South Central L.A. has a reputation. Gangland. The stuff of the History Channel series. MS 13; the 13th Street Gang, Mexican Mafia...turf wars, A-K 47's, drive-bye's, violence...and it's Friday. You're starting to feel the fatigue of the sleepless nights a bit, and you've just wolfed down a sandwich after School on Wheels and you arrive at the Dream Center barely in time to connect with the MetroKidz team, and you rush, in your vehicles...to...Gangland...for ministry.
That logical part of your mind knows a few things: One, you know you are going to enter a different world, and two, you know that there is a reason South Central is the stuff of movies, national news reports and History Channel episodes-the place has a story, and it's not pretty. But the interesting thing is, as you load up in your vehicles, something else is going on: God is giving you an absolute peace about it all, and so you drive into the heart of South Central, past the many wall murals, through run down neighborhoods and by countless taco stands and small shops, and you aren't thinking about safety, you're wondering what God has in store for this trip because everything about the week has been one continual experience of seeing Him at work. You assume and trust He is also working in South Central.
On the way, a young man from the Dream Center rides in the car with you to give you directions. He's nineteen years old, and his name is Luis. Luis is rather quiet at first, giving directions, but there is something inside of you that just knows this kid has a story, working for the Dream Center, so you ask.
And you find out that this young man from South America has quite a story. He knows about MS-13 because he once belonged. He knows about police because he had been arrested a few times, and once on very serious charges. He has seen too much. Done too much he is not proud of. He speaks with a matter of fact tone as he describes his past life. He understands South Central because he grew up there when his family came to America when he was a child. He talks about the dangers of the Mexican drug cartels and how Al-Qaeda supplies the Mexican gangs with military weapons. He is not speaking in a sensational manner. He just knows these things because he knows how things work in South Central, in "Gangland."
As you drive by murals, he explains how so many of the 'saints' in the images are really demonic. He talks about people worshiping these false idols for protection, for money, for strength in battle. He says that so many people are blinded by the enemy. He wants to see South Central set free from this bondage. He is more concerned with the cycle of violence and false worship and the children. He does not mention a need for more money as a core issue, and you can't help noticing this omission. From his perspective, it's spiritual freedom and physical safety that are the big needs, and he knows that none of these things will happen until Jesus Christ is known, the Jesus he encountered in the Scriptures. The Jesus who is, not the Jesus of folk religion.
The SUV gets quiet as you ask more of his story. He is not comfortable at first, but as he begins to speak of God, and of how Jesus Christ was shared with him, how this Jesus was what he was looking for all along in life, he becomes passionate. He shares the most incredible testimony, and the thing you notice, it's not a testimony about "Luis changing his life," but the focus is all on Jesus Christ and how He reached down to 'the worst sinner' and saved him. He gets very excited as he talks about how filled with joy he was and is because of Christ. He talks about Jesus as if He is the most important treasure a person could have, and again...you take note of this.
He talks about facing down death-namely members of his gang (he was a sect leader) who confronted him after Christ saved him. He talks about a particular individual in that group of seven who came to him, a large man, with tattoos all over his body, and his face-"The Devil" is what he called him, and how he had this moment where he was confronted. "Is this true? You think you are leaving?" they ask. "The Devil" gets in his face. Luis wonders if this is how his story ends.
But Jesus gives him courage. He tells these former associates that they can kill him but they can't take his soul. He belongs to Jesus and he cannot turn his back on Jesus. He tells them that Jesus Christ is his "Boss" and his "Lord." He says he will always follow Jesus, even if he has to die, because he knows Jesus will use even his death to save someone else. He is not afraid.
That tense confrontation ends with his former 'friends' walking away, inexplicably, but with the warning, 'We will be watching you-if you are playing games...." And he says, "Watch me, but look at Him. He is God's Son."
Luis winds up at the Dream Center and he talks about the incredible discipleship training he received and how God used that time to really help him understand Jesus and what it means to be a Christian.
So you pull up to the park, where your ministry for the day is a mini version of Vacation Bible School in the middle of South Central, working with children, teaching Scriptures, playing with them, loving on them, talking to their parents (mostly women), and as you start setting up, you notice how free Luis seems. The joy on his face radiates as he interacts with children, with parents, with kids at the park-and with you and your team.
The time with MetroKidz is simply amazing. Children singing, playing games, learning about the Great God who loves them and knows them personally...the God who is there, in South Central. The kids learn about making wise choices when it comes to friends, and you realize that this instruction has a significance to these children that you can't begin to imagine.
By age ten or so, the gangs, the drug runners, the people behind the violence and fear, start recruiting children. $300 a week to walk around with a cell phone while you are playing, just to call a number to tell an unknown person that police are around the area is incredible money for someone who would like to know what it's like to go down to a local shop and buy ice cream or soda pop just because...and having extra money to buy things for mom or dad, well, that is a nice thing too.
So you look at the faces of these children, at this moment in time so eager, so innocent, so glad to be around caring adults, and you then look at the face of Luis and you wonder. You wonder if some of these children will make it through school and avoid the lures and temptations and bondage that is so rampant in the area. You wonder if some will fall between the cracks and wind up as a 6:00 news story. You wonder a lot.
But you look at Luis, and you remember your God. You see what He has done in Luis' life and in the lives of some of the adults you have met, and there is hope. Always Hope. Nothing is impossible for God.
And before you leave, you ask Luis if you and your group can pray for him. You wonder what he might ask for in prayer. Perhaps a nicer home? The opportunity to move? For a better paying job? For protection?
He surprises you because his one request is that God will continue to break him. He explains that pride is very dangerous and he wants to always be humble before God so God will use him. He fears pride. He wants to be humble before God and man more than anything so people can see Jesus in him. He reiterates, "Don't pray for God to bless me with things. Things are meaningless. Pray that He will break me over and over so I can be useful to Him."
So you pray-and as you pray for and with this young man, you experience a measure of the trauma of encountering the Holy One as well as the sense that God Is In This Place. You are on Holy Ground, in South Central. God has plans for this city. For South LA. He has not left, He is working, always working.
The kingdom advances, invisibly, and faithful messengers continue to come to this part of Los Angeles to tell the story, to love, to serve, to bless, to invest in the lives of these children, these families-and Luis is just one of many who have dedicated their lives to making Christ known to this community.
You understand that there is much more going on in South Central than what you see on Gangland, what you see portrayed in the movies, what you see on the news. God is working and laborers are in the fields.
Yes, God is working here. You can see it. Light shining in the darkness. Hope in the midst of despair. Freedom in the face of fear. His love is present. He is present.
And when you leave, you realize the experience was nothing short of amazing. And, you realize that you only spent a half day there, and when you leave, life will go on in South Central. Police sirens will continue to scream both day and night, police helicopters will continue to circle the area, but this is the visible realm.
You realize that there is Beauty in the unseen realm, because He is working, and when you finally leave the Dream Center, you have a greater appreciation for those who continue to invest in a place that most have written off as hopeless, and a greater understanding of the Power of God to transform individuals, families, and yes...even social structures. You realize many things...
You realize that God loves South Central L.A. He loves Broken Luis. He loves the children and the parents you met. And yes, His love is amazing...He loves even you...and yes, you realize, that apart from His grace and mercy, you were just as lost as Broken Luis, just as lost as the AK-47 toting gang member, just as lost as the man they call "The Devil" (El Diablo)-and you realize that you have every reason to worship Him for such an extravagant display of Love, Grace, Mercy and Compassion.
So you drive back to the safety of your dorm in Pasadena, a quietness comes over your soul. Yes...Grace is truly amazing.
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