Thanksgiving with Three Gangs

It is Thanksgiving day and I am going to see three gangs today. My King has scheduled me to see the first gang about 10 o’clock this morning. The second gang around lunchtime and the third gang about 2 pm. What is interesting about the gangs that my King chose, he did three weeks ago. Most of the time it’s within the week that I go. My King always has me do it on Thanksgiving day because it is more powerful when it’s done on that day. The undercover police that I work with arranged not only to prepare the food for the gangs but found families who would cook the gangs meals along with their families. And I do mean these guys know how to cook great food.

You will begin to see the power of God as I talked to each gang. When I went to the first gang, I was carrying one of the turkeys. I knocked on the door and they seemed more curious than they were anxious. But they asked, “What do you want?

I said, “I have a Turkey meal for you.”

They were shocked when I said that and asked, “You really brought a turkey dinner for us.”

I said, “Yes, Jesus Christ said that you guys would be hungry.” They invited me in with the the turkey. They were excited like little kids in a candy store when they realized that they were going to get to eat. I asked some of the guys to help me go out and get the rest of the pies and drinks. The leader immediately sent some of the men to help me. Some of the gang members were just getting out bed and they were shocked to see a stranger in the house. This is something that gangs do not do.

As we set down the down to eat, I begin carving the turkey and handing out the meat. Everybody grabbed a plate and beginning to self-serve on the mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy and the other fixings that they provided. As everybody continued to eat, I read the scriptures Jeremiah 29:11 and John 3:16 to them. All of the gangs that I fed today had some men who had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ before. I was surprised on how many of the men could quote John 3:16 and Jeremiah 29:11 to me. Abusive fathers made these boys run away from God. When the gangs began seeing and tasting all the good food they began talking amongst themselves about traditions they had at home. As each gang member shared, they became more homesick. Soon the leader began to question why he was here and was thinking about going back home. Almost everybody in the gang had what they call a poor relationship with their dad’s. Most of them were abusive because of alcoholism and drugs. So many of them ran away. This leader was gone from home for over five years. He began to call home and his dad answered the phone. He began talking with his dad for a while. Meanwhile the rest of the gang were having the same thoughts about going home and they too began calling home. But they all said, “You know Sonny, we want our hearts right with Jesus Christ before we go home. We don’t want to go back with angry hearts.”

So the gang started giving their lives to Jesus Christ as I prayed for them. The leader came back out and said, “Sonny, when I was talking to my dad he was an entirely different person. I’ve decided that I want to go home. I don’t want this life anymore. He started to share what he was about to do with his men, but they said, “We already are starting to give our lives over to Jesus Christ now.”

So I pray for all of them as they asked for forgiveness of
their sins and God began transforming their hearts. Some of them began to cry and others began to shake and asked, “What’s happening to me?”

I said, “Jesus Christ is transforming your hearts as you asked him to.”

Soon family members started showing up and picking up their sons. I could not stay long because I had to go to the next gang.

The second gang was exactly the same as the first. They were more curious than they were anxious and they were wondering what I was up to. They were a carbon copy of the first gang. Again while they were eating they started sharing things about what they did on Thanksgiving day and they all began to want to go home but they too wanted to transform their hearts for Jesus Christ before they went back.

The third gang had the most men in it. The leader was a little bit more cautious but he was still was excited when I brought a turkey dinner up to the door. He was anxious to let me in but said, “You can come in but do not try anything funny.”

I said, “I have a turkey in my hands and I am here all by myself what could I really do. I did bring the Kingdom of God with me though.” That gave them something to think about.

They too like the first two gangs as I served them and they begin eating they too began thinking about family traditions and going home. What was so unusual about this third gang was there were some Mexicanos in this gang. One of the men shared, “I remember when my mom made these tamales for us on Thanksgiving growing up. I sure do miss those things.”

I said, “I don’t think I have any of those but let me check to see what else I’ve got.” I started checking and was digging down in the box and I picked up something that was wrapped in aluminum foil. He looked inside and began smiling. He said, “These are tamales. Thank you Sonny.”

I remember that this family asked me what kind of people were in these gangs. I told him that there were some Mexicanos in this last gang. They totally understood the culture and immediately made some tamales for those men.

All three gangs gave their lives to Jesus Christ that day. Almost every one of the Dad’s that abused their sons began to change their lives the minute their sons left. They all quit drinking and taking drugs and they had a special place for Jesus Christ in their hearts. I was thinking what it must be like for their sons to be sleeping in their own beds tonight. Many of these bedrooms were left exactly the way they were when their sons ran away. The mature Christian parents of their sons helped the other parents to find places to go to church and youth groups to develop their personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Listen to the entire story below:

Families (audio)

Created in a restaurant environment

May 28

May 21

May 14

May 7

April 30

April 23

April 16

April 15 Good Friday

Plastic Grocery Bag Blessing

My King had me go to the ghetto King Sooper store today. When I arrived at the parking lot God said, “Sonny, you need to walk to the back of the store.” There is an alley on the backside of the store. When I reached the back I noticed a family holding those plastic King Soopers bags. They were empty but they had them open. The families consisted of two boys, three girls and their parents. All of them had their eyes closed and they were praying.

The husbands prayed first and said, “Lord, you know that we don’t have any groceries. We are here at a grocery store. You said that when two or more are gathered and are praying in your midst that you would be there. You know that we are hungry. Would you do a miracle? We need something.”

The little girl Jasmine said, “You know that I love cereal and you know I love cookies. I just want cereal, milk and cookies. Please, I have been craving cookies really bad.” After she prayed this each one of the kids started praying. One of them said, “I want a baloney sandwich.” One of the boys said, “I love salads.”( I thought that was unusual to hear that from a boy.) Another one said, “I am getting tired of eating toast and peanut butter. But thank you that we at least have that.”

I continued to listen to them pray. I did not want to interrupt them at all because they are praying to God. They sure were pouring their hearts out to Him. They were crying as they prayed. After they finished praying they said, “We are thankful for what You are going to do.”

They looked over and they saw me standing there with my Bible. They then asked me how long I had been standing there?

I said, “I heard all your prayers. They were beautiful. They are special especially when they come directly from your heart. God knows you and He knows your heart’s desires.” I paused for a moment and then said, “Number one: my King has given a ministry to a guy who we call Blue Mustang. He gives me money to bless people like you so you can buy groceries.” As I continue to explain about Blue Mustang and Terry Bird praying for the ministry, I had to explain to the kids that Blue Mustang was not really a car, but I always let them think that Terry Bird is Big Birds little brother.

They then asked, “God brought you here just for us?”

I replied, “Blue Mustang gives $140 to each family to go buy groceries.” At this moment I could hear a door squeaking. The new manager was beginning to walk out and began listening to what I had to say. I then handed them the money and said, “Let’s go inside the store and get what you need but not what you want.” The manager then spoke up and said, “You know what; why don’t you guys also get what you want. I will take care of the bill.”

You see God has already multiplied the money for the family. A girl that worked there also came out. This is a blessed store because they believe in serving people.

We went in side the store and began shopping. The manager confirmed again that he wanted them to also get what they want and not just what they needed. After the families got all their groceries and came to the checkout line, the manager paid for everything. He then said, “Use the money that Blue Mustang gave you to buy gas or other things.”

We then went outside after the manager paid for the groceries. As we walked towards my pickup the families began to anoint my pickup from front to back including all four tires. They also prayed that no bullets would hit it, nobody would harm it and that God would protect me wherever He takes me.

Jasmine then said, “Mom, I need to give this anointing oil to Blue Mustang.” Jasmine then handed me the jar of anointing oil. Jasmine then said, “Give this to Blue Mustang so he can anoint his truck too.”

Both of the sisters carry jars of anointing oil. These jars looked like they could’ve come from jelly containers. It looks like they made their own jam and use them to store oil in them afterwards. So these jars have a story behind them.

I put my tailgate down to sit while I was talking to them about Jesus and started handing some water out. Three homeless guys then walked up and noticed one of the dad’s. One of the homeless guys said, “Jerome, I see that you got groceries today.”

Jerome then said, “Yes we did. Are you guys hungry?”

The homeless guys replied, “Yes, we are. We haven’t eaten in a couple of days.”

Jasmine said, “You want some bologna sandwiches?” The homeless guys smiled while nodding their heads. So the families started making bologna sandwiches on the back of my tailgate. The families laid out the works. They put out mustard, mayonnaise, pickles, onions, lettuce, bread and the baloney so these guys could make an awesome sandwich. They even had Fritos and Cheetos to go with their sandwiches.

Jasmine then whispered something to her sister and her sister agreed. Jasmine then asked, “Can we use that other jar of anointing oil? We want to pray over these guys.”

The sisters then said, “Sonny could you lead us in prayer over them?” I prayed for these guys and for their salvation.

Jasmine then asked, “Do you guys want your names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?”

The guys replied, “You know, nothing else is working out. Maybe we should do that.” As soon as they were anointed and prayed over they began crying out of control.

One of the little boys whose name was Isaiah has not said a word all the time while I was here, but now he spoke up and said, “Jesus loves you. What you see here is temporary, but Jesus Christ is eternal.”

I was flabbergasted at what came out of this small boy’s mouth. I never expected to hear something so powerful from somebody so small. All of the children came around these homeless guys and began hugging them and began showing them love. The moms continued making more sandwiches for them. Soon all the baloney and the bread was gone. This did not matter even though these families had nothing. They shared their blessing that they had received with these homeless guys. They gave what they had. I began crying as all of this was happening. I came up to these homeless guys and prayed over them again.

While I was doing this two of the girls who worked at the store came out with two more loaves of bread, four packages of cheese and four packages of baloney to replace what they used up. They were watching everything that the families were doing for these homeless guys. It is always amazing that when we demonstrate love to other people by giving, others see this. In turn those people want to do the same thing, turning a small blessing into a large one. If you do not do what God asks of you, it can affect the destiny of many people. The ghetto has a special place in my heart for these people and I anxiously await to be able to come back here again.

Balloon Blessing

It was Saturday morning and I went to the King Soopers store in the ghetto. I pulled into the parking lot but nobody was there. The only two cars that were there belonged to the employees that work there. I was sitting there and my mind began to wonder. I began to think, “Did I come to the right place? Lord, there’s nobody here but the workers.”

God said, “Just wait. Be patient.” I continued to watch then I noticed a family coming with a King Soopers cart. Another family behind them was pushing a cart also. I said to myself this has to be them. They must not live very far away from here to be pushing those carts. Soon they stopped. They had helium balloons tied to each cart. Both of the families and their kids placed their hands on the balloons and began praying over them. I quietly said, “What in the world is going on? Who would ever pray over a balloon.” I did not understand and God had not revealed anything to me yet. I continued to wait and watch as they prayed over their balloons. Soon they finished and they release their balloons into the atmosphere.

I looked up and said, “Lord, these are weird families.”

God immediately replied, “No, wait till you hear what they have to say.”

I grabbed my Bible and walked over there to greet them. I said, “Good morning! How are you guys doing?”

The families replied, “We are doing pretty well but we are needing a miracle. Both our families do. This is my brother. We are really hungry.”

I have to ask, “Why were you praying for those balloons. I watched you as you prayed over them.”

The dad said, “We have this helium bottle that we use to fill up balloons on our kids birthdays. Before we filled the balloons, we put notes in each of the balloons. On the notes it said, “Dear Lord, we need food today.” We then placed the notes in the balloons and sent them up to God. Both me and my brother anointed the balloons before we release them. We did this for our kids.”

The daughter Jasmine spoke up and said, “We thought that if we sent the balloons up to heaven that God would grab them and read the note that’s inside.”

I said, “That is a good prayer request to have God grab it. You notice that you cannot see those balloons anymore.” They began staring up into the sky trying to get a glimpse of anything. I then said “God has already grabbed them. He read your notes and He sent me here before you even sent them up.”

The families then asked, “What does that mean?” Jasmine looked at me with wide eyes and exclaimed, “Does that mean that you are the miracle?”

I said, “Yes, I am part of the miracle.”

Jasmine then replied, “But you are a human being. How can that bring us food?” Jasmine was a talker and I again explained what was happening. I said, “God hears your prayers. He is faithful. He even says that He is faithful. Second you have to know who Blue Mustang is.”

