The Whole Truth

ROWING My name is Gary. I’m the International President of Evangelism. I lead an incredible church and have a successful itinerant ministry. I’ve even been blessed to be a bestselling gospel recording artist (which I still cannot believe). But that hasn’t always been the case. I’ve had to overcome many challenges in my life. My mother was a crackhead, and my father was a “rolling stone.” My father was a musician who traveled the world making music and babies. I was raised by my father’s mother even though he wasn’t an active part of my life. My mother was on drugs almost my entire life. I’m told that I was a drug baby. I was born with medical conditions and struggled my entire life with learning challenges. I later learned that my mother was even a prostitute at one point. She was a beautiful woman mixed with Black, Indian, and Japanese. Her hair went to her calves, and she always wore it in a bun. She was gorgeous but had many demons. I grew up in the ghettos of Los Angeles County, so I know what it’s like for the police to raid your home in the middle of the night, or to dodge drive-by bullets. But out of all my relatives, I was the different child. I was the kid on the front row at church, glued to my pastor’s every word because I was going home to preach it to my own invisible congregation. I was an introvert and shy, but passionate about God. I would spend hours alone praying, worshiping, and reading my Bible. I was not a perfect kid and had behavioral challenges and issues, but I was the boy preacher, and everybody knew it. I love God, partially and probably because I loved my grandmother so much. Mother Helen Sprewell was the church mother and pillar of the community. She By Pastor Gary Sprewell

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