“You don’t remember me, do you?”

Arriving at the jail door on Wednesday my eyes met with those of a man, obviously a drug addict, pacing back and forth.  I had already passed him when he said, “Hermana Corina.” 

I turned around and looked a bit more closely… 25 years old?  Eyes incredibly bloodshot…  Arms covered with scars… some self inflicted… others from fights from the streets… one wound was still fresh - a slash across his arm, still a little open and crusted with blood… his teeth were all discolored and rotting… My mind raced to try and remember…

“You don’t remember me, do you?”

I looked into his eyes again… beyond the glassiness and swollen veins… and I saw a little boy…

“You’re Diego… I even remember the day I met you…”  …he was 11 years old… hanging out near an abandoned house, near a central park… He was an incredibly bright little kid… talkative… lighter skinned and a bit blondish… he hadn’t been terribly mistreated by the streets and addictions… yet.  He had no scars… yet.  His dreams and hopes hadn’t been squashed and destroyed… yet.  I remember it all so clearly… it could have been yesterday – not 11 or 12 years ago…  Diego wanted to go back to school… he was going to be a lawyer… There was no doubt in my mind that it was possible…

Now, anyone looking at Diego would scoff at that possibility.  Hope for this guy?  Could he actually come to anything good?

Little Diego preferred to go to a boy’s home rather than going back to be with his mom…  …at the home, though, his heart was softened… and he wanted his mom to know he was okay… he also wanted her to know about God…  He wrote her a little letter and sent her some tracts that he asked for me to deliver… The other day I actually walked through the food section of the market where his mom used to worked...  I thought about Diego… and his mom… and wondered where and how they were…

Now, there was Diego, not so little any more, in front of me… upset because they wouldn’t let him in to jail to visit because he smelled too much like alcohol… He softened and listened as I reminisced about the little boy I once knew…

Too late?  Too many scars?  Too many addictions and problems?

No… Christ came to search for and save the LOST…  That’s His specialty… He loved the UNLOVELY… He reached out and tenderly touched the UNTOUCHABLES…  He’s at the door waiting… for you… for me… for Diego… to believe in Him… to loosen our grip on our dirt and grime (although ours might not be as obvious as Diego’s… its still there!)… and allow Him to come in… cleanse us and give us a new life… new hope…

If Diego continues the path he is on… there is no hope… only destruction and utter lostness… separated from God.

I don’t know how much Diego heard and understood on Wednesday… but please, pray with me that his heart would have been touched… that there might be an inkling of desire to turn from the life he is living… and look for the hope in Christ…  that he’d come to El Jordan or any other place that could point him to the Way… and walk along side of him…

At El Jordan right now we are in the middle of registration – people signing up for the classes that start in the second week of February…  Like Diego… there are SO MANY… lost and needing direction… hope… CHRIST…  Please pray that we would have a group of new “students” this year… and that our volunteers would have the patience, love, firmness and wisdom needed to deal with them!

I wanted to quickly tell you about two “coincidences” (there are no coincidences in life) from El Jordan’s vacation…  After dropping off someone at the airport, Marco and I decided to go exploring…  We drove beyond anywhere we’ve ever been, places where people are beginning to settle… making their little shacks and houses.  Well…with all the turns we made, following different roads and trails… we got a bit lost…  It was New Years day and there weren’t many people up and around…  “Let’s ask him…” He was still a block away but I could already tell that he had some issues… I asked him directions… and I thought he looked a bit familiar but I thought maybe it could have been someone I’ve passed on the street before…

“Are you hermana Corina? Did you used to have a red jeep?”   I had met him 6 or 8 years ago in a home for street boys…  “Coincidence” that we followed a little urge to “explore”, got lost and asked him for directions in the middle of no where?  I don’t think so… We dropped him off at his work place… and invited him to come to El Jordan or look for a church… His name is Richard… he is no longer on the streets… but has other problems… and needs the Lord…

Another “coincidence”… for some reason I stopped by El Jordan “just for a couple minutes”…  While I was chatting with  Nivardo, another kid I met in a boy’s home who just dropped by to let us know how he was doing, there was a timid knock on the gate…  A kid who cleans windshields at a major intersection was at the gate… Someone had told him we had dentist office for street kids…  His name is Jesus… he is about 17 years old… and although he is still using drugs, last year he went back to school… and plans to keep on studying this year…  Please pray that he, and others like him, will come back to El Jordan… where we will have a better opportunity to get to know them… share the gospel with them… and walk along side of them at the crossroads of change…

Please pray for Diego… Richard… Jesus… and so many others who are still so lost on the streets and in addictions…

Thank you for being a part of the ministry here…

Lots of love, Corina… for Marco… and the little one…