LaMorris
Crawford ’06 is the beginning of a new family legacy. Born to a teenage mom in the south Chicago projects, he was only 10 months old when she was shot to death at the age of 17, making herself a human shield, which kept her sister and unborn nephew alive.
“My aunt should have died that day, but my mom took the bullet instead,” shares LaMorris.
“Three days later, my cousin was born — the one who would lead me to Christ.”
With nowhere else to go, LaMorris was taken in by his grandmother, who was already raising many of her own grandchildren. By a divine twist of fate, LaMorris’ cousin, the same one his mother died trying to protect, had a friend whose father was a pastor. This pastor led his cousin to Christ, who in turn shared God’s truth with LaMorris.
“I was really popular in high school, and I didn’t want to hear that stuff. But I saw my cousin’s life change, because he had been a leader of a gang in my neighborhood.”
Despite his popularity, LaMorris admits he felt like something was missing from his life and the timing was right for hearing about Christ.
“I was empty, even with all that [popularity],” shares LaMorris.
Shortly after high school, he accepted Christ into his life and started attending a local church.
“After I became a Christian, people knew I was different. My personality didn’t change, but my character changed. A lot of my relationships [with high school friends] were broken, but I was OK with giving them up,” shares LaMorris of the changes in his life that occurred due to his faith.
New direction
The pastor at the church took LaMorris in and spiritually mentored him. Another couple in his church became his spiritual parents, encouraging him to check out
Initially, the idea felt out of his reach. Attending college was a dream he had — no one in his family before him had completed such a goal — but he felt it was next to impossible.
Despite these foreboding feelings, thanks largely to his spiritual parents’ encouragement, LaMorris planned a visit to Olivet.
“When I first came, the campus kind of reminded me of the movie Pleasantville — everyone throwing Frisbees. No one was throwing Frisbees where I came from,” he remembers.
“But while I was there, I knew it was where I wanted to be.”
LaMorris opted for an education at Olivet and delved into life on campus, admitting that at first there was a slight amount of culture shock, but it faded quickly largely because he knew he was where God wanted him.
LaMorris made friends easily and got involved in intramural athletics, earned a job as an RA and was elected president of the campus organization MERC (Multi-Ethnic Relations Club).
“Olivet helped shape a lot of the leadership potential I knew I had in me. By being in those positions, it really helped shape my character,” he shares.
“I was so [spiritually] hungry, but I knew God had a plan for me. Chapel services, prayer in the classrooms, faculty and staff — they just added more logs to the fire that had already been lit in my spiritual fire. I was continually encouraged and continually having that faith before me.”
Following graduation,
A time to heal
As LaMorris continued to grow in his faith, the relationship with his grandmother, brother and cousins remained an important fixture in his life. The fruit of God’s Spirit working through LaMorris and his cousin continue to be a testimony to his family.
“I believe my grandma is still living because of my cousin and me. She saw the two of us and what God’s been doing in our lives. [For example,] my cousin was considered illiterate in high school and now he’s an iron worker in
In reflecting back, through everything LaMorris endured growing up, he admits he went through times of feeling angry as a kid, especially not understanding parent-teacher conference days, feeling angry about being raised poor and angry about not having a mom.
“I didn’t get to see a picture of my mom until I was 23,” he shares.
“I was bitter as a kid, I wondered, ‘Why does that kid get to do whatever he wants, and have parents?’ Not having parents made me feel like I wasn’t here on purpose.
“But when I found out God created me in my mother’s womb, that He knew every hair on my head, that He created me, that I have an exact reason and purpose for being here, I found my purpose.”
A purpose that has him setting his sights on a future as an evangelist and motivational speaker sharing God’s truth with others. A purpose to continue on with the new family legacy he’s begun — one built around Christ.