Friday turned out to be a very interesting day. After I get off work, I usually head down and have a meeting with the captains of the undercover police before I go to the undercover Bible study. Tonight, they gave me a different address where they were meeting at. I drove there and noticed all the flashing emergency lights. I parked on an adjoining street and walked over to where they told me they were going to be meeting. The captain said, “Sonny, we have a hostage situation going on. One of my men has been taken hostage.” I looked over and I could see that the guy that they were holding at gunpoint was one of my friends. He was dressed as a homeless man and his kidnappers did not know who he was. I instantly began to visualize his wife and his kids. Saving this man became very important to me also. The captain further explained that he was involved in bringing down a drug bust. He broke the rules by getting to close to the door. As the drug dealers were trying to escape from us carrying the drugs and the cash, they grabbed him at gun point. The manager of the building saw what was happening and locked the door behind them so they could not get back inside. The captain then said, “Sonny we’re busy right now and don’t have time to talk very much right now.” I think that they wanted me here to pray for the situation. I said, “I am going to go on a walk and pray.” They all looked back towards the hostage and ignored me.
As I was praying, my King said, “Sonny, I want you to go and pray over those men.” My King began directing me on how to circle around the building. Meanwhile, the SWAT boys were watching me. They knew who I was because we meet on Monday night for a Bible study. As they were talking to each other, they said, “Does Sonny know what kind situation he’s getting himself into? Do you think we need to take the guys out right now.” Even though it was tempting to do so, they didn’t receive any orders so they held their position and continued to watch. As I got closer to the hostage situation, they didn’t notice me coming. I was holding my Bible in my hand as I was walked right up to them. I noticed that the hostage has been crying throughout this ordeal. I just played dumb and asked, “What’s happening here?” Two of the three guys spun around with their pistols now pointing at me and said, ” You sure picked a bad day to take a walk. You don’t know what kind of situation you got yourself into. Now we are going to have to shoot you and this guy. ” Even though it is still uncomfortable to have pistols pointing at me, I knew I was where my King wanted me to be. But if you looked across the street, I could see the main captain holding his hand over his face. I know what he was thinking, “Look at the mess that Sonny just made of this situation. Now there are two hostages instead of one.” I later found out that one of the other captains consoled the main captain by saying, “Sonny, does not do anything until his King tells him to do it. You just watch what happens. This is going to be interesting. ”
I looked back at my captors and said, “Before you shoot us, let me pray for you.” This really caught them off guard so they let me pray over them. The Holy Spirit revealed to me the things about there lives that brought them here. One man was abused by his dad and was abandoned at age 7. His grandparents brought him up but when he became of age he left home to take on this life. I told him that he needed to forgive his Dad to be set free. The second man with the pistols came from a broken family. The third man was more passive. He was here because of the gangster intrigue. At the end of praying, I said, “You all have wonderful families now. Do you want them to know what you are doing? Do you want your kids and grandchildren to remember you like this. Tomorrow is never promised. You may cease to exist for them. Presently, your course is taking you to the Lake of Fire. It would be wise to give your hearts to Jesus Christ.” One of the men threw is gun on the street. The other man asked, “What are you doing?”
The other man replied, “This is over for me. I have had enough.” The other guy began thinking about what he said and decided to throw his gun out on the street also. They all surrendered. The hostage gave me a big hug for saving his life but he felt I was taking dangerous risks. I said, “I saw your kids without out a dad. When my King said to go, I did not hesitate one bit” The captain also came over and asked, “What were you thinking Sonny?” I said, “I did not have to think. My King directed me on every step. He knew my mission would be successful. ” It was extremely difficult for anyone to believe in what just happened. What I did was impossible for any man to do on his own accord but I had our King on my side. You cannot lose on a deal like that. I was going to ask the captain if I could pray with them some more but my King said, “They will have someone in prison that will witness to them. They will remember what you said today.” I let it go. The captain then said, “You know that there will be reports to fill out.”
I said, “I have a Bible study to go to. You never saw me.” I immediately left the scene and headed to our meeting place. When I got there, I discovered that the rest of the undercover police were monitoring the event and knew that I was involved. They too thought I was crazy for doing what I did. I keep telling them, “It wasn’t me who did it. It was God. He gets the Glory & the Victory. This is something to think about. If the undercover policeman stayed further away like he was supposed to, there was a good chance they would have been taken out by SWAT. Now God can use his mistake to reach them in prison. Jesus never wastes an opportunity to reach us. This is my first hostage situation and it definitely had the adrenaline pumping. I am excited to see how these men will be used in God’s Kingdom.