Jarred is Going to Die

    The same year that Beware got a new name, God had also put another young man on my heart.  This story is pretty cool.   This kid did not get a new name, but he did a new life. 

     By the way, this story is a little longer than most, but I promise it is well worth your time to read it.  God did something incredibly amazing!  You will be glad you read it, I promise.

     At MFUGE, there are several track groups divided into various ministry focuses.  There are tracks for children's ministry, games and recreation, social, PCY (painting, construction, yard work), and creative.  I was in a group involving children's ministry.  We would go to various sites like youth centers, children's homes, and even community parks.  We spent 3 days at the youth center that Beware/Brandon was a member.  We spent 2 days in East Saint Louis at a community park. 

MFUGE track Group, Saint Louis

       Our mission at the community park was to promote an outreach for a local church.  We were inviting neighbors to come to the park and enjoy a fair that we were putting on.  There were games, face painting, skits, crafts, prayer groups, music, tournaments, all kinds of fun and entertainment. 

     I and two other teenagers went out door-to-door inviting people to join us at the park.  We were given a very specific area that would could go and solicit people.  Anything outside that area was gang infested; we were not permitted by any circumstance to go into those areas.  Bright colored shirts were not allowed because of gang colors.  There were a couple problems.  First, I never got the message about NOT wearing bright colors.  I had on a bright red t-shirt.  Second, there was nobody home in the area we were in. 

     The teenagers I was with felt very discouraged since we had not been able to invite one person.  So we prayed, we prayed for God to guide us to the houses and to lead us to open doors.  Guess what, God did.

     We were walking down a road when we noticed a group of teenagers shooting bottle rockets at another apartment, breaking windows.  At first, we wanted to turn around because we realized we had entered into "gang territory."  But God said go, I was not the only one who felt that way.  Both of the teenagers I was with felt very strongly the same thing. 

     When we approached the group, it was interesting, let us just say we were not threatened. There were some crude remarks made.  I noticed one of the boys appeared to be handicap.  I invited him and the rest of the group to the park to come hang out. My challenge was to simply come and just check out what we were doing and what it was all about.  If they did not like it, they could leave. 

     We went home that day disappointed, the gang of boys never showed up.  A few kids did, but not enough to outnumber the MFUGE group of about 25.  We may have had 10-12 kids come.  That night I prayed, I asked God to bless the efforts of the teenagers and the passionate desire of their hearts to reach kids who live in a very difficult environment.  I asked God to allow them the opportunity to share the hope they had with the kids that felt like there was no hope.

     Day two at East Saint Louis was about to rock our world.  A couple other mission groups joined us in the park.   Kids literally were coming from everywhere, countless numbers of kids and their parents.  It was amazing.  But still no sign of the "gang."

     It was around lunchtime that I noticed the handicap boy coming with his parent's and a few kids.  Some of the kids were from that gang we met the day before.  I knew something divine was about to happen, I could just feel it.  The handicap boy's name was jarred.

     I met Jarred's dad.  He and I began to talk about church and God.  He told me this, "Jarred has been praying for a sign, a sign from God that he will be ok.  He has prayed for months that God would bring someone into his life that could help him."  He went on to say, "Jarred made all of us come today because he felt like God said we all needed to be here, so we came."  I said, "I am so glad you are all here, we just want to encourage you, pray for you, and show you who God is." Jarred's dad then shared something very heart breaking for me.  He told me that Jarred use to be a very healthy very athletic kid.  He went on to share how Jarred had been the spiritual leader in their home and he always kept his family in church, that is until he got sick.  Jarred had some unidentifiable disease that was ravaging his body.  His arm was drawn up into his chest, he walked with a stiff leg, and his speech was so slurred you could hardly understand what he was saying.  The doctors had no idea what was happening.  What they did know is that Jarred was going to die.  His airway was swelling gradually to the point that it was going to suffocate him to death.  They had seen every specialist in Saint Louis, Jarred had no hope to live.

     I asked if we could pray for Jarred.  His dad smiled and said, "Please do, please pray for Jarred.  Prayer is so important to him.  His faith is so strong, but his health has pulled him away from church and our family is falling apart.  Please do pray."

     I gathered up a few of the kids that I felt were strong in their faith.  As a group, we went over to Jarred and with his permission; we gathered around him and prayed.  It was the most intense spiritual prayer experience I had ever felt.  Tears were flowing out of every eye.  We left that day feeling so broken and yet so touched to have been allowed to be a part of Jarred's life that day.  It was so hard for us to go.  None of us wanted to go and leave Jarred behind.  

     Two years later, we returned to Saint Louis for MFUGE.  I had never forgotten about Jarred or Brandon.  I was hoping I might be able to return and find out what happened.  I did not get to go back to Brandon's youth center nor did I get to go back to Jarred's neighborhood.  What I did not expect, is that I was about to find out what happened to Jarred.

Day two of Community outreach in East Saint Louis.
I wish I had a picture of Jarred, but I do not
Prayer was more important than pictures.

     It was during our nighttime church group meeting when I got the answer to what I was hoping to find.  I was encouraging our kids to just listen to their hearts and do whatever god was leading them to do.  I then shared the story of Jarred.  I shared how God led us to his house, and how we were able to gather around him and pray.  I told them that we will not always know what God will do after we are gone, but we just needed to trust him.  I told them how powerful our prayer experience was.  This is awesome, one of our girls raised her hand and said this, "I know what happened to Jarred."  My mouth hit the floor and tears came out of my eyes.  Then she shared what had happened that day; "We met Jared at a community park today.  Jarred was sharing how an MFUGE group a couple years before had gathered around him and prayed.  He explained how he was going to die.  Then he went on to say that a couple weeks after they prayed, God healed him.  There is nothing wrong with Jarred; he is very normal and very athletic."  "Jarred is alive!"

     John 9:3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

May my life be the proof and evidence of His love!