It was Saturday morning and my King said, “Sonny, you need to buy twelve dozen donuts, orange juice and milk before you meet the gangs today. After I pick everything up he asked for, I headed towards the east side of Denver to speak to a gang. My informers told me this gang I was about to meet called me the Chipmunk. This was probably because I am not very tall. I been having a difficult time meeting with this gang because they always leave when I come around. Then the informers told me the leader Nathaniel said, “If I ever see that chipmunk again, I am going to beat him up. I am tired of him.”
I said, “Tell me where these guys hang out. I never see them.” They showed me on a map what section of the park they hang out every morning. I then said, “Okay, now I need you guys to get me a chipmunk costume.” Looking at the expression on their faces, now they really think I’m losing it.
The undercover police said, “Oh yeah, that’s cool man. I’ll get one for you. I know someone who has one.” I met up with them and they gave me the costume. They proceeded to help me put it on. I did not put the head piece on because it was too dangerous to drive with it on plus imagine what people would think if I was driving by with that on. Next, I had to be careful where I parked my pickup because they do recognize it and will leave immediately if they see it. When I was about a block away from that park, I parked and got out of my pickup and began to put the head piece on. I saw myself in my pickup mirror and began laughing at myself. I then began to question my King. I said, “Are you sure you want me to wear this? It kind of looks ridiculous.”
My King replied, “Sonny, just put it on. Just have some fun. Then watch and see what happens.” So I finished putting the headpiece on. I began walking towards the place they meet. When I got closer, they were just starting to pull up to just hang out. I was already burning up in the costume because it was hot outside. I started walking with my Bible and passed a playground on the right. I didn’t even think about it but I don’t think God wanted me to think about it either. There were a lot of kids playing. I have been here before and this was not normal for this park. I was concentrating on witnessing to the gang. I kept walking towards them them. One of kids shouted, “There is Alvin the Chipmunk. Let’s go get him.”
I said, “Oh no!” All the kids started coming after me. The kids from the playground tackled me. Another kid shouted, “Alvin is my favorite.” I said, “I come here to say Hi to you kids.” All the parents wanted to take pictures with their kids sitting on my lap. The gang was watching intently as things began to unfold. The kids would not let go of me. I stayed with them probably 45 minutes. There was a lot of picture taking and hugging going on. One little girl wanted me to carry her. She said, “I can’t believe you came to the park.” Other girls said, “You are my favorite.” Another girl approximately 7 years old said, “My whole room is decorated with Alvin.” She hung on to me the whole time. Her parents pointed to her feet. She even had Alvin slippers on.
The parents are having as much fun as the kids were. God put this all into motion so the gangs could see families interacting with their kids. The gangs completely stopped whatever they were doing just so they could watch the kids interacting with me. Finally, the kids started going back to play. After the last kid left, the parents asked who I was. I introduced myself as Sonny. I said, “I’m here to witness to that gang over there. That gang does not like me very much. They call me the Chipmunk. I thought it would be cool to wear this costume when I talk about Jesus Christ with them.”
The parents said, “That is so crazy and awesome what you’re about to do.” They intently looked at me and said, “Is that really a gang over there?”
I said, “Yes they are.” The parents said, “Oh my gosh! We come to this park all the time.” Some of the parents started praying over me that God would give me wisdom. I noticed that two additional gangs started to congregate near where this gang was. They too seem to be infatuated with what was going on here. I started walking towards the gang again. I was probably five yards away when I heard some kids on the left hand side of the park. They too shouted, “There is Alvin the Chipmunk.” I had another group of kids coming after me. Because I was so close to the gang, I said, “Lord these kids should not be this close to the gangs.”
God again replied, “Sonny, just have some fun.” When the new kids started getting rowdy, the other kids I just left came running when they heard all the commotion going on. The picture taking and the hugging all started again. I began praying for them and just having a good time. Soon the girls that were part of Nathaniel’s gang started coming over and helping set the kids on my lap. Earlier when the kids started closing in, all the gang members went to their vehicles and put their weapons away so the kids would not have to see them. The eleven girls that were part of the gang were really getting into helping me with the kids. But the men just kept staring at me. I looked at expression on the leaders face. His eyes were as big as softballs as he was watching what was going on. He also noticed the Bible that I was carrying but he did not put two and two together. I spent another 30 minutes in front of all gangs with all the families getting pictures and hugging. I spent over an hour just loving and praying for everyones kids while the gangs were watching. A little girl who loved Alvin from the first bunch just came up to me and just kept putting her arm around my shoulder and she was getting her portrait in everybody photos. She just kept holding my shoulder and she did not care. My King orchestrated all of this. It was all done to demonstrate to the gangs how important family was in the process of them watching. God used the time I spent with the kids to work on their hearts. Soon all the kids went back to playing. The gang leader, Nathaniel, glared at me and said, “What are you doing here?”
I said, “I am Sonny. I am the one you call Chipmunk. I thought that I would wear a Chipmunk costume to show you who I am.” Nathaniel busted out laughing. His stomach was cramping up when he was laughing so hard. He replied, “Did you really put on a costume just because you heard that I called you Chipmunk and that we were going to beat you up?”
I said, “Yes I did. I am here as a chipmunk just for you.” He continued to laugh and then pretty soon his whole gang was laughing. God did a miracle today. I was planning to just walk up to this gang wearing this outfit. But my King had better plans by watching the interaction between the parents and the kids. That gave the Holy Spirit time to soften their hearts so they would listen to my message. My King gets victory for what just happened.
