I had only been in Los Angeles for a short time, and I was already witnessing another beating, this one in a back parking lot of my apartment building. Five gang members were mercilessly beating a young man, reinforcing the...
What was different about that church that night that made me feel peace and unconditional love? Why did I recover the stolen purse for a rival gang leader’s mom, which led her sons to stop harassing me? How in the...
Some moments in your life are absolutely pivotal for everything you will become and everything that God has planned for you. My sister, strong in her faith, asked me if I would go to a church service where a man...
The old, Hispanic church building on Wilshire Boulevard was only a few minutes away, but it felt like miles. Walking on the sidewalk nearing the building’s parking lot, I began noticing people I‘d seen around the neighborhood. All the while,...
As I was growing in the gang, my sister was living her own life. She had her own friends. She was focused and strong, smart, studious, and beautiful. Guys in the neighborhood around us would call out to her, sweet...
As a very young boy sheltered from my parents’ troubles, I thought our home was filled with love. Carefree with a full stomach, I was wrapped up in playing soccer, going to school, watching my favorite cartoons, and just doing...
God Turned My Crazy Life Upside Down. If you peer closely into my eyes, you will see they reflect both deep pain and, ironically, deep peace. Just below my right eye, I have a tattoo of the tres puntos, the...
