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Edwin Chandler and William Gregory are men with similar stories.Both were wrongfully convicted, one on a murder charge and the other on rape charges. But Sunday, Chandler and Gregory came together, sharing what helped get them through prison.

 

Like many others, Edwin Chandler was in church with his family this Sunday but for him, it's the first time in a long time.

"I thank god so much for so many things. Without god, I wouldn't be here today," Chandler said.

That's because for the last 9 years, he's been in prison for a crime that it turns out, he didn't commit.

"It’s just really fresh. It's something I haven't got used to. I'm not sure when I’ll be comfortable in this yet," said Chandler who was exonerated Tuesday.

He's trying to get comfortable again in his real life outside the prison walls. 

He's getting help from a man who knows it isn't easy.  William Gregory was in his shoes back in 2000, when he too was found innocent after serving time in prison.

 “Faith is 99.9 percent of the whole thing.  And you've got to keep it.  And if you don't keep it, you will fall and you won't get up," said Gregory, “It was the call of the lord to keep on hoping, keep on trusting, keep on trying, keep on thinking."

Pastor Kirk Bush invited the men to this Sunday’s service at Harrod’s Creek Baptist Church. He says his story can teach us all a little something about faith.

“Patience, endurance… you learn that it could happen to any of us.  None of us are immune to it. It could be your mother, your father, your child," said Rev. Bush.

But it is Chandler’s 1-year-old that will now grow up with his dad, who says this won't be the last time his family will be praising god in church.

“When you’re in prison, no matter who it is you have on the outside, you're really by yourself," said Chandler.

“But I know god has always been with me. And he continues to dwell in me."

Edwin chandler is the 9th person to be exonerated under the Kentucky Innocence Project.