Charged with murder and facing 40 years behind bars for a shooting he says he didn’t commit, a young Muslim man from Liberia sat in a jail cell and asked for a Bible. Days later, he says, the cell filled with light and a man in white walked through the metal door. In this episode of God’s Truth Podcast, Apostle Augustine tells how Jesus met him face to face, and how he walked out free.
From Liberia to the streets of Pennsylvania
Augustine was born and raised in Liberia, West Africa, to Muslim parents on both sides. He came to America at 16, first to Maryland and then to Pennsylvania. At high school, the Liberian kids heard him rap and gave him the name he still carries: “Lyrical.”
Music opened doors, and so did the streets. He fell in with gangsters, parties and fights. “I was just a young boy,” he says, “just living my life.”
The birthday party that changed everything
On his birthday, 15 January 2009, Augustine didn’t want to go out. His friends switched off the computer he was making beats on and took him anyway. They stopped at a welcome-home party for a school friend back from Iraq.
As they were leaving, a phone went missing. Some guests insisted on searching everyone, and when one of the African young men refused, he was jumped. His friends stepped in, a fight broke out, and a US Marine was shot. Guests told police they didn’t know the shooter, but they knew the man standing beside him. It was Augustine.
He was charged with seven crimes, including murder and gang-related offences, adding up to 45 years. Five were later dropped. At 24, he sat in a cell facing 40 years. “My life is done,” he thought.
“Do you believe in Jesus?”
An older Asian security guard saw Augustine’s face in the newspaper and came to his cell. “What were you thinking, shooting a US Marine?” Augustine swore he hadn’t done it. The guard asked one question: “Do you believe in Jesus?”
“No, I’m Muslim,” Augustine replied. He had been taught that Jesus was only a prophet. “You’re going to need Jesus now,” the guard said. “Only Jesus can help you.”
The same man later warned him of a plot to harm him and escorted him to the showers himself. Augustine now sees him as a guardian angel God placed at his door.
Meanwhile, his mother had begun seeking help in churches. A prophet told her that her son had been chosen from the foundation of the world, that God would visit him in jail, and that he would come out free. She gave her life to Christ and began to fast and pray.
A vision of his whole life
Augustine asked for a Bible and started reading, even though he didn’t understand it. As he read about Isaac and Abimelech in Genesis, a sharp pain spread across his forehead and a heavy sleep came over him. He put down the Bible to rest, and before his back touched the bed, a vision opened in front of him like a giant screen.
He watched his life from the womb onward: how God had chosen him, how the enemy had tried to destroy him, and how he had been protected all the way to that cell. Then a still, small voice spoke: “I chose you from the foundation of the world as my prophet to serve me. The time has come.”
He woke drenched in sweat. Still unsure, he asked God for proof, silently picturing two moments from a trip home to Liberia. Both appeared before him in vision, exactly as he remembered them. “You’re real,” he said. “My life is yours.” He heard, “Receive my Spirit,” and felt a chill come over him.
“Peace, my son. Shalom.”
A day or two later, lying awake, Augustine saw a bright light fill his cell. The metal door stretched back like a rubber band, and a man in a white garment walked through. He could see the man’s hands and feet, but the light was too bright to look at his face. He knelt with his back turned, feeling every sin exposed.
Then the man spoke: “Peace, my son. Shalom.” Augustine says he felt a love he had never known. “Who are you?” he asked. “I’m Jesus,” came the reply. “I know what they taught you, that I’m just a prophet. But look at me. I’m real.”
Jesus told him he would be sent to the young generation to reveal Christ, and gave him a promise: “If you obey me, I will fight for you and take you from jail.”
Taught by the Spirit and angels
For the rest of his time inside, Augustine says the Holy Spirit visited once or twice a week to teach him the Bible. He also describes visits from angels, whom the Holy Spirit later identified as Michael, teaching spiritual warfare, with Gabriel and Raphael to follow for the prophetic and deliverance.
“You’re not on this list”
When his family came to collect him, the jail refused to let him go. Immigration wanted him, and with a felony charge, deportation looked certain. Augustine prayed: “If it is Africa you want me to serve you in, no problem. Let your will be done.”
The next morning, immigration officers called out every name on their list. Augustine was left standing. “What are you doing here?” an officer asked. “Your name is not on this list. We didn’t come for you.” The jail manager sent him back to collect his things. “Get out,” he said. “You’re free.”
Augustine borrowed a stranger’s phone to call his mother. She hung up twice, sure it was a lie. The case against him was later dropped, and someone else was convicted.
Apostle Augustine today
Once free, Augustine went straight to the church where his mother had met the prophet, and was mentored there for more than ten years. In 2019, he says, Christ appeared to him again at the church altar and told him, “From today you are dead. It is I that’s living through you.” In January 2020 he launched House of Prayer Kingdom Ministry in Pennsylvania, with a heart to reach the young generation.
He closes the episode with a powerful apostolic prayer over God’s Truth Podcast and everyone watching.
Connect with Apostle Augustine
- Facebook: Apostle Augustine Lyrical, the quickest way to reach him
- Email: lyrico.ak@gmail.com
- Book: his life story on Kindle
- Music: listen to his gospel recording
- Ministry: House of Prayer Kingdom Ministry on YouTube
Scriptures in this episode
- Genesis 26:1–11, Isaac and Abimelech, the passage he was reading
- Jeremiah 1:5, “before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee”
- Ephesians 1:4, chosen before the foundation of the world
- Matthew 18:18, binding and loosing
- John 14:14, “if ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it”
- Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever
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