Horrible Massacre, Drug Abuse and now a Lutheran

(name and country have been changed to protect anonymity)
Last week, I got the call from Carlos. He wanted to be confirmed at our LINC church so we began a discussion on theology, salvation and forgiveness. He had obviously done well in his adult confirmation classes but I did not know him well.
I was stunned as he shared his past of a horrible massacre, long struggle with drug abuse and divorce. He is a relatively young man, in his thirties.
First he shared that when he was a young, he joined the military in his home country of Nicaragua. In his stint as a soldier he participated in what he described as a "massacre of women and children". Though he did not want to be part of it, his guilt would not leave him after 15 years of torturing memories.
It was then that he began the binge drinking that took control of him for the last 13 years. He combined alcohol with other drugs and soon found himself alienating himself from anything that was good but especially his family. Now married and with kids his wild living was a huge reason for his wife leaving him. He even got into a fist fight with his brother-in-law during this time.
He was at the end of his rope early in 2007 when he read in the newspaper about a group that helped alcoholics. He called the number and our LINC staff picked him up within an hour. He soon was plugged into a 12 step program. It was then that he realized that he needed God in his life.
He has not touched alcohol or drugs since that day. Carlos trusted in Christ and has been in discipleship classes since. He hopes to continue his growth and then hopes that maybe he could go to Seminary and become a pastor.
Carlos was a murderer and drug addict. Carlos is now a believer, a confirmed Lutheran and a witness of God's grace. God saves and changes people!
Pray for Carlos that he
1. Keeps growing in his faith
2. That he can be reconciled with his family and children
3. That he can get his GED completed
4. That he gets properly "documented"

Read this from Titus 3
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Staggering Demographic Change in DFW

When I moved to Dallas /Ft. Worth in 1990, I noticed the cultural diversity was different here than where I came from in San Antonio. The Hispanic population was much smaller in North Texas. For three years I knocked on doors in the Hispanic areas of West Dallas sharing Jesus with all that would open a door. The largest ethnic groups were Anglo and African American. How things are changing.

Here are the demographics (Excuse the spacing, this program doesn't do it right)
.................................2000 ........ 2007........ 2012
South Dallas ...........43% ..........52% ..........59%
West Dallas .............75% .........84% ..........90%
Downtown ...............50% ........54% ..........61%
East Dallas-Mesquite 24% .....33%......... 41%
North Dallas ...............25% ......33% ........40%
Ft. Worth Northside 43% .......52% .........59%

What does this say? It says many things but this is what I'm thinking.
1. Dallas and Ft. Worth proper are now largely Hispanic areas. In five years it will increase dramatically. Anglos and African Americans are moving to the Suburban areas but so are Hispanics.
2. Our (LCMS) churches' ministry to Hispanics number about 300 worshippers on a good day out of over 1 million Hispanics. We must plant new work now!
3. Our churches and LINC NT must partner together to reach this huge segment of our population that we are not reaching.

This is NOT the time to ponder . . . its time to act. Its time to invest our resources in reaching these millions with the gospel. Join LINC NT right now, partner with us to move forward to plant 60 new faith communities in North Texas.

For the lost sheep,
Pastor Oscar