You know him pretty well. As you look at some of the developments in this city over the last few months, particularly with some this is not random violence, this is violence among people who really know each other and young people, particularly africanamericans who are involved in this and having grown up, you said you were a father at age 15. Yeah. You have some Life Experiences already, although youre only 36 years old. As you look back and you say, whats going on with these young people and how can i help them . Yeah. You couple of things happening within our community. Some of it, when i think about it, i think about a headache. A headache is a symptom of a source problem. So when i think about our youth and the ones in our community that are acting out in violence, most violence happens within your native neighborhood. So families against families, kind of inner family rivalries, if you will. I guess i think about three things that lead to acts of communication. Three, i think we all know its a breakdown in the home structure. So when i think about our community, when i think about my own life and my own journey, i think what i found is people who were proud of me, but they were proud of me for doing bad things. So i think the same is true with our youth today. Were looking for affirmation, affection and attention. If we cant get it in good things, the human nature is to look for it in bad things. Your wife angel native of cedar valley. Youve been together over 22 years and you do have a 21yearold daughter. Also, i think you said bubba is nine, your son. As you look at this situation, tell people a little bit about your background and how did you grow up in waterloo and what were you doing to get yourself in trouble . Yeah. No one did it for me. It was me. Im responsible. So you said a little bit, i met like i said, im born and raised here. Unfortunately, i probably track with a lot of story of youth in our community. Not just our community but specifically in the black community. A single parent home. Love my mom. My mom did the best job she could. Five of us growing up, pretty low income family. Spent a lot of time eating at the Salvation Army food banks, things like that. It was tough. We got by. My mom made the best out of what she had. There was t absentee father who just wasnt around for his own choices. That caused me to look up to people who werent making good decisions. And so, i like to tell our church families, its hard to be what you cant see. So you take a kid 14 years old, born and raised in waterloo, the first time i ever went to a campus, i was 31 years old as a pastor. So a College First time you ever stepped stepped foot. Even in this area. It wasnt in my scope, in my sight. I made a lot of bad decisions to be honest with you. I spent every year of my life incarcerated from the age of ten to the age of 17. Unfortunately some of that continued in my adult years. Here is what i would like to say. You cant break it so bad that god cant fix it. Even if those watching dont have a deep history in were all recovering from something and were all returning from somewhere. So its not where your point of origin is. Its where youre going. Its not where youre returning from. The point is youre on a process of returning, youre making progress, theres a future, theres a hope in front of you that youre moving towards. You cant move forward no one drives in the rearview mirror. Its not your past that defines you. Your mother raised five children basically by herself. She did. Experience . And do you have a relationship with your biological father today . Those are two great questions. I think the first thing i learned was that love compensates for lack of capital, right . And so my mother did a great job at loving us, telling us she was proud of us. My mother absolutely passed away two and a half years ago. Too bad. Interestingly at her funeral, i tell our congregation this, when i walked in i s youth. I thought where are the people my mothers age are at. One by one, those kids got up there with tears in their eyes and quivering in their voices. They said, your mother, my moms name was delilah. Delilah was a mother to me, she took me in, showed me how to cook and showed me how to be a parent. My mother left a legacy. A legacy isnt what you leave for someone. Its what you leave in someone. So the truth is, im learning everything my father i wished my father was to me. I love my dad, we dont have a good relationship, a strong relationship, but im looking at my son and im saying to myself and im saying to my wife, let leave a children a legacy in our children of commitment. We have a past, but our past doesnt determine our future. It only tells us where weve been, not where were going. As you look about things around waterloo, particularly in the city today, seeing . And what would you like to do to help rectify some of these ills and make this a stronger place, particularly in the community . When i think about our community, i tend to think about a threelegged stool. I think there are three components central to make forward process, prosperity of our communities, the prosperity of our soul and our hearts to flourish to grow. Three pieces i think would be helpful. The first would be education. I think one of the legs of education, weve got to show our young people the value of education. Two, i think its empowerment. It has to do with selfesteem, the way you see yourself in this world. The third one i think would be employment. We just got to get jobs to our young people and give them a chance to work, show them the benefit of workin you know, work for the slow quarter not the fast nickel. If we can do that, a lot of encouragement, i think we can make some positive impact. I am excited. I feel like the community has come together. Unfortunately we just had some flooding. The thing i love about the cedar valley is we know how to come together, we know how to work hard. Were known for that in iowa. I look at my Church Family and other churches, not just within the faith community, but a difference. Weve just got to