As usual the kids always wonder how a car can talk. I just wish I had a dollar for every time they asked this question I’d be very well-to-do. I then explained to her that he got his name from the Latinos and he drives a Blue Mustang. The kids replied, “That is so cool that Blue Mustang drives a Blue Mustang.” By now the families were also beginning to laugh. Now the kids were confused and asked what this Blue Mustang has to do with the miracle?”

I said, “God has put it in Blue Mustang’s heart to give $140 to each family so they could buy groceries. The money is not to be used for smokes or beer but is used entirely for families who are hungry.”

Jasmine said, “I finally get some cookies.” I then reached into my wallet and pulled out the money and gave each family $140. They began to cry. I said, “Let’s pray over this money so you can buy groceries. The families took each bill and anointed it. One of the dads anointed his hands before he anointed the bills. The other brother prayed over the money while this brother anointed the bills. I began to cry as they did this.

After they finished praying I asked, “Why did you anoint the money?” The brother said, “I want this money that Blue Mustang gave us to be anointed. It must’ve been anointed already because it came here. But we want to anoint it so that God will give him a thousandfold.”

Jasmine then asked, “Does that mean that we are anointed by God?”

Jasmine’s mom, Dorothy, said, “Yes, you are anointed by God! You belong to Him.”

One of the girl employees in the store was watching from a window as everything was going on. I could tell she was saying something. I could see her lips move with the other employees. I’m sure that she was saying that Sonny is back. When we went into the store the girls greeted us at the door. Even though the doors were automatic they wanted to make sure it looked special. They said “Welcome to King Soopers. Our store belongs to God.”

You may have problems visualizing what this store faces. Try to envision a place where a tornado has gone through and devastated the neighborhood. This store was then placed in the middle of it. Everything around it looks really bad. It is so dangerous here that you cannot even go outside at night. You need to be sent by God or you may never walk out of here alive. I even heard a lot of yelling and some shooting going on while I was talking to the families. These kids are growing up in this environment.

The girls then said, “Hi Mr. Sonny. Did you bring some more blessings to our store? ” I confirmed that I did. One of the other girls spoke up and said, “It is because of Blue Mustang and God. Sonny is just the messenger. He is the deliver and he brings blessing to the families.”

The manager then came up rubbing his hands together and said, “Yes, we get to bless more families today!” The manager then headed over to grab a grocery cart and took off.

The families started making a grocery list of the things they needed.

The girl employees then asked, “Can we see your list?” They looked over the lists and took a picture of them with their cell phones. Two of them took off but the rest of them hung around with the kids.

Jasmine grabbed my hand and we headed off to go grocery shopping. The daughter Elizabeth has not said a word all the time while I was there. She said, “This is like having Christmas. God has answered our prayer when He grabbed our balloons.”

I began thinking to myself what would it be like when those balloons came down and people would see those notes inside. We continued shopping until the families had everything they needed. When we started out to the checkout line the other two girls with the grocery carts had everything duplicated in their carts. They said, “We are buying these groceries for you.”

I am totally amazed on how these girls time after time continue to bless people. They live in an area where there is not much in the terms of finances. They take what they get and they still want to give what little they have to bless other families. After we finished paying for the groceries we all headed back outside.

Jasmine looked at me and said, “Could you get down on your knees. I want to anoint you and pray over you.”

I immediately got down on my knees. Before my knees reached the pavement I placed one of my hoodies on the ground. There is glass all over the parking lot.

She then anointed me. When she started praying she said, “Dear Lord, I pray for Blue Mustang and I also pray for Sonny to bless them a thousandfold like my mom and dad said and keep Sonny safe from all the gangs that shoot at each other.”

Man that was quite a prayer coming from a seven-year-old. She came up to me and gave me a big hug and kissed me on the nose. She then said, “You are now anointed, now go out and save the world.”

From Resenting Parents Death To Rededicating Heart To Christ

It is another Saturday with the gangs and I still cannot get used seeing gangs facing each other in the parking lot. They are all looking at each other with their pistols raised and ready to fire. That declaration of war is a difficult thing to get used to. Almost everybody would run away from this situation. Most of the time law enforcement won’t even get involved in a situation like this because it is so dangerous. But my King had other plans for me. He said, “Sonny, I want you to drive your pickup right in the middle of the park on the grass. You need to separate them.”

I always get in trouble afterwards doing this but never during the commotion. The park rangers always confide in me and say, “I want to go over there and tell you to get off the grass but every time I see them pistols I say to myself that no way am I going to bother him. I always start to pray for you. I know it can be touch and go with what might happen. The Park Ranger even called the police last time you did this but they told me we are not going to go there. We have quit going there because of the danger. We just let them take care of business and we go clean up the bodies later. So I don’t even bother to call the police anymore.”

I stopped my pickup right in the middle of them and got out. The right gang leader I did not know. He said, “If you do not move this truck we are going to shoot it.”

I said, “Before you shoot my truck or me, why don’t we have breakfast.”

The gang leader said, “What the heck are you talking about?”

I said , “I brought breakfast burritos for all of you guys. Don’t shoot anybody. Let’s eat breakfast.”

All the gang leaders then replied, “Are you serious?”

I then told them what I had with me and they repeated, “Are you serious?”

I was not sure if they still believed me so I began putting my tailgate down and laying out all the food and drinks I had. The drink of choice for gangs is Dr. Pepper. I then reached into my cooler and asked, “Who wants a Dr. Pepper?” I began to think that everybody thought they were in heaven. They all began asking for one. Some even asked if they could have two. I began passing out the pop and water.

The guys began looking at each other and exclaimed, “Just a minute ago, we were about ready to shoot each other and now we are having breakfast together. This is not what I came here to do today!”

I then replied, “Hey man, God said for me to prepare a meal before your enemies. Here is the food that he asked me to make for you.” I then reiterated, “Let’s eat together, then you can either shoot each other or shoot me.”

The gangs then asked, “What do you mean? How can you be at such peace knowing that you could be shot?”

I said, “You do not understand. If I get shot I am going to be with Jesus Christ. I am going to be able to see him face-to-face. Then I will begin praying for you guys from up there.”

