First things first, giving all the Glory, Praise, & Honor to God, for all the Miracle Way He shows Himself Strong in all of our lives. My name is Boyd Lake Harrell and I’m writing this Biography for the purpose of sharing with all of you the reasons why my wife, Jan and I got into the Volunteer Service work we conduct in the TDCJ Institutional & Parole Divisions.
My story is pretty wild itself; I suffered for some 25 years with an intravenous drug addiction and a severe alcohol problem. I actually started drinking alcohol at the tender age of 8, sniffed inhalants and started smoking marijuana in 1969 at the age of 10, popped pills of every kind, including LSD and then began to inject drugs, including heroin in my veins, at the age of 13.
This sent me on a tailspin down and soon landed me in much trouble with the law. I ended up going to prison 4-separate time on 3-convictions. The cases were of a very serious nature and yet were ridiculously petty, all at the same time.
At the top of my 4th and final trip, by the 3rd hour of last arrest, in the City of Houston Jail, I surrendered my heroin and cocaine addiction and alcohol problem; I gave up the violence, anger, and rage, and surrendered my all, to Almighty God. He stepped into my life upon acceptance of Jesus Christ and released His HOLY POWER to deliver me from the inside out. And indeed He did, for I have been completely clean and sober for 21 years, as of April 29th, 2014.
I was completely set-free by praying "one prayer" to Almighty God, in the Name of Jesus Christ, by the Power of the Holy Spirit. Then was afforded the grace to go through Substance Abuse Felony Facility (SAFPF) at Havins Unit in Brownwood, TX. From there the story becomes rather complicated, because I was also backing up a previous 15-year aggravated sentence and ended with a mandatory supervision revocation and placed back in the TDCJ system, where I continued to develop my great faith in God and achieve great things even while incarcerated. Like completing 3-years of Rhema Bible Correspondence School, through Kenneth Hagin and Adventures in Faith by Jerry Savelle. I also received the acronym for COOL, as Christ Over Our Life, while incarcerated the last time.
Today my wife and I, and all the COOL Family of Volunteers serve in some 160 units across America and have the greatest amount of work concentrated in the Great State of Texas. We have reached 50-units in TDCJ, so far and desire to reach them all.
Our affiliation with Conviction For Christ Ministries out of ALBQ., NM has literally put us on the map, in ministry to the prison systems across America. Special Thanks be to unto the Lord for hooking us up with Pastors Eddie & Sandi B of Conviction For Christ Ministries. Eddie B and I have become Best Friends and share the same heartbeat of love and compassion for the prisoners. Eddie B has blessed me with some Christian Music of my own now. And you can listen to a couple of my albums on this site.
My special Thanks for the recognition of the very many COOL Ministries, Inc. approved TDCJ Volunteer Chaplains who tirelessly work through the prison outreach ministry. A great number of our volunteers are also ex-offenders. We reach people while they are incarcerated and then often develop a greater relationship with them through the mail and then upon their release, provided they are released to the Houston area and especially the Northwest Houston area, where our Headquarters in located right across the street from Houston One Parole Division. We offer a Nurturing Church and assistance with resource information and reentry Crisis Counseling under the study of Dr. Paul & Jeri Carlin, my Spiritual Father, who is also an ex-offender.
Pastor Jim Scalise, (who is now gone on to be with the Lord) Prison Outreach International, Kenneth & Gloria Copeland along with Mike Barber Ministries, Tony Evans, Chaplain Ray, Billy Graham, Bill Glass & Friends, Prison Fellowship, & Gertha Rogers with JOY Prison Ministries, to name a few all played a vital and key role in reaching us with the message. Pastor Scalise impacted my life in a most magnificent way. He helped me embrace God's mercy and grace. Jesus, tell him that we love him and we will see him soon.
he TDCJ system. Pastor Eddie & Sandi B. have so impacted all of our lives and ministry. I’m now serving on the Board of Directors for Conviction For Christ and count it a great honor to serve in this capacity. Eddie & Sandi have reached hundreds of units in the prison system in more than 20 states across America.
I went back to College in my 40’s after 4 trips to TDCJ and finished with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences. I was a Red Rose Scholar and was awarded Volunteer of the Year 2000, 2001, & 2002. I was the 1st and only one in my immediate family to attend college or complete a degree.
I celebrated 20 years of Freedom from TDCJ Institutional Division on July 24th, 2018. To God be the Glory. Thank You, Lord for allowing me to serve in the Ministry.