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Bad Guys & Good Guys (2004-05-23) When my son Kevin was 5 years old, he once prayed this prayer: "God can you change the bad guys in the world to good guys?" It is such a simple prayer, and yet it is so profound. When Big Mary walked the street corners, who was not afraid of her and her and the gang which she headed up? Nothing would frighten her. After all, she had an impressive resume. Mary had been arrested 67 times and put in jail 11 times for all sorts of crime you can think of. The longest time was for second degree murder. To Mary, life was a pursuit of power, money, sex, excitement, bi-sexual activities, gang banging and so on. Last Sunday, when we saw Mary, her hair was still wet; her face was still wet from tears of joy for she just came back from her baptism downstairs! We did not give her any wrapped gifts given Federal regulation, but we offer up our hearts. We sang to her and to Jesus the simple tune of "Happy Birthday", and yet it was profound. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor 5:17) Big Mary was entombed together with her pistil, drugs, anger, bitterness, hopelessness, lust and restlessness, and glorious Mary is born again with Jesus Christ who reigns forever. We have known Mary for over four months, and we can testify for her miraculous transformation. Every week we see her, she is beaming with joy which is extremely difficult to maintain for even a couple of days in jail. She no longer bullies others; instead she consoles those are depressed and strengthen those who are weak. She prays for the lost sisters in the unit and tries unfailingly to invite them to experience God's healing. Mary shared, "When I was arrested the 67th time, I thought about my little boy. I do not want to hurt my little boy. God please help me." And that was the beginning of how God started to change me." Did God spare Mary from going to jail? No. However, no one would guess that Mary would meet Jesus in jail, not even Mary herself. No one would have guessed that Mary will no longer be leading a gang of criminals. Instead she will be leading a gang of forgiven sinners willing to learn to love a little more each day. Last Sunday was a very memorable day. Besides Mary, 4 other women were baptized through chaplain's program and one more is waiting to do it this coming Sunday, We have the privilege to walk spiritually with four of them in the past months through our Sundays' visits. When we left the unit last Sunday, we hugged Mary acknowledging the simple yet profound story that Jesus is writing in our lives. God, thank you for changing the bad guys in the world to good guys! Note: The name, "Mary", is made up to protect the anonymity of the people involved. ^^^^^^^
Peter |