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.
