I had the privilege to visit a ministry that another team was blessed to be part of this month in South Africa. The site was called Camp Joy and it was a rehab centre for people who were involved in gangs, drugs, shootings, theft, rape and prison. The 6-week program they offer is voluntary so participants can come and go as they please but if someone decides to leave during the program, they are not allowed to come back for a week. The people that choose to stay participate in daily devotions, life-transforming sessions, free time, paid work, contribute to daily chores, learn how to live in structure and get a chance to experience the hope and new life that Jesus offers them.
I’ve never met a gangsta before. I’ve heard and watched lots of movies about them, but I have never had a desire to meet one. Maybe it’s because we don’t have any gangs in Australia or I have no idea where they reside, or we were taught to never be involved or be associated with them because they are considered to be “bad” and “dangerous” people. Whatever reason, I realised I was too quick to judge and my generalisation of a gangsta was completely inaccurate when I visited Camp Joy.
I was introduced to lots of kind and loving participants of Camp Joy by my peers. They didn’t seem to be dangerous or scary at all. They were friendly. They were welcoming and they intentionally came and talked to me. I met one guy with a squad mate who had a bullet in his chest. He let us feel it and it was legit. He wanted to cut it out himself without going to the hospital because of all the paperwork and the questions that he would have to answer, but he openly shared his story with us about the gang that he was involved in and how God had transformed his life in 3 days when he first arrived in Camp Joy for the second time. His name was Yazeed and this was part of his story:
- I have been part of the Hard Livings (gang) which is the most notorious gang in Cape Town for at least 20 years. I’ve done crystal meth and heroin and have killed people. I have been shot once before and I took the bullet out myself. I have 9 guns in my house as I was the person that was assigned to keep them. I could give them up to the police but I know that something would happen to my family and my daughter if I did that, so I have no choice but to give the guns back..
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People in my community evicted me from my suburb because I was too dangerous. They told me if I didn’t leave, they would hurt my family. I left with a friend and was on my way to shoot someone when a pastor, whom my mother called, came and found me and told me to get into his car. We went to a church and I was sitting in the pew with a gun in my pocket. I told him I felt uncomfortable but he told me, it’s ok, so I stayed. After that session, I committed to going to Camp Joy and it was there that I found God.
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I have never felt this peace, hope and life in my heart. When I was young, I never understood why my mum and sister/brother would read the bible and believe in this guy called Jesus. So often I found myself checking out the bible when my thoughts wanted to do something horrible. When your part of a gang, the only way to get out of it is to die. But it’s not true. Jesus can be your way out.
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One of the greatest guys in the bible, beside Jesus was Paul. I loved reading that God redeemed him when he was the guy that tried to kill all the Christians in the world and then how God chose and called him to preach the gospel back to his people despite being put in prison, tortured etc. I believe I have been called to be like him. To go back to my people, my crowd of gangstas and share about Jesus with them.
To hear that from someone that had been involved in killing people, drugs and a gang was astonishing, convicting and humbling. I’ve never felt so much compassion, grace and love towards him after hearing his testimony. He was a good person. A person created perfectly by God and even though he grew up in a culture and community that was heavily involved in crime, He deserves to be loved like anyone else and Jesus saw that.
During the morning devotion that I was privilege to be able to sit in on, a passage was read from 1 Samuel 16:7 which says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I am guilty of judging people by their looks, the groups they are in, their words and their actions, but God looks at the heart and that’s what’s important. I apologise if I have ever judged you because of these things and I pray that you will forgive me.
Have you ever misjudged someone? Have you heard their story and do you know what circumstance they came in? Or have you been misjudged and grown up in a culture that never knew what was right and wrong? God knows you. God knows your situation and He see your heart. He is a compassionate and forgiving God and He is there to restore and redeem you if you want it. Just ask and He will answer.
