Featured in The Message – Year-End 2024 Edition!
Juvenile Detention (JD) staff cautioned us to be careful, as Jess was seen as a severe criminal. Earning his trust and even getting him to smile was challenging. However, he observed how other kids engaged with our JJM program, which sparked his curiosity and gradually allowed us to connect with him. By God’s grace, we intersected with his story after he completed JD intake. His experiences mirror those of many others we encounter weekly.
Growing up, Jess experienced a broken family surrounded by gang violence. Even as a child, he experienced one trauma after another, including witnessing someone being shot and killed in front of him. This and other events conditioned Jess to answer life with violence, including carrying a gun. One day, he turned his gun on someone and pulled the trigger, killing them.
For months, Jess was closed off, lost in darkness, and without hope. Our first conversation about God started when he stated he didn’t believe in “a God called Father.” When asked about Jesus, he defiantly replied, “Who?”
After one of our Sunday Chapels discussing the spiritual warfare section in Ephesians, Jess asked our YFC leader, “Do you think God can still use someone like me?” This marked the beginning of his transformation. His question led to hours of discussions about God’s purpose, the stories of David and Moses, and what a relationship with Jesus looks like. Eventually, Jess asked to accept Christ into his life, making it a joyous, tear-filled day of hope for him in JD. He was starting a new life, was welcomed into God’s family, and received the Father he longed for.
Despite the reality that he will be spending decades of his life inside prison walls, Jess’s identity is not defined by violence or his circumstances. Rather, his identity is in Christ alone! It is evident that God is moving in JJM, and through your generous giving, you can give the gift of hope and new life in Jesus to a teen like Jess.