WHAT'S THE STORY BEHIND COH?
This story came to me after watching the news in the year of 2013 and on this particular day, it showed a young African-American man in his late teens being arrested for rape and his grandmother trying to speak on his behalf... not really take up for him, but stand in as a parent. And there were actually a few young men being arrested on that day for various things. While watching this, I asked myself, "Where is his father?" Then I started thinking even more about it and wondered... well what if he was hurt in his childhood and that pain was never addressed such as mom or dad left him or are in jail, or worse, he could've been physically or sexually abused like I was. I wasn't physically abused, but molested by family members. And had I not encountered God early in life, I could've been doing the same thing, depressed or suicidal. Now don't get me wrong... I'm not saying what he did was right, but there was probably an underlying issue that possibly moved him to behaving that way.
So, I began writing as God led me. This story started out with the title "Broken But Not Forsaken"; however, after much prayer, mentoring from a woman of God with many talents by the name of Denise Owens, erasing and making many revisions to the title and content, it evolved into a heartfelt story called "Change of Heart"; a story about forgiveness, fatherhood and will also highlight child sexual abuse. It's not my story verbatim; however, based on true events that I grew up seeing, hearing and/or was a victim of. Without ever attending a film school or screenwriting class, I often asked God, "Why me?" and it wasn't revealed to me why until I attended a retreat back in August of 2017 that my church put on called The Encounter. At this retreat, I learned to FINALLY forgive those family members and God gave me the courage to tell my parents after forty or so years. I believe also God was pruning me until now, giving me the opportunity to learn about the film industry from veterans.
After doing so, He told me, "Now you're ready to help others do the same.", which meant help others become free of past hurt as well. And not only will God be serious with you, but He also has a sense of humor. With that being said, He told me to write the book as well. As was like, "God are you serious? Come on!" "Do you see how long this screenplay took?" Again, I had never taken any kind of writing class other than the regular English courses I had in school and college, and had never written a book before. However, I have learned that you don't need experience or a degree when God gives you a task. Just say "Yes" and He will equip you for the job. So, I present to the world His movie project, His book, His task, "Change of Heart"! The story mainly takes place in Southfield, Michigan... not sure why God gave me that, but all I know is that someone there needs this along with many hurting people of various ages.