Sometimes Doing the “Right Thing” is NOT always the Easiest Thing to Do

I must say that one of the most difficult things for me with working with the guys that I work with is that we tend to have a lot of issues with the law.  A lot of things that they get involved with are sometimes pretty difficult things and a lot of it has to do with survival or even just not really having someone in their life that they are held accountable to; who is aware of them and who is an authority in their life. One of the blessings that I am beginning to see that God has given me is that I see that He has begun giving me some sort of authority in the lives of these guys even though I am not technically their parent. 

Back in March, we had an issue where one of the guys entered a house (a house of someone I know) and stole about a half million pesos worth amount of stuff. After he stole he fled and no one knew where he was at. At the time, the owner of the home was not in town and so it was not known right away that there had been a theft. Two days after the theft (and no one knowing where this young man was), I get a call from this young man. He was very distressed and did not know what to do. He called me and confessed everything that he had done. He had stolen because he was in a lot of debt to many people and the money that he was making working was not enough to pay everyone he needed to pay and on top of that to survive; so he decided that this was the option that he had left, but he realized that he had went too far. He wanted me to go to where he was to talk to me in person, but I had to stop him before he could tell me where he was at because by sharing that information with me, he would then make me an accomplice of the crime.  He didn’t know what to do, but he said that he wanted to do the right thing, and he asked me what he should do. I told him, well the right thing to do would be to turn yourself in. He said, “WHAT?!?! Are you crazy Jim! Do you know what they will do to me?!” I told him that sometimes doing the “right thing” is not always the easiest thing to do, however, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it. I also told him, “But do you know what they would do to you if they find you?” I tried to encourage him to make the right decision, and he was wanting even more for me to go to where he was at. I told him he needs to think about it, however, he knows what he has to do. I told him too that I would do everything I could to encourage and support him through the whole process. The conversation ended with him not to thrilled with the advice that I had given him. 

Two days later he ended up turning himself in and he has been in the prison ever since. It has now been seven months, and I have been trying really hard to stick to my promise with him. We talk several times a week on the phone, I have visited him several times there in prison in the town down the mountain, and I have gone to the trials that I can that he has had. It has been a very difficult process because I feel that it is worse inside the prison than it is in the streets.

The first time that I went to visit him in the prison I must say I was really nervous. It is actually really interesting even the whole process of getting in. You start off lined up on the sidewalk and we are separated into two lines, men and women. We are called in 5-10 at a time and then you are taken to a room where you are strip searched, nothing can be taken in with you and any approved things have to be searched. After that they stamp your arm and you have to turn in your identification and they give you a ticket. If that ticket is lost or the stamp comes off your arm you are stuck in the prison. I must say that the prison was not how I had pictured it (like you see in the movies). There was no room with tables and chairs where you go and sit and have the prisoner come and visit with you. You literally go right into where everyone is. On the inside there are no handcuffs and the guards stay outside. As I entered the prison area where all of the inmates were, I was overwhelmed by a swarm of all of these men asking for money and things; Men trying to fan you with pieces of cardboard just to try and make 10 pesos. All of the sudden, there were three young men (that were not the young man that I went to visit) who said, “Jim? Jim!!! What are you doing here?! Do you remember me? I was one of the guys from club on Saturdays! Wow! It has been so long!” It was kind of bittersweet feelings to see them. I felt relieved because then I knew someone, but at the same time it saddened me where they were. Then, the young man that I came to visit appeared out of the hundreds of men in this confined courtyard area. 

We looked for a place to sit and talk, but it was hard because literally the music was blaring so loud. I had brought a Bible that I had highlighted several verses and wrote notes for him in so he could read it. I had wanted to share some with him, but because of all of the people and how loud the music was it was very hard. We were literally sitting almost on top of each other and the only way we could hear was literally speaking into the ear of each other. As we were talking, I could sense the damage that the little time that he had there had done. His mindset had changed from repenting for what he had done to literally defending the reason for why he had done what he had done by saying, “But he is rich. He has got plenty…” I literally had to confront him and humble him yet again right there in the prison, but again doing it in much love. Praise God that in that moment we were able to break that mentality and take him to a place to where he confessed and admitted that what he had done was wrong. This has been a consistent battle because of the things that many people around him tell him; guards included.

He then decided to show me his cell. When I walked into the area of the cells again I was overwhelmed (and yet again it was not like you see in the movies). We entered this 3-foot wide hallway and you literally see people all over. There were even legs dangling from the ceiling where some cells were. The cells literally look like mausoleums where you put coffins. They are maybe 3-feet high. We had to take a ladder to get into his cell. We entered one cell of the neighbor and then through his cell we went up to get into this young man’s cell. There were no windows and it was completely closed off. As we are sitting in this very small cell (can I say claustrophobic?!) he tells me that about three guys are put into each cell, and that these cells you have to pay monthly rent and it comes with a small mattress (when I say mattress think camping pad). I asked him, what about those who can’t pay rent. He said that they sleep on the floor in the hallway and they sleep three wide and head to toe. They call them “the frogs.” He said, however, it is dangerous out there because sometimes there have even been cases where they wake up and someone is dead. In this entire area there is one toilet for over a hundred guys (a door to a cell is literally directly above the toilet). Let’s just say, the entire experience was a big shock. 

Visiting hours were ending and it was getting time that I had to leave, but before I left, I asked the young man if I could pray for him. We prayed and he escorted me to the door where the exit was. As I was about to leave, he grabbed me and embraced me. He told me he loved me and viewed me more like a dad than his own dad. I hugged him and told him we will be in touch, and I was taken out.

This entire process has also allowed me to get to know the family even better. I have known his 6 other brothers but his mom and dad I really began to get to know more though this process. Unfortunately, I feel like there is a lot of neglect as far as the raising of the family goes and support for the young man who is in prison, but it has been interesting to go and try and encourage them as well. But it has been hard for everyone. Over the last few months, I have been astonished by the level of trust that has been building up, and it is only by God’s grace that it has been forming. I have been humbled, and yet seeking a lot of God’s wisdom and discernment with my interaction with these guys. In the last couple months in this family of 7 brothers, each one on different occasions, have approached me and told me that they loved me and that they view me as if I was a parent/ someone of authority in their lives. When, this first started happening, I must admit, it scared me because I am realizing the depth of the relationship being formed, and really the need that I have for God to work through me.

Summer Teams 2015

This was the first summer for the new Young Men’s Social Work site. Many American groups came from all over the United States to come and serve alongside us here in Jarabacoa.
One of the outreach participants that came down on one of the summer teams, Seth, brought these really cool hand-made Jesus fish necklaces that were made with horse-shoe nails by one of his good friends and mentors from the States. These necklaces became a great tool to share with the guys from the streets the Gospel message and help give them a small picture of the type of nails that were possibly used to nail Jesus to the cross. Seth used these to share the miracle Jesus performed of feeding the 5000 with the bread and fish. This provoked in the guys many questions about Jesus that we were able to discuss. They left that time with a deeper meaning to that valuable gift that they received.

This summer I learned a lot about Divine appointments. One day at the beginning of summer I randomly ran into a guy by the name of Mauricio as I was walking by the Baseball field. Come to find out he is a barber who is native to Jarabacoa, but is now living in New York, and he was visiting for 3 months and wanted to serve his community in some way. We became really close friends; it was amazing the level of trust that was formed in just a short amount of time. He really helped in some of the development of the Barber program we are trying to put together, and had been teaching me how to cut hair. He also wanted to learn some English while he was here so we began an English class this summer which was a blessing for many of the young men, and was an awesome experience for the groups who came down to come and serve in our community. Also, with Mauricio we did a summer Barber clinic in Genesis (our special education school) where again we were able to bless our community; it was also where Mauricio had me practice the skills he was teaching me. Even though we were sad to see him go, it was really a privilege to be able to build such a great relationship with him, and a relationship that continues to bear good fruit.

