It was 5 o’clock, about time for things to get rolling. My friend Matt was on his way back with the pizza’s… and not a soul was around. As you know, we host D&D (Dinner and Discussion) weekly at our church. This is a Bible study and discussion for urban youth and last week I thought we were going to have our first ‘no show.’ “Well, I guess we’ll eat lots pizza, pray, and strategize about next steps with reaching these teens with the gospel.” BUT then they began to stream in… a few.. a few more… and then a whole bunch all at once. “We’re not going to have enough pizza!!”

So here I was, hanging out with a few teens at the juvenile detention center. To my right was DJ who was back in for his 4th time and was looking at 6 months. To my left was Carlos, who I didn’t know well at the time but later we did have a good spiritual conversation. And right across from me sat Joel.