They were not sure how to respond to that so they started saying, “I’ll take two burritos. I am hungry.”

I began passing out the burritos while I was talking to them about Jesus Christ. When they came for food they put their pistols away. The gang on the left knew me and put their pistols away first. The other two gangs were more hesitant at putting their guns away. When they determined it was safe after watching the other gang put their pistols away, they began to put theirs down also. I began thinking to myself about the time Blue Mustang prayed for this to happen. He prayed that when I approach them with the word of God that they would quickly put their pistols away. Only God and the power of prayer could make this happen. I’ve been doing this ministry for five years and this has never happened before. I know for sure it is God.

I was listening to the conversations as they were eating. They were talking about baseball with each other. They mentioned the Colorado Rockies baseball team a lot. Just 15 minutes ago they were ready to shoot each other to claim their territory in the park and now they are talking about baseball. Only the Holy Spirit can transform the heart in such a short period of time. I have learned the gangs are just kids who are broken. There was a total of 98 men here today eating breakfast.

After they finished eating breakfast I then said, “Let me pray for you guys before you do anything. I would like to know if any of you have a prayer request I want to pray over that also.”

Frankie one of the leaders said, “How can God forgive all of our sins? I have a lot of sins. I have been on the naughty list for a long time. I am never going to get any gifts from Santa Claus.”

I said, “Jesus Christ has a gift for you and it is the Holy Spirit. That is free because he came here and died for us. Do you believe that?”

Frankie replied, “Yeah, I do. I have heard the story about John 3:16.” He began quoting the Scripture in front of all the gangs. One of the guys, whose name was Rudy, asked him, “Were you a Christian before? You knew that Scripture well.”

Frankie said, “I was a Christian before and I walked away from God. My dad and mom got killed in a car wreck and I have been mad at God ever since.”

I said, “It wasn’t God’s fault that they died. He does not just plot to take people out.” I paused for a moment then asked, “Were your mom and dad organ donors?”

Frankie replied, “Yes, they were.”

I said, “Look at all the people who are living today because of them. You are alive today because they gave you birth. Because they died, it is now possible for other people to live on. God needed them for other families. You will see your family again if you give your heart to Jesus Christ.”

Frankie replied, “I already did that once. But I have sinned and done a lot of bad things.”

I said, ” God will still forgive you but you have to ask.”

Frankie said, “Yeah, I know. If I asked for forgiveness he will forgive me and forget all my sins.”

I replied, “Yeah and you remembered all of that.”

This made Frankie think. He said, “Yes, I do remember all of that.” At this moment God said, “Sonny, you need to play ‘Amazing Grace’ right now.” I immediately walked to my pickup and turned on the outside speakers and played “Amazing Grace”.

Frankie began to cry and said, “Why did you have to play that song?”

I replied, “Because God told me to play it for you.”

Frankie then shared, “That was my mom’s favorite song.”

I said, “You know your mom was probably standing by God and asked him if I could play that song for you.”

Frankie then asked, “How do you hear God’s voice?”

I said, “You have to listen. I have Jesus Christ in my heart. He is my King and I have a relationship with him. It is not a religion, it is a relationship.”

Frankie still crying then replied, “You know what, I am tired of running from God. This is it. When you started playing that song.” His thought was interrupted and he then asked, “Can you play that song again.”

I then hit my remote and began playing the song over again.

He then said, “You playing that song again means a lot to me. I am going to make my life right this day forward.” He then reached for his phone and called his grandma and grandpa. Frankie said, “I am coming home. I have rededicated my heart to Jesus Christ again. I just want to come home. I am done with this gang life.” All of this was being said over the speakerphone so everyone could hear Frankie speak. Everything was totally silent and everyone was listening.

His grandma began shouting “Hallelujah”. He then told her that he was going to be coming home in a little bit.”

His grandpa then spoke up and asked, “Where are you at?”

Frankie then explained to him where he was at. His grandpa then said, “I know exactly where that is at. We are only 25 minutes from there. We want to come and see you now.”

I did not realize what was about to happen. They were going to bring their whole church with them. They immediately began calling the pastor and everybody they knew about the situation. They said, “Sonny needs your help at the Park right now; let’s go.” They then called their friends to come too. Some of the people said that they were not going to go there because of the drive-by shootings. The brave ones said, “We don’t care. We are going anyway.”

While we were waiting I began to pray for Frankie’s whole gang. After he rededicated his heart to Jesus Christ his gang wanted to do the same thing. They began to think about what it would be like to go back home. They did not like the life they were living now. The gang on my left was watching Frankie’s gang give their hearts to Jesus Christ.

That leader asked, “Is it really that easy to give your heart to God and become a new person?”

I replied, “God will transform your heart. But first you have to ask for forgiveness. Then just ask him to come into your heart.”

The leader then said, “I am ready to do that.” As that leader gave his heart to the Lord his men began to follow suit. Men kept coming forward from all the gangs that were left.

Soon a bunch of cars started showing up. They were people from Frankie’s grandparents church. They brought food, water, and more Dr. pepper. Others brought Bibles and started passing them out. Even those that hadn’t given their heart to Jesus Christ yet, took a Bible. They then asked if they could pray for the gang members in any way. The men who had not given their hearts to Jesus Christ started looking at me and said, “Sonny, we’ve got to go. We are not ready for this yet.” They took their Bibles and did not cause any problems. They then said, “We will see you around.”

Everyone else who stayed was being showered with lots of love from the church. Frankie then spoke to his grandparents and said, “I have finally made peace with God for what happened to my mom and dad. I am not mad at God anymore.” Frankie then came over to me and hugged me for nearly 10 minutes in front of everybody. He was not embarrassed at all and continued to cry while God was healing his heart before everybody. It was beautiful how this all came about.

Frankie’s grandpa came up and asked, “I see you supplied breakfast burritos to all these men.”

I explained to him that the food is supplied by Blue Mustang and prepared by my friends. I just bring it to the gangs.

His grandpa then said, “God bless that man.”

I was there several hours. I would continue to pray and talk about the Lord to all these men and parents. When their sons gave their hearts to Jesus Christ, the parents wanted to do the same thing. God gets the Glory and the Victory. I could do none of this without his help.

