I was in the park at Commerce City and I just got through witnessing to a gang. As I was waiting for another gang to show up, I looked around the park and noticed it was empty. I decided to get a blanket and lay down for a little bit where I fell asleep. All of a sudden, I remember starting to wake up and smelling peanut butter in my nose. When I was fully awake, I could tell that it was Lydia. She is a six-year-old girl that lives next to the park right across the street. I have met her and her family before. Lydia had shared with me before that she wants to become a nurse.
I said, “Hi Lydia.”
She replied, “I saw that gang leave and I noticed that you were resting so I decided to bring you some sandwiches.” Lydia brought me both a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a smoked turkey sandwich with a glass of milk. What was interesting was when she put the sandwiches together that she crossed the breads. I had the jelly bread on the smoke turkey sandwitch and the mayonnaise and mustard on the peanut butter sandwich. I did not make a big deal of it and I just switched the breads.
As I began eating I asked Lydia what I could do for her. Lydia replied, “You can pray for me so that when I get older that I can become a nurse.” She paused and looked me over and said, “Sonny, it looks like you’ve been banged up a little bit.”
I replied, “Yes but it wasn’t too bad. The last gang treated me well.”
She replied, “I still think I need to put a bandage on your owie.” She reached into her black bag put one Band-Aid on my arm and another one on my face. She then asked, “What do you say to the gangs when you speak to them?”
I said, “The first thing I do is I tell them that Jesus loves them. Then I asked them if they have any prayer requests. If they don’t have any, I immediately read John 3:16 to them telling about how much God loves them.” As I continued talking to her about how Jesus died for us, she exclaimed, “Yeah, he rose in three days; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
I replied, “That is really good.” I just now realized that another gang was coming. I became nervous and said to myself that I need to get Lydia out of here. God immediately said, “Do not worry about it. I have thinks taken care of.” Even though God never tells me anything that he doesn’t have control of, it is still concerning when you saw the pistols that these boys were carrying.
The gang leader Leroy asked, “Did you bring your granddaughter or something?”
I replied, “Yeah, that’s what I’m doing.”
Lydia checked Leroy out then said, “I see that your arm is cut. Are you OK?” It it was so cute because she was dressed up in her little nurse’s outfit carrying a black bag. She mentioned to the rest of the gang that they needed to sit down on this picnic table so that she could give them a physical. Definitely was interesting when Leroys gang all got in a line to be examined. So these boys begin to sit down on the picnic table one by one without any hesitancy. She had her stethoscope on and she was listening to their hearts she asked each man to take a deep breath.
When the gang approached, they were looking tough but as this little girl began to speak to them they begin to behave more like little boys. She began to share with each one that Jesus Christ loves them. She was using the earpiece in one of the men ears and said, “Man you have dirty ears. You need to take a shower and clean up all that junk off.”
They were all laughing as she was giving her diagnosis. They were not doing anything to her because they thought she was with me. All of Leroy’s men had some form of injuries on them because of all the fighting they do. So Lydia wanted to make sure that they were covered with a Band-Aid. All of the Band-Aids she had had Winnie the Pooh and Snoopy on them. One of the men had a major scuffle with another gang. When she saw his large cut, she got out her alcohol kit and scrubbed it down to disinfect it. Even though it happened a couple of days ago you could see him grit his teeth as the alcohol burned into the wound. She was just like a real nurse with her little rubber gloves on getting the band aids ready to place on his wounds. She did not have any tongue depressors, so she just used suckers to put on their tongue so that she could inspect their throats. She then said you can keep the sucker. She finished up with all of them said, “Most of you passed your physicals but the rest of you will have to have surgery it you’re gonna make it.” It was so cool watching this entire game stand in a line waiting their turn to get their physical. I have never seen anything like this ever. I looked over at her house to see what her parents were up to. I could see her parents watching from their porch. I knew they were concerned but they were laughing as they watched all this unfold. All seventeen boys got at least one band aid. She even scheduled a heart surgery for one of them. She said, “I could not find your heart listing to it in the stethoscope so I am going to have to investigate you. We may have to put a heart in for you.”
He was definitely roaring with laughter as she made her diagnosis. He then asked, “Can I get one of those Winnie the Pooh Band-Aids.”
She said, “Sure, but it looks like you have two owies. You may need two of them.” She reached in and grabbed two Pooh Band-Aids out of her black bag and placed them on his wounds.”
When she finished up with the last man she said, “I have to go now. I have a surgery scheduled that I have to be at.” Again these boys were just roaring with laughter. As she began walking away, all of a sudden she turned around and came back. She said, “I forgot to pray for you guys.” She then had everybody get around the picnic table and asked them to take their caps off. Every man took his cap off and closed their eyes as she began praying John 3:16 over them. She then prayed for their hearts and that God would heal them. When she finished the last of her prayers, she began walking away. I was watching the men all the time and noticed tears welling up in some of their eyes. Jerome, one of the members of the gang, came over and said, “Sonny, you know that little girl stole my heart. When I ran away from home my little sister was six years old. I have not seen her in two years and my heart is going crazy right now.”
I replied, “Maybe you ought to call her and talk to her.”
Jerome then said, “I will do that.” As he began calling home, some of his men did the same thing they began dialing home to talk to their parents. Some of the men were still hesitant so I began praying for them and reading more Bible verses to them. I then asked those who finished talking to their folks what happened. They all begin reporting that their dads have quit drinking and they’re living new lives. That was enough to make sure that everyone wanted to call home now. They all said, “We want to go home but we do not want to go home with angry hearts. I want to go home healed.” Leroy was the last to decide. He shared with me that he had not talked to his dad in five years. I said, “Well, why don’t you call him and find out.”
Leroy didn’t ask me if I could stand with him when he called home. He was ready. When his dad answered the phone was on speaker. The first thing his dad asked if he was OK. Leroy said, “Everything is fine but dad I am trying to find out if you are still having a drinking problem.”
His dad replied, “I have not drank since you left home five years ago. I received help and counseling from my pastor. I have given my heart to Jesus Christ and I have been praying for you.”
Leroy’s mom said, “Your dad cried for days when you left. He has given up drinking forever.”
Leroy then said, “I think I want to come home.”
His mom replied, “Your room is just as you left it five years ago. Give me your address because we want to come and get you.”
There was almost a hundred eighty people there when everybody showed up to pick up their sons. All the men gave their hearts to Jesus Christ along with their families. A little 6-year-old girl who wanted to be a nurse brought a gang to Jesus Christ. You can listen to the entire story below: