I headed off to the Commerce City park to meet the gang that my King gave me instructions to see. When I got there, I noticed that two gangs were there. Usually when I see two gangs facing each other, they are usually about ready to start fighting. But not these two gangs, they look like they were talking with each other. I had the music playing on my pickup and both gangs turned their heads in my direction. After I parked, they started walking towards me. I asked Lord what is going on here. God said, “They want to know me.”
I then proceeded to get out of my pickup and put my tailgate down so I could arrange the coolers for breakfast. The gang leader that I knew was called James. I asked, “James, what’s going on?”
James said, “I am getting tired of this life. When you gave us those valentines cards, we filled them out for our families and it made us think of what we have been missing. This gang here also wanted some of those valentines cards to give to their parents.”
I replied, “James, I have some of them for these guys right here.”
James then asked, “How can God really forgive us? We really have done a lot of bad things.”
The other gang was intently listening to our dialogue. I had no idea who these guys were. Their leader was really interested when James began talking about Jesus Christ. James then said, “We do not want to go home with broken hearts. We want to go home with transformed hearts like you said Sonny. What do we have to do to do that?”
I replied, “You just need to confess your sins to Jesus Christ and give your heart to him. He will forgive and forget your past sins.” I could tell that James was really close to giving his heart to God.
I finally found out why the other gang was here. They were getting so hungry that they felt like they had no other option but to ask the other gang if they had any food that they could share. They did not want to fight at all. James told the new gang about me always having burritos and drinks when I came. The new gang leader, who they called Isaac, said that he would stick around two see if I showed up. James then gave Isaac a big box of chips to hold them over. James had shared what he had with the new gang.
Isaac then asked, “Sonny, do you have enough burritos for us?”
I replied, “Yes, I do. You can help me get more coolers down.”
Isaac was really craving Dr. Pepper and asked me if I had any. I replied, “Yes, see that cooler over there. It is fuller of Dr. Pepper.”
Isaac then said, “Yep, that’s our favorite drink.”
They all began to eat breakfast. James came up to me and said, “I memorized the Bible verse John 3:16 you talked about last time we met.” He then quoted it to me. It wasn’t perfect but it was real close. James then shared with me that when I give him a Bible that he just threw it in the trunk of his car. But one night he could not sleep and he had to get it out and start reading it. Then he began trying to memorize that verse. He then said, “My gang and I all want to go home. We all need prayer because most of our fathers were alcoholics. We do not want to go home to fathers who are like that. That is the reason why I ran away.”
I replied, “Let’s pray over that.” I looked over at the other gang to see what they were doing. They were still intently listening to everything that was going on, not saying a single word. We began praying for the fathers of James’s gang. I then looked over at Isaac and asked him if he would like me to pray over his family. Isaac said, “Yes, that would be awesome.”
After I finished praying for the families of both gangs, James then said, “I am ready to give my heart to Jesus Christ now. I am speaking only for myself but if my men want to accept Jesus that would be great.”
His men chimed in, “Yes we too are already to go home to and accept Jesus Christ.” They began asking Jesus to forgive all their sins. Then they asked him to come into their hearts. Isaac’s gang began to cry as James’s gang made that commitment to Jesus Christ. Soon James and his gang began crying. They began asking me what is going on with me right now? I replied, “The Holy Spirit is transforming your heart right now.”
Soon all of James’s men began calling home to their parents to tell them what just happened. I looked toward Isaac and asked, “Isaac do you want your names written in the Lamb’s book of life? Just remember that tomorrow is never promised not even for me.”
Isaac replied, “Is it really that easy to have Jesus come into your life? I don’t even know if I have a home to come back to. I am not even sure if my mom and dad will even take me back.”
I replied, “God even knows their hearts. You make your heart right first and he will take care of their hearts to. You can help them with that.”
Isaac the answered, “Okay, I am going to do that. I am ready to give my heart to Jesus too.” As the Holy Spirit began to transfer Isaac’s heart he began shaking. Isaac exclaimed, “I don’t know what’s going on with me right now but I’m just shaking.”
James came over and replied, “It is Jesus transforming your heart. Now we are brothers in Jesus Christ.”
Soon Isaac began to call his father to ask for forgiveness. In the process, Isaac’s dad said, “After you left, I gave up drinking. I now serve the Lord.” Isaacs mom confirmed that everything he said was true. Isaac’s dad began to share with him all the things what they been doing to serve God and that his room was exactly as it was when he left home. They also shared that they’ve been praying for him every day.
Soon the park became full of families coming to pick up their sons to take them home. Both gangs end up giving their hearts to Jesus Christ. You can listen to the entire story here: