God Loves Thugs

I get in trouble at times for wanting to be inclusive in our approach to reaching out to our neighborhood folk. I love having my two older African American ladies, Wanda and Diane help with doing our BBQ’s all of the time. They aren’t your typical conformist church types. They enjoy helping but at times there can be some drama. Their mom, Mrs. Jefferson, is my spiritual advisor who I love and so much appreciate. She has been raising her grand and great grandkids over the last 20 years.

There are two more young teen guys who have been involved on the edge. Jalil is being raised by his grandma and I just discovered that his mom died when he was six years old. He isn’t exactly your scholastic type and definitely isn’t interested in much outside of playing a PS3 or messing around. He is always quick to forget most of everything. He doesn’t respond well to any type of pressure or push to conform. He would rather walk around the park then usual participate in much of anything. He has a neighbor who definitely looks like a ‘gang banger’ type. The challenge is that both of them have been left behind from the school system and socially are still back at elementary level or Jr. High context.

I know that I have blogged and shared about Shapelle, one of my first kids to love and learn from in the last 4 years. All of these ‘guys’ are similar in that they don’t have fathers and usually their moms are on drugs and can’t raise them. They usually are being raised or at least ‘housed’ by their grandmas. The difficulty is that most of their grandmas or uncles are clueless about life in the ‘hood’. This equates to them being able to get away with almost anything. There isn’t any easy way to intersect their lives besides just stepping in front of them and get hit like a moving train.

Usually most teens in this type of situation do their best not to fit in the typically church or youth group context. They want to act tough and look as if they are ready to take on the whole world. The reality is that they really are ‘cream puffs’ that so much desire to be loved and included but would die if anyone actually knew this. The journey is how to create circumstances where they can come and interact with adults that can love on them in a consistent fashion. I wouldn’t know Jalil or Eli if we hadn’t painted grandma’s house. I will never forget attempting to push Jalil to help paint his grandma’s house. It was like pulling teeth. He worked for about five minutes and then wanted to disappear or quit.

I am so appreciative for those who have decided to step up and get involved in a real way. It is making a difference and will impact these young men’s lives both today and in the years to come.