Page 20 - Good News Broward Edition 1113

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Good News - Broward Edition
20 November 2013
Cory Nickols
Good News
What comes to mind when
you see a person covered in
tattoos? A person that has had a
rough life; someone that has
taken the road of hard knock and
a path of pain and agony? Or
perhaps someone who has been
rebellious and possibly pushed
aside by society?
If we are not careful, we may
judge a book by its cover while
failing to understand what the
content inside the book really
reveals. The Bible says, “But the
Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t judge
by his appearance or height, for I
have rejected him. The Lord
doesn’t see things the way you see
them. People judge by outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at
the heart’” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT).
God loves people; he came
to seek and save that which was
lost, including the most unlikely
candidates.
For
example,
Zacchaeus, an evil tax collector
during Jesus’ time on earth took
advantage of people by charging
them more money than what he
should have. And, due to his
corrupt practices, he became
very wealthy. Yet, Jesus knew
who he was and still pursued
him. He sought after him to
redeem his life, even despite the
murmurs and complaints of the
self-righteous religious people
surrounding him (Luke 19:1-10).
This same scenario is true in
our own generation. Many judge
those that have tattoos, labeling
them as being rebellious, hellions,
and individuals that are nothing
but trouble. But what if,
regardless of their outward
markings or past mistakes, God is
pursing them to be part of his
eternal family? What if the
hurting and broken that society
so easily tosses aside as “not
worthy” are the very people that
God wants to redeem and use to
display his amazing grace?
Tattooed by grace
This happened for Chris
Baker, a man that came to Christ
during his adult life. Much of
Baker’s earlier days were spent
living for himself, pursuing things
he tried to use to fulfill himself,
but that left him feeling empty.
God was calling him, wooing him
to himself, and eventually he
accepted Christ. And because of
the love that was shown him, he
wanted to provide this same
opportunity for others. Baker
shares, “I believe everyone
deserves a second chance at life,
and I want to offer them help to
live their second chance.”
Overwhelmed by God’s
mercy and acceptance, he knew
he had to do something to help
others, to offer hurting people a
hand up, a new beginning. But
what would he do? He decided to
use his skills and passion for
tattooing to make a difference.
Baker set out to help ex-gang
members cover up tattoos and
markings so that they could leave
their negative pasts behind and
embrace a new future. Many
times employers and various
businesses will not hire ex-gang
members simply because of their
tattoos.
Baker
saw
an
opportunity to help them cover
their destructive markings at no
cost. So he took his idea to law
enforcement officers in the
Chicago area, and they loved it.
From this, the ministry of Ink 180
was born.
Another door opens
Baker soon started working
with correctional facilities to
give ex-gang members a second
chance. After a successful
meeting
with
Homeland
Security’s gang division, Baker
was invited upstairs to meet
with another department –
Human Trafficking Operations.
Baker’s eyes were opened to a
whole new world that day – a
world filled with hundreds of
young women that had been
trafficked in the U.S.
Sadly, many of these
precious victims that had been
forced into sexual slavery had
been tattooed or branded by
criminal organizations or their
pimp so that they would be
easily recognizable and known
to be the property of their
“owner.” If they would go missing
or they tried to escape, they
could be found much easier this
way. Some victims are even
tattooed with barcodes. If other
pimps find them, they can scan
the
barcode
with
their
smartphone and return the
victim to his or her captor.
Day after day, these women
live in fear that one day their
“owner” might locate them due to
the markings left on their bodies.
And because the process to
conceal these tattoos is so
expensive, police do not have the
funding to help them in this way.
Baker saw an immediate
need to help these victims cover
up their tattoos; he saw an
opportunity to offer them a fresh
start, a new beginning.
He was marked – tattooed –
by God’s grace and now he offers
God’s
unconditional
love
through free tattoo cover up
services for ex-gang members
and human trafficking victims.
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SOCIAL JUSTICE
Tattooed By Iniquity No Longer