Trashcan to Grocery Cart Blessing

It is Saturday and my King had me go back to the King Soopers store in the ghetto. As I parked my pickup God told me to immediately get out of my pickup. I grabbed my Bible and just began walking. I had no idea where I was walking to. God then said, “Sonny, walk around the building.” There were two kids in the back. A boy and a girl were both sitting in two grocery carts. Two families were holding hands around those grocery carts praying. After the parents prayed the little boy Stephen asked to pray. His dad asked, “Are you sure you want to do that Stephen?”

Stephen said, “I have never prayed out loud before but I want to try it. I am going to start like you always do.” He paused for a moment then prayed, “Our Father who art in heaven please hear our prayer. We need a miracle. We are hungry and we need food. I am tired of eating food from the trashcan.” I immediately began crying as he said that. That just pierces ones heart when you see kids suffering like that. He continued praying and said, “I shouldn’t complain Lord because even in the trashcan you provided food for us to eat. I should not complain about that. But we still need a miracle because I need some cereal. I want some fresh milk. Could you please just answer our prayer. Father continue to help us walk by faith and not by sight. We have faith in you that you will provide in Jesus name. Amen!”

This prayer was made by a seven-year-old boy. Again, I am sure his parents are responsible for teaching him how to pray. His whole family knew how to pray. Stephen’s dad then spoke and said, “We are praying for a miracle but whatever your will is today just let it be done according to your will. We also ask this In Jesus’s name. Amen!”

Their little girl said, “My brother forgot that we were supposed to pray for cookies too.” I was about three car lengths from them when she finished praying.

One of the moms began praying and said “Whatever this man behind us has for us let us accept it with all of our hearts in Jesus name. Amen!”

What was interesting about this was her back was always toward me. She never looked at me once. But she knew that I was behind her. The Holy Spirit was prompting her. She turned around and said, “While I was praying the Holy Spirit said that there is a man standing behind me that is bringing you good news today.”

I said to myself, “That is God and that is exactly how he works.”

I replied, “First of all I want to thank the Lord for bringing me here today. Second, I want to thank God for Blue Mustang. He has a ministry to bless families just like you. He gives me money for the families but God brings me right to them. God knew your prayer even before you prayed it. He knew that you were going to be here even before you knew that you were coming here. He even knew that you would be praying over your kids in the grocery cart.”

Samuel said, “I climbed into the cart while we were praying because this is where I am supposed to be.”

I replied, “That is a powerful message. If I pray for the gang members inside my truck they will never hear me. I need to go into the park where they are at.”

Samuel then said, “You minister to gangs? Oh my goodness you are a brave man.”

I said, “It is only because of God that I am able to do this.”

Their little five year old girl then asked, “Did God tell Blue Mustang to buy us cookies.” I confirmed that it was true. She then replied, “I did not know that cars could talk.”

I said, “Blue Mustang is a man of God and we eat breakfast every Saturday morning with Terry Bird. We talk about the day. Then we pray for the coming events.”

She then said, “You meet with all the characters from Sesame Street. Is Terry Bird Big Bird’s little brother or big brother?”

I replied, “I think that he is his little brother.”

She then exclaimed, “Wow! Does he have yellow feathers too?” She then jumped out of the grocery cart into my arms where I held her and she soon fell asleep. These people were total strangers and I have never met them in my life.

Her dad then looked at me and said “She does not do that with total strangers.

His wife Martha then said, “He is not a stranger, he is part of the family of God.”

The manager then came out the back door. He had a grocery cart full of fruit they were going to throw away. The fruit was still good but it was just to the point where people wouldn’t buy it. He said “Joseph, this is your fruit. I have put it aside and this is the best stuff. The other stuff I had to throw away.”

The little girl then asked “Are there any cookies in there?”

The manager confirmed that there wasn’t. They immediately loaded the fruit into their van and came back.

One kid whose name is Isaac then asked, “How much money are we getting? Because mom said that we were going to be getting money for groceries.”

I replied, “Each family gets $140.” Isaac then covered his eyes and said, “We are millionaires.”

The manager overheard us talking and asked, “Who is Blue Mustang?”

This was a new manager as the old manager Jerome retired. I then explained to him everything about Blue Mustang.

The manager then said, “If he gives $140 to each family I am going to match that.” He then looked at the families and said “Why don’t you guys come into the store and buy some groceries? You buy whatever you need and what you want. From now on I will always make sure that you have food.”

Both families began crying after what the manager did for them. Their other little girl has not said anything to me but she came over and said, “I think that I love you. Could you be my uncle?”

I said, ” Yeah, that would be cool. What is your name?”

She replied, “My name is Susie Q”.

I repeated, “Susie Q.”

She said, “Yeah, they got my name from some song.” From then on she would not stop talking.

I then asked, “What is your favorite Bible verse?”

She replied, “Psalms 91. My grandma reads that one to me all the time.”

The families kids are being raised right even at that young age they are beginning to know the word of God. They knew how to stand in faith. They prayed in faith. They also knew that God was going to provide. One thing I’ve noticed about the people in the ghetto is they don’t have a lot, but with God they have everything. If I would’ve given one of them half of my breakfast sandwich I had this morning they would’ve been ecstatic to receive it. They are so thankful. If I would offer someone someplace else the same offer they would tell me I don’t need that.

Jerome left a legacy at that store to help families. God loves these people and he will bring.

Dumpster Blessing

It is Saturday and I began heading down to the King Soopers store in the ghetto. When I pulled into the parking lot I began looking around for the families. God then said, “Sonny, they are in the back.” I decided to park my pickup and just to walk back there with my Bible. When I arrived at the back of the store I noticed two families on their knees praying. They were real close to one of the dumpsters. You can tell that they had been picking some of the better fruit and vegetables out of the dumpsters. I continued listening to them pray and just waited until they were finished.

They prayed, “Lord we need food and we need groceries. We are starving and you are our provider. We rest everything on you.”

One of the small kids named Susie asked, “Mom, please ask God to give us some cereal because I want some cereal.”

The parents then continued praying and finally they said Amen. They then stood up and turned around and that is when they saw me. One family asked, “You must be a preacher because you have the word of God with you.”

I said, “Yes, I minister out on the streets.”

