Last night I was leading a Bible study with a group of teenage boys at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center in Indianapolis. Most of these young men were new since my last Bible study. When I meet new youth in the detention center there is often a wall to break through regarding trust. These guys need a reason to trust a guy like me and those who come to help me.
One teenager was looking at the floor a lot. So after a few minutes I mentioned that I understand the feelings some may have about men they do not know coming in to teach them. I said, “Last month there was a 15 year old guy who looked down at the floor during our Bible study but at the end something clicked in his mind and he looked up, came over to talk with me and wanted to know how to have a personal relationship with God. I told him how to be saved and he was released the following Monday. Four days later he was shot and died on the streets. He is in heaven now.”
The guy looking at the floor looked up and said, “I know him! His name was Daniel Ferguson and I don’t know what you said to him but when he got out of here I saw him in the neighborhood and he was reading his Bible and writing stuff down on paper. He was completely different.” I said, “That’s a powerful testimony of his life.” He said, “Yes… it is powerful.”
I hope when the day comes that God calls me to come home to Him, the last memory people have of me is not a memory of me angry, complaining or even living in sin, but a memory as powerful as this young man.
You can read the full story of Daniel here.
