Faith in the midst of violence and rehabilitation

Most of us will know of Ricardo, either by name, photo on the site or just reputation. He is 25 and has already been in jail more times than most on the street. His latest stint was 6 years, going past the teens milestone and hitting 25 when he was released. I do not know all of his history, but what he has told me is worthy enough of a prison break episode. Not that he ever escaped tho. And then all of a sudden on Wednesday he arrives to greet me wearing a waistcoat and carrying a Bible. Reminded me a bit of the movie The Book of Eli!! Just with a few more scars. I had not seen him on the streets for a week due to a street fight and robbery, linked with Ricardo but the full story not to be known. What we see as fighting and in house theft is seen in a totally differnt light. There are differing stories, but in the end, the street family slowly rebuilds and becomes some form of a limping family again.



Ricardo began to talk to me on the subject of faith and what it meant to him and were he was in life. He began to show me scriptures throughout the Bible, sharing them to me, from Mark to 2Timothy to Revelations. He said he had some background in a Bible school and I tend to believe him due to his knowledge. And then we came to a strong scripture that was a very clear one for him, with all his faith based verses he had read to me. This was the definitive verse - "Faith without actions, is dead."
He wants to go Bible school, he also spoke mainly about going back to school, which I will need to follow up, but on the streets I have learnt as the others have too - we meet each other halfway. If you have a goal you want to see happen, lets chat, brainstorm ideas on how you can get as close to as possible, and then I will step in and help where I can too.

This coming week is full of the maybe's - school, Bible school and more from a few others I spoke to on the street that also want to go back to school of which there is a possible one nearby that may take older students. But that is for next week, and for now, relax and allow Ricardo to work out if this is really what he wants. He has a book and pen I gave him to write down thoughts and from what he is reading from his Bible.

I hope this weekend is time for him to work things out and if he is adamant next week for his schooling, this is where his walking into faith begins. And for me too.