It was Saturday and the weather was decent so I knew that the gang members would be outside. God told me which gangs that I needed to witness to today. The undercover police know where all the gangs are at and I began heading to the park. There was a double highway next to this park. I noticed that there was an old lady who is trying to get across both highways. She was using a walker trying to get across the road. She just was not fast enough to make it across. The walk sign would not stay on long enough for her to make it across. She could not even make it halfway across the first lane. She would have to turn around and go back to start all over again.
I was in a bad location to be able to help her. I parked my pickup on the other side where the park was at. I noticed two gangs were there already. I have met both of these gangs before. I also know that these gangs both know each other but they don’t totally trust each other. God then said, “Sonny, you need to go help that lady get across the highway. Take both of these gangs and have them help you get her across the road.”
I walked over to the gang leaders and said, “Guys, I have an emergency. I need your help. There is an old lady over there that is trying to get across the highway and she just cannot make it across. The light is just too fast and she is never going to make it across. We have to set up a chain all the way across and block the intersection. Even if the light changes nobody will be able to cross the crosswalk until she makes it across.”
One leader then said, “It is like being pirates.”
I confirmed that is true. I then said “You guys will all have to work together if we are going to make this work.”
Both gangs agreed and said “We definitely have enough cars to do what you want to do.” All of these guys are driving classic cars ranging from 1951 to 1961. Everybody got into their cars and headed to block that intersection. The lady was still trying to get across the road. Nobody else has even tried to help her get across. We had a plan which was to block every lane so that no matter which way any car was coming they would not be able to cross the crosswalk.
The gang leader said, “You know Sonny we could get in trouble for doing this.”
I replied, “You guys are always in trouble anyway. Why are you even worried about that? If it makes you feel any better I will take full responsibility for what we are doing. I will even take the ticket.”
We put our plan into effect. We had enough cars that every lane was blocked. I got out of my pickup and introduced myself to the lady and said, “The guys and I are going to help you across the highway.”
She said, “I’m trying to get to Walmart.”
Juan came up to the lady and said “Hey, you can get into my car if you want to. I will take you across. If you want to go to Walmart, I will take you to Walmart.”
She thought that would be a great idea.
I placed her walker in the back of my pickup.
Juan was driving a 1956 Chevy. The lady just loved that car.
I found out later that when she met her husband that he was driving a similar car. She said ” I actually loved his car more than I did him when we first met but of course that all changed and I married him.”
It was interesting, that while all this was going on that no one honked at us. They must’ve been able to see what we were trying to do. It also could be the fact that everyone of these gang members was carrying pistols. That also might have been a deterrent to keep people from honking. Juan’s car had an open path to get across the street because we had the roads blocked. Juan took her directly into the Walmart parking lot.
The old lady introduced herself and said, “My name is Martha.” She then asked the gang members if they wanted to go shopping with her. The fact that they were gangsters did not deter her at all. She did not care because she was beginning to fall in love with all of them as a grandma would with her grandchildren. Seventeen of them decided to go shopping with her. The rest of the boys stayed and watched cars. So there were eighteen of us walking around Walmart with Martha. We were in that store for a full hour. It was fun the entire time. Martha shared stories of her past and it was all very interesting. She was also telling the boys how much God loves them. She was quoting the scriptures John 3:16 and Jeremiah 29:11. Towards the end she said, “You know that your grandma and grandpa and your family really miss you guys. I just bet they are really crying because they miss you very much. You guys are just lost boys and broken but God can heal your hearts.”
Martha ministered to them the entire time they were in the store. She had filled her cart with a bunch of groceries and we all headed to the checkout line. I pulled my wallet out to pay for her groceries but the boys said “You are not going to pay for her bill. We want to help out.”
Juan then said, “Sonny, put your card away. We are going to pay the entire bill.”
I watched as both gang leaders took out their wallets and paid for the entire bill. It was over $200.
Martha then said, “You boys don’t have to do that. Even though I am on a fixed income, I know what I can spend.”
Both leaders replied, “No mam, we are going to take care of your bill.” At that moment Martha started crying.
Juan then said, “We are taking you back to your house. You are not going to walk 10 blocks with your walker.”
She excitedly climbed back into his 56 Chevy and Juan took her home. You can see the expression on her face as she drove with Juan back to her house. Both gangs followed in their cars. Her home was nice. Her husband died three years ago so she was all alone. The neighborhood that she lives in consists entirely of mostly older people.
When all of these cars showed up, you could see all the drapes separate as they peered outside. The other homes were trying to figure out what was going on at Martha’s house.
I was trying to imagine what they were all thinking as all these tattooed, pistol carrying young men got out of their cars.
Martha invited us all in to be guests at her home.
After accepting her invitation, a third gang showed up. They happened to be looking for these other two gangs. The leader thought it was very odd that they were not there at the park. So he began to investigate where they possibly might have gone. So the entire gang began driving around looking for them. One of his gang members reported that he saw the cars leaving Walmart and he began to follow them to Martha’s home. The rest of the gang caught up to him.
The confused gang leader then got out of his car and asked, “What are you guys doing here?”
The other gang leaders replied, “We were helping this cool lady. She needed help getting across the highway. We all blocked the highway and escorted her to Walmart. We then went shopping with her. She is just awesome. She is now inviting us into her home for milk and cookies.”
Martha then said “You boys are invited to come in and join us.
Can you imagine three gangs walking into Martha’s home while all the neighbors are watching. This is definitely going to be the talk of the town. Martha began serving all the gang members. She brought out the cookies and the milk and began passing around napkins and glasses. She continually talked about Jesus. Even in her home every wall had scriptures on them. Many of the Scriptures were created as paintings.
