Facing the prospect of an 18-year sentence for drug dealing, Herman Mendoza (pictured above as he is today and, inset, in his younger days) shouldn’t have been feeling peaceful.
But, as he awaited his fate in one of the jails on Rikers Island, New York, something had been different to previous prison time.
For a start, he’d been shocked to find his brother serving time in the same jail – and there was a marked difference in him.
“[My brother] looks at me, and he just extends his hand up to me and he says, ‘Hallelujah, praise the Lord.’ And I look at my brother with indifference. I’m like, ‘What is he talking about? Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. We’re in jail. He’s lost his mind.’ So, he’s like, ‘You know God loves you. You don’t understand. I’ve been praying for you. I’ve been praying for your salvation’.”
If anyone understood what had got Mendoza in that jail, with news of that potential sentence, it was his brother.
They’d grown up together in Queens, New York, with Herman the youngest of five boys.
At 13, he became a member of a gang, remembering he “wanted to kind of fit in and be a part of that culture”. Even seeing his friend shot and killed didn’t dissuade him, and he took part in a robbery in the Bronx and was jailed for a year.
He became deeply addicted to cocaine in the 1980s and, driven by his cravings, approached a neighbourhood dealer, offering to sell drugs. He started selling small amounts of cocaine in a specific area of Queens to sustain his drug habit. His cocaine habit led to heroin use as a young teenager and drew him deeper into crime, leading to his latest jail term and that weird reunion with his brother.
It was about to get even weirder, Mendoza told Delafé Testimonies, with his brother inviting him to a chapel service. News of that possible 18-year-term broke any resistance to the invitation.
PEACE
“And as I’m sitting in the back, the pastor said, ‘There’s someone that’s been telling God that He wants peace.’ He said, ‘The peace that God can give you surpasses all of your understanding. You know who you are. God can change your life.’ I just felt this peace come on me. And I knew it was for me.”
An inmate invited Mendoza to come forward, and he made the life-changing decision to surrender his life to Christ.
From then on in jail, he dedicated himself to studying the Bible and theology, becoming head pastor at the detention centre chapel and witnessing many prisoners being transformed by encounters with Christ.
After being given a reduced sentence of five years and six months instead of 18 years, Mendoza used that time to preach the Word of God and engage in Bible studies with fellow inmates until his release.
He’s now lead pastor at Iglesia Promesa Internacional, a Spanish-speaking church in New York City, and the director of PowerHouse Kids Ministry, a vital part of Promise Ministries International in the same city. He’s also a speaker for The 4/14 Window Movement, a global initiative to raise the next generation “to be the leaders of tomorrow through Christ”.
That transformed life is encapsulated in Philippians 4:3, Mendoza says: “Trust God in all circumstances. The Bible says that ‘We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us’.”