For this fall, we are teaming up with the Microfinance site to begin savings accounts for the guys. The guys are super excited to be able to have their own savings accounts. This program is really going to help the guys learn what God says about being good stewards of our resources and how to manage the funds that they already have coming in as well as trying to start the value of saving. Also this fall, I hope to be able to spend more time with the local barber and try and get things going with the barber class. Please be praying for us, there has been a lot of personal work going on with individual guys as far as problems in the home, encouraging and counseling a young man who is in prison, and also continuing to do follow up work with the guys who I was able to encourage to go back to school after so many years.

Spring Teams 2015

 

Throughout the month of March we had several groups come and serve alongside us here at the Young Mens Social Work Site. My first Spring team was Students International's first local team from right here in the Dominican Republic. Joel and Xavier are two amazing men of God who are studying in the Academia in Santiago in the area of Theology. They are both interested in doing ministry where God calls them. They were such a HUGE blessing and spoke many words of TRUTH into the lives of the guys in the streets of Jarabacoa.

The Second week was a group of three guys: Scott, Ian, and Ethan who came with a lot of willingness to be used by God with their very distinct gifts. God brought this very unique team together: a student, a pastor, and a geologist and with all of the differing life experiences, God did some AWESOME work through this group. I was impressed with the ways that these guys connected with the young men despite the language barrier.

The third week was the largest group I have ever had. José (Alfred), Scott, Roberto, Dan, and Tyler came from a Christian school in California called Heritage Christian School. God had a very special plan with this group as well. The Holy Spirit totally was at work this week both in the team and as well as the young men they came into contact with. I admire them so much for their willingness to come and be learners, and through that sometimes humbling experience, allow God to use them in ways they probably never thought they could be used. Many of them were impacted by the faith of a new brother in the faith. It was so cool to see God take the two worlds, cultures, languages and unite them in a way that is One. Only JESUS can do a work as such. They challenged each other to seek God out with all of their hearts and find true joy in Him.

God's body and love has no barriers. It is SO BIG! It goes well beyond culture, race, language, nationality and HE is working on a global level. It has been such a blessing this last month to see God combine these worlds and serve together as HIS church.  Thank you to all of you who came and came humble and willing to see God work. God Bless. 

How God uses Our Failures to Show His Glory

There have been quite a few battles these last couple of months. There was a terrible epidemic of Scabies going around in just about all of the guys in the park. It is highly contagious, and what started in just a few had passed on to just about all of the guys in the park and their families.  I have a doctor who is teaming up with me to do medical checkups for the guys at the site and she has been a huge blessing. We began meeting up with the guys, doing medical checkups and treating them for this very uncomfortable epidemic.  While we were meeting with the boys, we had to meet with each one individually in a private office because we had to do full body checkups. I had thought, “We don’t have any supervision, but hopefully everything will be fine.” Later on after the medical checkups I had a meeting with the barber who will be giving the barber shop class and I wanted to show him the things we had accumulated and put together and also see what else he needed for him to be able to begin working. When I went to open the box to show him the clippers, I discovered that they were stolen; and I knew that it had to be one of the guys that we had treated. Knowing each of them and having a pretty good idea of the character of each one, I had a pretty good idea of who it was, but without any proof, I didn’t want to accuse anyone without knowing for sure.

 So I went to the park to talk and confront the guys. I discovered that the person I had suspected had actually pawned it off for some money. The place where it was pawned was at a local bar at night, and so I went there immediately that night to see if the clippers that were pawned were the clippers from the site. When I got there, it felt very ironic because I literally walked into what was a bar at night and I ran into a few of the guys that I know from the park, and they were so shocked to see me there. I had told the guy at the bar that I was opening a Barber Shop and that I was looking for some clippers. He said that he had two but they were at his house; so he told me to come the next day. I took that night to think and pray about how I was going to confront the young man when I found out for sure that those were the clippers.

