A generational gang family in Chicago:
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2013/06/03/nr-howell-mutligenerational-gang-members.cnn
A generational gang family in Chicago:
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2013/06/03/nr-howell-mutligenerational-gang-members.cnn
Here’s a blog that those interested in the gang life might be interested in viewing. The blog is not for the faint of heart or those easily offended, but if you can cope, the site can be found at:
http://chicagogangs2011.blogspot.com/
Video: 18St Barrio Fiesiocho XV3St.
http://chicagogangs2011.blogspot.com/2011/03/18st-barrio-diesiocho-xv3st.html
Please pray for Edgar Fernandez, his brother Freddie and their friend Bernadino. I met Freddie and Bernadino when i was visiting Martin at Cook County Jail. Continue to pray for Martin too.
This is a very cool story about how one female G literally saw the light when she tried to commit suicide. It’s yet another example of how God still intervenes in the lives of people today. This young woman is now in school preparing for the rest of her life and working to help other Gs get out of the gang life and find a more meaningful life. Read it. I think you’ll be amazed! And don’t forget, God has a dream for you too! Ask Him about it.
http://www.streetgangstyle.com/street_gangs/street-gang-articles/yall-gang/
Last week I shared a post about how gang life affects a Gs family. This is another post with the same message. If you think that your gangbanging doesn’t impact your family, think again. For more on how gangbanging affects a family, look at this:
http://www.streetgangstyle.com/street_gangs/street-gang-articles/leaving-family-gang/
Please pray for Minnie, her brother, and her entire family. God has a plan here. I will fill you in with more details if the opportunity should present itself.
Ron
Read more about the potential dangers and certain sadness of family life when you’re affiliated:
http://www.streetgangstyle.com/street_gangs/street-gang-articles/life-gang-related-story/
An interesting article that was sent to me in response to one of my own posts. I think you’ll find this article to be an interesting twist on gang intervention from the Third Side. Find the article at:
http://creatingreciprocity.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/from-bystanders-to-third-siders/
The Third Side Web page can be found at:
Gangs and At-Risk Kids provides a very informative and useful website for people wanting to know more about gangs, what they are, how kids get involved and the consequences of involvement. For more on the website go to:
And don’t forget to look at some poignant poetry and stories from those affected by gang life at:
http://gangsandkids.com/gstory.html
Other links can be found at:
More than 1.7 million children across the USA have a parent in U.S. prisons, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The number of children with a father in prison grew by 77% from 1991 through mid-2007. And those children are two to three more times likely to wind up behind bars themselves, says Christopher Wildeman, a University of Michigan sociologist who has studied the effects of imprisoned parents.
To try to snap that trend, Angola and other prisons across the country sponsor two programs aimed at reconnecting prison dads with their children: Returning Hearts, a day-long carnival-like celebration where inmates spend eight hours with their kids, and Malachi Dads, a year-long training session that uses Bible passages to help improve inmates’ parenting skills. To find out more, see the links below:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-06-17-prison-dads_N.htm?csp=34news
the G’sus Nation is a community of believers drawn from gangs and the gangster lifestyle. Those who make up the G’sus Nation come from as every gang, ethnicity, and nationality. What they have in common is Jesus, the saviour of the world. It is a group of men and women who are transformed (not perfect) by the act of love that took Jesus to the cross to take the blame for our own broken and messed up lives. This is a Nation that is grateful to the one who took on himself the great “violation” of the cross for our violence and addictions, but one who also walks with us through our pain, hopelessness, and shame. The G’sus Nation is a living “church in the hood” where believers are “born again” into a new life of hope and grace. It is a community of believers who take the Gospel of Christ to every hood and every city in obedience to Christ’s great commission to “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19). Our mission field is found in the neighborhoods of Chicago where gangs rule and gang life have stolen the promise of so many young men and women. The G’sus Nation is composed of young men and women who have experienced God’s grace, gangsters who follow Jesus instead of the mob. That’s not easy because other nations want to keep you down and hold you back. They lock you in chains and violate you in every way imaginable. Jesus breaks those chains and gives you freedom by being violated on the cross for you. Jesus not only makes you free, but he makes you one in the G’sus Nation. Taking a little liberty with what Paul the Apostle wrote, we learn that:
Here (in Christ) there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, (and we might add, no Latin Kings or Latin Disciples, no Vice Lords or Gangster Disciples, no Folks and no People; no Bloods and no Crips), but Christ is all, and is in all.
~Colossians 3:11
We who have committed our lives to Christ are truly one in the Spirit. God has called us to take the message of grace and forgiveness to our brothers in the hood. It’s a big task, and dangerous, but “if God is for us, who can stand against us!” Join the G’sus Nation. Jesus wants you! Pray and ask God where he wants you to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He will lead as he builds the G’sus Nation through you.
Let me know if you want to learn more.