*Note: Before reading this story please know everyone is
safe & God has been using this situation for His glory throughout people’s
lives here in Calendaria.
To fill you in, nearly two weeks
ago we had two teenage boys break into the clinic where we’re living and steal
some of our valuable items while we weren’t home. Lisa lost her video camera and ipod, while
our team phone, my digital camera, & the rest of my $ for the month was
taken. Since then we have gotten a
couple of these things back! Unfortunately,
the 13 year old boy named Marlin (a.k.a. “Gore” short for Guerilla) was one of
the youth that had been coming pretty regularly to the church here. The other was an 18 year old who we’ve never
met, but had just taken part in another stealing incident with Marlin just two
weeks prior, where one spent a short time in jail & the other ran from the
police.
When we first heard about the
incident we responded rather casually as we were an hour away, knew everything
was out of our control, & had no exact details as to what was taken. To be honest, initially we were pretty
unaffected as our response was to go eat ice cream (for the more funny version
click here…it’s great!)
Soon after we learned there was a
lot more to the story than we originally anticipated. We learned much more about Marlin, how he
came from a home of extreme brokenness and abuse, has been a part of a gang,
& is now living with his grandma. As a result, our ministry contacts
we’ve been serving under here, Tommy & Linda Gable, have been reaching out
to him for some time. Marlin once said
that Linda was the first person he’s ever truly felt loved by.
Out of this situation, God has also
exposed a lot of light to darkness that’s been taking place within this
community. Come to find out, there are
multiple people (mostly youth & 1 adult woman that we know about) that have
been associated with stealing within Calendaria. After reporting this incident to the police,
they worked hard to recover our things & in doing so arrested the 18 year
old & a woman who has been hiring these kids out to do this work. Since all this occurred, Marlin went into
hiding to avoid being arrested & confronted by the police or Tommy. After 5 trips to the police station,
struggling with how to communicate grace & yet justice as a team, &
then time passing by this incident had pretty much died down, until today…
All of a sudden, out of no where,
we were walking to a friend’s home and right on the corner of a neighbor’s
property was Marlin standing there watching us walk away. We were surprised that he was brave enough to
show his face after what had happened, especially knowing there were still the
possibility of consequences. After calling
Tommy & being advised to return to the church to inform Pastor Jose to keep
an eye out on the property, he was within a few feet from us. Being given the chance to talk to him, I felt
led to take advantage of the moment & express that we have forgiven him
& love him; however, what he did was not right. Even more to our surprise was his next
response. Though I could see pain in his
eyes & what seemed like some remorse, his actions shocked me as he began
following us as if we were going to hang out and nothing had ever
happened. He shortly turned around as he
feared Tommy & going to jail.
Jumping from morning to afternoon,
I awoke from my nap only to hear manly voices outside our door while seeing
Tommy, a translator named Oscar, and Marlin entering through our door. Tommy had just “captured” Marlin and was half
way to the police station, before he turned around bringing him to communicate
with us. As our team sat with them for
the next hour or so listening to Marlin’s response, I was confronted with one
of the most beautiful pictures of grace I may have ever seen outwardly
demonstrated. Over time Tommy has built
a friendship & trust with Marlin, and has repeatedly communicated grace to
him in the past. As a result, Tommy was
ready to see justice taken (for his good); therefore, everyone knew that once
he was spotted he would be taken to jail and receive consequences for his
actions. Tommy even offered a reward to
anyone that may turn him in.
Seeing this grown man, covered in
sweat from having a physical encounter with capturing this young man, & yet
communicating to him, “Gore, you have seen two sides of me today. I am hoping & believing that today is a
true day of change for you. And just as
God once offered me grace I am extending that grace to you. This young woman who you stole 1,000 cordobas
from, I am going to pay her back on behalf of you, just as Jesus paid for my
sins and yours.” As our time ended with
us praying over Marlin, we expressed to him that we have forgiven and love him,
yet we desire to truly see change in his life.
In all of this today, I was
reminded of a lesson through one of my sisters. Ultimately, we only offer Marlin these things because that’s what was
first offered to us. It isn’t out of my
own goodness, superiority, or spirituality that I am to give him grace; it is
solely because Jesus did this for me and I am just as much of a sinner….
This is a true picture of Grace.
