Print

Email Favorites Twitter Facebook

I talked with her grandson that day. I was so impressed—what a young man! There was a sparkle in his eye as he told me how he was leading others to Christ in their tough neighborhood.

His grandmother told me but for Angel Tree, he would have been caught up in the neighborhood gangs, doomed to follow in his mother’s footsteps - straight to prison. But instead, here he was taking Jesus to the streets, sharing Christ in what has to be one of the roughest inner-city neighborhoods in America.

Just before Christmas, we received a phone call from the Angel Tree volunteers who had helped lead Marquis to Christ. The news was a shock. After walking his little brother to school, Marquis—this vibrant young evangelist—had been shot and killed on the streets of Camden, New Jersey.

Marquis was nothing short of a martyr. Although he was offered a chance to attend a private school in Hershey, Pennsylvania, he chose to remain in Camden—a very rough area. “There are so many people my age here who need help,” he told his grandmother. “It’s just not right for me to leave the neighborhood; they need me here.”

At the funeral, story after story poured out about young Marquis and the difference he had made in the lives of people in his community—how he helped feed the poor at church, how he talked one boy out of running away and possible suicide, how he witnessed Jesus to the gangs. It was just amazing.

Our volunteers were there and offered their condolences to Marquis’ grandmother. As they turned to leave, she realized then who they were and started to shout, “You see these people? They are the reason Marquis is in heaven. They took him to camp. That’s where he met Jesus! They are the reason I have hope!”