September 1, 2015
Dear Friends and Family,
I want to pass along an encouraging testimony from TUMI Equipping Leaders – Los Angeles. This is a daughter TUMI Satellite that we helped start two years ago; they work with incarcerated men in the LA County Jails. This was written by a TUMI student who started in jail and is now continuing his leadership training at an “outside” TUMI Satellite:
“My name is Mario and I'm 43 years old. My life was a mess from a very young age. I came from a good family, but I've always felt unloved, alone, lost and empty – there was something missing in my life. At the age of 12, I joined a gang, got high, stole, robbed and hurt people in order to fit in and be accepted. I’ve sold drugs my whole life, been with many women and gambled my life away. I've tried everything under the sun to fill this void, but to no avail; my life seemed to only get more out of control. I fell deeper into despair. I couldn't face my life. I wanted to die. Then in 2011, I robbed a lady of her purse at a casino and found myself locked-up, facing my sixth prison term.
In prison I got sober and realized that I couldn’t run from myself any longer. My past sins were haunting me and I needed to be set free from the guilt that plagued me. My cellmate, a 20-year-old kid, shared the gospel with me, but I didn't want to hear it. I was still angry and wanted to kill myself. That’s when Jesus hushed the maddening thoughts of suicide and called me to give my life to Him. The words of the young homie echoed in my head, ‘Hey OG, give your life to Christ and he will set you free.’ I fell to my knees right there in my cell and gave my life to Christ. At that moment, peace came upon me and the void I had felt for so long was filled with His love.
I knew Jesus had a calling on my life, but I had no one to disciple me or model Christianity for me. When I got out of prison, I fell back into sin – not crime, but sin with my girlfriend. I was unequally yoked and the sorrow and conviction that brought me was horrible. I prayed for God to save me from my sin and in an ironic answer to prayer, He sent the sheriffs to do a parole compliance check on me. They found ammunition in my garage that I had stashed in there since 1998 and had forgotten about. I was arrested and sent to LA County Jail and it was there that I was introduced to the TUMI program. That’s where I met men who have poured so much of their lives into me. I finally had someone to show me what it looked like to live like a Christian, someone to disciple me and help me become a leader. I took four TUMI classes while in jail, and it was through these teachings that I was able to lead other men to Christ and teach Bible studies in the dorm I was in. It was an awesome time in jail! Men came to me for instruction, prayer, and to have a deeper understanding of God. I was so blown away that God would use a sinner like me to shepherd His flock while in jail. The funny thing is that it was the first time I didn't want to leave jail.
I’ve been out of jail for two years now. I'm still in TUMI and look forward to graduating soon! I am involved in leadership at my church, Skid Row ministry, and street evangelism – trying to reach gangsters, drug addicts, streetwalkers, and the downtrodden. I just want to say that I am so thankful for His grace in my life; He’s completely changed me. I have purpose now – God has given me a love for ministry!”
In Him,
Dave Gutierrez