To say that Mick was a rough-looking character would be an understatement. He had long unkempt hair and beard, was missing fingers and teeth, wore numerous rings in his ears and elsewhere, and was covered in tattoos. My wife, Marianne, had gone to a local hospital to visit a friend. Mick and his girlfriend had been taken to the same hospital following a motorcycle accident in which they both suffered horrific injuries.

Marianne struck up a conversation, hoping to encourage Mick and point him to God in his time of suffering and distress. Mick was about to have his right leg amputated at the knee. Before the end of that first visit, Marianne gave Mick a "To You, with Love" gospel tract and prayed for him.

The next time Marianne and I visited, Mick was recovering from the amputation. We found him sitting in his bed, broken in spirit. Moments later, a hospital caseworker brought news that further devastated Mick: His girlfriend's parents had gotten an injunction to keep Mick from seeing her. He broke down, and we tried to comfort him.

Then Mick told us about his life. He had been born very hard of hearing in both ears. Some years later, he had been blinded in one eye by a bit of flying glass from a shattered windshield. He had left home at the age of 14, and had been jailed 17 times since then. He had been in almost every jail in Australia, he said matter-of-factly. His mother had committed suicide, and the rest of his family wanted little or no contact with him. We witnessed to him and left him some more Christian literature to read.

He had left home at the age of 14, and had been jailed 17 times since then. He had been in almost every jail in Australia.

Circumstances prevented us from visiting Mick again in the hospital. We wrote to him, but never heard back. Two years passed.

Then one day Mick popped up in Marianne' s thoughts. And then, amazingly, he phoned two days later. He had found a letter that Marianne had written him over two years before, reread it, and decided to try to call her at the number she'd given in the letter. He had been in jail for nearly the whole time since we last saw him, he explained, as he had been at fault in the motorcycle accident and the judge had thrown the book at him.

We were glad to be back in touch with Mick, and he seemed to appreciate the interest and concern we showed him.

We invited him to dinner at our place. Around the table, Mick told us more about his past--his heavy drug use, his times in jail, and riding with a motorcycle gang. He was a real character, and made no attempt to cover up. What you saw was what you got! Eventually the conversation got deeper and turned to religion. Mick said that he believed there was a God.

When it was time for Mick to go, we asked him if he would like to pray and ask Jesus into his heart. Mick thought for a moment, and then replied, "Yeah, OK." Then Mick prayed for Jesus to forgive him for his past wrongs, and to be his Lord and Savior.

We continue to see Mick, and to try to help him all we can, most importantly by helping him to know the Lord's unfailing, unconditional love is for him, regardless of his past.

"Man looks at the outward appearance," the Bible tells us, "but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

God looked beyond Mick's rough exterior, his criminal record, and all the hurt he had caused himself and others, and found a repentant heart crying out for love.