Nathaniel then said, “You know what! If this guy is willing to dress up like a chipmunk to talk to me about Jesus Christ, I am going to listen to him. And no, I am not going to beat you up. I’m sorry I called you the Chipmunk. I am now going to have nightmares because of a giant chipmunk coming to tell me about Jesus Christ.”
I said, “You can call me anything you want.”
He said, “No way man. If I call you a dinosaur, you will probably come up to me in a dinosaur suit.”
I then asked, “Nathaniel, are you hungry?”
He said, “The boys and I are hungry.”
I said, “My King had me buy a bunch of donuts for you guys.” The other two other gangs were still watching what was going on. The girls from Nathaniel’s gang went over and talked to the girls in the other two gangs. The other girls were extremely curious and asked about the big deal with the Alvin the Chipmunk” costume. The leaders from the other gangs came up to me. They were so blessed with the peace. They wanted to call a truce so that everyone would have a nice day at the park. All of the gangs agreed to hold a truce. I drove my pickup closer to set up and serve the donuts and the drinks. All of the women of the gangs helped me put everything out and serve the men. I continued to wear my head piece until it came time to read God’s word. We found a shady spot where we all sat down. I started talking to them about God’s plans for their life and I read John 3:16 and Jeremiah 29:11 to them because that deals with them right now. Eleven girls from Nathaniel’s gang said, “We saw all the love in the families. We don’t want to do this anymore. We all want to go home.” One of the girls said, ” I’m calling my mom and dad. I am done with this life.” Normally, it is difficult to leave a gang but Nathaniel said, “Hey, if you guys want to go home, you just go home to your families. Families are important. This life we live is all messed up.” Five of the guys also stepped up too. They also wanted to go home. They all decided that they wanted to accept Jesus Christ into their heart. One of the other gang leaders asked, “Are you a preacher that walks around in a chipmunk costume preaching the word of God?”
I said, “No man. This costume is strictly for this guy Nathaniel.” The other two gangs did not ask anymore questions. After they finished eating, they thanked me for the food and left. None of last two gangs gave their life to Jesus Christ today but I did plant a lot of seeds today. I went over to Nathaniel and said, “Nathaniel is mentioned in the Bible.”
He said, “I know. But a lot of things have happened to me when I was 12 years old.”
I said, “I know. God has shown me what has happened to you.”
He said, “No, he didn’t. You don’t know my life at all.”
I replied, “I do not know everything but I do know what God showed me. Your parents were killed in an automobile accident on the other side of Denver when you were 12. You have been on the street over ten years. You have been taking care of yourself since then. Is that true?”
Nathaniel said, “Yes, that is true.”
I continued, “Nobody wanted you. Everyone in your family told you to go live on the street. My King will never abandon you. You have been out on the streets trying to do whatever you could to raise money to survive and when you turned 16 you started your own gang.”
Nathaniel said, “You don’t even know me but yet you know so much about me.”
I said, “This is everything that my King has revealed to me about you.”
He then said, “Thanks Sonny but I’ve got to go. Take care of yourself.” Nathaniel then left the park with the rest of his men that did not accept Jesus Christ.
The parents of the girls who called started showing up. I finally had a chance to take this suit off. I was sweating profusely in that suit. I don’t know how those mascots do it. I then went to my friend’s house to shower and get cleaned up. I then went back to the park because I figured a new gang would be showing up. When I returned, there were some parents there with their kids. One was five and the other was seven years old. They drove clear from the other side of town looking for Alvin the Chipmunk. Their cousins called them and said Alvin is here at the park. The little boy asked, “Have you seen Alvin?”
I said, “He was here.”
He replied, “Does that mean he left?”
I said, “Yes, but I think he’s coming back. I just don’t know when.”
He replied, “That is good because Alvin’s my hero. He’s just like me always getting in trouble.” The kids went back to playing. I talked to the parents because they saw me carrying the costume. I said, “I am going to go back to my pickup and put this costume on so that your kids can see Alvin.”
The parents humbly said, “You’re going to do that just for us.” My informers who have been watching me all day and felt my pain being in that hot suit for hours started crying when they saw me heading back to my pickup to put that costume back on again for those two little kids. One of the kids was named Ruth. When I came back, I called out Ruth’s name while in the costume. She looked up and saw me and said “Alvin, you’re my hero.” She came up and started hugging me and sitting up on my lap. Other kids started showing up to see Alvin in the park. Pretty soon I had a whole bunch of kids around me again. When Ruth was alone, she started sharing with me about saving up for a cross. She showed me a picture of what the cross looked like. It was exactly like the one I wear around my neck. My King told me that I should give my cross to her but I had to wait until she had her back turned so I could take it off my neck. She talked about it and showed it to me again. She said, “I’m saving up for this. I’m going to get this one.” She was distracted by something and looked away. When she had her back completely turned, I popped the head piece off and removed my cross from my neck. I quickly put my my head piece back on. Then I said, “Is this the cross that you were looking to get.” Ruth said, “Yes, that’s exactly the one.” I gave it to her by placing it around her neck. It was a long day so I headed home. Nathaniel called and wanted to meet with me at 2 p.m. tomorrow to ask more questions about my King.
Sunday was awesome. Twelve gang members from two gangs gave their hearts to Jesus Christ this morning and Nathaniel and the rest of the Gang gave their hearts to Jesus Christ that afternoon. My King gets all the Glory and the Victory. I got home late that evening.