The boys began reading them all. Once in a while you would hear one blurt out “That Scripture is my mom’s favorite.”
Martha kept serving and praying over them. She told more stories and shared the message of Jesus Christ to them the entire time.
The curiosity of what Martha was up to just became to much for her neighbors. They had to come over and find out what was going on. When Martha answered the door, they asked if she was okay and what’s going on here.
Martha replied, “These guys are all gangsters but they all helped me get across the highway. They even went shopping with me at Walmart and paid my bill for me. They are just lost boys that need the Lord. I’m here telling them that Jesus loves them.”
She invited her neighbors to come in and introduced them. She then asked the leaders Juan and Ringo to come with her. She took them to a room and handed them two boxes of albums to bring downstairs. Martha then said, “I want to show you guys some pictures.”
She began showing them pictures of when she was a little girl with her family. Soon the leaders started crying as they began to see her family having fun together. They really began to miss that. Family just hit them right in their hearts. They all began to think back of the special times they had with their own families. Martha was just like a grandmother to these boys. Her ability to show love to them like they were her grandchildren had a profound effect on them. Martha continued hugging them and praying over them just like a grandma would with her grandchildren.
Juan decided to order some pizza because his boys were getting hungry.
I realized that I had forgotten that there were still breakfast burritos in my pickup. I mentioned that to Juan.
Juan said, “That’s okay Sonny but we still want some pizza.”
I brought them in and they ate everything I had with the pizzas Juan ordered. My burritos were spicy but everyone seemed to love them. While this was all going on the neighbors continued to come to the house and stay. They too began witnessing to the gangs. Most of the neighbors became impressed with the young men. One neighbor asked them why they wear the pistols.
Juan replied, “We always have people wanting to shoot at us. We have the guns to defend ourselves.”
That same neighbor then asked, “Juan, how long has it been since you talked to your mom and dad?”
Juan replied, “It has been over a year since I talked to them.”
The neighbor immediately said, “You need to call them now. They miss you a lot. Please call them.”
Juan then stepped into Martha’s kitchen and called his parents. Soon you could hear Juan crying as he was speaking to them.
I went into the kitchen to pray with him.
Juan then said, “I am done being a gang leader. I’m tired of this life. I want to go home. I want to give my heart to Jesus Christ.”
Martha then came in and took Juan back to the living room. She then prayed over Juan as he began giving his life to Jesus Christ.
One by one Martha began leading all of the gang members to accept Christ. Soon families began showing up after their sons began calling them. Martha’s daughters also came to see their mother. When they saw all the cars and people at her home, they asked Martha what was going on there.
Martha begin explaining to her everything that happened today. Her daughters began to cry as the story unfolded.
One daughter, whose name is Kelly, said, “Mom, I will be right back!” and she quickly left the house. About 25 minutes later she came back with two boxes full of Bibles. She immediately began passing them out to the boys. They were not big Bibles but they consisted of the New Testament.
I later found out that there were 72 boys that received Bibles at Martha’s home. I figured at least 70% of the families that showed up were Christians. But you know by the time their sons confessed what just happened to their lives, those other parents also gave their lives to Jesus Christ.
When you see a major heart change like that in your children, it does have impact on your own life. They too said, “I want what my son has. I want to give my heart to Jesus Christ also.”
We were at Martha’s home for approximately 5 1/2 hours. As it was getting late into the day, it was time for everybody to go.
Martha’s daughter Kelly went to go get her walker. Martha called out to Kelly and said, “I don’t need it anymore. God has restored me and I am going to walk out with these guys on my own.”
Her daughter argued with her at first trying to get her to use it because of her loss of balance. Martha still resisted and began walking with the boys without it. Both daughters were amazed as they watched their mom walk the boys to their cars. She didn’t even come close to losing her balance. God truly did restore her.
This story has more to it than the salvation of three gangs. God brought Martha into this because since her husband died she has been basically giving up and to a certain extent lost her will to live. It is a lot like being self absorbed. We feel life has cheated us and we focus on that disappointment. But what happened today has reenergized Martha. She has found a new purpose for her life and she is on fire for God and the love of these boys. She has taken them on like they were family. Martha now is looking outward and sees her life entirely different. I was basically silent during this whole event as it unfolded. Martha brought the word of God to these boys. And just being a grandma had such an impact on them. When they viewed her family albums, that brought them back home. God gets the Glory and the Victory on how he used everything today to bring all three of these gangs into his Kingdom. Martha is now restored and she’s excited to disciple everyone of these boys. She still likes to talk about that ride in Juan’s 56 Chevy.
Juan said, “Any time you want to go for a ride in that car, you just let me know and I will pick you up.”
Martha then said “You got a deal.”
Another thing that Martha did was whenever she would walk by me she would grab hold of my cheek and say, “You are so adorable. You just continue to do what you’re doing with these gangs.”
Martha has been calling me all week. She has been going to all the homes of these boys. They are starting group meetings where 10 or 12 of the gang members will meet. Martha is checking up on them just to make sure they’re okay. She’s even checking on their families to make sure they’re okay also. If the families are not Christians yet, Martha’s is praying for them too that they will accept Jesus Christ. Martha said, “Sonny, I have adopted all of them. I love them all. They are my boys now. I am going to make sure that they are doing well.”
The main thing Martha is concerned about is making sure that all of the families have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Martha’s love for these boys is so strong that I really don’t believe she even noticed the tattoos on their bodies or the pistols they were carrying. She only saw their hearts.