THE REMARKABLE TESTIMONY OF THE REMARKABLE TESTIMONY OF PASTOR GEORGE

Gandy Pastor George Gandy

nd Upbringing: n in the church and raised under the mentorship and f my great-grandmother, the end Martha Finn, in Monticello, Not only were we the first merican family in Monticello, but Finn built the first African church in Monticello (Bethlehem hich stands to this day).

Finn was a tough lady, She made sure that if you to be saved under her ministry, gonna make it to heaven,” Pastor red during our interview.

Finn’s son, my grandfather, the McCoy, married my her Anna Mae Wright, who e late Missionary Anna Mae dad, the late Pastor AV Gandy, arried my mother, the late First e Octavia Gandy. And just like 3 of us (11 girls and two boys, of the eldest) were born through . ” on and Deliverance from m: had a curious nature. In fact, ed to call me ‘Curious George.’ ather had a jazz bar that sat at f the hill from the church. When ung man, I would walk by the ing my uncles and the people e parking lot was filled with Thunderbirds, Grand Marquis, hing with a convertible top. gued me. The persona back then skin suits, gators, slick hair, and pinky rings My grandfather never let me hang around the bar He would send me back up the hill to church I’d sit in the back of the church so I could listen to the jazz music I felt like that life was calling me.

“In 1972, my grandmother Madea, my dad’s mom, died while visiting her children in Monticello. We had a small service at the funeral home. Madea wore a very pretty dress and laid in a beautiful coffin; these points are significant.

“The entire Gandy and Walker family went to Alabama for the funeral. Now, back in that day, when somebody died in Alabama, the body was taken to the house for viewing. Three days earlier, in New York, Madea was in a casket and dressed up, but in Alabama, she was in an all-white nightgown and propped up in a bed. When my sisters and I saw our grandmother lying in her bed like that, we ran out of the house shook up. This was when I found out that my grandfather’s family business was not only farming but moonshine as well. Because I was so shaken, one of my uncles took me into the woods and gave me a glass of white lightning right out of the tap to calm me down. It messed me up for three days. I couldn’t see or walk and could barely talk.

“My uncle panicked and left me out in the shed for three days. He lied to my parents and told them he’d taken me to his girlfriend’s house to hang out with her kids down in the Spanish Fort area of Bay Minette. He checked on me periodically. Finally, on the third day, I was able to see and walk. While I was recovering, my uncle gave me another drink to straighten me out. As circumstance would have it, it did. And the seed of alcoholism was planted. Later that year, we had communion the old-fashioned way, with the big gold cup and the actual broken matzah cracker I tried to guzzle the entire cup

“My great-grandmother, Mother Finn, made the communion wine My sisters and I would help smash the grapes She let it ferment and then she put it in big green jugs. A couple of my uncles and neighborhood friends would break into her basement and steal a jug of the wine. That’s why, when we had communion, I was so anxious to drink the wine. When I finally got it, I turned it up and drank it so fast, it was running out the sides of my mouth and dripping down my shirt. Mother Finn looked at my parents and said, ‘Watch him, he’s got it,’ meaning the drinking problem that my grandfather and my uncles on both sides of my family had. Some still have it to this day.

“So many other things about alcohol happened over the years, but I thank God that He delivered me. Today I am over 30 years clean and sober.”

Delivered from a Life of Drug Dealing and Addiction:

“I went to school in Albany, New York. Before God delivered me, I perpetually drank, smoked marijuana, partied, and messed around with women, primarily throughout my entire first year. In my second year, I met some guys from Harlem who taught me how to hustle and sell marijuana. Eventually, we took over the marijuana business in Albany, New York. “After I got my associate’s degrees in occupational science and accounting, I got a job, met a girl, and moved into a building with college students and senior citizens. We had four apartments in the building. Two were for selling drugs and the other two were where we lived. For 10 years, my life consisted of work and selling drugs. During this time, I met a Colombian kid who showed me how to sell cocaine, and money became my god. I was making tons of money and was able to buy and pay for pretty much anything I wanted I sold drugs without incident for nearly eight years – no problems from the police or rivals

“One day, a buddy and I met up with a bigwig who loved cocaine We ended up in the backseat of his partner’s Rolls-Royce It was there that I was introduced to freebasing cocaine The bigwig said to me, ‘Young blood, be careful because this will change your life ’ He was right From that very first hit, my life was never the same The people I worked for had grown their drug business into a powerful organization with many powerful people involved But because freebasing had become part of my life, I started to make mistakes I was missing meetings, messing up packages, having issues with people on the street, etc Going into 10 years, I ended up owing those people nearly $70,000 I went to Florida with some guys who had a plan to rob my distributor, but he found out about it and got rid of the guys For some reason (we know now it was God), the guy could not dispose of me, so he threw me in a hole and left me there for three days with a pack of cigarettes and three bottles of water I made my peace with God I asked Him to look after my kids and my parents, and I repented for not living the life I was supposed to Then I went to sleep On the third day, they threw a bucket of water on me When I woke up and saw the sun, I thought I had died and gone to heaven

The people said that for three days the dog wouldn’t stop barking, their mother walked the floor, the baby and his wife kept crying – everything was unsettled Even the guys who worked for the boss said that they could not kill me because I was family I took care of their families when they visited New York

“The boss took me to Miami, bought me a suit, put money in my pocket, and bought me a one-way ticket back to New York He made it known that I needed help; and, that they were to get me help When I got there, the people I worked for met me, along with my mother and one of my sisters They took me to see my then-wife and my kids Four days later, I went into rehab

“There is so much more to the story, and one day it will all be told in a tell-all book Look for it Thanks be to God, today I am over 33 years drug and alcohol-free ” “Wow, praise God!” I said "That is a great testimony "