Morally Intelligent man: Mr. P.
Jagessar
Life changing testimony
I choose to dictate the words spoken
by this man as I could record from memory everything he spoke about in class.
Every sentence was meaningful to me and made an impact upon my life. I told
three of my peers about this man’s story the afternoon of Thursday’s lecture.
The students of a core course class
had a guest lecturer that took us by surprise. He introduced himself as P.
Jagessar. He started off as a lawyer in 1991 and took a bribe of 1 million
dollars and got in trouble with the law of Trinidad and Tobago.
He was married and had
three little girls and a wonderful life. Jagessar grew up as a Roman Catholic
but did not follow his denomination. His wife was a Christian and enjoyed
reading the bible daily. His wife would usually have prayer sessions with the
other women from her church at their home. She would also convince him to visit
the prayer sessions at her church but Jagessar was not particular about church,
religion or God. Life went well for him and his family and that is how it
seemed growing up.
Hardships took a toll on his life,
everything that seemed good started going downhill and taking in for the
worst. There were nights he just could
not sleep and often contemplated suicide. It was at this point in his life that
he felt it was time to visit the prayer session that his wife persistently
encouraged him to attend. He went into the church and when the minister at that
time was asking for all those to give their lives to Jesus Christ it was at
that very moment he felt a large hand grabbed him from the back pushing him to
the forefront of the altar. Jagessar recalled how life changing that moment was
for him. For the first time in years he could sleep, he had no worries or
fears. His heart was transformed and the love that he had for Jesus Christ grew
more and more daily. He told his wife all about his experiences and how much he
never understood that this God could love an old wretched man like himself.
Jagessar stated that he was convinced that Jesus Christ literally left the
cross and came into his heart. His life has never been the same since he
accepted Christ as Savior of his life.
Then one day he met up his worst
fears. He was arrested for taking a bribe and had to go to court. He recalled
being placed in a prisons van with other men and a drive from Independence
Square to Frederick Street that would usually take (5) minutes felt like (5)
hours for him. He said that besides big men falling on top of one another, a
mentally deranged man decided to pee all over the van. Jagessar prayed to God
and was convinced in his heart that God would deliver him from this horrendous
situation.
Jagessar recalled being handcuffed
that the flesh of his wrists started to hurt. The prison guard asked him to
take off all his clothing because they had to make sure that there were no
weapons on him. They knew that he was a man from a prominent office, but in
jail, ranks were not important. Once you committed a felony you were placed
with all the “bad” guys at all levels, race and socioeconomic backgrounds in
society. Jagessar said he felt humiliated being stripped naked in front of all
the men, and then asked to “squat” which humiliated him even further.
When he was on trial in the courts,
Jagessar lamented that he heard an inner voice tell him that “whatever you go
through, do not worry this is all the plan that I have for your life.” When the
judge called his name and pronounced him “guilty” Jagessar said he felt the end
of his life gripped him deep inside. He questioned God. How could this loving
God, still allow me to go to jail? What had I done that God still continues to
punish me? I was Christian, I was
changed why would God allow me to go to jail?”
Then Jagessar remembered the inner voice, the voice of God speaking into
his ears that all that he would go through was in the plan that God had for his
life. The remembrance of these words then brought comfort to Jagessar’s heart.
In jail, he was given a bucket that
he had to do everything in from brushing his teeth to “poopsing”. His cell was
very small. He had a bed and was not keen on sleeping on the mattress because
of the foul smell that came from it. Jagessar said that he decided to turn the
mattress over and there was blood and the scent was worst than one could ever
imagine. Later he learnt that an inmate who was HIV positive had died the night
before on that mattress. Jagessar said he saw cockroaches in his cell as large
as a rat. He prayed and asked God to take him out of the place because there
was no way he could sleep on that mattress. He felt like he wanted to die. Then
a peace came over him and eventually he slept like a baby.
