An Atheist & A Mexican Immigrant – Grace Renewal

When Dawn and I were in San Diego a week ago, our friend, pastor Stephen Phelan, pastor of Harbor Mid-city, the main church we are partnering with, shared this story. Part of the vision of the church is to bridge together people from different cultures, economic and social backgrounds. In one of the Bible studies Stephen is leading they have an affluent atheist, and a struggling Mexican immigrant. Bringing people together from such huge different backgrounds is done by design.
During one of their times together the atheist openly shared that he didn’t believe in God. Carlos couldn’t believe his ears. His jaw dropped. He said to the atheist, “let me tell you about my life. I was in a gang, and I ended up in prison. While in prison I found Christ. God told me he wanted me to stop using my weapon, my shank.” Carlos said to God, “how will I defend myself?” God responded, “you are in a new ‘gang’ now, the family of God, and I will protect you.”
That’s exactly what happened God protected Carlos, and because he stopped carrying around a weapon to protect himself, it gave him the opportunity to share his faith with other gang members. They wondered why he wasn’t trying to fight and defend himself anymore? If you saw Carlos today you would never know that he had been in a gang. The atheist was awestruck by this story. He told Carlos, “you need to tell that story to everyone.”
What an example of the power of the gospel to transform lives! This is the good news we carry to the border.
Join us in prayer for the San Diego-Tijuana border, and that we can move there in August. Our house is under contract. It’s set to close on August 9th. We are praying that we don’t encounter any snags and we will turn over the keys at closing.
We look forward to being able to relocate and serve Christ on the border.
In His Grip, Dave
DiasoLifeontheBorder.org