keep going. I believe Better Together and we can do it. Youre the lead pastor at Hope City Church. Is this a church thats been around for awhile . Or is this relatively new . Are you the founder . Tell me a bit about the background of the church. Its a new church plan is what we would call it. Its a new church. Its a church plan because its young and growing. Its been amazing to watch. We started september 13th of last year. We started weekend services. Its been great and amazing. I get the privilege of being the lead pastor but i dont lead alone. We have a great Leadership Team from our parking team to our kids ministries. We started and 200 people showed up for our first service. By gods grace, we continue to grow. We do two services now. We have a partnership with Prairie Lakes church. Thats been amazing. Community, at least within the church, that the gospel changes people. This idea that life, purpose and identity can be found in jesus. That knowing that changes a person and that person can then change the word around them. The gospel changes people and people change things. So our vision for our church is city transformation through the gospel. So we wont let go of that truth, that belief that hope, that dream, that things can get better, they will get bte we believe god does his work through our hands. Were going to can you stick around a little longer. Yeah. Were going to take a break. As always our show will be online on kwwl. Com. So well take a quick break and welcome back to this weeks edition of the steele report with pastor Quovadis Marshall with the Hope City Church or as his parishioners call him pastor q. So pastor q. Welcome to the program again. When you were growing up in waterloo and you told me before the show that you were a dad at age 15. Thats an awful lot of responsibility, but you were determined not to repeat what had happened in your own life where your mother had to raise five children all by herself. Did you have a big chip on your shoulder growing up . What happened to change your outlook . Yeah, thats a good question i mean, you know, history is written told by the one my mom would probably have a lot longer answer. The short answer is yeah, i had a chip on my shoulder. I think i was mostly confused. I think i was mostly hurt. I felt misunderstood, unwanted, unwelcomed. Growing up with a single parent, obviously youre going to ask questions why . Why am i here . Am i worthy of love . I think those are natural question that is the human heart longs to have answered. So i looked for those answers in other things. Fast cars, fast living and that for me, everything changed around at around 17 years old. I didnt grow up in a religious home so i had no religious background. I was a street kid. So at 17 years old, my girlfriend and i had our daughter, was two. We moved to a small town in denver, iowa. It was our first apartment together. Ill never forget the day, october 23rd 1997, no religious background, i had no belief system in terms of what happens after this. I just had this conviction that if there is more to life than this, then the way that i had lived didnt earn me in gods good graces. I knew good enough that bad people werent in Good Standing just growing up with a mother who didnt mind ministering discipline taught me that. August 23rd, 1997, in my living room all by myself through tears, through hours of confession to an unknown god, i didnt k the truth. I just cried out in my living room, here is my prayer, august 23rd, 1997. God, if you are real, if you will reveal yourself to me, i will give you my life. The next morning i woke up, as god as my witness, a pastor knocked on my door. I opened the door, my name is pastor elan and he told me who jesus was, god had a son paying the penalties wanting to offer me the gift of life and part of that day changed, it changed everything. It was the why to the what. You are sh. Its not enough to know what happened to you but we need to know why. Ultimately i believe i was put here because god wanted me, even if my dad didnt. That changes everything because it gave me my identity. You said youre still not close with your biological father right now. So where does that figure in your overall view of life . Back of your mind . Are you trying to figure out at some point, because your father is going to be a lot older than you and he wont be around, to work this out . For the people watching knowing the exact same thing that im talking about right now, being a dad is tough and answering to a dad can be tough, too. It can. Are you working on that in some way . What do you think it will take to do that for other people who might be watching you. Belief that god wants to take your pain and use it according to his purpose for your life. And so what weve got to do is learn how to repurpose our pain i am who i am not because i had a life devoid of pain, but because the pain through the process of time i let it shape my personhood like its shaped my character to make me stronger or better. It didnt make me weaker. What my mama used to say, what dont kill you makes you stronger. I would s same journey, absent its an absent parent or you have a parent thats home but not present because they dont see you or want you doesnt mean youre not wanted, seen or known. I think theres a father in heaven that put you here for a purpose. I believe also in light of that truth, for me as a father, not having a good example, so im a first generation father to my son. My mothers father wasnt around either. Nights where ive said, i dont know what to do. I dont know what im doing. I know this, im going to get up, go to work, see my son, kiss him, tell him hes the most important person in the world to me and im going to do everything i can that that boy never doubts hes loved or wanted. I think bubba is going to turn out all right. I think so, too. One of the great things about life is theres always tomorrow thats something thats carried me and a lot of people every single day. Did you get tired going to jail what about somebody watching you now and say, i remember him, he