"J, 13, is one of our middle school boys. He struggles between having to be a man and still wanting to be a boy. He fishes for fun but also for livelihood. He goes to school to socialize and learn but also knows any day could be the last that he's allowed to attend. He's at the age when responsibility and the weight of survival are handed down from his already absent dad. He already told me he's never had any positive role model to look up to. Every single man/older kid he's known is a drunk, abusive father/husband, or part of the gang. I can tell which route he's headed because of the gang signs drawn all over his pants in black ink and by the blue bandana tied around his head.
“I use any opportunity I have to tell him why I’m here, for love. And that he is loved. ”
For months, every chance I get, I sit down and talk with J. If he's too embarrassed to come in the dining hall and eat, I bring his plate outside and sit with him while he eats. I use any opportunity I have to tell him why I'm here, for love. And that he is loved.
One day he taught me how to slingshot rocks into the lake, he was aiming for the ducks, I was aiming for the lake. His precision, strength and skill spoke prophetically to me that day that J would we a mighty man of God.
2 weeks ago we hung around after most of the kids had gone home and J hung around longer than usual. He apologized for not letting us give him a ride home from school the previous week, because he was with his gang and they would have made fun of him. We talked a little more about school and one of the reasons he didn't want to keep going was because he had holes in his shoes. So I made a deal with him. I would bring a new pair of shoes if he would do two things for me; stop throwing rocks at the little kids, and animals and turn over his gang colors. I assured him that the life my husband and our other staff members live is legit, trustworthy, and that they are real men who love Jesus. That it was safe to want to be like them.
Last week I took the shoes.
“J found me first, took off his blue bandana, the most recognizable form of his gang affiliation, and placed it in my hand. ”
J found me first, took off his blue bandana, the most recognizable form of his gang affiliation, and placed it in my hand. He had on a clean pair of pants with no markings, tags, or drawings representing his gang. He also had on a newer pair of shoes... Said he didn't need the shoes I brought him anymore, that I could put them in the store for someone else who might need them next. After few words were exchanged, he looked at me and said, Im ready to be apart of the Marked family. These are the moments we live for." - Karlisa
Stories like J's are beginning to happen more regularly for us. The power of transformation is taking place among our communities, and people are taking notice. We are watching a community ran by gangs and witch doctors, filled with fear, beginning to fix their eyes on something greater. They are watching what it looks like to be loved and accepted without drugs, and violence. They are watching what it is like to be truly free, and yet truly apart.
The stories and the transformation in these precious lives are being made possible by each one of our partners who plant seeds each and every month, allowing for our team to not only be there but to be fully present for J and kids like him. This story is not just Karlisa's story, or Marked's story, but this is your story.
Each of you who give and partner with us, this is your story, this is your inheritance.
**Please note that names, and photo have been changed or edited for safety reasons.
