Good news! Akin to the heart of the church we attend (purposefully multi-ethnic), I recently walked out the front door to discover that our new area neighborhood is not merely ethnically-diverse, but also provides some variety in its groups of venerable... er..."road groups" (wink wink).
The back of the nail salon facing our door boasts the freshly tagged, “ws: SUR I3”. If you can trust google, this is slang for ‘mex!can maf!a’, the largest Latin pr!son g ang in existence. “Sur” means South en Espanol, of course, and 13 is their lucky number… go figure. They’re supposed to be rivals of the ‘Bl00dz’. Speakin’ of the B’s, two weeks ago, whilst moving some things upstairs from my car, I spotted a group of red-wrapped folks visiting somebody in our complex. They basically ignored me as I made trips up & down to my car, but I asked M to stay indoors. Sensing some spiritual oppression, I went inside & prayed w/ M that the Lord would keep our friends & neighbors in His peace, and protect us from evil. After the prayer, I stepped outside, and they had gone.
Praise God for being Boss of the world & sovereignly in charge! Now, honestly, I don't want to oversensationalize this thing. There is activity like this even in the wealthiest of neighborhoods accross the US, and by in large, folks in these 'clicks' keep to themselves & don't look for trouble outside of their collective agendas.
In short, we're not intimidated or really worried about the tag on the nail shop wall.
Now, having said that we also acknowledge & accept that we have pledged our lives in service to a homeless, single man who was murdered on a tree just outside of the city limits of his town, and so we know "He isn't safe".
But the peace & joy that come from following Him, and the knowledge of our certain futures makes any trivial discomfort a joy & an an honor!
While we’re not afraid, and we trust the Lord’s sovereign hand, we do covet your continued prayers for wisdom, protection, and for relational in-roads with our new friends & neighbors.
Gracias Amigos & Hermanos!
