trials like ours? No..not quite!

Today I am overwhelmed with my responsibilities here and in the city...but, once again, I can't help but give thanks because I look at the young men we are working with, created and loved by God, and I know that no matter what I face, they face more because their trials are NOT like ours. One wrong move for them, and they are gone for years. Prison time is always hanging over their heads. We have had Armando out at the base a little last week and all this week. He slipped. He is on shaky ground and he needs alot of prayer. Today as he awoke at my place, he said God led him to the Psalms. Psalms 1 - Don't sit, walk and stand with the them! (them being the old friends he used drugs with) The very message we had been giving him for weeks. He must not go back to his old friends, and this is a weakness for him. Last time I wrote, it seemed his mom was very supportive. As time as gone by, we see that has not been the case as we had been led to believe. So we, the church, are becoming his family. He has 7 years prison time hanging over his head. Please pray as he is here working until he can get an I.D. to get a real job. He worked on our Freedom Project set a bit...and played games with the family here are a few pictures of this...armando has shared nothing about his childhood was normal. I know what the past year has been like for him, drugs, crime & lock-up. Please pray for him to obey God's voice because he is hearing him speak. Thanks!


Micah had court this week and this is surely another situation where i can say no, this is not a trial like ours! He was offered a very sweet deal, but turned it down. So as we vowed to stand by him through each day in court, it began to look more and more discouraging. We realized that everyone in the courtroom looked at Micah and saw a guilty man, but we saw a forgiven man. I dare to say that very few have the kind of support that Micah had been given and the District Attorney, Bar Panel Lawyer, Judge, Bailiff, and Private Investigator all saw this. We continue to show this city & county that we mean business when we stand by our young men. Well as of today, he caved and took the deal. It was the best option for him, now we wait and see for the remaining trial downtown. He still has many years possibly hanging over his head with an additional strike...in California that is a dangerous place to be. Plus he will be going to state prison which is infested with gang activity. He has come a long way and I am afraid his trials have only begun, we must pray that Micah will stay tender to God and strong. Like many of the young men we mentor on Friday nights, this is their lives, these are their trials...not like ours, not at all. The stories, how they got this way, well, that varies. One thing that doesn't change, they want a chance, they want to believe there is hope for them, too, but there afraid. Afraid, they'll get hurt again. Funny, the ones we are afraid of are really afraid of us....
trials like ours? no..not quite!