They then said, “You are definitely out on the streets. That’s where we are also.”

Susie then ran over to me and began hugging me. Nobody here knew me and I did not say anything else. She then said, “Thanks for being near by. We are praying for a miracle.”

I said, “You guys must be very hungry to be back here.”

They replied, “We have already dug out the good fruit and vegetables.”

As they finished explaining to me, the manager then came out and prayed with us. He then said, “From this day forth I am going to put all of the fruit in boxes so that you do not have to dig through the dumpsters.”

The manager realized he had not greeted me yet today and said, “Oh, Hi there Sonny!” The manager then walked back into the store.

Susie then said, “Could you pray for us because we need a miracle?” Both families were focused on receiving a miracle. I replied, “God is a God of miracles. He can shift things that nobody can shift. He has never left you. He hears your heart even before you speak. He knows all. Let me explain to you who God is. Do you really know him? We do not serve a little God but we serve a big God.”

The families then said, “Yes, we know God. We love him and we trust him. He told us to come back here to get the fruit that we needed and to wait for a miracle.” They already were waiting in the alley by a trashcan. They were going to wait there all day and do what ever it took.

I then said, “Well, let me tell you about Blue Mustang and the ministry that God has given him for families like you.” Of course Susie could not let that go. I explained to her that he got that nickname from the Latinos because he drives a Blue Mustang.

Susie then said, “Wow, that is so cool!” She figured it out quickly and I told her that she’s pretty smart. She then said, “Yes I know. It is all because of Jesus.”

I then asked the families if they’ve all been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Her older brother Samuel spoke up and said, “I have and I started speaking in tongues right away and it scared me and I ran out of church. My parents went out to get me and brought me back into the church. The pastor then asked me to close in prayer. When I did it I was speaking in tongues the entire time. I have no idea what I even said.”

I replied, “Samuel, that was beautiful. Jesus knew every word that you said.”

Samuel then said, “It is cool that you are here. Can I pray for you?”

I still have not given anybody any money or anything else up to this time.  We have just been talking. In this ministry God has warned me about people touching me. If someone who is demonic or has a demonic spirit in them touches me, it could transfer into my body. So I have to be very careful when someone touches me. The Holy Spirit confirmed that it would be okay for Samuel to pray for me. Samuel then found a box and brought it over by me so he could stand on it. He wanted to put his hand on top of my head. The minute he started praying he went off speaking in tongues. Samuel is really anointed. When Samuel said Amen he replied,” I do not know what I said but Jesus knows every word I spoke. It is exactly what you needed.”

I then asked Samuel if I could pray for him. I began praying for him and his family and the Holy Spirit took over and I began speaking in tongues over them. Samuel said,” I love it when other people speak in tongues because it is from heaven. That’s a heavenly language.”

One of the wives whose name was Rachel asked, “So Blue Mustang gives money to families to buy groceries.”

I confirmed that it was true.

She then said, “Do you want to see our grocery list?”

I told her that I was interested in seeing it. On that list was a loaf of bread, baloney, and cheese. That was everything on the list. I then asked, “You guys must like baloney.”

Rachel replied, “Not really but it is cheap.”

I then said, “Blue Mustang gives $140 for each family.” At that moment they all began crying.

Susie then spoke up and said, “That means we are getting cereal. Now I want to pray for you.”

She began praying for Blue Mustang that God would bless him 100 fold and bless me. She finished up by praying, “God do not let the world go hungry.” Man these kids sure do know how to pray. Their parents must be teaching them right.

The parents continued to cry because they were down to nothing. Both of the husbands work for the same company and it laid them off because they shut down completely and unemployment is running out. They were having difficulty finding jobs that would support their families. I then gave them the money and Susie asked me if I wanted to go shopping with her.

I told her that I would love to go shopping with her.

One of the girl employees came out of the door with some trash. She looked at the families and pointed at me. She asked, “Are you going to go grocery shopping now? Because I recognize that man there. That man brings miracles to this place.”

I reminded her that it was through Jesus Christ.

She then replied, “I know that!” She then invited us to come through her door to save us from walking around the store. She let us through the back of the store and grabbed a couple of carts for the families.

What was really cool about walking through the back of the store I spotted the rest of the teenagers holding hands in a circle. I feel that they were praying for us. We began shopping and Susie continued holding my hand. She would not let go the entire time.

Susie then said, “You know what is happening today, sure does help our faith. Mom always talks about having faith. She would say we need to walk by faith and not by sight.”

I then said, “You are right. This is all temporary what you are seeing. Jesus Christ is eternal.” I continue to talk with everybody as we shopped and we finally finished up. We went to check out. They started ringing up the bill for each family and when it came time to pay the teenage girls working there pull out their cards and paid for the groceries. They then looked at the families and said, “You can use that money for something else even if it is to get an ice cream cone.”

This store is amazing and I know it’s anointed but if you leave something in the back of your vehicle it will be gone before you could come back. Many times I come out of this store and I will notice guys eyeing my pickup. One guy once said, “Those are nice wheels. You should not leave it sitting here.”

I replied, “I know it is a temptation for you guys but Jesus Christ protects that truck. It is anointed by God.” You should see the expressions change on their faces. He then sheepishly replied, “I will see you around.” They then hightailed it out of there as fast as they could.”

I continued speaking with the families and reminded them that everything that happened today was from God. I am just Sonny.

Rachel then said, “No, you’re not just Sonny. You are a man of God.”

My King will be bringing me back to the ghetto.

Mom and Pop Store Blessing

It is Saturday and my King had me drive south of the ghetto. I arrived at what you would call the mom-and-pop grocery store. It looked like it has been here forever. God said to be here because there will be families. These families had been using a line of credit and the store will not let them proceed further.

I was sitting there and praying. There were only two cars in the parking lot. They belonged to the people who work there. Because of the size of the store I was beginning to wonder if anybody would show up. As usual God said, “Wait, they will be showing up.” So I continued to pray for these families that were going to show up. I then thanked God for the day. Soon I heard a knock on my passenger side door. I then looked in my mirror and I could see that there was a little girl standing there. I then climbed out of my pickup and went around to see what she wanted. When I made eye contact with her she said, “I just read what you have on your door. You have Isaiah 41:10 written on your door. My grandma has a plaque in her living room that has that verse on it.” She began quoting that scripture to me. She then said, “I just love that verse. Are you a preacher?”

