Tonight Dani and I went out to play with a group of teens that we have been working reaching out to in the last few weeks. Though we met them about a year ago it was only recently that we have made a good connection with them. There are about 25 of them in their little group and they have one thing in common: they all like to smoke pot. Generally, 10 or 12 of them will come and play soccer while the rest sit on the sidelines smoking.

Tonight, the undercover cops showed up at the game and began to talk with those on the sidelines. I didn’t know who they were at first and thought they might be dealers but the guys seemed to know right away that they were the undercover cops. They called them “The Secrets.” We kept on playing until they started calling a few people over to search their backpacks and pockets, it wasn’t the first time they had been searched and they as well as the cops were good spirited about the whole thing. It seemed to be a routine deal. They simply confiscated all the guys had, and registered a few of them, and that was that.

While all of this was going on Dani and I were watching all of it and he told me that where he comes from in the Canaries, this is a frequent event. He said, they are pretty much in a no win situation because they are all addicted to marijuana and their dealers will eventually get more aggressive with them and they will get hooked on some worse stuff which will lead to crime to pay off debts or pay for their habit and though these guys are only 17-20, in less than 10 years most of them will probably be in jail unless they clean up their act. Obviously, there is no way of knowing for sure that this will happen but it is the direction that they are heading.

I shook my head and told him, we have to do something. We stood around and talked with a few of the guys for a little bit. It is incredible to me how they are so genuinely interested in what we have to say. One of them, who we have shared the gospel with in the past, said, “I just don’t get it, why do you guys do what you do? Do they pay you a lot to care about people?” It was great to share why we are working in Barajas. The door is open with these guys and on Saturday they will be at the Autumn Soccer Tournament we are organizing for the town.

Dani and I walked to our cars and before leaving we prayed for them and our prayer is that God will save these young boys. If God can use Jonah to lead the city of Nineveh to repentance, He can bring 25 potheads to a saving knowledge of His Son. Please join with us in praying for these guys.