Faith Alive: Ex-con Answers Tough Questions

What's your job? I'm a recruiter at Beacon University. I've been a recruiter since August and have been a student here for seven years. I used to work in the library. Dr. (Ron) Cottle gave me my first job, knowing my criminal record. I worked that job faithfully.

What's your hometown? Gary, Ind.

What brought you to Columbus? My husband, Lussius Sr., was in the military. He was medically discharged from Saudi Arabia, the first Gulf War.

Where were you in prison? Pulaski State Prison in Hawkinsville from 1998-2000. I was in for forgery and fraud after a lifestyle of crime starting at age 4. I was in and out of jail all my life. I'd get a little slap on the wrist, and cry, and they would let me out. I had violated probation that time so I couldn't get out.

How did things turn around for you? The prison chaplain was Dorothy Jones. She took a special interest in my life. I became a prison chaplain assistant. One day she said: "God requires your life ." In that environment, I learned how to live right and respect authority, which was something I'd never learned. Thirteen months into my sentence, my son died. He was 10. He died from an asthma attack. Time just stopped... . I studied the Bible in prison, and they called me the Church Lady.

What happened after that? I came back here broke, but God used people to bless me. In 2004, I got my bachelor's degree at Beacon and in 2006 I got my M.A. in biblical studies with honors, and this year I'll graduate with my M.Div. with honors. My husband is a student here as well. Then I will go to Oral Roberts University for my Ph.D. in Oklahoma.

Will you move there? It's an intensive program where you go two weeks per semester.

How long will it take? 3 1/2 years. I want to teach. The ministry that God has called me to here is a Community Bible Study. God gave me a vision for the community. My pastor, Ann Hardman, saw the obvious call on my life and I worked for her for 2 1/2 years. I said, "I'm just a roughneck and a street girl," but she taught me how to be a minister. I had sat in church all my life but I never knew God. In prison, I studied the Bible 10 hours a day.

Say more about the Bible study. It's a ministry, it's not a church, but a learning center. I have an $80,000 education and I need to use it. Most preachers and pastors are not formally trained. I want to complement what local churches are doing. I am fully assured I am not called to be a pastor.

Talk about your family. I come from a big family. Nobody had ever been to prison. But God sent me Jeremiah 3:15 and He put my life back... . My children never gave up on me. I never received anything but respect from them. My husband and I are close now. We're friends. God healed. He came from good stock. I came from heathens, thieves and drunks.

Do you go back and talk to prisoners now? Yes. I just got permission to go to Rutledge. I know what they need. Just like for me -- I had people walk with me during and after prison. God sent me teachers and mentors. When I started working at Beacon, I had keys and security locks. I was an ex-felon with more than 100 convictions. I could have robbed this place, but Dr. Cottle took a chance that God was real.

What do you tell the prisoners? That God requires their life. Those words were spirit and life to me. I tell them they can fool everybody; I did. But you have to be tired of it. You have to want God, because He only comes by invitation. If you knock, He'll open the door. I was tired. I came to the end of my rope. Being a criminal is one of the worst lifestyles. You are constantly looking over your shoulder. It's a miserable existence.

How long have you been married? For 28 years. My husband and I stayed married while I was in prison. He wasn't always a great guy, but God used my sin. We have two surviving children, a daughter LaSaundra, who has her undergraduate from Georgia Southern and a master's from Beacon; and our son Lussius Jr. has his undergraduate from Beacon and he's going to the Art Institute of Atlanta. My youngest son would have graduated from high school in 2006, so I made sure I graduated that year.