I’m beginning to get pretty good with my observation skills by having to start all these cold conversations. One thing that I have noticed in a huge way is the all familiar hand tattoo that so many guys have to signify their gang allegiance. Many of them are shocked when I ask them about it, and even more surprised when I recognize the letters and can call their gang by name. Many of the older guys try to just shrug it off and don’t really want to talk about it as much, while the younger ones still see it as a symbol of pride.
I’ve been around Jake a pretty decent bit, but never had the opportunity to actually talk with him. Today, I thankfully didn’t really have much of a choice. My typical partner for the prison ministry is still in Manila, so I’ve been looking all week for another interpreter. I hadn’t had much luck until I got a text in the morning saying Jake would join me and help me out. Again, I’ve never actually met Jake even though I’ve always felt welcomed when we come over to the house that he works at. I honestly didn’t know how good his English skills were, but I was more than willing to give it a try as I had no other options.
We headed to the jail and Jake never skipped a beat translating (at least as far as I know with my Viscayan still very much a work in progress…). It was a blessing to have him there because the guys just felt comfortable with him speaking, and honestly, so did I. About midway through the talk, I looked over and saw the tattoo on his hand. I didn’t recognize the letters, they were new to me, but I was a little shocked to see them on Jake’s hand. He is now the farm manager for one of my host families and has made a very decent living for himself here in Malaybalay, so I was very interested to hear his story.
Afterwards, on the ride home, I wanted to get to know this man that I just spent two hours speaking through. Naturally, I went straight for the tattoo. He just rubbed his hand and said, “Oh, that was a previous life.” This comment made me smile because we had just talked through the last two chapters of Ephesians that speak about leaving your old dead life behind, and walking in the new life in Christ. He went on to tell me that he grew up in the most dangerous part of the Philippines which is actually on this island. The town is run by Muslim extremist groups and is just a very dangerous area for outsiders. He then told me about his move over here and a little on how he came to be where he is now.
Despite spending his entire high school years in a gang, and being from a Muslim extremist town, Jake was raised with Christian morals. The only problem was that they didn’t really set in until he got away from his home town. When he left, he decided to make a new life for himself and leave the old him behind. God has really done a mighty transformational work in his life and has even led him to do more outreach and speaking of his faith and salvation. He joined us for our Sunday ministry once a couple of weeks ago and we left him at a cell by himself because we were short handed. There was no fear or hesitation as he just stepped up and preached the word the Lord gave him.
I’ve really been blessed by getting to know Jake the last couple of days and I pray God continues to stir something in his heart for the people of this city. My prayer has always been that locals would be the ones providing for their own needs and so many here are beginning to step up. The local church and its body need to be the answer to their own prayers. Sometimes, they just need a little outside help…
