot of things
22:18
have changed. You know, that community has felt the effect of not being
22:25
there anymore. Wow, that speaks volumes to know that the presence of people
22:32
who what that community may have considered bringing down the community, had lifted up
22:37
that same community. And to go back into that community it could be harmful
22:44
for many going in there. I could just only imagine you had becoming drug
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free and again, congratulations on your thirty years of sobriety. I am so
22:55
so proud of you. You had to do your you had to take twelve
22:59
steps. What advice would you give to your step oneself? So when you
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had to take that first step, what advice would you give to your step
23:07
oneself? I'm glad you asked me that. For me it was a spiritual
23:12
journey. It was. It was the twelfth step for me having had a
23:19
spiritual awakening, and then I was able to go to step one. So
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actually in the rooms, we have learned that the twelve steps are actually from
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the Book of James. Okay, if you read a Book of James and
23:38
you're like, like, I also have twelve steps for Christians which comes from
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the Book of James that coincide, make a fear of moral inventory, looking
23:51
at what you don't want to see by faith, start talking, stop isolating.
23:56
All of those things are spiritual and what we needed because we didn't do
24:02
those things because we medicated what we were feeling. An addicted person meditates what
24:11
they are feeling. Latania has the question as far as prostitution, how did
24:17
you do that without involving your feelings and before you answer that, I just
24:21
want to let everybody know we do have a call in number if you want
24:22
to call in to ask any questions at six six seven two three six eight
24:27
one nine six. Again it's six sixty seven two three six eight one nine
24:34
six if you want to call in and ask a question. But your Her
24:37
question to you tonight is how did you do prostitution without involving your feelings?
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I want when? What? What feelings? Right? She's saying that,
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you know, when you're I guess she's saying that, when you're with somebody
24:52
and you're being a prostitute, how do you not have feelings for I guast
24:56
either yourself or feelings for the person, or just a feeling of what you're
25:02
doing, maybe wrong or right or whatever. Well, you know what feelings
25:06
did you have at that time? Okay, So, first of all,
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when the reader reads my book, they're gonna see that I considered that my
25:15
job, just like somebody considered that. I was on the streets from thirteen
25:18
on till I was thirty eight years old. That was my job. That's
25:23
what I know. In the process, I met my daughter's father out there,
25:30
and and so it revolved. So I did it. I did fall
25:37
in love with a person that paid for me and wanted to take me off
25:41
the street. I did encounter those that was like you too, beautiful,
25:45
I don't understand why you're out here, and I did. I did run
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across those, just like I ran across those that wanted to open up my
25:52
face. So my feelings, if I had any, was to make.
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And when I started, I started because my mom was a heroin atic and
26:00
me and my siblings had to eat. So that's why when when I became
26:06
addicted to crack, it was nothing for me to go out there and get
26:11
money for that because I had done that already. So as far as having
26:15
feelings, I don't think. I remember, I'm getting high, so I'm
26:18
medicating feelings. I don't want to feel. I don't want to feel anything.
26:23
I mean, in other words, you were feeling numb. Okay,
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right, of course, you know I ran across, like I said,
26:32
very very kind people. I knew, you know what I needed to do.
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They used to call me a prostitute with morals like I didn't want to
26:42
go to their houses when their wives wasn't there or their family wasn't there.
26:47
I didn't want to see their family pitches. But if they was like,
26:51
Okay, April, I know you don't want to do that, but I'm
26:53
gonna give you one hundred dollars if you do that. So I'm gonna take
26:56
that hundred dollars. When she says the act of sex with women is usually
27:02
emotional, and she was just wondering, No, not when you're getting paid.
27:07
Not when you're getting paid. The emotional part about that, it's them
27:10
dead presidents. That's it. If that's your job then and unless those like
27:17
for instance, when she asked me the question, I think about those women
27:21
right who have pens, who need pens. I mean, I've had pins
27:25
that wanted to cut my head off because I would say to those women,
27:29
why are you giving that him your money? Why do you need to do
27:33
that part? And so I became a threat to individuals like that because they
27:38
needed a pimp. I didn't need. I didn't need that. I did
27:41
what I had to do and got what I I see. The number again
27:48
to call in is six sixty seven two three six eight one nine six.
