The Lord has been calling this kid for years. I met him when he was 13 after he broke into my home for the month. Despite our rough start, my World Race team loved Marlon. (pictured below in August 2008)
He was a punk, but we saw a son that God loved so deeply. We could hear the Lord calling his name. We forgave Marlon. We poured into him. We threw him the first birthday party he had ever had. He tasted of the Lord’s love that month, but later he returned to his old ways….
For the next 7 years, he lived in the gang life. A life filled with brokenness, drugs, stealing, violence, and various stints in prison. I would see him whenever he was out of prison and back in Candelaria. Every time he was in touch I would sit and talk with him and remind him of the Lord’s love for him. (pictured below in October 2012)
Every time he returned from prison, he looked emptier and more broken. I saw him three years ago and as I talked with him, he told me how much he hated his life, hated himself.
Shortly after that conversation, he was arrested again and placed in prison for three years. Finally this last month, I got to see Marlon again. And for the first time in a long time, there was a spark in his eyes.
We just had a brief moment in the street sitting with Dimas, praying Rosa, Linda, and Marlon. We heard how he tried to hang himself in prison. We listened as he shared how the Lord intervened, saved him, and gave Marlon another chance at life. We spoke truth over his heart. We prayed for him. I see more like if Marlon’s eyes than I’ve seen in years. I pray that the grace of God overwhelms his heart and the Spirit of God fills his life.
We had this brief, beautiful afternoon with Marlon before he left Candelaria. I don’t know what the next chapter of his life holds, but I know God is a good Father and is relentlessly pursuing His son. I believe in Marlon’s redemption. I believe he can be powerful in the Kingdom. I pray that the grace of God, that has been knocking on his heart’s door for so many years, washes over him. Join me in praying for Marlon’s freedom, redemption, healing and salvation.
“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” -Psalm 103:2-5
