Ex-gang member wants to turn gang member's lives around

A former gang member says Tulsa's gang killings are out of control and he wants to help. It took two shootings, one that left him blind, before he turned his life around. <br><br>News on 6 crime

Thursday, March 11th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A former gang member says Tulsa's gang killings are out of control and he wants to help. It took two shootings, one that left him blind, before he turned his life around.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright explains how he went from a life on the streets to a life behind the pulpit.

Chris Bell loves gospel rap, he uses it in his ministry, called Change People Today, to reach young people. But it hasn't always been this way. Chris joined a gang when he was 16. "Involved with crime life, running with gangs, robbing, stealing, I got hooked up with that."

Chris was shot in the head with a shotgun by a fellow gang member in 1991, over a drug deal gone bad. After six weeks in a coma, he woke up, totally blind, but still didn't change his life until a second shooting in 1994 killed his friend and barely missed him. "Drinking, getting drunk, gang banging and I decided I needed to change, I wanted to do better in life."

Chris says he found the Bible and has never looked back, preaching, recording a gospel rap c-d and talking to young people. He says he needs support in order to get through to Tulsa's gang members. "It's time for Tulsa to invest. We put all this money into the churches; we need to put that money into the community."

Bell says his message works because he's been where many of these kids are, he says if he can go from being a thug for life to being a thug for Christ, others can to.

If you'd like to contact Chris, his website is www.CPTMinistries.org.