It was early Saturday morning and God said, “There is a new gang from Pueblo in Denver that is hanging out at the park where you witness to gangs frequently. They are hungry. I want you to serve them tacos.” I headed towards Denver and stopped by Toco Bell to get a bunch of their lunch box deals. When it was my turn at the 1st window, the girl whose name is Sahara, recognized me from my many visits here. Sahara said, “Hi Sonny. Are you getting tacos for gang members today?”
I said, “Yes, I need 3 party boxes of tacos to go.”
Sara said, “Coming right up Sonny.”
When I pulled up to next window to pay, they handed me a large Baja Blast. They then had me pull forward to a parking spot. Sara, Kari and Rachel came out with all the taco party boxes. They asked me to step out of my pickup to lay hands on me. All three prayed out loud for me and gave me big hugs. They continuously pray for me all the time. They even have their parents praying for me.
I left the parking lot and headed to my destination. As I was nearing the park around 10:30 AM, I could see the gang hanging out by the picnic tables. I continued to drive closer to them to find a parking spot nearer to their location. The Holy Spirit had a spot for me to park so I took it. While I was getting out of my pickup, the leader came towards me with his pistol drawn and exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”
I responded, “I have come to bring God’s Kingdom to you. He loves you very much.”
The leader asked, “So you have come to preach to us. We are going to have to shoot you for bothering us.” They started pushing me around.
I responded with the most powerful words on the planet, “Before you shoot me, let me pray for you.” I was starting to pray but the leader noticed the smell of Toco Bell coming out of my pickup. He then said, “Your pickup smells like Toco Bell. ”
I said, “Yes, my King told me to get tocos for you to eat.”
The leader responded, “You brought us tocos to eat.” The leader began to drop his pistol. I could see some of the gang members already coming over to get something to eat. Some gang members kept their pistols drawn while they ate. The leader was so used to getting ripped off or violence of some sort that getting something from love has never happened to him before. He just stood there.
I said, “Yes, if you are not hungry, I am going to eat.” I went over to my pickup to unload the Tocos and pop I had on ice.
The leader’s body guards exclaimed, “We cannot shoot someone that would bring food to us.” They too went over to get something to eat. This was my opportunity to pray for them. They all had their mouths full so they could hear me pray for them. As I prayed for several of them, God said, “Sonny, I want you to stop and pray for Blue Mustang now. ” I usually don’t look at my watch but I noticed the time was 11:12 am. I told the guys, “My King has asked me to pray for Blue Mustang, I am going to do as my King asked.” I left them to eat the Tocos. I prayed for Blue Mustang. The next day he reported that he was switching tasks. He to noticed the time was also 11:12 am. We are not sure what God did but he either solved a problem for him or protected him or both. Heck, it could be just to encourage. My King never asks me to do anything unless it was important.
I came back to finish praying. The leader was amazed on my loyalty. He exclaimed, “You are loyal to Blue Mustang.”
I said, “Yes I am.” I finished praying for the rest of the them. God then told me to leave them.
I was going to visit another gang in south east Denver but God had other plans. He said, “Sonny, you are not finished with this gang. I want you to get three big bags of Cosco popcorn and cookies. I went to Cosco first. The parking lot was full. I got in line created because of social distancing. I counted that I was about 40 to 50 people ahead of me. A man came from behind me and said, “Sonny, come follow me. I don’t want you to wait.” I recognized him from three weeks ago. I was shopping at this same Cosco and I noticed him crying in a corner of the store. I didn’t ask him anything but if it would be all right to pray for him. He said, “Yes, I would like for you to pray for me.” So I prayed for him right there in the store. He works at this store and was just coming back in from a break. Even in this large crowd, he recognized me. I stepped out of line and followed him to a side door. He said, “I have to go back to work but go ahead and shop.” I found the big bags of popcorn but the cookies were picked over. I had to go to King Soopers to get the cookies.
I headed back to the park and arrived about 2 pm. The gang was still there where I left them. The leader came up to my pickup. The leader exclaimed, “Are you going to preach to us about Jesus Christ some more?”
I said, “My King wants wants you to be part of his family and he wants me to take his love and bring his message to you.”
The leader then asked, “Are you a full time preacher? ”
I retorted, “Only when I am awake. ”
The leader responded, “We have a funny man here.” The gang still had their pistols drawn on me. The gang members started to pushing me around. One other gangs nearby was watching what was going on. This happened to be Alfredo’s gang. He was in one of my other stories. Alfredo was angry and walked over by the leader. He angrily said, “If I see you guys mess with Sonny anymore, I am going to have my guys shoot every one of you dead. Sonny only brings food and talks about Jesus. He is no threat to you.” Alfredo turned around and walked away. I was amazed that he came by himself and this gang did not dare point their pistols towards Alfredo or his gang.
To diffuse the tension, I said, “Look what I have in my pickup for you guys. ” He looked behind me and noticed the food I brought. He then asked, “Are you going to feed us again?”
I reached into my pickup and brought out the popcorn. I said, “Look I got popcorn from Cosco. ”
I prayed out loud to my King to give thanks before I gave them the popcorn to eat. After I was done praying, the leader asked, “Do you pray before every meal?”
I said, “Yes, because I want our King to bless our food and I want to show you that praying for this food is showing that we are grateful for the food that has been provided.” I then handed him a bag of popcorn.
The leader exclaimed, “Cosco popcorn, I love their popcorn.” He started eating the popcorn and consumed several cans of Dr. Pepper. I continued to talk about the wonders of Jesus Christ and his love. Nearly two hours had passed. I discovered that the leaders name is Franchisco. The gang started to lower their weapons. The Holy Spirit started revealing memories to Franchisco in his youth going his grandparents home. Grandma would make him popcorn and share Jesus Christ with him. This happened many times so she shared Christ with him many times. So when I gave him popcorn and shared Jesus Christ, all those memories came alive. He suddenly exclaimed, “I’m ready to give my heart to Jesus Christ. I want this life to end. ”
His men and the girls really loved and Franchisco. They saw their leader’s heart change in front of their eyes. They said, “We too want to serve God also.” I prayed for all of them. They laid their arms on each other in a huddle and gave their hearts to Jesus. I prayed for the ladies also. I want everyone to know that women in gangs are treated more like property than women. When one experiences the love Jesus Christ gives me in my life, she wanted to marry me because of that love she felt. I told her that its Jesus you feel; not me. I told her that that I will pray for the right man to come into her life and you will be glad that you did not marry me. I don’t think she is entirely convinced. Men, please treat your ladies like Jesus treats his church. We ALL should do this. It will help our ladies love us even more.
Even though they could have drove back to Pueblo to share what happened to their parents, the parents wanted to come to Denver to share in their excitement. I prayed for them and their sons and daughters. They went back home to Pueblo. Franchisco in 1 week of coming to Jesus printed fliers to the teenagers in his neighborhood to come and have church in the park. He read Matthew 6:33 to them and explained to them what it meant. Of the 37 parents and teenagers who showed up to have church, 21 wanted to give their lives to Jesus Christ. It is exciting to see the power of God move like this in Franchisco life. I will keep you informed of anything else Franchisco does. Jesus has some big things for him to do.