It was Saturday morning and I picked up the breakfast burritos after eating breakfast with Blue Mustang. God then had me go over to the east side or Commerce City, Colorado again. I went to the same park. When I arrived, there were 23 young men standing almost in a circle. I noticed that there was a baseball cap on the ground in the middle of them. This is definitely one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen before. I asked, “Lord, what is this all about?” I then walked over to them carrying only my Bible. I then asked, “How are you guys doing?”
The leader looked at me and solemnly replied, “What’s up Sonny?”
I asked, “What’s going on with the cap?”
The leader replied, “There was a drive by shooting here last Sunday. When the shooting started my right hand man Frederick tackled me to the ground so I would not get hit. He took the bullet for me. As I was going down, the bullet hit him in the back. The bullet then entered his lungs. He just could not make it. The hat marks the spot where Frederick died. We are just having a moment of silence for him because he put his life on the line for me. If he would not have tackled me I would’ve been dead for sure. I had to go to his parents to tell them what happened. But what was shocking was I found out his parents had died from Covid. Fredrick did not even know his parents were dead. When I arrived at his parents home, his aunt and uncle were cleaning out the house. I had to explain to them that Frederick died putting his life on the line for me. This brought tears to his aunt and uncle when they realize their nephew was gone. The aunt and uncle were not mad at me. His uncle said his brother raised Frederick right. The fact that he took the bullet for you shows me that he has a lot of character. His uncle then hugged me to encourage me.” The leader was beginning to get choked up.
The leader then said, “We came back here to have this moment of silence when you showed up.”
I did not even asked them if they wanted prayer. I immediately started praying for each of them. They started crying as I prayed over them. I asked God to bring healing to their hearts and to their families. When I finished praying for all of them, the leader asked, “Sonny, does God really forgive all of your sins? We have done a lot of bad things. We steal money. We use girls for fun. We steel drugs and sell them for money.”
I replied, “It only takes a willing heart to ask for forgiveness. You have to ask for forgiveness first. If you ask for forgiveness and for Jesus Christ to come into your heart. He will transform your heart and give you a new one.”
The leader replied, “He really can do that?”
I said, “Yeah man, he can give you a new heart.”
The leader then said, “If God can forgive all my sins, I want to give my heart to God.”
This was all that was needed to inspire the entire gang to want to give their hearts to the Lord. The leader said, “What a way to honor our best friend who died right here at this spot.”
I said, “I got to pray with Frederick at our last encounter. He was very close at making a decision to give his heart to Jesus then but he didn’t do it. But who knows maybe he did it on his own.”
The leader replied, “The night before he was shot, on his bed I saw the Bible that you gave him. He had it open and highlighted John 3:16”
I said, “He gave his heart to Jesus Christ. For him to be reading that in bed and the fact he highlighted John 3:16. That is the reason why he gave his life just to protect you. I know he is with our King. You do not have to have me around. You can do all of this on your own whenever you decide. But just remember that tomorrow is never promised not even for me.”
The entire gang said, “We want to give our hearts to Jesus Christ right now. We are tired of this life.”
They all gave their hearts to Jesus Christ. It is sad that sometimes tragedies are the only thing that will get our attention. But when Frederick laid his life down for the leader, it changed the hearts of everyone in that gang. I am not sure how long it might have taken for this gang to commit to Jesus Christ if this tragedy didn’t occur. This is the fourth time that I have seen this gang. God knows how to use every circumstance to his advantage and it brought salvation to this gang. God gets the Glory and the Victory
Next week I am going to meet this gang with all their family members. I am sure they are going to have lots of questions that I will need to answer. It is our responsibility to disciple those whom we bring to Jesus Christ.