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.
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