Prodigal: "wastefully or recklessly extravagant; giving or yielding profusely; a person who spends, or has spent, his or her money or substance with wasteful extravagance."
Sometimes you receive an email, a letter, or a phone call, and you have no idea that your life will never be the same. That was the case about a year ago. A woman popped up on Facebook whom I had not seen or heard from in a long time. About 12 years ago, she and her family were part of a church that I was leading and I had gotten to know her son. He was about 12 or 13 at the time when he started to get into some trouble at school. His Mom asked me if I would be willing to spend time with him and steer him in a new direction.
We all know that bad company corrupts good character, and he was beginning to run with a bad crowd. When he started High school, he was getting picked on, partly because he happens to be a minority (Hispanic). Soon after that, some other kids that were more like him, told him that if he started hanging out with them that they would see to it that he wasn't bothered any more. He also noticed that many girls that he would like attention from hung out with this group of guys. So he was easily attracted to their clique. Years later, I would learn that he had been initiated into a gang during this period, but I had no idea of that when I spent time with him. He would come over from time to time and cut my grass and then hang out and talk. I tried to relate and be a "big brother" to him, and he did actually begin to trust me somewhat. However, certain things he kept to himself, and he started to get caught up in a very dangerous street gang.
Now, years later, his Mother wanted me to go and visit him. It had been years since I had moved away and lost touch with Luis, and I was eager to know how he was doing. His Mom was hesitant to tell me, but then she confided that he was incarcerated and wanted to know if I would be willing to visit him. I was more than willing, and as I drove to the jail house that night, I had no idea what would unfold. He was now 24 years old and had been in the gang for 12 years. In that world, that is a long time, and if you're willing to do certain things, you rise up and earn respect by the length of membership and the severity of your actions—both of which he had accomplished, and he had earned a certain high level of street cred.
I imagined the 12 year old boy as I walked into the facility, but what I saw was a grown man, with adult problems and severe consequences. He was being held on a gang-related murder charge which had happened almost two years prior. He looked the part, with tattoos and a hard exterior, but his eyes reminded me of that friendly, innocent young boy I had known. That day we met for about an hour, and have continued to meet weekly over the last year; what I have witnessed is nothing short of amazing. For his protection, I won't go into details about the life he chose or where it led him, but I will tell you that I am utterly amazed that his heart can still feel, after some of the things he has experienced at such a young age. I have never seen someone change as radically as he continues to change, and it has opened up a whole new world to me that I never knew existed.
Whole generations of young people are being lost to the streets. If you are like me, growing up and working largely in the suburbs of a large metropolitan city, there is a life around you that can go largely unnoticed. But now, the gangs are coming to our neighborhoods as well. They are preying on the young, disillusioned, disconnected youth who are in search of a "family" that understands them and relates to them. Now I have met this world up close and personal. Luis is an amazing young man. He has let me into his world, largely because we developed a connection when he was young—otherwise I don't think he would trust me. However, he does and has decided to let me teach him the things I know, while he teaches me the things he knows. I am heartbroken, fascinated, inspired and afraid, all at the same time. Because he is "known" in this city, it has caused me to think about my surroundings in certain areas, to be alert and aware when doing my work. But at the same time, I have developed a love and compassion for these young, misdirected warriors who have turned to life on the mean streets instead of the main street that I chose. I now have witnessed and experienced what the power of faith and unconditional love can do to the hardest, most calloused heart.
After a year of serious soul work, Luis has begun to write his life story. He writes not just for the people he can help, but as a way to deal with the damage done to his heart. He writes to unravel the pain and begin to heal the wounds. He writes to get in touch with the wake and wreckage that his choices have left behind him. He writes to continue to learn to see life in a new way, so that he will never make some of those decisions ever again. He has come to the conviction that he would like to create a series of children's books, in order to help kids choose a better path than the one he chose. What if everyone had the courage to do that? To honestly learn from their mistakes and then set out to help those that are still making those same mistakes… Maybe that is the whole point of life.
I recently returned from spending the day with Luis in a Federal Courthouse. Yesterday the United States government took over his case. Because his former street gang is international and very dangerous, the Feds are trying to completely dismantle it and make a strong statement about their stance on criminal gang activity (which is a good thing). What is heart breaking for me if that I have grown so close to him over the past year. I have seen him change in so many ways. He has trusted me and let me into his life and even into his heart. His sincere sorrow over his mistakes and his genuine repentance has inspired me. I wish that I could have reached him before he got so deep into that life. I knew that he was getting into some trouble when he was young, but I had no idea to what extent. I wonder if I really cared at that time. So many times in the past I helped people because it was what I was "supposed" to do, not necessarily because I genuinely cared. Now I care, and I hope it's not too late.
Now his situation is desperate. The Federal Grand Jury has issued indictments and the U.S. District Attorney has determined that this is a death eligible case (which means that they intend to seek the death penalty). All I can do is pray. This young man has so many things he wants to do now. We have made plans to help so many young children avoid the life that he chose. We talked about speaking together. He has begun to write his life story. We have even begun to carry his message into inner city schools for him. In so many ways his life was just beginning. Now I try to comfort a mother who has just learned that her son might face the ultimate penalty. I am comforted to know that he has made the most important decision of his life, which will impact his eternity. I also know that there are ALWAYS consequences to our decisions. In my own life, I live with some of the consequences of my decisions even today. I learn, and try to grow, and go out and try to help some others not to make the same choices.
