A Modern Day Emmaus Story:
The Story of Clifford & Edra Knight and Youth Challenge
by Aften Wilson, Communications Manager for Urban Alliance
Two people were walking down the dusty road of life. Sometimes trying to make sense of life but most of the time just trying to live. The first was Clifford Knight a native of Hartford, and the other, his now wife, Edra Knight, originally from Elizabeth, New Jersey. The road they walked along for many years was a dangerous one, filled with drugs and crime and violence.
One night in 1988, when trying to forcefully take drugs from a dealer, Clifford was shot. As he struggled to stay alive, he remembers crying out to God, “I don’t want to die. Please save my life, and I will do whatever you want.” He was clinically dead for three minutes. This was in the middle of a twelve-year period where Clifford was in and out of jail. It took the death of three of his siblings, one of whom was an innocent victim of a shooting, to really get Clifford thinking about God again in 1994. Clifford realized it was time for a change. He couldn’t keep going through the cycle of getting out of jail, getting involved in drugs, and then going back into jail.
Edra grew up going to church and even went to college for a year. However, her drug addiction eventually caused her to drop out of college and be without a place of her own. She remembers being sick and tired of being sick and tired. She didn’t want to live like this anymore, and she cried out to God, pleading for His help. As she looks back, Edra knows that was the turning point, and she is able to quote Psalm 40:1, “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.” But leaving that life wasn’t easy, and it didn’t happen over night. Edra eventually got connected with Youth Challenge through a family friend, who had gone through Youth Challenge himself. Edra says, “God had a plan. I know that now.”
Clifford began living differently; he completed his GED, began taking church seriously, and quit the gang he had been a part of while in jail, but the real moment of truth happened when he was put in the same cell as the man who killed his brother. Clifford says, “God asks us to give up everything. We can’t just pick and choose… The Lord told me before he could do anything with my life I needed to forgive the guy that killed my brother.” Clifford wanted to experience God’s forgiveness, so he chose to forgive the man who shot his brother. And after leaving jail, Clifford began the Youth Challenge men’s residential program.
It was through these conversion experiences and the Youth Challenge program that Clifford and Edra came to know the God they had cried out to. Jesus had been there walking with them all along, but they just hadn’t recognized Him. But now that they knew Him, they became His witnesses proclaiming through word and deed that He is alive. They live out this witness in all they do.
After leaving Youth Challenge, Clifford was able to find a job, and for ten years now, Clifford has worked for the City of Hartford Assessors Office. Furthermore, he started his own LLC, “Knight Investments” that buys, sells, builds, and rehabilitates real estate. Besides this, Clifford obtained his associates’ degree in Biblical Studies, and he volunteers his time running the sound ministry at Glory Chapel International Cathedral, a church connected with Youth Challenge. Clifford also goes to prisoners to “preach and testify of the miraculous changes God made in my life and that those same changes can be available to them.”
Immediately after leaving the Youth Challenge program, Edra was able to get a temporary job working of the State of Connecticut Health Department in Mental Health and Addictions. She has been working there for eighteen years now. Edra graduated from the Corinthian School of Urban Ministry and serves on the Alumni Association for Youth Challenge. Also, Edra is the Deacon over the usher ministry at Glory Chapel, a ministry she became a part of immediately after completing the Youth Challenge program.
Clifford and Edra were married in 2001 and together they also serve in many different ways. They use their home as a ministry to those around them allowing missionaries to stay there when they are in town and hosting a marriage group where they mentor and counsel younger or soon-to-be married couples. God has also healed their relationships with their families, and they have actually become the anchors in their families. They are both overwhelmed and thankful for God’s work and blessing in their lives; Edra says, “God brought me to a place not just for detox. A place where life, hope, and teachings were deposited into me... You see life the way you always wanted to see it, plus so much more.” Jesus continues to journey with them as they are constantly looking to the future and how they can make a difference living as His witnesses.
