Jesse Moskel tells his amazing story about his life from prison in Thailand to owning a successful copywriter business. Moskel was the son of a COG minister and tells an emotional story about how his sister died because his parents did not get her medical treatment.
S10E2Korean Ecstasy King
S10E2Korean Ecstasy King
Next week, the story of an American who spent five years in Thai prison and who survived an ordeal which saw him facing a death sentence and finally a jail term of 104 years, will be published by National Geographic Channel, the paid-for TV channel coast to coast. The inspiring story shows how Jesse Moskel’s response to his predicament, at its darkest point, transformed his life and put him on the right path.
The story of the 44-year-old American who now runs a PR and advertising business in the city of Columbia in South Carolina is about to become national news in the United States next week when featured by TV channel National Geographic. It is another inspiring story of a western man who finds himself, after plumbing the depths of the despair and the nightmare of being locked up for life in a Thai prison.
Initially facing the death sentence
Jesse was facing two very serious charges, one carrying the death penalty and the other, a lesser charge with a potential four-year term. Even if spared the death penalty, he was facing a lifetime in prison and that in itself would take costly legal representation.
One year later, after spending all his money on lawyers, Jesse Moskel’s finally determined sentence was reduced to one hundred and four years. A result. Fortunately, it was later reduced again to twenty-seven years in prison.
People don’t admit it, but there are uplifting moments of comfort inside a grim Thai prison
Even during this ordeal, however, Jesse found himself adapting to the situation. He readily admits what most people don’t acknowledge and that is that there are ways of coping with an ordeal like the nightmare he found himself in and at times, there were even some high points and things that happened that gave him comfort.
The turning point – a decision to be happy
The turning point for the American was one day when he decided that he was determined to be happy and break away from the negativity of many of the people about him.
He set himself the target of being the happiest person in his cell and the prison for that one day.
It worked. The American says not only did he feel better but through repeatedly practising this, he attracted other people towards him who had a more positive mindset. Even among the criminals, murderers and rapists, there were some.
Turned to God and not to crime
The American also faced the choice of which direction he would take with his life from that point. That is when he decided to recommit to God and religion rather than the other path which led to more illegal activity.
The American also began to read and was helped by his brother in the United States who sent him books and in particular, reading material on direct marketing and copywriting. There was a reason for this. Thai prison nightmare helped American copywriter Jesse Moskel put his life on a firm path
One Columbia man embarked on a trip to Thailand in 2007 after teaching English in South Korea for a year and ended up locked up.
Jesse Moskel, who now owns a public relations firm in the Columbia area, faced the death penalty for one drug charge and a life sentence for another in Thai prison. After five years and time in five different prisons across that country, he came home to the U.S.
Moskel said he was sitting in a jail cell in 2008, crammed in with dozens of others. He had just been arrested and had no way to call loved ones or even a translator to explain his sheet of charges. That is, until he found another prisoner who spoke English, and delivered some devastating news.
“He looked up after reading it and said, ‘Jesse, you’re never going to go home,’” Moskel said.
Moskel said he was charged with the death penalty and a life sentence for manufacturing and dealing drugs, a mistake he does admit to.
“It’s one of those weird things you can’t really calculate how painful it is to have that door slam behind you and have a guy explain to you that you are going to be there for the rest of your life. The sense of regret is so deep and so wide,” Moskel said.
For the next five years, he said he slept in a 15-by-30-foot room with 71 other people with one bathroom, no air conditioning, and no beds. S.C. man jailed in Thailand for 5 years shares journey of survival and redemption
Read his story here on his web site: Jesse Moskel
7 comments:
What an amazing story! I saw this recently on Hulu. Redemption is the correct word in the headline. God led him to a great miracle in his life. In light of all the atheistic hullabaloo here lately, this is a refreshing post! This is the kind of man who sets an example and lives the walk, unlike the present-day COG leaders.
Wow! What an incredible testimonial!
Important Take Away--- when traveling in any other country other than Norway or New Zealand, dont even think about doing something as sight as "jay walking". You are taking your life in your hands if you do.
Even US jail is a terrible experience, but a Heaven compared to second or third world frontier prison.
Excellent episode. I knew who John and Jolie were at AC, I graduated in the same class. Sad to hear that according to his son their marriage was contentious. I guess they didn't study How to Have a Happy Marriage. Jolie died of cancer at age 67. John's second wife, married in 2009, died of cancer at age 65 in 2014. Life sure doesn't unfold like we thought it would when we were naïve young believers. Divorce . . . cancer . . . etc. just weren't supposed to happen to us good people of God's TRUE church. I'm looking through the Envoy and found that Debbie Vicera died at age 52; Larry Holbrooks died of lung cancer at 64. his brother Cecil died in an automobile accident at age 46. Some who survived to "retirement age" may have bowed out of the Social Security Program, never saved for retirement, and are now struggling financially. Who among us would have thought we would still be here prior to the 1972 end date or RCM's constant 10-15 short years to go nonsense? HWA didn't learn from William Miller's Great Disappointment of 1844. Will the next generation learn from the mistakes of HWA or does every generation have to learn the lessons all over again?
Steve D at 6:33 PM said...“Who among us would have thought we would still be here prior to the 1972 end date or RCM's constant 10-15 short years to go nonsense? HWA didn't learn from William Miller's Great Disappointment of 1844. Will the next generation learn from the mistakes of HWA or does every generation have to learn the lessons all over again?”
PREDICTION ADDICTION
Some people never learn.
Alton B. (Don) Billingsley of the Church of God Faithful flock had originally discouraged everyone by saying that the Work was now over.
Then Alton B. (Don) Billingsley got some websites with HWA's old literature and sermons on them and said that the Work was now back on again. He made available booklets like 1975 in Prophecy and a 1967 edition of The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy that says at the start, “EVENTS OF THE NEXT five years may prove this to be the most significant book of this century.”
Alton B. (Don) Billingsley said in a sermon that God had revealed to him that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 presidential election.
Was Don Billingsley the one who was in the car when Richard Armstrong was killed in the automobile accident? If so, perhaps we can blame is problem on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from the accident.
Anonymous at 11:55 AM said...“Was Don Billingsley the one who was in the car when Richard Armstrong was killed in the automobile accident?”
Yes.
Actually, Billingsley was the driver and Richard Armstrong the passenger.
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