California schools Bible club meetings draw gang members to Christ

By Marvie Basilan, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, September 03, 2015

While school has resumed and students are back to their usual weekly classes, Bible club meetings have also made a comeback to California public schools, with some gangsters professing of how the weekly sessions have changed their lives.

Brian Barcelona, leader of One Voice Student Missions, a speaker in many Bible club meetings, shares how the discussions have affected gang bangers in the public schools.

In an interview with CBN News, Barcelona recalls how one Bible club session saw former gang members heeding to Christ's call for repentance.

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"And I will never forget when I finished, there was this awkward silence in the room," Barcelona says, "and this gang banger stands to his feet and he looks at me and says, 'What do I have to do to be saved?'"

Many public schools across the country do not openly welcome teachings of the Bible, but numerous California high school teachers where the Bible clubs have been established are encouraging Barcelona and his team to keep on with their cause after seeing the positive change in character that some students display.

The Bible clubs are now taking place in over 20 schools as more than 2,000 students find renewed hope through the weekly sessions.

Ruby Navarette, a high school student, says the meetings have brought Jesus closer to her life and she is becoming more positive with the way she sees life. "It just changed me so deeply. I love Bible club now," she says.

Aside from teachers pushing Barcelona to keep holding the meetings, principals are also patting him on the back. He says gang members are now approaching school counselors with the desire to get out of their gangs and somehow change their lives.

Having been a product of a high school meeting similar to what he now organizes, Barcelona says God has used him and his enthusiastic approach to students because he offered his availability to the public school ministry.