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If you would have asked his grandmother, Jackson Ladal Page was headed down the wrong path. Jackson was getting into trouble when he was 8 years old. He stole a car with two of his friends. He was in and out of juvenile detention centers from the age of eight until he was 15. Jackson was born on 3/7/1975, to his mother, who was in jail when he was born. His mother gave custody to her mother and father. Jackson's grandfather was the president of Cambridge Ecclessiciatical College and an assistant pastor of a Pentecostal church in Youngstown. So, Jackson had a strict upbringing. This is why it was so hard for Jackson's grandmother to believe that Jackson was always in trouble. Jackson's life was changed when he met a preacher, Min. Heath Colemann who came by the detention center to talk to the young men in the center. Jackson's life mirrored Min. Colemann's life. Min. Colemann had a strict Pentecostal upbringing, but he was always in trouble. Min. Colemann was incarcerated in the State Penitentiary from the age of 17 to 28. As Jackson listened to Min. Colemann, his heart was convicted. After the service, Jackson introduced himself to Min. Colemann and asked if they could correspond with each other. Because of this correspondence, Jackson's life was greatly changed. In 1990, Jackson turned his life around. When he got out of the juvenile detention center, he began going back to school and working hard at his schoolwork. He did not get into anymore trouble. In 1992, Jackson's grandmother died while she was going to her car from the grocery store. Some gang members who were drunk and acting foolish began shooting in the grocery store's parking lot. A stray bullet hit Jackson's grandmother. She died on the way to the hospital. The Holy Spirit had urged one of the ministers at the Bible study that Jackson had just left to begin to rebuke death. Halfway to the location where the gang members who had shot his grandmother were, the car that Jackson and his friend were in broke down. Jackson and his friends were not able to go anywhere that night. Jackson was once asked what happened. He said, "I don't know. We were speeding down the road, then all of a sudden the car began to slow down then it just stopped moving. The car just stopped and it wouldn't start again. I never told the guys that I was with, but I knew it was the divine hand of God." On the news report a few days later, the gang members had been shot dead by a rival gang whose members had been shot in the grocery store shooting. Jackson and his friends' life had been spared. Jackson attended Roanoke University in Roanoke, Maddocha. Jackson tried out for the basketball team and became an instant success. He was drafted by the Youngstown Storm in 1996. He said on draft night, "My grandfather, Min. Colemann, and I prayed and asked God to let me play for Youngstown Storm. I wanted to be near my family and friends. Temptation is always around and I wanted to be near some people that I know would give me wise council." The hometown boy, who was once a trouble child is now a saved, sanctified role model for other young men. Jackson has a summer camp for troubled young men every year. Jackson also has set up a scholarship program for young people in Youngstown called "Grandmother's Heart" named for his grandmother. He has provided scholarships for over 60 students. He declares, "It's what my grandmother wants me to do. I saw her in a vision and she said to me, 'Son, you have been given an opportunity to make up for the time you lost because you were doing wrong. Give these children a chance and show them that they don't have to go down the wrong path. I've always told you that the downward road is crowded.' I have that saying on a bracelet that I had made. It helps me when I began to feel discouraged." |
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