Sammy Z. is probably one of the best people I have ever met. He devotes all of his time and energy into supporting his younger sister, Cindy. He goes to every single one of her wrestling tournaments. They are each other's best friends. He grew up poor and was in and out of jail for most of his life. He comes from a broken home, with a broken family. But you would never know because he hides it under his enormous smile. You also would never know any of this information unless you got past his rough exterior. Sammy  is covered in tattoos from head to toe, with dark eyebrows, baggy clothes, and a backwards hat. You probably would never even want to make eye contact with him. I met Sammy through wrestling. I was at my daughters wrestling tournament for the first time I saw him. We made eye contact and exchanged a smile. I try to evangelize to as many people as I can, I am a chaplain for the Border Patrol, and coach my daughter on her wrestling team. SOmething about our eye contact made me want to strike up a conversation with him, but I was busy coaching my daughter, and had no idea what I was supposed to talk to him about. The following weekend was State finals. This week leading up to State was beyond chaotic, with my daughter passing out the Monday before State, and having to build up her confidence, I was only focused on getting her ready mentally and physically for her first time at State. Whenever I coach her I am usually calm and do not scream unless I absolutely need to. It was my daughter’s first match of the day against someone who she had previously beaten, and yet the atmosphere was weird, and I was tense. My daughter won, barely. I go to the bleachers to greet my family and guess who is sitting directly in front of them. This stranger, at the time, who smiles at me on my way up and is covered in tattoos from head to toe. I fully understand now. God wants me to minister to him. But he’s broken. How can imperfection stand face to face with the perfection of God’s love. But that's exactly what I am called to do. So I do it. I introduce myself, regardless of what other people think. “Hey, I’m Gabe, I’ve seen you at previous tournaments.” He responds, “ Yeah, same are you a coach?” I tell him why I am there and try to get to know him before I minister. He breeds dogs for a living, specifically pit bulls. I exclaimed, finally finding something mutual between our lives, “That’s crazy because God used a dog to save my life!” Now that I have his attention, he asks follow up questions, and I respond giving him my full testimony. I do this all while I feel the cold stares of people who are supposed to support me. I want to end the conversation, but I don’t budge. By the end of the conversation we are both in tears. My wife, who was sitting directly behind us said that it looked as if we were two brothers who had not seen each other in a long time. You see Sammy Zavala was just in prison. He had just barely gotten out. Sammy was supposed to have spent the rest of his life in prison, but he was released very early. Coincidentally he got released right after he gave his life to Christ, by reading a book about a girl who was in the same situation as him and gave her life to Christ. Except it was not a coincidence at all because he told God that if you get me out of here I will believe in you, and sure enough a week later, he was released. He wasn’t supposed to be released, yet God worked a miracle in his life. God did not even use a Bible to save his life, but just someone else's testimony. So I asked him how was doing now, I asked, “Are you going to church now?” His face embarrassed as he looked down and shook his head no. Sammy explained his situation, “I tried, I went to this one church, but they started the whole time. Nobody introduced themselves to me, and I had never felt so welcomed in my life.I know that I am not the easiest thing to look at, but Man! That sucked.” My heart sank to the bottom of my chest. How are we supposed to save people if once they are saved, they are faced with judgement and criticism? Everyone is guilty of this, even the church, yet why is nobody talking about this?  Jesus came for the criminals, prostitutes, and the broken. Not for the already healed and perfect. Sammy kept explaining, “So I went to church with all of the homies, but right after everyone went to smoke weed in the parking lot. I knew in my soul that that wasn’t right. How can I progress while still doing the same bad habits as before.I heard a voice in my head telling me to run and never go back so I did. I knew that if I started smoking week again, soon enough I’d be hooked on meth , doing the same things I did before, and I would be back in jail. ” As soon as he said that he heard a voice in his soul, I knew that he was special. I knew that God wants to use him to save others, just like him. But he is not ready yet. I told Sammy, “ God wants to use you so badly. But you have to grow in the faith, because you are not prepared yet.” I decided to pray with Sammy Zavala. That his faith would continue to grow, and that he would never lose it. I prayed that he could find a church family accepting of him and embracing him. After our talk we went our separate ways, but we still continue to text and occasionally see each other at tournaments. But his story lives on with me forever. I continue to tell fellow Christians. Because even though we are supposed to be accepting of everyone, even though we are supposed to show God’s love, even though we are supposed to be a light in the darkness, we get caught up. We are all still human, but that should not make up for our faults.