The Reconciliation Conversation
Derrick DeLain & Jason Dukes
with special guest Reconcile Episode 14
September 16th, 2020 INTRO | Derrick DeLain BIO info for RECONCILE
aka Ronnie Lillard is from Fort Myers, FL. He was abandoned by his mom, left to be raised by his dad. Football unfulfilling, rebellion gone empty, and the loss of his grandfather led him to a season of awakening. Jesus used Pastor David Estrada to offer Ronnie a life-altering opportunity. Being mentored and serving in his community led him back to football, which afforded him the chance to get an education at Rice University in Houston, TX. There, he moved into the 3rd Ward and started mentoring inner-city kids. He graduated from Rice with a degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Sociology. Around that same time, he launched into hip hop, going agains the stream with raw, unapologetic, meaningful music, which has been chart-topping on multiple platforms. He serves in his native Miami as an inner-city mentor, an outspoken activist for prison reform, and an advocate for juvenile justice and recidivism on the Miami Circuit Advisory Board. Reconcile is a father of five of his own children and a spiritual father to lots of other children, as he champions the forgotten while living close enough for them to taste and see the hope he found with Jesus. STORY FROM HIS WEBSITE: He was born bound within the gritty landscape of chalked lines. In the middle of his childhood, he suffered his first loss when he was abandoned by his mother and left to be raised by his father in Fort Myers better known as “Little Pakistan.” Despair and poverty were bedfellows and gun shots were more frequent than thunderstorms. Prior to becoming a teen, the message was resoundingly clear. The soundtrack to his life then was “murder rap”, Ronnie survived the culture. Unshaken by the harsh realities, of which he inherited, he succumbed to his surroundings: depleted resources, constant trauma, family disfunction, incarceration, violence, dreads, gold teeth, drugs and firearms. South Florida. Seventeen years his senior, Ronnie’s dad believed that the only outlet to overcome poverty was for his son to pursue football. This was plan A thru Z. Fueled by his own curriculum of delinquency this behavior was in direct conflict with his father’s wish to stay focused and see the dream to its end. Unwilling to concede, at 15, fistfights ensued and Ronnie found himself homeless in the middle of the night. Now free from his father’s roof and expectations, he used his freedom to catapult himself into the nightmare his father tried to avoid. Inasmuch as his grandfather tried to provide him guidance, he let his inner voids guide him and soon found himself truly by himself. The death of his grandfather began the process of his awakening. Like most who lose someone they love, in the immediacy of pain he had immature words with God. Although the loss gave him pause, an unexpected encounter with Jesus had the greatest impact upon his life. Having been court ordered community service while on probation, he sought for an opportunity to fulfill his obligation. At a church in his neighborhood, where he had frequented during the late hours of the night to play basketball on a double rim with half of a backboard. It was there that he met Pastor David Estrada. Estrada was willing to give him the hours that he needed for the exchange of attending bible study and doing odd jobs around the church. Which proved to be just an opportunity for Estrada to impart on Ronnie mentorship and guidance. In the time shared, Ronnie was most struck by the cross of Jesus Christ. It inspired him to want to change his lifestyle and develop a deeper connection spiritually. Although he felt an im
