In April, 2001, I had two brothers join our youth group. J1 was 9 and J2 was 7 when they joined.
The very first Sunday I had them, I had rounded all of the boys up ( the group was all boys at the time ) but could not find J2.
After searching all over the church and the grounds, I finally found him hiding under the northside church stairwell. J2 then proceeded to tell me that he did appreciate what I was doing for the other boys but that I was wasting my time trying to help him. He informed me that he was born in prison and that he was destined to return there.
His grandparents later informed me that in fact he was born in prison. His father had just started serving a 75 year sentence in prison when J2’s mother ( 8 months pregnant with J2 ) and J1 went to visit the father.
While visiting the prison, the mother went into sudden labor and the delivery had to be made in the prison infirmary. So J2 was in fact born in prison.
After J2’s speech to me, he become very stubborn, so I had to drag him by his ankle to the church van, with him screaming all the way… he very definitely had an anger management problem.
By working with both brothers over the next several years, we were able to make an impact. J2 did graduate from high school and pursued a rewarding career in construction.
J2 never did spend a single night in a jail or prison. J1 was less fortunate, dropped out of high school and has had several legal problems.
My favorite memory of J2 was him pushing a mower on the church grounds one Saturday morning when he was 8 and barely able to reach the mower handles… but he stuck with it and did not quit.