This month, I (Brian) had the privelage to meet a man we will call Jamale. We met him at the base we are staying at. He comes to the base to hang out and get some food. The first day I met him I knew God called me to dig deep with him. Jamale taught me some things along the way.
Let me set the stage so you can get to know Jamale:
He is man who chose to accept Christ into his life. He has worn the same clothes for one week and still going. He chooses to be in a whellchair instead of walk (he got beat up by three guys one night), 
and he chooses to not push himself around town. He chooses not to clean his house or his dishes (His house gets semi cleaned when someone does it for him or he pays someone to do it). He smokes about every 5 minutes and drinks daily. He talks about people from his past who hurt him or about money. He has tried to commit suicide multiple times. He is man who has a big heart and alot to offer and loves people.
and he chooses to not push himself around town. He chooses not to clean his house or his dishes (His house gets semi cleaned when someone does it for him or he pays someone to do it). He smokes about every 5 minutes and drinks daily. He talks about people from his past who hurt him or about money. He has tried to commit suicide multiple times. He is man who has a big heart and alot to offer and loves people.Last week he invited all 12 of us (there are 2 teams together this month) over for dinner, but only 3 of us guys went. He cooked us curry, rice, and naan bread. This part is pretty fun and just adds to the story….. while getting ready to cook more food Caleb (one of the other guys) asks him if he would like to wash his hands, Jamale says “no” (in a way that says why would i do that). 
Jamale then goes on to ask us to look for a brush on the sofa, not knowing what he is talking about (in my head i am thinking a hair brush or a toothbrush). He comes to the sofa and under the cushion he finds a cooking brush (along with about 20 cigarette butts, his glasses we were just looking for and many other mystery objects). Caleb quickly grabs the brush and tries to wash it as best he could. Jamale then continues to go back to cooking by pouring used oil from one pan into a cup that seems to have some other undisclosed stuff in it and takes the brush we just found under the cushion and brushes the oil onto the bread.
Jamale then goes on to ask us to look for a brush on the sofa, not knowing what he is talking about (in my head i am thinking a hair brush or a toothbrush). He comes to the sofa and under the cushion he finds a cooking brush (along with about 20 cigarette butts, his glasses we were just looking for and many other mystery objects). Caleb quickly grabs the brush and tries to wash it as best he could. Jamale then continues to go back to cooking by pouring used oil from one pan into a cup that seems to have some other undisclosed stuff in it and takes the brush we just found under the cushion and brushes the oil onto the bread.Jamale makes me both laugh and cry alot. He has alot of character. Each time I leave him I think ‘why’. Why…….. So why do i choose to tell you this story and what did I learn from him? Well, there are many things you can take from this. What I learned is that all of us have been hurt in our past, but we have to claim our identity in Christ (look it up in the bible). We are all worthy, we are all children of God. We also have authority over ourselves and and the choice to choose. The joy of free will. You can choose to love or hate, speak life or death, to pray or fear, to fight or give up, to welcome or exclude, to help or ignore, God/Jesus/Holy Spirit or …..???? 
