Eddie Charles Spencer was born in Hollandale, Mississippi. He began a life of crime at 6 years old, and was in and out of training school for most of his childhood. At the age of 17, Eddie began a ten-year prison sentence at Parchman for attempted murder and armed robbery.

In 1982, Eddie gave his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Upon his release from Parchman in 1988, he moved to Jackson, MS, where he worked as the Urban Area Director for Young Life, a ministry to teenagers. His focus was on at-risk boys and girls.

Eddie has traveled extensively throughout the United States and has spoken to thousands of young people in schools, churches and conferences about the Seven A’s that every young person must consider – anger, attitude, authority, appearance, association, abstinence, and assurance – and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has also been the keynote speaker for conferences such as Mississippi Reading Association, Domestic Violence Conference, Juvenile Justice Conference and numerous conferences for the Mississippi Department of Education.

In 2007, Eddie was a featured speaker in Dr. Bill Cosby’s “Call-Out to the Community Session” which was aired on Public Broadcasting Television for four months. He was also a guest on American Family Radio. Eddie has received countless honors and awards including being honored by USA Today as one of their fifty national drug-fighting heroes. In 2008, he received the Tom Joyner Hard Work Award. Eddie has been featured in Mississippi Magazine and Delta Magazine. The story of his conversion is included in the book The Day I Met God along with the testimonies of others such as country music star Randy Travis. Eddie has published two books, Inmate 46857, an autobiography with an accompanying teacher’s guide, and Put Out the Fire – Controlling Your Anger Before it Destroys Your Life.

An avid reader and master chef, Eddie currently a United Methodist Church pastor. He and his wife, Betty, have three children – Reginald, Sharon, and Lincoln and a grandson, Landon.