Modern Disciple Magazine for Men (MDM4M), published in Canada JUNE / JULY 2004

Cover

One-On-One with Jeff Frankenstein by Ryan Richardson

Socially Acceptable Sin by Jeff Consiglio

The Music of Duvall by Justin Taylor

More Than Accountability by Andrew Chamberlin

God in the Wild by Stephen Barkley

The Pond or the Power by Warwick Cooper

Surrender by Alan Penner

LifeLine by Quinn McFarlane

Viva III by Ryan Richardson

"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away: behold all things are become new" (1 Corinthians 5:17).

I was born on June 26, 1978 in Toronto. Both my parents were drug addicts and alcoholics. My dad was not around and my mom beat me up regularly. So at the age of 5 or 6 the CAS stepped in and took me away for my own safety.

I had already developed quite an anger problem and was always getting into fights with other kids and with the group home staff. Over a period of 11 years I was shifted to over 20 different group homes and foster homes all over Ontario.

You'd think that a child taken away by the CAS for his own safety would actually be safer in their care but that was not the case for me. The staff was just as abusive as my mom and I even had my collar bone broken by a staff member when I was 12 years old.

So obviously I had learned to be violent at a very early age. At age 13 I started getting in trouble with the law and did my first stint in jail. I was very scared and swore I'd never be back but I got in trouble and went to jail over and over again.

In the past ten years I've spent 6 of those years locked up in jails or penitentiaries. Each time I got out, I swore I'd never be back but I always ended up getting locked up again.

When I was 16 years old doing time in the Toronto West Detention Centre my life changed - and not for the better. I was constantly getting into fights with other inmates inside because I was the loner type who just stuck to myself. There were a lot of racial problems in there and most of the fights I had were with black inmates.

One time when I came out of the hole for fighting, a guy on the range befriended me and we stuck together from then on. From talking to him I learned he was a neo Nazi skinhead and a gang member. I was fascinated by his ideologies and philosophies. I was already such an angry and hateful guy but this way of life gave me a reason for my rage. From then on it was "okay" for me to be angry, hateful, violent and even racist.

Continued on Page 2.

All articles in MDM4M are copyright the author. Opinions and views are solely those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the opinions of MDM4M.