Lately it has been windy and cold :(
But a few weeks ago, oh my gosh it was so nice! I found the urban staff working hard on the mission field with Jose. Jose has been out of Probation Camp since December and he keeps coming to the YWAM base serving, getting counseling and on this afternoon getting ready to do Bible Study. Please pray for him as even a few Sunday's ago after church he shared that his brother had been jumped by a gang and had his arm broken. Jose confessed that he had been armed (literally) for revenge, which is not uncommon. This is a learned way of life for many of the guys we work with and we are helping him to see that revenge does not need to come from his hands. Jose continues to do really good despite what seems to be every single circumstance set up against him. He spoke on a gang panel for us just after the incident I just wrote about and now he is really under alot of pressure! He told many middle and high school students about joining a gang when he was young and how it has brought him nothing but trouble.
As of today, he has an enemy across the street who recently was released from jail that wants to kill him. So everytime he goes outside this guys gestures to him that he is going to "smoke" him. Plus, he has gang members going to his house telling his brother that Jose better come back and hang with them or else. And not to mention, someone is calling him and threatening his brother. Jose says to leave his gang officially he will have 18 seconds to run down an alley and avoid the bullets that his "homies" will fire at him. If he lives than he can leave. These are just a few of the things this young man is facing to change his life today. As we prayed with him last time and shared with him different verses God had given us it was so cool because he realized that God is not just with him here, but God really does go with him each time he goes home. This was huge for Jose, God is always with him. Jose also said that "he realizes he has to change the way he thinks"...he left that day feeling very confident and went right out and got himself a job at a place we had talked about him going to ...doing tiling. It was a good day. Ministering to Jose is so much fun because he is so open. Here is a picture of him as he did the gang panel for the career day at a local hospital.
update: Jose has slipped, both used and gone out with the gang. So please pray that he would hear God and be strong enough in Jesus to fight this very difficult battle.
