We're off to see the merchant.

In order to keep this story short and sweet, I will cut out many details and simply focus on what I pray is a redemptive work in Diwardo's life.

The long and the short of is my ipod touch was stolen out of my car.  Hours later as I was taking Diwardo to the police station.  99% sure this was the guy that took it.  I had 5 witness that saw him in my car two times.  He continued stating his innocence, but everything pointed to him.  If I laid a charge against him, he would go to prison.  He is currently on parole, so he would skip jail, go to prison, with no bail till his next court hearing.  Just to state the obvious, South Africa prisons are no where you want to be.  So as we drive to the police.  I offer a reward, for anyone who can help me find it.  Nothing.  I look at Diwardo in my rear view mirror.  Is it worth it?  Going to prison for this?  Nothing....2 minutes later, Mr. Shelby turn the car around.  Much of the conversation I didn't understand as I cannot speak Afrikaans.  I have gotten bits and pieces of the story.  Basically Diwardo didn't steal it, but he was there when it was stolen, and he knew who had it.  Problem was it was already sold to a merchant and I would have to buy it back.  I didn't quite have enough to cover the price that the merchant bought it for but it was close.  

The Ipod was literally stolen right from under my nose.  It was in the change cup of my car near the window.  I stopped in Ocean View to speak to Diwardo.  There was a guy with him and they both came up to the car and the other guy said hey, there is a 2 rand coin in your seat there (2 rand is about 0.40 cents.) I reached over and grabbed it and in those 3-4 seconds the guy had reached in and taken my ipod and I had no idea.  Finally about 6 hours later we were on the trail to possibly getting it back.  

So, the friend had already sold it to the merchant while we were at Bible Study.  Diwardo knew who the merchant was and was going to attempt to buy it back.  I gave another guy my money and the 3 of them were off to see the merchant.  I dropped them off and made a couple of laps around the block.  Two of the girls tried to explain to me what was happening in English, they speak Afrikaans.  We made a few laps and parked the car waiting to see what happened.  Immediately I noticed that Diwardo wasn't with them, which I thought was a good sign, and sure enough the other guy was holding up the ipod, waving it back and forth.  They said the merchant didn't want to sell it but when faced with the alternative of having the cops come he made the right call.  

So I didn't get to speak with Diwardo, but I was going home with my Ipod back.  

Today I stopped by to see Diwardo.  The irony of the situation was that the Bible study that we had last night was on Faith and Trust.  It's a series and the foundation was that God cannot lie and therefore everything He says, and everything that He has written is true and therefore trustworthy.  Again, trying to keep a long story short.  I thanked him for helping me last night because I knew he didn't have to.  We talked about trust and faith and how we all make mistakes and the glory of Easter is that we can all be forgiven.  Did I mention that he was laying in bed in his underwear?  Yea that makes it a little bit awkward.  He tried to explain to me how things work.  I didn't understand all of it, but basically he said he would probably get a beat down for what he did.  He said he wished he would have just told me from the get go.  I said I wish you would have smacked the guy when he took it out of the car. I told him if I saw someone stealing his stuff I would be like "Hey, dont take Diwardo's things" When I said this he was crying.

The really cool thing is in the course of our conversation he told me that he would have gone to jail for his friend that stole the ipod instead of turning him in to the police. It is kind of like the Ocean View "love language" to go to jail for someone. But, instead of following thru with that plan he actually turned the whole thing around and got my ipod back and has put himself in trouble with his gang. If this is a "love language" then he was speaking it to me. It is humbling. 

Our vision at LifeXchange is holistic sustainable transformation of youth at risk.  This happens through our Holistic Life Mentoring Process.  What does that mean?  Holistic means it affects every part of the person.  From family, to the Bible, school, dating, home, work, everything is what we deal with.  Life, there is no dropping out.  We understand that this won't happen over night.  Rome wasn't built in a day and neither were the disciples.  Mentoring - Call us old fashioned, but it worked for Jesus, so we think it can still work today.  Process - This takes time.  There will be days when you feel like your going a 100 MPH in the wrong direction, others where your treading water, and others where your skipping down the road like little red ridding hood.  One step at a time.  

This all part of the journey and as we do life with guys, we pray that it is events like this in a persons life that God will use to shake them to the core.  Everything with these guys is a teaching, lesson waiting to happen and this has been a big one for Diwardo.I don't know where this will lead in the life of Diwardo.  I pray that God will use it as a turning point in his life. Thanks for praying and being a part of what God is doing in the lives of guys like Diwardo.

Blessings

Shelby