Can the Church Compete With a Gang?

I just finished reading a book about a gang called MS-13 or Mara Salvatrucha. It reminded me of when we had a gang living across the street but the gang members we knew were infants compared to the damage done by MS-13.

We were delivered from our gang problem after some of their members were involved in the shooting death of a ten-year-old named Auralia Cisneros. Her dad was a drug dealer and the gang tried to rob him. After that the police cracked down on them very hard. From what I understand, most of the gang is in jail now.

What is really swirling around in my head after reading this book is the group that the gang was recruiting from. It was the kids whose parents were too busy to watch over them. It was the kids who were separated from others by language; many of them from El Salvador. They were the rejects, the displaced, the kids looking for a family. I think you get the ones I am talking about.

These are the kids the Church should be reaching; but how? We can offer these “orphans” a real family but how do we get to them and touch them in a way stronger than the gangs do? I don’t have the answer and I’m not even sure what the questions are. I would recommend that you read this book for many reasons. As scary as it can be, we need to know what we are facing in our communities. The church may able to combat these gangs in a way the police can’t.

Philip