Gabriel's Story

    Gabriel's Story, though complex, is witnessed in churches everyday. The
churches may change, the people may change, but our God never changes.
He is in the business of changing lives!
    The complexities of life are where God flourishes. We tend to think that we can
handle everyday things without God, but God is an integral part of all that happens
on a daily basis. God can foresee a chain of events and know the outcome. We
on the other hand only see and feel the effects it has on us.
    Let me give you an example from our life experience. My wife and I were
running a Celebrate Recovery for our church, Westside Church of Christ. We get a
call from the church office, about a family in trouble. A couple and their small baby
are getting kicked out of their furnished apartment.
    Gabriel was a member of a street gang in L.A., with all the gang tattoos including
a tear drop tattoo just below his eye, that is trying to start over with his wife and child.
He wants to give his son a better life than he experienced in the gangs, on the streets
of Los Angeles, Ca. So Gabriel packed up his family and moved to Bakersfield, Ca
to start life over with a clean slate.
    Gabriel, his very pregnant wife, and son move in with us. My wife and I take them
to church with us where they meet the Ramero family, who talks to Gabriel and his
wife in Spanish and English, about being baptized for the forgiveness of their sins.
    The Romero's tell Gabriel and his wife about their sins being washed away in
baptism and how the Holy Spirit comes into your life, to empower your life for
Christ.
    Shortly, after the Romero's talk with Gabriel and his wife, they are baptized.
    Our church helped them move into an apartment and helped him get training to be
a forklift operator and Gabriel goes to work for a Target Warehouse. Gabriel starts
going back to L.A. to visit his family and to try and keep kids from joining the
gangs.
    About a year after my wife and I start working with Gabriel, we get a phone call.
Gabriel, while working the streets in L.A., to keep kids out of the gangs, is killed in
a drive by shooting. The police speculate that he was targeted because of his work
to keep others from joining the gangs.
    Gabriel's wife and children have moved to Idaho. She has married a wonderful man,
that loves her and that is raising Gabriel's children as his own. She and the children
still come to see us once in a while, when they come to Bakersfield to visit her parents.
    My wife and I could never imagine being a part of this big picture, but God knew
that our simple act of kindness, would touch many lives. You may never know
where one act of kindness will lead, but God does. You may be a part of a new
life for God's Kingdom and after all, isn't that what Christianity is all about.

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You can also reach me @ akers-enterprises@att.net