27:56
That six sixty seven two three six eight one nine six, And we're gonna
28:03
take a quick break and we're gonna come back again and speak to minutes that
28:06
April Colfield Lambert on her journey from Crack to Christ a Witness. Turn off
28:32
the legs, night a candle tonight. I'm gonna imagine, let's take a
28:49
shower shower together. I'll watch your mother nick my go so wealthday. Same
29:18
turn on me. Come you'rel I want to care of you with special tweet,
29:33
you're so sweet. Turn on well. Welcome back, welcome back,
29:42
welcome back. We are here with minutes to April Coldfield Lambert, and we're
29:47
talking about her wonderful book From Quack to Christ a Witness. My God,
29:52
this story. You know, I don't know what to say. Questions for
29:57
you here says to be you answer me the question. People are texting me
30:03
saying that the number is not working. Then what somebody's coming from a five
30:07
one six number? Yes, yeah, tell them to call back again because
30:12
it keeps coming in and coming out, but they could call back in also.
30:21
I hate to take the time for this. It's and it's fine.
30:26
Yeah, it's my pastor who always he said he couldn't get on, so
30:32
I told him to go to the Facebook. And that's all I know.
30:34
Yeah, if he goes to Facebook on the author black Diamond. He can
30:38
see it. He can see it on YouTube as well on x which is
30:45
formerly Twitter, and they can try to call that number again because I see
30:49
it and when I go to answer it, it goes back out. So
30:53
if they continue to try six sixty seven two three six eight one nine six,
31:00
I cannot let me type that to them. Six six seven two three
31:06
six two three six eight one nine six. Okay, Yeah, I've been
31:15
seeing a few of them and they're going back out, but they're all coming
31:22
through, but they're going back out. Okay, Okay, So we're gonna
31:26
keep going with this. So was was becoming drug free or staying drug free
31:30
harder than what you thought? Oh? If we have a call now,
31:36
I'm sorry, back after dark, Cauler. We have a question. Hello,
31:47
yes, yes, yes, hello. You can come onto the podcast
31:56
by going on author black Diamond on Facebook. Do you have Facebook? Author
32:07
a U T h O R Black Diamond, b l a q U E
32:14
Diamond. That sounded like my pastor, April says, you sound like her
32:29
pastor. Are you able to get in? I think they're enough, they
32:37
should be able to get in. But the number is posted. So again,
32:42
was becoming drug free or staying drug free harder than what you thought?
32:46
Uh? Yeah, oh well well it left Well, it wasn't easy because
32:52
for me it was a matter of life or death if I knew, if
32:53
I didn't, I was gonna die. So, uh, the journey,
32:59
the process, you know, for me, haven't had a spiritual awakening.
33:05
So I went to an AA meeting, I went to an NA meeting,
33:07
and I went to Bible study. We have been calling. Yes, yes,
33:35
yeah, it's live. We are live. It's basic B A.
33:37
S. I. C. Black that's the name of the show, but
33:40
the podcast, that's the name of the podcast. But in order to go
33:45
on my page, you would have to go under author Black Diamond. Oh
33:54
okay, okay, yeah it is live, so you would be able to
33:58
see it. Okay, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Do
34:10
you have a question for miss April? And who should I say? It's
34:15
saying this. I was hoping you would say that this gentleman says he loves
34:22
you and he says he's your husband. I was hoping, Yeah, that's
34:24
I didn't want to have any problems there coming through the screen. That's Dick
34:30
Kevin I love him too. Nice to meet you. Yes, okay,
34:37
thank you. Hope you enjoyed the show. All right, bye bye.
34:44
We all talk to God, at least those who believe. What is the
34:46
one thing that he told you during your journey to Christ to stand firm and
34:53
no matter what? And now I was like, okay, I didn't know
35:00
think it was going to be easy. You know my experience, uh,
35:06
Diamond was it has always been through suffering, even even on a journey,
35:13
even becoming a minister, even because like I'm wrapped in retchful flesh, I
35:20
fall short too, I'm tempted too. It's only by the grace of God
35:24
that I, you know, did not relapse or pick up or it wasn't
35:29
like I didn't go through those type of things or I didn't feel those type
35:32
of things. Especially living in a therapeutic community. Everything was brand new to
35:38
me that I had never done on this, on that road of recovery and
35:45
doing better, getting a job, having a bank account, all of that
35:50
stuff was new. People trusting me because I mean, my my, my,
35:57
my criminal record, I could wall paper wall so a lot of people.
36:01
So I knew the favor of the Lord was with me. I knew
36:05
he was gonna see me through, so I didn't worry about what I was
36:07
gonna eat or what I was gonna wear. I knew God was gonna do
36:10
it. I mean, I was in a therapeutic community. I lived in
36:14
donations, so I wouldn't keep reaching for those things that were behind me,
36:17
which was prostitution, and which was that type of clothing and stuff like that.
