Prison stories:"It was my corner". Yeah! The pastor's sons were also drug dealers, but they went back to church and changed, one of them became a pastor. C usually didn't say much during the small group gatherings, in fact it sometimes seemed as if he wasn't really engaged in the discussion at all. But it turned out that I had misinterpreted his quietness for disinterest.
During the session "How and why should I tell others?" he opened up and it was obvious that God was at work in his life. He told us about the church he went to...
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| Prison stories:"It was my corner".
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Yeah! The pastor's sons were also drug dealers, but they went back to church and changed, one of them became a pastor. C usually didn't say much during the small group gatherings, in fact it sometimes seemed as if he wasn't really engaged in the discussion at all. But it turned out that I had misinterpreted his quietness for disinterest.
During the session "How and why should I tell others?" he opened up and it was obvious that God was at work in his life. He told us about the church he went to as a kid with his grandmother, how he became friends with the Pastor's sons, about his older brother of whom he said: I looked up to him, he was my hero, I tried to be like him.
When his brother began to deal in drugs, C's admiration for his brother, led him into the world of street crime and drugs.
I wasn't long before his Pastor's two sons were also sucked into life on the streets. C still went to church occasionally, but I always felt bad about myself, so I stayed at the back and ducked out before the Pastor cornered me; I guess that's what it means to feel guilty.
I eventually got my own corner, where I hustled drugs, my regular customers knew where to find me, I was always on the look out for more customers. The money was good.
I asked C "What about the Pastor's sons?"
He replied; "They were hustling drugs too. He told the group that he later learned that they had stopped dealing. The next time he sneaked into the back of the church, he heard that the pastor's sons were back in church and that they had changed. I got interested, but the pull of the money I was making as a dealer was stronger.
He started coming to my corner
"Who?" I asked, C sounded almost indignant when he replied; "One of the Pastor's sons began to preach where I was dealing, a preacher isn't good for business you know." I smiled and replied; "I guess not"
Whenever the pastor's son met up with him, he talked to him about Jesus, telling him that Jesus could free him from his life on the streets. In his heart, C wanted to believe that it was all was true, but the pull of the money to be made selling drugs was too powerful. C did his best to avoid these encounters, he was drawn to go to church but always came away burdened by his guilt.
"I met this woman at church"
She is a strong Christian, she talked about Jesus, the cross and how through the Holy Spirit I could be saved. I listened and I got interested in her, she wasn't like the other women I knew, she wouldn't let me touch her. This made me more interested in her. All she was interested in was talking about Jesus.
"I got arrested"
After a while prison life drove C more and more into himself, the only thing that kept him going were the regular visits from G, the woman he had met in church. Her visits were the highlights of his bleak existence. At her urging he started attending services and the occasional Bible study. He signed up for Alpha, he gradually opened up. I'm learning so much, whenever I get a visit from G, I tell her about Alpha and how much I am learning, Jesus is becoming more and more real.
"I want to marry her."
But she won't say yes, she keeps saying that I need to get my life on track, but I'll keep asking her. At this point I gave him the booklet from the Alpha Marriage preparation course. "Ready for marriage?" That was the last time time I saw C, before his release.
I believe that God isn't finished with C. Will you pray for him?
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