was different. Hes full of it. What do you tell those people . Because people can change. You have to want to change. Nobody changes until they reach kind of a bottom and say, im going to make a change. Thats right. You talked about what made you change. Are you really changed . Yeah. You know, i think the best person to ask that would be my wife and my daughter and my son fatal. The truth is were all flawed. We have a future. Thats why we get up, put our pants on in the morning, get out of bed. Thats why we have news that could cripple us, we keep going we believe tomorrow can be better than today. I dont know who is watching this or where you are or what youre going through, but i know for a fact tomorrow can be better than yesterday. Its that fundamental truth, belief that drives us to get up everyin people who know me will know me, i am who i am. Im not a perfect man. Im not the man i used to be either. Im definitely in process. I love my community. Im a part of this city. I love this city. I believe the best of this city when i look at young men, black, white, asian, hispanic otherwise, i look at them and see what they can be, not just what they are. The truth is, until we deal with society it will continue to cease to unlock the potential of our young people. Change. Tell me a little bit about your congregation, Hope City Church. Right now you have a temporary location, where is that . Were located at 722 south hackett road in waterloo, iowa behind the uhaul right off of university. Thats where were at now. Were actually searching for a building now. Were looking to move. We love our city, want to be a part of it. Were in a building search now. We congregation. I love my Church Family. Hope city church, in youre watching, i love you. Waterloo has such a diverse population. Most of the city in iowa most diverse city in iowa by far. What we say in Hope City Church, if you watch our seminars online or come to church, were a church purposefully, intentionally by design a church of the city, in the city and for the city. Were a church of the city. Church family, i want a church like walmart. For better or worse. So weve got young and old, black and white, wealthy and the unemployed. We have married people, divorced people, single people, college students, adopted children, a lot of adopted children. We have a very diverse Church Family and i love it. Thats what we are, were family of people. We say were a church for everyone and were a church in the city and for the this city a better place. Were going to take another short break, a final one before coming back for a final segment with pastor q. Online, kwwl. Com, the whole interview every week. We have past shows on there as how tall are you . How do we measure greatness in america . The height of our skyscrapers . The size of our Bank Accounts . No. Its measured by what we do for our children. Kids and families and it will be my mission to build a country where our children can rise as high as their dreams and hard work take them. That means good schools for every child in every zip code. College that leads to opportunities. Not debt. And an economy where every Young American can find a job that lets them start a family of their own. Working together. Respecting one another. And never giving up. I want our success to be measured by theirs. Im Hillary Clinton and i approve this message. Welcome back to the final segment this week on the steele report with local pastor Quovadis Marshall, pastor q of Hope City Church. Weve been talking about his background, having kind of r your life, turned everything around. You and your wife angela have been together over 22 years. You have a 21yearold daughter and nineyearold son. You are a pastor of a Fledgling Church here, only a year old in with you waterloo, the city hope church. When you look at the National Narrative and whats happened in waterloo with some of the Excessive Force cases, do you think as a black man who has been incarcerated, are police circumstances and may lose control . Whats going on there from your point of view . To be honest, to be fair, theres a National Narrative which always heightens individual cases, scenarios. It adds fuel to the fire. You know, the question of do i think theres bias . I think people are people. I think we need to judge people on the basis of their merit. I dont think its fai for the actions of some. Dan truck goes to our church. I dont say this because he goes to our church. Ive parade with dan. Hes aware of areas of improvement in the department. I believe he and the mayor are working very, very very hard to make those necessary changes. You know, also its very hard to be a man or woman in uniform. My wife doesnt kiss me gob buy and wonder if thats my last day. Theres a lot happening. Thats not to excuse or make light of. To your point, i am a black man i cant change that. I know what racism feels like. Ive been followed in stores. Ive been nervous in particular parts of our community. I understand that, but, again, i think a couple of things need to happen. One, i think there needs to be more communication. Talking always lends to right . Trust by virtue leads to transparency. Trust and transparency are sisters to vulnerability. I think some of the Community Policing efforts that the mayor and chief have proposed will be great as they kind of figure out what it looks like. Thats loose language. I think the chief, just because i know they have, theyre working toward community involvement. So im very hopeful. Hopeful. The mayor has said that building this trust between citizens and the Waterloo Police department is a, a top priority Gary Mcfadden the homicide detective, very wellknown homicide mcfadden from charlotte, North Carolina was on this program just a few weeks ago. I asked him a little bit about, does it start with the police chief and end with the police chief . And does the police chief end up as a scapegoat for actions of his or her officers . What do you think about that . I do. Ive got a 21yearold and a nineyearold. So at some point this analogy breaks down but walk wi