The next day he was able to tell
whether it was night or day by looking into a hole above his head. Once
light came through the hole, Jagessar perceived it was morning. A man in the jail cell knew who he was and knew that he was
a converted Christian. His inmate gave him a bible and told him to read the
scriptures for him and Jagessar prayed and read for his inmate.
Jagessar did not have any toothbrush
to brush his teeth, so his inmate told him that he could borrow his. Jagessar
said that he refused but the inmate told him that it would not be a problem
sharing his toothbrush with him after all he had done a good deed for him by
praying for him. But Jagessar still refused and told him that soon his wife
would come visit him and bring a toothbrush for him. Immediately another inmate
who overheard them shouted at Jagessar “You hippocrite! All alyuh Christians is
hypocrite! The man giving yuh a toothbrush but yuh fraid to say yuh don’t want
to use the nasty toothbrush! Yuh scornful!”
Jagessar said he prayed to God in
his heart because he did not want to be labeled as a hypocrite. The next day
the man offered him his toothbrush again and Jagessar related that he did not
know what made him take the toothbrush and brushed his teeth with it.
Jagessar recalled a story of two men
that got into an altercation with each other and the police managed to find them
and they both ended up in the same cell.
In the cell they were fighting with each other and blaming each other.
One then took out a toothbrush and stabbed the other one in the eye. Another
inmate shouted out “Blood!” and then the guards came rushing to the cells.
Jagessar also recollected having to
“poops” over the bucket and accidentally the entire mess in the bucket spilled
on him. He said that he took his top off to clean the mess that was all over
his skin. It was scattered all over the floor of the cell and Jagessar decided
to ask his inmate for a mop. The inmate then laughed and told him that there is
no mop around and that he had to scoop it up with his hands. Jagessar said that
he had to clean the mess with his bare hands and he did this while biting his
lips. He said as a big man he wanted to cry.
One day he was in the cell and his
head was down and he could sense like a man wanting to hit him at the side of
his face. Jagessar said he took off his glasses and looked at the man only to
see the man in freeze position. The man hand and elbow was seconds close to his
face and he could not hit him. The man just kept staring at him shaking the
palm of his hand in a freeze like position. It was later on in life that
Jagessar realized that truly angels were protecting him in that cell.
The months turned into years and
Jagessar was brought to the High Court and then Court of Appeal. He was given nineteen (19) years imprisonment
but was incarcerated for only three (3) years. After his release from prison,
Jagessar was given a presidential letter that stated that the state has forgiven
him and he was pardoned. Miraculously the day after his release he got a letter
stating that he was offered a job as a lawyer again. Though he always worried
about his family, Jagessar said that he has five girls and they all are doing
extremely well. His faith and love for God never stopped though he was in
prison. He spent those days reading his bible and his faith in God grew
tremendously. He said that people who worked in the prisons would just tell him
that they would see this light emanating from his face and though he was in the
darkest and worst place he seemed so peaceful and different from the others.
Jagessar came to realize that God was with him and that God had never left him
nor forsake him.
Not only does Jagessar work with
lawyers in the magistrate’s court now, but has been a guest lecturer in many
schools in Trinidad and Tobago. He continues to warn youths about getting into
criminal activities. He also encourages individuals to develop a relationship
with God and convinces many that God has a plan for every person’s life.
Dressed
in a shirt and tie black and white suit with a bible in his hand, Jagessar told
his testimony to a class of over 80 youths on 31st March
2016 at the University of The West Indies. On three occasions he referred to
his law book “the Holy Bible” to back up what he was saying.
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as
the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it
be fearful.”
and Revelation 12: 7 -9 “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels
fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they
lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient
serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was
hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”
This man testimony
was so impacting and motivating, that at the end of his impartation of
knowledge and words of wisdom he asked for all those who would like to give
their lives to Jesus Christ. Without exaggeration, the entire class stood in
one accord and repeated the prayer of salvation as he spoke. His last words
which resounded in the atmosphere were “you are not in university by chance;
God has a plan for your life!”
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