Dear friends:

Roland is a young man with little hope – for the present or for the future. His mother has spent the past 7 years in the Clinton Correctional Facility, a women’s prison in Northern Jersey. His father has never been a part of his life. Since his mother went to prison, Roland has bounced from one bad living situation to another. For a while he lived with a cousin and her boyfriend/husband who was in and out of jail regularly on drug related charges. An elderly grandmother and several children were also crowded into cramped quarters. Then Roland spent a year in the County Youth Detention Center. This past summer he was released from YDC, and he started coming back to Aslan as soon as he was allowed by the court to remove his ankle bracelet. Without Aslan’s help, there is a good chance Roland will spend the rest of his life in and out of prison, depending on how long he stays alive!

Although "the system" views Roland as another statistic waiting to happen, he is an extremely likeable 15-year-old boy. He’s a handsome kid, almost 6 feet tall, with a wonderful and warm smile. Several weeks ago at the Sony Theater, Lynn Ann and I happened upon Roland and a group of his friends. We went out of our way to let him know we saw him, and his response might surprise you. Smiling ear to ear, he first grabbed my hand and he then grabbed Lynn Ann and gave her a big hug. Here is an African-American teenager, surrounded by several of his friends in the midst of a mall filled with people, showing an amazing amount of love and affection to a white couple in their early fifties. From the world’s viewpoint, this is strange to say the least! Isn’t the power of God’s love an awesome thing?

Over the past few weeks, we have discovered that the local school system where Roland lives views him as a threat and wants to keep him out of school at all costs. They first relegated him to a school for troubled youth, and now they are merely providing two hours of tutoring each day at a library. The desire of our hearts is to take Roland to Ranch Hope, a wonderful ministry in the southern part of New Jersey that specifically deals with his type of problems. Depending on whomever you talk to, this young man is either a disaster waiting to happen or a jewel just waiting to be cut and polished. We are obviously convinced he’s the latter. As always, we are indebted to all of you who make our work possible through your prayers and your gifts. Please consider supporting Aslan financially, if you are not already doing so. Our needs continue to grow each day, as we reach out to more children like Roland. Most of all, pray with us that God will rescue Roland - one more Aslan "diamond in the rough!"

Most sincerely,

Craig

Craig Bogard