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Clifford was honored as Alumni of the Year on February 28th, 2011 at the Youth Challenge of CT: 41st Annual Alumni Homecoming Benefit Banquet. Edra received the same honor in 2005. To donate to Youth Challenge of CT, click here.
One night in 1988, when trying to forcefully take drugs from a dealer, Clifford was shot. As he struggled to stay alive, he remembers crying out to God, “I don’t want to die. Please save my life, and I will do whatever you want.” He was clinically dead for three minutes. This was in the middle of a twelve-year period where Clifford was in and out of jail. It took the death of three of his siblings, one of whom was an innocent victim of a shooting, to really get Clifford thinking about God again in 1994. Clifford realized it was time for a change. He couldn’t keep going through the cycle of getting out of jail, getting involved in drugs, and then going back into jail.
Edra grew up going to church and even went to college for a year. However, her drug addiction eventually caused her to drop out of college and be without a place of her own. She remembers being sick and tired of being sick and tired. She didn’t want to live like this anymore, and she cried out to God, pleading for His help. As she looks back, Edra knows that was the turning point, and she is able to quote Psalm 40:1, “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.” But leaving that life wasn’t easy, and it didn’t happen over night. Edra eventually got connected with Youth Challenge through a family friend, who had gone through Youth Challenge himself. Edra says, “God had a plan. I know that now.”
Clifford began living differently; he completed his GED, began taking church seriously, and quit the gang he had been a part of while in jail, but the real moment of truth happened when he was put in the same cell as the man who killed his brother. Clifford says, “God asks us to give up everything. We can’t just pick and choose… The Lord told me before he could do anything with my life I needed to forgive the guy that killed my brother.” Clifford wanted to experience God’s forgiveness, so he chose to forgive the man who shot his brother. And after leaving jail, Clifford began the Youth Challenge men’s residential program.
It was through these conversion experiences and the Youth Challenge program that Clifford and Edra came to know the God they had cried out to. Jesus had been there walking with them all along, but they just hadn’t recognized Him. But now that they knew Him, they became His witnesses proclaiming through word and deed that He is alive. They live out this witness in all they do.
After leaving Youth Challenge, Clifford was able to find a job, and for ten years now, Clifford has worked for the City of Hartford Assessors Office. Furthermore, he started his own LLC, “Knight Investments” that buys, sells, builds, and rehabilitates real estate. Besides this, Clifford obtained his associates’ degree in Biblical Studies, and he volunteers his time running the sound ministry at Glory Chapel International Cathedral, a church connected with Youth Challenge. Clifford also goes to prisoners to “preach and testify of the miraculous changes God made in my life and that those same changes can be available to them.”
Immediately after leaving the Youth Challenge program, Edra was able to get a temporary job working of the State of Connecticut Health Department in Mental Health and Addictions. She has been working there for eighteen years now. Edra graduated from the Corinthian School of Urban Ministry and serves on the Alumni Association for Youth Challenge. Also, Edra is the Deacon over the usher ministry at Glory Chapel, a ministry she became a part of immediately after completing the Youth Challenge program.
Clifford and Edra were married in 2001 and together they also serve in many different ways. They use their home as a ministry to those around them allowing missionaries to stay there when they are in town and hosting a marriage group where they mentor and counsel younger or soon-to-be married couples. God has also healed their relationships with their families, and they have actually become the anchors in their families. They are both overwhelmed and thankful for God’s work and blessing in their lives; Edra says, “God brought me to a place not just for detox. A place where life, hope, and teachings were deposited into me... You see life the way you always wanted to see it, plus so much more.” Jesus continues to journey with them as they are constantly looking to the future and how they can make a difference living as His witnesses.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Clifford was honored as Alumni of the Year on February 28th, 2011 at the Youth Challenge of CT: 41st Annual Alumni Homecoming Benefit Banquet. Edra received the same honor in 2005. To donate to Youth Challenge of CT, click here.
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