Sandwiched between Independence Day and the first bell of the new school year is an annual event that leaves JRay Stephens giddy as he scans the hundreds of colorful backpacks his church is about to distribute to students in need.
Each PowerPack® backpack, donated by the Inner City Ministry of Cru®, is filled with vital school supplies such as pencils, pens, colored pencils, markers, notebook paper, glue sticks, highlighters, pocket folders, an eraser, ruler, and scissors.
The scholastic bonanza has new meaning for the father of five, who never graduated from high school.
“It’s crazy I’m doing this,” said JRay, who spent his teens dealing drugs.
In those days, there was little evidence of school supplies in JRay’s backpack. Instead, it was loaded with marijuana and other drugs he would peddle to classmates. Decades later, after finding Jesus — and himself — JRay now serves as the facilities manager at a Christian school where he works alongside his wife, Nora.
“I’m doing the same thing,” he said of handling the backpacks, “but I’m working for the right person now. Amen! It’s like I’m kind of in the same line of work, but it’s not for the bad, it’s for the good.”
The irony was lost on JRay until his full-circle journey was recently pointed out to him.
“I never thought about that,” JRay said, a smile of realization spreading wide between his cheeks. “When I was in school, I was never in class. I was always cutting, and now I’m in school all day long. I’m the first guy here and the last one to leave. I open the place. I turn on the alarm when I leave; I lock it down.”
He still marvels at how far he’s come.
“I don’t think in a million years, anybody would ever give me this many keys,” he said, holding up a loaded key ring as a cheery lilt accented his words. “I got keys for everything!”
• • •
The oldest of three boys, from different fathers, JRay found himself fending for his siblings as his mom used alcohol and men to quiet her demons. She married five times, each union dragging drugs, dealing and gang activity into the family home.
“I seen a lot being with my mom,” he said.
But he also had a praying grandmother, who took the then-primary-age boy to church as often as possible. He thrived in the environment, discovering music, which countered the chaos at home.
“The seed was planted when I was young,” he said. “I kind of basically knew I was called to be a worshiper, because I love to praise the Lord.”
But seeds are susceptible to their environment, and without consistent nurturing, they can fall prey to neglect. Soon, JRay was following the examples he saw at home, not at his grandmother’s. By the age of 12, he was using marijuana and selling crack cocaine at his San Francisco school.
“I was a part-time athlete and then a part-time street kid, I guess you would call it,” JRay said. “You can’t do both, so I got caught up with really favoring the street life.
‘I was a part-time athlete and then a part-time street kid, I guess you would call it. You can’t do both, so I got caught up with really favoring the street life.’
“With that kind of life, you start getting in trouble. I started skipping a lot of school, started getting in trouble with the law, and started going in and out of juvenile hall from 13 all the way up to 18 years old. It was a revolving door in and out of juvenile hall, group homes, and camp. I was a functioning addict. … I was my best customer.”
But there was one reward.
“The only way I got my mom’s attention is when I would get locked up,” he said.
Facing a three-year sentence with the California Youth Authority, a juvenile court judge offered JRay a year-long drug diversion program as an option to incarceration. He accepted the offer and worked diligently to avoid jail time. When JRay turned 18, a bit shy of completing the program, the judge held a hearing on his progress.
A witness from the diversion facility testified on his behalf, and although JRay was still in the program, the judge cleared him from the juvenile system.
“If you get in trouble, now you’ll be dealing with the adult courts, and you’ll be dealing with the California Department of Corrections,” JRay was told. “Soon as he said that, I was happy. I was like, cool. ‘I used my Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card.’ It was all a game to me.”
Without fear of defying the judge, he walked out of the diversion program the same day, heading to church, where his pattern continued.
“I would get up there and (lead) worship,” he said. “As soon as I was done, I would go home and smoke weed again. I was on the fence. It was like I played church.”
‘I would get up there and (lead) worship,” he said. “As soon as I was done, I would go home and smoke weed again. I was on the fence. It was like I played church.’
The pattern eased a bit when he met Nora, a young woman raised in a healthy family with no history of substance abuse. She was smitten, drawn to the man who dressed well, donned jewelry, and was never short on cash.
“I was still dipping and dabbling with the drugs … I still could hold down a job. She didn’t know what was going on.”
Over time, smoking what JRay called the “devil’s dandruff” eventually took its toll again, leaving JRay lost, confused, and “in a really dark place.” Nora took the brunt of it as he tried to camouflage his shame by being verbally abusive.
Nora gave him a final choice: Clean up or she was leaving.
This time, he entered a treatment program on his own, graduating after eight months of intense work. He celebrated with a marriage proposal. The couple married and had four children, adding to the daughter JRay had as a young adult. He remained sober for 11 years — until he relapsed while trying to juggle two jobs.
“Red Bulls weren’t working no more,” he said. “Coffee wasn’t working. I was very exhausted. I was kind of worn out.”
He started using small amounts of cocaine to increase his energy. It backfired. JRay lost his job, the home they were renting, and nearly his marriage.
“She was done with me,” he said. “She was at the altar every Sunday, crying, weeping … asking God to save me and please make me better, heal me from what demons I was fighting.”
Depression set in, and JRay, seeing his family sleeping on the floor of a relative’s house, realized he was at rock bottom. He pondered his own fractured relationship with his dad and how, for years, he longed for a father figure.
“What am I doing?” he asked himself. “I’m messing these kids up just like I was messed up. Enough is enough. So, I got tired of it, threw my hands up, and I surrendered it all, gave it to God. I was done. Done. Done.
“I got really heavily involved in church. I wasn’t on the fence like I was my whole life.”
He submitted himself to mentorship and the authority of his San Francisco church. After moving to the East Bay, the Stephens family began attending House of Faith Bay Area Church, pastored by Ray Romprey, team leader for the Inner City Ministry of Cru in Hayward. Soon, he was leading worship.
“He grew up singing in church and in a group, and then he backslid, became a drug addict for 20-plus years,” Pastor Romprey said. “But you know, he never gave up, and God always called him back.”
As JRay was mentored and discipled, his faith strengthened, and the old temptations diminished. He landed a job as facilities manager at Redwood Christian Schools, where Nora also works in the attendance office. In addition to a steady income, the job provides free tuition for his children.
It’s also given him a sense of purpose as he now mentors a group of 25 male students.
“I don’t look at it as a job,” he said. “It’s really a ministry here. I’m blessed to be able to pour into all these kids.”
• • •
Giving back is what drives JRay and his family to participate in the Inner City outreaches, all designed to open doors to sharing the gospel with those enduring suffering in its many forms.
“They’re involved in the church,” Pastor Romprey said. “They’re involved in outreach. Every time we do a Cru event, PowerPacks, Boxes of Love® (holiday boxes), Homeless Care Kits. … I mean, this family gets their hands to the plow. They’re amazing.”
While JRay serves the congregation as the worship leader, Nora and his children participate through ushering, nursery work and video services. A favorite event is an annual three-on-three basketball tournament that includes the distribution of 500 PowerPacks through a partnership between Cru and his church.
Each backpack is a poignant symbol of how dramatically God has worked.
“God’s been working miracles in our life,” JRay said. “He’s just been opening doors. After I gave it all to Him, He’s just done so much for me as far as where I’ve come from and where I’m at today.”
‘God’s been working miracles in our life. He’s just been opening doors.’
