15 year old JD came into Remman hall this summer with a life experience of tragic loss.  A few years ago JD experienced a horrible loss when he was living with his Mom, brothers, and sisters in California.  A house fire destroyed everything they owned and JD lost two of his younger siblings in the fire.  His mom had to send him to live with his grandparents for a couple of years in a rural area of the state.  While JD was with his grandparents, he did well in school and excelled on the football field as a running back.  This was a good environment for him to grow up in as he was loved and encouraged and even went to church with his grandparents.  Eventually, JD’s mom was able to buy a house in Lakewood, Washington and JD moved to the Tacoma area.

Coming to Tacoma was difficult for JD, he soon found himself running with some shady characters that encouraged him to do drugs and commit crime.  One night, JD and some of his friends decided to rob a house of people they knew.  The attempted robbery went bad quickly and JD ran out of the house before he had a chance to grab anything.  The police were already on the scene and JD was caught after he jumped a fence.  As a result of the circumstances of the crime, JD found himself with serious charges and was promptly booked into Remann hall for an undetermined amount of time.  

The first time I saw him was in a Wednesday night chapel service, I was immediately drawn to his genuine smile when I greeted him at the door to the room.  Throughout the entire teaching time he was engaged and attentive.  At the end he boldly made a decision to give up his old life and live for Jesus!  Without hesitation JD took the truth of the gospel and ran with it.  He immediately started reading the bible and began to grasp spiritual truths very quickly.  

One day I walked into JD’s pod and saw him writing to his parole officer looking quite discouraged.   He shared with me his struggle to be heard and his frustration with how his case was going.  He told me had been pouring all through his bible looking for something that would bring him encouragement!  I was struck by his hunger for the word of God to comfort him and I talked to him about the importance of faith in the face of trails and suffering.  After I left, I had no idea if anything I said stuck, but since that time, I have seen the Spirit of God do nothing short of a miracle in this young man’s life! 

JD takes advantage of every opportunity to go to church and is even memorizing scripture.  Every week that we see JD he declares that he wants to encounter Jesus more and more!  I recently felt prompted to give him one of my favorite books “The pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer.  Although he struggled to understand some of the words used in the book, he read it twice, and has even been memorizing the prayers at the end of the chapters.  I would have never understood this book at 15 years of age!  God has gifted JD with an incredible mind and a dynamic hunger for Jesus.  JD radiates the joy of God whenever I see him and he continues to grow in wisdom and in the knowledge of the Word.  He even desires to worship the Lord and has begun to write lyrics of praise!  I am so excited to see what God has next for JD as He raises him up as a leader in this next generation.

John Dorsey – JJM Volunteer