I replied, “I minister to gangs on the streets.”

She then asked, “Can you come and pray for my parents? They need more faith.”

I told her that I would. I picked my Bible up off the seat of my pickup and brought it with me. She began walking me to the south side of the store. Her parents were sitting at a picnic table. They then asked, “Where did you go Susan?”

Susan began pointing and replied, “I saw this big monster truck over there and I wanted to go look at it. He had the scripture that grandma has in her living room on his pickup. He has Isaiah 41:10 on his pickup door. I then asked him to come here and pray with you because you need more faith.”

I then asked, “How can I pray for you guys?”

A mom reached into her purse and pulled up a piece of paper that was folded in half. She then handed it to me and said, “You can pray for that.” I knew that it was a grocery list without even opening it up. Instead of putting my hand on the list, I physically placed God’s word right on top of it. I began praying over it and the mom began to cry.

Her sister then came with her husband and two little boys. They asked, “Are you a minister? We need a miracle. We are barely making it. Right now we are living paycheck to paycheck. And sometimes we have moments like this where we cannot buy anything.”

I asked, “So both of you families are here for miracle to buy groceries? And now you don’t have any money.” I paused a bit, then said, “I want to tell you what God is doing through blue Mustang…”

One of her sons interrupted and asked, “You talk to a car! Why do you talk to a car?”

I said, “No, it’s a man. A gang called the “Latinos” gave him that nickname.” The little boy then replied, “Oh! so it’s a person that drives a blue Mustang?”

I then explained, “If God gives you a ministry and you don’t follow through with it then people won’t get blessed. I have found out that God will cause a ripple effect when you do what you are told.”

While I was talking to both families this huge 1964 Buick pulls up to us. An older couple climbed out of the car. They were the sisters parents. They said, “We stopped at both of your homes and you were not there.  We figured that you would be over here. We got our income tax back and we want to pay off your bill at the store. We know that you have a bill here and we want to pay it off.”

They then looked at me and asked, “Who is this man?”

I introduced myself and the little boy asked me to tell them about Blue Mustang. So I told them about who blue Mustang was. So the father then asked, “So Blue Mustang helps families who are hungry? He gives them money to buy groceries?”

I said, “Yes, that is why I am here.”

He then said, “These are my daughter’s. Sometimes we can help them and sometimes we cannot.”

Susan then asked, “How much are we getting blessed with?”

I replied,  “I give $140 to each family so they can buy groceries.” Both husbands started crying after I said this.

Susie exclaimed, “That means that I get to have cereal. I have been craving cereal all week long.”

One of the husbands whose name was Ishmael said, “I want to pray for Blue Mustang.” He began praying for Blue Mustang and his family. He then immediately began praying for me and the ministry that God gave me. He then prayed for his father-in-law still standing by me.

The mom said, “If Blue Mustang has a ministry like that, God is going to bless him a thousand fold.”

These people understand the blessings of God. I said, “He does it to bless other people.”

She replied, “That is true. But God sees his heart and it is beautiful.” She then prayed that God would bless Blue Mustang a thousand fold before May 7.” This is the first time I ever had somebody pray with the date in it. I then handed them the money and they began crying.

One of the other little girls then asked, “So does that mean we get to have groceries today.”

I confirmed that it was so.

She then said, “Thank you Lord and thank you Blue Mustang.” She then asked, “Do you know anybody else who has cool names?”

I replied, “Yes, there’s Terry Bird.”

She then exclaimed, “Is he related to Big Bird?”

I played along with her and said, “Yes.”

Their dad went inside to pay the bill.

The gentleman that owned the store said,  “Their bill is already paid off. I received my income tax money and God told me to invest it in families. I picked seven families to cancel their bills. Yours was one of them.”

The sisters dad then asked, “How much money did my daughter’s owe?”

The owner replied, “Between both of them they owed about $150.”

This was not a lot, but how many stores would give you any credit? The families were even more amazed that God took care of their bill. God is faithful.

Susan said, “I am going to go get the cereal.” After the families picked up the groceries they wanted we went to check out. The owner of the store began praying out loud for the families and their parents.

After we left the store we headed back to my pickup. I noticed three homeless guys standing around it. One of them looked at me and asked what does that verse say on the door?”

Before I could say a word, Susan began quoting the verse Isaiah 41:10 to them. She then asked, “Are you guys hungry?”

They confirmed they were. Immediately Susan reached into their grocery bag and pulled out the loaf of bread, peanut butter and jelly. I put my tailgate down and she climbed up on it and began making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The parents did nothing to stop her because they knew God well enough that it was only right to help them out. The parents stepped right in and started pouring them something to drink. They all realized the importance of giving to others.

The families were praying for a miracle and not only got blessed by Blue Mustang but the owner of the store paid off their credit so that their parents would not have to. They showed me their grocery list at the end and they only had three items on it. One small mustard, one small mayonnaise, baloney and bread. That was all they were planning on getting. Even with that small list that was impossible for them to pull off. They did not feel it was right to put more stuff on credit at this store. That is the reason why they were praying for a miracle.

The owner himself shared with me that there were 15 other people in the store who had credit. He said, “This Christmas I am going to bless them with gift cards so they can continue shopping here.” The owner definitely had a heart for people. I know that God will send me  wherever families are praying even if it is at a Mom and Pop store.

Grocery Cart Anointing

It was a cold Saturday morning and I headed towards the ghetto after I had breakfast with Blue Mustang. I drove by a park in the ghetto area and I noticed this family that was praying. What was unusual about this was that they were praying by a King Soopers grocery cart. I noticed that only one family was praying. My King knew that I was puzzled and I was getting ready to go over and talk to them. God said, “Sonny, just wait to see what happens.”

I was beginning to think that wasn’t the family because God always has been bringing two families to me. So I continued to wait as my King instructed. The weather was still cold outside and I checked the time and it was 10:45 AM. I then noticed a van pull up by the family. A family of four got out of the van. They too started walking towards the grocery cart. The wife began reaching into her purse and pulled out this little bottle. I focused in on the bottle and finally made out that it was anointing oil. I began to realize that family went back to get a bottle of anointing oil. It appeared to me that the other family was waiting for someone to show up. They took that bottle of anointing oil and began to anoint that King Soopers grocery cart. Both families were looking for a miracle and that was the reason why they anointed that cart. They were then going to push that cart all the way back to King Soopers which was two blocks away.