Luis has entitled his story "It's never too late" and maybe one day you'll read it (it is very inspiring and I have deliberately left the misspellings and grammatical errors because they show a young man with little education expressing himself with his big heart.) Luis teaches me that anyone can change. It doesn't matter how far you've fallen or how far you've drifted—there is a way back home. I delivered his manuscript to his federal attorney, and he said that it literally might save his life. He will have to argue to the Attorney General that Luis is different and really has changed. Now he has 50 pages of hand written testimony of God's transformative power. What if all those days that I left him, after giving instruction and advice, Luis would have gone back to his cell and slept instead of worked? What if he would have just hardened up instead of continuing his very important soul work? He didn't know what lay ahead many months ago when he began his work. Sometimes we have no idea that the decisions and labor we put in today could be the very thing that saves our life tomorrow. Now they have him in a small federal facility in the middle of nowhere awaiting trial. Just recently when I visited him, Luis told me that there were a few of his former gang members that were asking him questions about the Bible, and wanted him to start teaching them. Who know where this thing could go? God knows.
I know that I once was at the point where I thought I would never be able to have much to contribute ever again. Maybe I could find my way back to God, but would I be of any real use? I thought that I had blown my chance, lost all credibility, and would now be like one of the "hired hands." I was so wrong. Many times it takes the failures, mistakes and storms to help us find out who we really are. There were things from my past that could ONLY be undone and relearned through pain, hardship and trial. All the years I had spent studying, praying, counseling and even preaching, could not exercise the demons that had lived with me since childhood. I came to realize that God knows what he is doing. He hadn't brought any of this into my life, but he allowed me to make my own choices and he had walked with me through every dark turn. Perhaps God knew that Luis needed me AND I needed Luis. Now we will work together over the coming months to try to save his life and prepare him for the next one—for me, there will never be any more important work than this.
I imagine that when we look back over the course of our lives, the most significant times will be the tough times, when we either gave in and experienced consequences (and learned) or when we stood firm and built self esteem (and learned). Either way, it is the challenges that make us into the men and women we dream to be—not the soft and comfortable times. The bigger the disaster, as long as we learn and change, the more powerful the lesson, story and testimony that we will have to share with others—others who are still trapped in the same place where we used to be.
The prodigal son has always been one of my favorite parables. I thought that I was the prodigal son the first time that I came to know God in my mid twenties. However, looking back, I more closely relate to the younger son after my return to God in my mid forties. The younger son had everything: a relationship with the father where all his needs were taken care of. He lived on the ranch as a true son, and was afforded all that came with that special standing. Then, for no good reason, the son just asked for his inheritance (though his father was still alive) and took off, just to squander the fortune in wild living. Later, completely broke and busted, he returned humiliated and ready to serve. That sounds almost identical to my story with God. He gave me everything I ever wanted, and then I just "took off", wasting all the gifts and good things that he had blessed me with. I too came to a point in my life, surrounded by pig slop, and craving the things of the world, that I was finally humble and ready to serve. That is the point where I needed to be all along. The chains were beginning to loosen, and I was starting to awaken from my slumber.
After over a year of studying together, praying together and writing together, Luis had made his decision to turn his life over to God. I'll never forget asking him through the glass if he was ready to die for Jesus. I've asked that question many times, but this time it was real. He answered that he had been prepared to die for his gang for years, and that now, yes, he was entirely ready to die for Jesus. I began working to try to get the Captain at the facility where he was being held to allow me to baptize him, but they would not work with me (or even give me a good reason why they wouldn't). Then he was moved twice in a short period of time, for security reasons, after the feds took over his case. I remember praying and asking God why he would send Luis to the place that was now is being held. He was put right back in the middle of all his former gang members, which was a real test. He now was trying to be a disciple while surrounded by 21 other men that know him and are very dangerous individuals.
What I witnessed over the past few weeks convinced me that he was ready. He became a peacemaker and a defender of the weak 
in that place, as I saw him fighting for his life. I went to the lieutenant and asked if she was a God-fearing woman. She said she was, with conviction, and I told her I needed her help. She arranged a meeting with the Chief, and I went in to plead my case. They wished me luck and said "He doesn't believe in this sort of thing." I told him my plans and he said in no uncertain terms that this wasn't going to happen. He said that he was holding 22 high profile gang members that had nothing to lose, and that he was keeping them separate from the general population so that they couldn't recruit or kill anyone. He said that if he let me go back there, I would be a "high-value hostage opportunity." I quickly saw his point! But I asked if he would allow his lieutenant, my new friend, to help as long as I stayed behind the glass. He looked as if no one had ever asked for such a thing; but not having a good reason to say no, he agreed. She arranged for a huge tub, large buckets, and as much water as they would allow me to have.
I'm continually blown away by God's amazing grace. As I look back, I now see that God moved Luis to the exact place he needed to be to accomplish His purposes (like He always does). This week I was able to see my friend Luis baptized into Christ. They wouldn't allow me to do the honors, however they did allow me to officiate through the glass and over the phone, as a wonderful officer helped with the proceedings. I asked Luis that series of very important questions, and when he said "Jesus is Lord" I was looking at a miracle. They even allowed Luis to change out of his orange and wear WHITE, which they NEVER do, for his baptism. Yes, even inside a maximum security facility, surrounded by danger, God still provides a way.
I believe that God used Luis to set ME free. And it just happened to be "Cinco de Mayo" the day he was baptized—a true day of liberation. I can't wait to see what God's going to do next. Stay tuned.
Kit Cummings
www.myamcc.org