36:23
And then I wasn't liked by a lot of people because of not always
36:29
they didn't see me as a new creature in the Lord. They didn't they
36:35
didn't believe. They just figured, oh, you know, she's using the
36:37
Lord. Yeah, I heard right. You know, people, I've met
36:42
so many people who had used substances and they have a different relationship with the
36:50
Lord than what they may have once had. And some people don't believe that
36:53
people can change. Some people don't believe that people can believe, and people
37:00
leaving them, and speaking of that, besides tough love, in what ways
37:04
can loved ones best support a person's commitment to living a drug free life.
37:09
Because now you were just saying how some people didn't believe you seem to have
37:15
a lot of support for you. Some of it may have been tough love?
37:19
What other ways have people been able to support you? By teaching me,
37:29
by speaking up, by encouraging or convincing other people that I can be
37:35
trusted. That's one of the hardest things is trust. You know, It's
37:45
one of the hardest things for even for the individual, for them to trust.
37:52
Did you find that hard for yourself to trust yourself? No, I
37:59
didn't find it hard to trust myself because I believe in God. I trusted
38:02
God. I trusted God would do just what he said he was gonna do
38:07
for me. So I didn't. I was hesitant about the newness, hesitant
38:16
about Okay, what am I gonna do? Okay, I'm not gonna be
38:22
smoking crack, I'm not gonna be selling my b What am I gonna do?
38:24
What? What am I gonna do? Lord? And that's when I
38:29
asked that question. God said, trust me, and that's exactly what I
38:32
did. And And yeah, I still cried, you know, because I
38:37
didn't counter mean spirited people. I did. I did get angry. I
38:42
had to go to anger management. I had to do, especially in the
38:45
workplace, because you know, and then my book came around and people was
38:50
like, is that the April that sits over there. She was a what
38:53
a crackhead? What trust to do that? That that? When that came
39:00
came out, I mean, people got the book just to see my story.
39:04
And then a lot of people didn't believe that that happened to me.
39:07
And then those who were empathetic to me, they would come to me say,
39:12
I can't believe that happened to you. And so I became a spiritual
39:17
advisor for a lot of the unbelievers, especially of the population of those who
39:22
are incocerated. Because listen, God sent me right back to a place that
39:28
housed me most of my life, the jail, And I was like,
39:32
why would I go back into the jail? Well, God was okay,
39:40
she says, yes, the changes they are supporting, giving encouraging words and
39:45
hope helps a lot. Look, by avoiding drug use, we can honor
39:50
guard with our lives and serve as a positive influence on those around us.
39:53
Tell me one way you influenced others around you. I led the largest prison
40:04
ministry in Nassau County. That means that a place that housed me most of
40:09
my life, which was that correctional facility. Trust me in love you can't
40:14
just walk in there. You have to do You got to get a GAATE
40:16
clearance and this and that. So I was able as the leader of NPC
40:22
Prison Ministry to clear over one hundred people to come in and minister to a
40:27
population that needed minister into. So for me it was I knew I couldn't
40:32
keep what I got unless I gave it away. So I would reach for
40:36
the loss, the least and the last, because that's what God called me
40:39
to do, to stand in the gap for them, because He snatched me
40:43
out of the crop like that. So when is the So what is the
40:45
difference between faith based recovery and secular recovery. Secular recovery is in faith based
41:02
recovery is when the steps lead you to the power greater than yourself, which
41:09
is not a chair, which is not a life bulb for me, it's
41:13
my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For whoever they believe is greater than themselves
41:22
and so and you know that that's why they say, don't get in a
41:25
relationship, get still with yourself for the first year, get a sponsor,
41:30
get with somebody who's been on this journey so you don't give up, or
41:35
you don't give in because it's easy. You know. God told me doing
41:38
what's hard is doing what's right. So I mean, I'm like, okay,
41:44
because this is hard. Staying clean and sober a day at a time,
41:49
it's hard. Was there ever a time that you felt unworthy of God's
41:52
forgiveness? No, I didn't feel that. What about forgiving yourself? That
42:00
was the first thing I had to do, was to forgive myself, forgive
42:02
myself for not being the mother that I was supposed to be, for not
42:07
being there for my children. So that was the first thing I had to
42:10
do, was to forgive myself. And God helped me with that, you
42:14
know, along with counseling. I mean, I didn't just go to jail.
42:16
I was in a dark dorm. I was in a privileged dorm.
42:20
DART is drug alcohol, real puilitation, tear. So I was always around
42:27
people that wanted to get help when I was incarcerated until my last bid.
