This article was originally published in GO! Christian Magazine, Winter 2018. www.gochristianmagazine.com
Gary’s long road to Jesus began back in 1963. He was 10 years old and desperately wanted to be happy and have a good time like the big kids in the neighborhood.
“Back in my days, younger kids wanted to be like the older kids,” Gary said. Drugs quickly became his best friend, and then his ball and chain. For the next 28 years of his life, Gary would be doing drugs of one kind or another. It’s easier for him to mention the few drugs he didn’t use than list the ones he did. The choices to drink and do drugs were his. He doesn’t blame his parents or even the people who introduced him to drugs.
When he was 17, he was tired of everyone telling him what to do, so, ironically, he joined the military where everyone told him what to do. His drug use continued, and he became an expert at hiding his addiction and living a double life. After he left the military, Gary was able to get a good paying job. With more disposable income, he was able to buy more drugs, and keep up the charade of being an upright citizen.
In 1990, he got caught up in a sting at one of the drug houses he frequented and spent the next four months in jail where it finally came to him: He needed Jesus. With a wistful look in his eyes, Gary tells of a friend he had back then named Isaiah Jackson. This friend—a real friend—would witness to Gary every chance he got. And when those metal doors in the jail clanged shut behind him, Gary could hear his friend’s voice in his head once again talking about his need to be saved. Jesus died on the cross to save Gary from the life he was living, and Gary decided it was time to let Him. Gary accepted Christ’s gift of salvation in that jail cell. He began reading the Bible, and learned more about his new faith. He got out of jail on Friday the 13th, and was in church on the 15th.
Unfortunately, he made the mistake of going back to the same people he had gotten in trouble with. Gary fell back into drug addiction and was jailed twice more. During his third incarceration on charges of drug sales, Gary finally got the revelation to change his life. He was facing a possible 60 years in prison if convicted, and there was no one to blame but himself. He had made the decisions to use and buy drugs. He was the guilty one, but the jury found him not guilty of the charges brought against him.
When Gary was released from jail for the third time, he knew he would never go back as an inmate. For the last 20 years, he has returned as a chaplain. He leads Bible studies, writes his own curriculum, and preaches from the Bible and his own life. Gary focuses his teaching on what Jesus has done for him, and that God can do the same for them.
Gary hasn’t done this all alone, though. He has been married to his wife and best friend, Maxine, for 24 years. He asked her to marry him the first time he talked to her on the phone. After four children, 18 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, they’re still loving and serving together.
When they were first married, they opened up a daycare center, where they took in the ‘problem’ children other daycare centers wouldn’t take. During this time, Gary baked cakes for people and sold them as a small side job. As time passed, it grew into a business of its own.
Seven years ago, Gary and Maxine opened Touch of Velvet bakery in Lynn Haven where they make every cake from scratch. They use family recipes and invent their own. Red velvet cake was their first product, and now they have 16 original scrumptious cakes to choose from. They also offer cupcakes, muffins, brownies, cookies, and even puddings and pies.
Gary is committed to living his life for Christ. For those being released from jail or prison, he offers advice on how to keep from ending up right back behind bars: “Don’t go back to the same place you came from. Find new friends and family.” Gary now considers his Christian friends his family. This is what he discovered after ending up in jail two more times. You can’t stay friends with the same people that you got in trouble with. You have to find new people who will build you up and encourage you to do better.
Gary Pope spent many years wasting his life as an addict and convict. He’s been clean and sober now for a long time, and he’s not going back. “Without Jesus, I wouldn’t be where I am,” he says with conviction. “Everything I have is from the Lord. It’s all Jesus.”
