From: John Woods Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 7:14 PM
To: 

Dear Family and Friends

Really sweating preparing a plan to control crime. Had interviews with gang leaders who are in prison 3 times this past week and challenged them on how to stop the gang wars that are plaguing society. Most of them understand that I am looking for a now answer and not just give me excuses about what caused their life of crime. Most of their answers dealt with the frustration of living their lives without hope for a better future for them and their families. It is one thing to worry about getting ahead in society and another to worry about how you will provide food for your family. With the people projects which we are now trying to turn all our construction jobs into, hopefully we are addressing some of the problems. What I don’t know how to do is change the attitude of society towards those that are trying to change their lives. Most of the General public wants to beat them and hang them. My son Billy sent me the attached this morning and it hit me that maybe crime is our BRICK. One of the ladies who lives in the gang area Cisco hired, said it is the first time in her life that she knows she will be able to put food on the table for her children. The basic motivation at Kolbe is to help these guys get their act together so that they can be released as productive citizens. Our main training challenge with staff is to get them to treat all with respect. That training needs to be communicated to the police. Please pray that we can successfully communicate this to the general public and get all involved in building a better society.

We need your support and prayers. At Kolbe we are always broke and always need funds for training programs so these guys can life a better life when they get out. Our prison population is now at 1450. Our rehab program is still a shining light but the challenge is to have it reach all the inmates and not just the 2 to 300 per year. Trying to change the PA system to hard wire to small speakers in each building so that all can hear the Good news that there is a God who loves us and tips for living your life. Our murder rate per capita is one of the highest and we are even having major trouble with the gang cartels. I do know that we have a beautiful country with so much to look forward to but we have to get a handle on crime or we will never be able to attract the jobs needed to give people hope for a better future.

John Woods
co Chairman Kolbe Foundation

THE
BRICK

A young and successful
executive was travelling down a neighbourhood street,
going a bit too fast in his new Land Cruiser. He was
watching for kids darting out from between parked
cars and slowed down when he thought he saw
something.

As his car passed, no children appeared.
Instead, a brick smashed into the side door!
He slammed on the brakes and backed to
the spot where the brick had been thrown.

The angry
driver then jumped out of the
car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up
against a parked car shouting,

‘What was that all about and who are you? Just what
the heck are you doing? That’s a new car and that
brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why
did you do it?’ The young boy stammered.
‘Please, mister…please, I’m sorry but I didn’t
know what else to do,’ He pleaded. ‘I threw the
brick because no one else would stop…’ With tears
dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth
pointed to a spot just around a parked car. ‘It’s my
brother, ‘he said ‘He rolled off the curb and fell
out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him
up.’

Now sobbing, the boy
asked the stunned executive, ‘Would you please help
me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and
he’s too heavy for me.’

Moved beyond words,
the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling
lump in his throat… He hurriedly lifted the
handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took
out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh
scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything
was going to be okay. ‘Thank you and may God bless
you,’ the grateful child told the stranger. Too
shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy!
push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk
toward their home…

It was a long, slow
walk back to the Land Cruiser. The damage was very
noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair
the dented side door. He kept the dent there to
remind him of this message: ‘Don’t go through life
so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to
get your attention!’ God whispers in our souls and
speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don’t have
time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It’s
our choice to listen MAYBE CRIME IS OUR BRICK!