Three Little Words

Three little words, words of a children's song used in Sunday school for generations.  Perhaps the first song you learned, it was mine.  It is one of my earliest memories.  It is also a life-changing, soul-saving dynamic power when applied with that love channeled from the Father.

Yesterday, I was reading a story about a pastor in Juarez, who was sent to prison when he was two years old.  No, he was not part of the Mexican Diaper Mafia, his mother was a drug addict who found herself in prison and the authorities let her take him along.  He spent the next seven years roaming the prison halls as he wasn't seen as a threat.

He was, however, seen as a perfect candidate as an inside "mule," perfect for carrying drug orders between the adult prisoners.  He wasn't a criminal going in but he became a seasoned drug-runner by the time he and his mother were released when he was 11.

As you might imagine, he applied his trade on the outside and found himself back in prison on his own merits.  He said it was like a homecoming to him as he knew nearly everyone there and had a place immediately upon returning to the inside.

In and out of prison until he finally was finally put away for a minimum 40-year sentence for murder.  By this time, he was done with life.  He had no hope and no way out.  He attacked other inmates trying to get himself killed.  He was wounded very badly more than once but the authorities just didn't let him die.  Has confined to bed for six months after one such encounter.  Still he did not die.

Angry with the world, more than ready to find a way out, he was enraged one day when someone on the other side of the bars shared three little words with him: "Jesus loves you!"  Angered, not believing that anyone could love him, certainly not God, he turned away.  Shortly after, his mother died and he felt absolutely lost and unworthy of anyone's love or even of being allowed to live.

Instead of attacking another inmate, he asked to see the man who had told him that Jesus loved him.  In their conversation, he heard the love of God for the first time and his life was changed forevermore.  He said that he felt the need to shower and when he did, all his sin and worthiness seemed to wash off and run down the drain with the dirt from his body.

He then started a church in the prison, which grew to 500 inmates meeting regularly.  He had to learn how to read so he could know the Word better and share it more powerfully.  His was allowed to build a chapel on the prison grounds with money sent from the outside.  The chapel still stands today. The same chapel in which he met and married his wife who was also a drug dealer.

They were both released early and now pastor a church in Juarez, where they have taken in and are raising 19 children, many who were orphaned on the streets.  Those children who had no hope now make up the praise team of his church, with growing talents in leadership and a hope in Jesus that has set them on a new path of life and love.

Three little words, "Jesus Loves You," shared with conviction and love from one soul to another has set in motion a wave of life, hope and love that has impacted hundreds, if not thousands, and will continue rolling through the streets of Juarez as long as those three little words, "Jesus Loves You," keep being shared from one soul to another.

By the way, did you know that Jesus loves you too?  Jus' Shar'n.