Saturday morning the Grace Point Church sent a mission team to Piedras
Negras, Mexico to love on handicapped kids at the Bethesda Orphanage.
Saturday afternoon I became a Maverick County Jail convict. I was
handcuffed, finger printed, stripped of valuables down to my shoe
laces and assigned an inmate number. How's that for a blog opening!
:) For those that follow my blog, you probably know I have been going
through a messy business bankruptcy for over two years. It is coming
to a close, but some how in August 2007 a check did not clear the
bank. I'll get clarity here once I get a copy of the check from the
District Attorney's Hot Check division. I don't know much else other
than a warrant was issued for my arrest. Not knowing this I went into
Mexico and was picked up by the Border Patrol upon reentry. I've never been arrested, so I pretty much goofed everything. I
didn't spread my legs or put my hands up right. It was really weird
when they were fishing around in my pockets. I made a really stupid
prisoner. But eventually, they put me handcuffed in the back of a
police car and drove me to the Maverick County Jail. The concerning
part for me was I didn't know if my problem was a couple hour problem
or a bunch of years problem. They would tell me nothing except there
is a warrant for your arrest and you are going to jail. During the drive, I yelled through the plastic sheets separating the
police office and myself.
I yelled, "Excuse me sir. Have you ever seen God do anything for you?"
He said, "Huh?"
I yelled again, "Excuse me sir. Have you ever seen God do anything
for you? Although it may not look like it now, I have seen God do some
awesome stuff!"
He said, "Yes. God has allowed me to wake up with my son every morning."
I said, "Wonderful! It is great to know God is at work in your life." We arrived at the jail and he opened the back car door for me to exit
and get passed off to the jailer. He told the jailer, he could remove
the cuffs. I wouldn't need them. I smiled. I went through the booking process, just like the movies except I had
a smile on my face. I was anxious to see my first God Spot. They
finger printed me a couple times, took everything but my clothes, took
my picture and walked me to the holding cell. This is where it gets
fun. I was put in a "holding cell". This is where everyone coming and
going from jail goes through. In the cell were three Mexicans and
myself sitting on the floor, as there were no chairs except one
stainless steel bench. The Mexicans (this is factual, not derogatory
and as they refer to themselves proudly) could not speak English. I
am praying, "God. I'm looking for a God Spot. This whole adventure
will an incredibly painful experience if I go to jail and not see
God's hand at work. A God Spot is the only thing that would make
sense out of the event! Then I say to God, "God these guys don't
speak English and one of the them looks like he is looking for someone
to eat. How in the world am I going to talk to them about Jesus?" Within minutes, a guard comes and takes the mean guy away who has been
pacing like a tiger in a cage. Then in a few more minutes, a guard
takes another Mexican away. Now it is me and the last guy that can't
speak English. I say, "Ola" and he begins babbling a bunch of stuff
while I have no idea what he is saying. Shortly, a guard brings a
young guy in that speaks English and Spanish. He is sobbing and
crying. It is not a good thing to go to prison, but even worse as a
young male. I say, "Sir. May I pray with you?" He says yes and we pray about how
God is the only answer. I explain to him that sometimes God reveals
Himself in a unique fashion and I get to write about it. I say maybe
he will be part of a chapter in my book called "God Spots". I explain
that when I find myself in an unexplainable situation, I look for God.
That is the only reasonable explanation, so today I find myself
uniquely in a prison cell with you. I propose, maybe God is here,
also. He says he has done too much bad for God to be here. I say today is a
point in time that you and I have uniquely crossed paths. There is
also a specific unique point in the future when we both will begin
spending eternity. It doesn't matter so much what you have done in
the past, because God is more concerned with what you will do in the
future. Each choice you make between now and the time you die are
opportunites to become shaped into the man God wants to spend eternity
with. The choice is: will you become the man God chooses to live
with? Now, He is crying and asking for God's help to be the man God wants.
His prayer was heart felt and sincere. I said his prayer was awesome
and now he needed to tell the Mexican next to him want he had done and
allow him to make the same choice. He said, "No. He couldn't that."
I said, "OK. I am going to tell you my story about God again. This
time translate it as we go along and let this guy know about the love
of God." I guess he did a good enough job, because the second guy
began crying and sobbing, also. To quote Arredondo, "BOOM! A God
Spot" and Ricardo fell for the love of God. I was pumped! He must
have said,"BOOM! A hundred times in the next 24 hours." All night long, people came and went as we slept on the floor, but
Arredondo and Ricardo stayed. At one point it got really cold while
laying on the concrete floor with a thin mat. We were given a blanket
but no pillow. Sometime in the middle of the night, a really mean
violent Mexican mafia type guy was put in the cell. He was yelling to
the guards at the top of his voice, give me a blanket! They were
mocking him in return. He stripped off his shirt to strut his gang
tatoos to display and establish his rank in the cell. He is standing
over me, staring and has his foot cocked back. Everyone is quiet as
he is yelling and looking at me. I say, "Senor. Mi blanket." as I
hand it upward. I am praying God. This is really going to hurt. It would be good if
you would cool this guy down and send him over to the stainless steel
bench to sleep. The young Mexican who has found Christ, is safely
tucked in a corner and he begins talking loudly and aggressively to
the guy who is twice his size. I don't know what is being said, but I
hear repeatedly two words. Respecto and Priest. I think he is
saying, "It's not good to kick a priest." :) Mystically, the guy yells some more and walks over to the bench and
curls up on it. He lies down shivering. I yell out, "Senor! Mi
blanket." and throw it at him. He catches it. Looks at it and me.
Shrugs his shoulders. Wraps himself up in it and goes to sleep. Now here is the good part. In the morning, he is gone. The lttle guy
that had been talking about respecting the priest says to me, "I
thought when you threw that blanket at DeLaCruz you were going to die.
Then, I thought. That is what Jesus would do. Right?" I teared up. Arredondo had really gotten it. More later.... Surf to: http://www.1stchurch.org/GetFacebook.html
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