 The next morning I sought out some wise counsel at work from some Dominican friends to see how effective the way I was going to confront the young man would be. We prayed and I went to the park to then later meet with the man from the bar/pawn shop to confirm that they were the clippers. While I was at the park, I began talking with the boys in the park, like I normally do, and I was getting my shoes cleaned. As I was getting my shoes cleaned and talking with the guys in the park, the young man that I suspected had stolen the clippers arrived at the park with another guy. I greeted him like I always do and began asking him how he was feeling; if the medication that we had given him was working. He didn’t say too much and went off to shine shoes leaving the guy he came with talking with me. As we were talking, the young man called me over to him. 

As I was walking up to him he was shining the shoes of a client. He told me, “Jim, I need to talk to you, but not now; when I finish with this client.” So I sat down next to the client and started talking to him and began making comments about how well the young man shining his shoes was doing (which is something that I normally do to encourage the guys). However, as I was talking about his quality of work, I could see his head just get lower and lower, and he would make less eye contact with me. When he finished up with the client, the client left and the young man came and sat down next to me, but still unable to make eye contact with me. He looks up at me and he said, “Jim, I committed an error.” I wanted him to say and confess what had happened so I said, “What do you mean? What happened?” He told me, “Jim, I know you know. I saw you last night at the park and I watched you the entire time. I wanted to tell you last night. After I pawned it off I felt bad and I wanted to tell you, but then I saw you in the park last night and I saw you talking with the other guys, and I felt ashamed, and that is why I didn’t come out and talk to you last night.” So I asked him, “Just curious, how much did you pawn it off for?” He looked at me with a little confused look and he told me, “250 pesos.” I then asked him; why he pawned it off, if he was having some problems financially. He told me that he did, and that was the reason for why he pawned it off. I explained to him that I could understand why he would steal from me, but he interrupted me and said, “Yeah, but that is never an excuse to steal, especially from you.” I was so happy to hear that he understood that there is never a “good excuse” to steal, but it worried me that he was more concerned with stealing from me than stealing in it of itself. So I went onto explain, “Yes, but not just to steal from me but from anyone. I explained to him that the most precious thing that he could have is peoples’ trust, and if you lose that that is not a very good place to be, and if anyone puts the label on him as thief, he would lose that very precious thing no matter who that person be that he stole from. I also went on to say that I admire your courage to come to me and tell me the truth; you earn trust by doing the correct thing even though it is hard. I also told him, “I want you to know, you are more important to me than those clippers. However, I explained that yes it is frustrating and that indeed I am trying to set up this program for them, to help them. I tried to put things in his perspective. One thing that he does (other than shoe shine) is wash vehicles. So I asked him, “Let’s say you want to help a group of people and so you decide that you are going to help by teaching them to wash vehicles. You buy all the materials that you need to teach them and to help them, but when you go to teach them you find out that everything that you had invested into help teach them was stolen and by the same group of people that you wanted to help. How would you feel?” He told me, “I would feel bad; frustrated. Because they are literally stealing from themselves because the help is for them.” I said, “Exactly! I care more about you then the clippers” The young man just looked down and said, “Jim, there are not so many people like you.” I explained to him that “God has put this in me, and he has put a love in my heart for you guys especially.” The young man then looked at me and said, “Jim, I want to do the right thing, I am going to buy back the clippers and I will get them back to you.” I said, “Well you are not alone, I want to help you. Let’s do this together; let’s make a plan and together we will get through this.” I continued to tell him, “And I want to help you with this, but I need you to give me your trust and be transparent with me even when you mess up. Are you willing to give me that trust?” He said, “Yes.”  I told him, “Then let’s do this.” He then expressed a lot of interest in getting involved in the program. I am really excited to have him get involved. A few days later we ended up getting the clippers back, and I am very excited to see what God has in store for this young man.