Changing from the Inside Out

Boyce “Bo” Allen, as a member of the Unknown Vice Lords on Chicago’s West Side, served as the gang’s “enforcer”-the one responsible for wounding or even killing rival gang members. At the height of his criminal career, Allen had an unexpected encounter that would change his life.

“One of my boys brings around this white preacher dude who greets me and gives me a Bible, and I thought to myself, ‘What am I going to do out on the street with a Bible when I’m getting ready for some heavy action?’ But he kept coming around, and asked me if I’d read the book yet.”

One day when he was bored, Allen did begin reading the Bible, and then read some more, causing him to reflect on his future.

“I knew I couldn’t stay on the streets forever, and the only future in what I was doing was death or jail,” Allen says. “One day I went to church, and that just blew all my brothers’ minds.” Soon after, Allen became a Christian and saw his life transformed.

Gordon McLean, the “white dude,” feels that “unless you make a change on the inside of a kid’s life, what you do on the outside won’t make any difference.”

“But,” adds McLean, a 40-year-veteran working with gang members as a minister with Youth for Christ’s Juvenile Justice Ministry, “once a gang member makes a faith commitment to Christ, then education, job training, counseling, and church all become extremely important.” That’s why the point of contact with gang members for McLean and his full- and part-time staff of 20 is in prisons and juvenile detention centers, using Bible studies.

Once a youth with whom a relationship has been established is released from prison, the ministry team follows up by hanging out on the gang member’s turf, such as a basketball court. This way they will meet the rest of the gang and determine what other needs may exist.

“We are accepted by them,” McLean says, “because we cared for one of their own who was in trouble by posting bail, recommending a good lawyer, and visiting them while they were incarcerated.”

From these contacts, Youth for Christ forms Bible-study groups and every six weeks holds a “United Nations” meeting in a suburban church where around 60 rival gang members-who in the neighborhood might be trying to kill each other-gather for pizza, games, and discussions about Jesus.

In addition to many conversions, more than 50 gang members have found jobs through the ministry team’s efforts.

Copyright © 1994 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also in this issue

Selling Out the House of God? Bill Hybels answers critics of the seeker-sensitive movement

Cover Story

Selling Out the House of God?, Part 2

Cover Story

Selling Out the House of God?, Part 1

'True Love Waits' Now Worldwide Effort

Sanctions Harm Mission Work

Pope Reaffirms Ban on Women Priests

News

Bankrupty Tests RFRA Statute

Church Names Leader, 86

Health Problems Sideline General

Baptists Resist EEOC Guidelines

APA Halts Conversion Therapy Change

Problems of Joint Action Are Detailed

Conflict Divides Countercult Leaders

World Scene: Rebels Kill Top Church Leaders

SBC Refuses Funding from Moderates

Rush Limbaugh: An Ego on Loan from God

Is the Fat Lady Singing?

Philosophers on Pilgrimage

Reclaiming the Strip Mines: A Writer's Calling

The Church's New McCarthyism

Canada’s Evangelical Face

The Birth of a Megachurch

News

News Briefs: July 18, 1994

Listening to the Critics

LETTERS: Clarifying a Trend

Should Catholics and Evangelicals Join Ranks?

Christian Colleges’ Urgent Mission

The Burden of Celebrity

News

The Second Calling of Art

Ending the Cold War Between Theologians and Laypeople

What Jonathan Edwards Can Teach Us About Politics

Confronting Canada's Secular Slide

Classic & Contemporary Excerpts from July 18, 1994

Healing Our Mean Streets

RE-Imagining Labeled 'Reckless'

75-Year-Old Graham a Hit with Youth

News

Leukemia Claims Evangelist Tom Skinner

View issue

Our Latest

News

Meet the Evangelical Expats Staying in Lebanon

Shout to the Lord in a Foreign Language

Worshiping God with words we don’t understand may seem strange. But I consider it a spiritual practice.

Jesus Is Still Right About Persecution

Nine truths believers need to understand to pray well for the suffering body of Christ.

The Bulletin

Electioneering

The Bulletin discusses the final presidential campaign push, churches in the age of screens, and the UN’s work in Gaza.

News

Argentina Moves to Officially Celebrate Its Evangelicals

Leaders are grateful for the government recognition but hope for further progress.

All Saints Die

Our yearly reminder for Christians neither to run from nor to leap toward death, but to learn the art of dying well.

 

 

 

 

The Antidote to Election Anxiety

My community is the kind you see in articles hyping the threat of political violence. Reality is more mundane—and hopeful.

News

Steven Curtis Chapman Joins Country Music Royalty

The Christian music star is the first in the industry to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube