soccer, gangs, Light and darkness

Today, we took our host brother Julian to see ~our~ soccer team SAPRISSA, and there were some pretty good goals. SAPRISSA totally beat the other team 6-1, which is almost a ridiculous score in soccer, but it was fun, and i screamed a lot. I think Julian was surprised at just how enthused i get, but boy! i love soccer!

Anyway, we had a good time until the shuttle ride back from the stadium to downtown. We were in the very back of the bus. I was sitting next to a family with some young children, and Travis and Julian were standing right in front of us since there weren't any seats left. Pretty much as soon as the bus started, the trouble did as well. A group of guys had pushed themselves into the back around us and were trying to force open the back door of the bus, which was automated. One of their "buddies" was trying to get on the bus from the back door. They managed to pry it open but then to keep it from closing again, one of the guys pushed really hard on the glass which ended up shattering. The mother of the family (who by this point had enough [along with the rest of us] of the trouble-making as it was starting to get serious) yelled at them to be careful as there were children back there. I could not see too much of what was going on because i was in the back corner, but the parents next to me could see, and i could see the faces of some who saw what was happening. At one point when it was starting to get fearful, i saw the father slowly take off his watch and bend down ever so slowly to tuck it into his sock. What happened next happened right in front of Travis and Julian. One of the guys, who appeared to be somewhat the leader, moved back through the group and around behind a man sitting in the next to last seats. He put him in a sleeper hold until the guy passed out onto the bus floor, then the gang quickly robbed his shoes, his watch and his wallet. He came to (thankfully) and managed to get off the back of the bus - the gang members kind of helped push him off. The mother had since yelled loudly to the bus driver to stop; somehow, praise the Lord, the family managed to get off. Travis called me loudly and reached back and grabbed my hand, and Julian, Travis, and i pushed our way towards the front. It still wasn't safe feeling, though, because the whole back of the bus was taken up by the gang which showed off the watch they pilfered (as they all laughed) and looked through the wallet. The one guy stood up on a seat and marked their gang sign on the bus roof with a highlighter, and when he stepped down a knife fell out of his pocket (again they all kind of "oohed" and laughed). I don't know if the bus driver had somehow radioed to the police or what, but a police car did end up finding our bus and escorting us to the stop. We got off and made our way downtown.

There were no consequences, though, as we saw the group and the leader all hanging around just 2 blocks later.

Why am i writing about this experience? First, it was pretty frightening. Second, it really makes you think about sin in this world when you are confronted so aggressively by it. The one boy that i saw who was part of this group couldn't have been more than 11, maybe 12. Julian saw the 2 girls with this gang, who were maybe 13 or 14, drinking alcohol on the bus. And it just really disturbs your spirit. It disturbed our spirits as believers because it was darkness, and when you know Light, well... darkness is just... it makes you sad, but sad is not near a strong enough word, that people are in such darkness, are so lost.

And this is the universal society of darkness... there is no true joy, only mockery. There is no beautiful reflection of the One whose Image we were created in, only dirty faces of human sin. And there is no pure love, only a gang-mentality of loyalty and security in violence.
And it's this society of darkness that Jesus stepped into and said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (Jn 8:12) And it is to this very same society of darkness to which Jesus commissions us, saying that we are the light of the world, and that we must let our light shine before men that they will see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven. (Mt 5:14-16)

Something that brought a little encouragement to me was while walking downtown after the bus incident, we ran into a guy named Ronny that my friend Mandy and i had met last week. He's from Los Angeles, and had been robbed. Mandy and i gave him our McDonald's meal we had just bought and had the opportunity to pray for him. He said he was sure his mom must be praying for him at that moment, because she's a believer, too, and always asks him, "Are you saved yet?" We got to share a little bit and challenge him to think about why he isn't yet. Seeing him again and introducing him to Travis and Julian was neat - he seemed glad to see me again, and when we continued on our way and i said, "God bless you," he returned with "God bless you, too." I don't know if he's a believer yet, but i continue to pray for him, and it was just a piece of Light in the day after being in the presence of darkness.

We pray that these gang members would come to know the Creator God and the love He has for them and the salvation He offers. amen.