42:30
My last bid, they didn't let me go to dart. So that's when
42:34
God stepped in to be like, nah, you're not gonna go there this
42:37
time because you didn't pay attention the first few times every time I sent you
42:39
there. But That's why I was at so I would hear speakers that would
42:45
come in, people that were smoking crack with me, people who was walking
42:47
the streets with me. They were coming into the place where I was being
42:52
housed in jail and sharing their experience, their strength and their hole. Well,
42:58
now I know what I am proud of about you? What are you
43:04
most proud of about yourself? I don't I don't think that way, sister.
43:19
I don't think about what I'm proud of. What I am I don't
43:29
know. Let me tell you I'm great. You are. You are testimony
43:32
through your faith journey of relationship with God. God has shown up in your
43:37
life through the lessons He has taught you and the reminders He gives you.
43:43
This testimony is the self revelation of God. In other words, it represents
43:46
God's heart desire, which is also God's requirement of you. A faith based
43:52
approach to drug prevention and treatment is one that is grounded and the principles of
43:57
God's word. It acknowledges the important of spiritual guidance and addressing addiction and promoting
44:01
recovery. And here, just listening to you, I thought about some things
44:08
and I was jotting it down as you were speaking there. In some ways
44:10
that a faith based approach to drug prevention and treatment can't be effective, and
44:15
that's encouraging a drug free your lifestyle, provide an addiction support, orfering spiritual
44:22
guidance, indeed, and promoting accountability. And that's one that I use that
44:29
a lot when I'm talking about most subjects about accountability, because some people are
44:34
not accountable for the things that they do, you know. So with talking
44:38
to you, what is one thing that you holdheartedly feel as though that you
44:46
are going to be accountable for going forward, to continue to stand in the
44:57
gap for the loss, the least and the last. Helping somebody else is
45:01
just like helping myself. So that's what that is for me. I work
45:10
with students and I have the privilege of pouring into them what I didn't have
45:20
with my own kids. They respect me and they they encourage me. I
45:30
encourage them just the lessons that I've learned and come through and come through because
45:37
I was not always this person, you know, especially like in the workplace.
45:42
I had to learn and I'm still learning. I always beg God to
45:46
U in prayer to decrease me so he will increase me. And I remember
45:52
when God gave me the four age prayer. So the four age prayer is
46:00
Lord, help me, humble me, heal me, and hide me.
46:08
And God gave me that prayer, and God gave me that prayer, and
46:14
I share it all over because I've cried that prayer because I need God to
46:20
help me. I need God to humble me. I need God to heal
46:23
me, and I need God to hurt me. I don't want nobody to
46:28
see me. I want them to see the Christ in me. Okay.
46:31
And with that said, I want to thank you for sharing your journey.
46:37
And also I want to tell everybody you have to get this book from Rast
46:40
to Christ to follow her journey. Now, I'm gonna be honest. I'm
46:44
not gonna sit here and tell a story about it. I have not read
46:46
this book, but believe me, I'm telling you it's the way that I'm
46:50
feeling about this young lady. I'm gonna go through it and we're gonna have
46:53
her come back because I know there's some things in here that I definitely need
46:58
to talk about, questions about maybe some people that I may even know that
47:02
I need to question. So I'm going to definitely speak to you about that
47:08
again. Thank you so much. If you were someone you know is struggling
47:13
with drug dependency, it's important to seek help. You can turn to the
47:16
Bible for scriptural guidance or a dictionary recovery. Here are a few verses you
47:21
might find helpful Corinthians one, ten and thirteen. Yes, Almasis, thank
47:27
you for being transparent. No temptation has overtaken you. Accept what is common
47:30
to mankind and James five and sixteen. Therefore, confess your sense to each
47:37
other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. And my
47:40
favorite Psalm twenty three and four, even though I walk through the darkest valley,
47:45
I will feel no evil, for you are with me, your rod,
47:47
and your staff. They comfort me. I want you to read from
47:52
Crack to Christ's Witness and be encouraged with aples transform and story and continue to
47:57
follow her journey from addiction to sobriety to Christ. I want to thank you,
48:00
April for being an honored guest, and once I finished reading your book,
48:05
I would again love to have you back here to follow up an interview
48:08
with you Basic Black after Dark have something special coming your way for March Madness
48:16
begin in March. First, we are presenting you with author, the Educator,
48:22
and the Mistress, Nicole Brown, mini series After eight After Dark.
48:30
Thank you so much, my sisterm We definitely have to talk because there's some
48:32
things I'm working on and I definitely want you there. Elma again says thank
48:37
you for being transparent than Yeah, I don't know no other real people do
48:44
real things to my own self be true. Thank you sister for having me.
48:50
I look forward to laboring with you. Hey, same here we will
48:53
talk. Yes, Basic Black After Dawn, the all new podcast show with
49:07
your host, Black Diamond