I begin to think to myself who in the world would ever anoint a grocery cart unless you were really desperate. They would definitely have to be seeking a miracle from God. I found out later that God asked them to anoint that cart. I am sure that they did not go to the store and bring the cart to the park. Many times people who do not have cars will take the cart to deliver their groceries directly to their home. It is work to take them back so they just abandon them in the neighborhood. That cart was left near where they lived. I also know that whenever you anoint something that it will affect anybody who will happen to use that grocery cart.

After they finished anointing the cart, both families circled around the cart and began praying. My curiosity got the best of me. I said to myself that I want to hear what they are praying. So I quickly got out of my pickup with my Bible in hand and I walked towards them. God sometimes tells me to wait and let them finished praying but he was silent on this one. When I was close enough to hear, I slowed my pace to listen to what they were praying. They were thanking God for the meat and the bread. A little girl then spoke up and thanked God for the milk and cookies. They were thanking God for everything that was going into that empty cart. These guys had strong hearts and they definitely know how to pray. When I couldn’t get any closer, I just stood there to finish listening. They finally said “Amen” then the little girl looks toward me and said, “Well, Hi there stranger.” I responded back then she said, “My name is Sylvia.” I told her my name is Sonny. Sylvia then replied, “Are you a preacher?”

I said, “Only when I am awake. When I am asleep I have to rest.” Everyone in the families began laughing. I then asked, “How did this all come about?”

They replied, “In order for us to receive a miracle, we had to anoint everything about it. We anointed the prayer we made and we anointed the cart. We even anointed the food that’s not even in there yet.” These families were strong believers but they were waiting for a miracle.

They then asked, “How can we help you?”

I said, “Actually, I am here to help you. I noticed that you were standing around this grocery cart. I also notice that when the van pulled up with the anointing oil that you used on the grocery cart then you prayed over it. Why did you guys anoint that cart?”

One of the mom’s said, “So you been watching us for a while.”

I said, “Yes, I came here because of Blue Mustang wanting to bless two families.”

Before I could finish my thought, their six-year-old boy said, “But that’s a car! You came here just because of a car.”

I said, “No, Blue Mustang is a man. He got that nickname from the “Latino” gang from San Jose, California. They call him that because he drives a Blue Mustang.”

The six-year-old then exclaimed, “Well, that makes sense!”

I then continued, “God give him a heart to bless families like you. He gives $140 per family. God chooses two families every time. You guys are the two families. You prayed that God would fill this grocery cart up with groceries. He has answered your prayer.” I then handed each family $140.

Boy, you should hear them shout out “Glory to God” in that African-American style. They also said “Hallelujah” and began dancing. They did not pay any attention to who was looking as they were praising and giving Glory to God. This celebration went on for several minutes. When they finally stopped, I said, “God gave Blue Mustang a heart for this ministry for families who are hurting and need food. He has a heart for God’s Kingdom.”

When I said that one of the husband exclaimed, “That is my daily prayer that God would give me a heart for his Kingdom while I am still in this world.”

I then said, “Practice Matthew 6:33. When you seek God’s kingdom just like you are doing, he will give you that heart. He has showed you that He is faithful. Look at what just happened.”

Sylvia was getting impatient and asked, “Can we go buy groceries now because I am hungry? I need some cereal.”

Before they went shopping, they anointed the money and prayed over it. They then prayed over Blue Mustang and his family. Sylvia looked over at me and asked, “Are you going with us?”

I replied, “Yes, I would like to go. We can put that grocery cart in the back of my pickup so that you guys will not have to push it to the store.”

They replied, “That sounds like a good deal to us.” As they lifted the grocery cart into the back of my pickup, they noticed the speakers I had in the box. They asked, “Are those speakers in the back of your truck?”

I said, “Yes, I minister to gangs and the music brings the gangs to me. God knew this and had me set my pickup like this. Blue Mustang supported that to. He also buys the food that I then take to other people who prepare it. I then take the burritos or whatever else God has me pickup to the gangs.”

They then asked me if I worked and I told them I do. They thought it was pretty amazing that I could do this and still work. I told them to remember that God is amazing. Sylvia interjected, “Blue Mustang was amazing too because we are going to eat today.” Her five year old brother then said, “I want to be Blue Mustang because that is so cool.”

Realize that God can make us more efficient. We can still work and serve him. Many times we do things that are not productive and that time could be better used to serve God. Paul, one of the dads, and all four kids wanted to come with me in the monster truck to go to the grocery store. I started playing “Amazing Grace” on the sound system. Paul then said, “I don’t know if you’ve ever listened to Glenn Miller. I just love that type of big band music.” I did not say a word. I just got onto my phone and quickly switched the music to Glenn Miller. He looked at me and said, “You must play this quite a bit.”

I replied, “This is also my kind of music. I love Glenn Miller, Ardis Shaw and all those other big bands. But when I go to the gangs they hear a lot of boom. That is what brings them to me. So my pickup compliments a lot of base with the subwoofers. This all attracts those gang members to come to me. Like I said earlier, God orchestrated all of this on how to set up my pickup.”

Paul said, “You are a brave man. I need to pray for you.” So the families anointed and prayed over me.

Sylvia then asked for a note pad. Her mom gave her one with and pen. It looked like she tried to write something down but paused and said, “I do not know how to write down Blue Mustang.”

Her mom spelled it out for her and she tried to write down the letters. She then drew a car on the paper. She then said, “We need to anoint him. Can we we do it on the paper?” I started to cry as I began to see what she was trying to do. We then anointed Blue Mustang. We then entered King Soopers and began walking the aisles. I looked at Sylvia and asked, “What do you think about all this?”

Sylvia responded, “I have learned that God answers prayer.”

The other little girl asked, “Does God answer prayers every time?”

Her mom answered, “It is all in God’s timing. He answers prayer. It is for His Glory and not for ours.”

Sylvia then took off and immediately ran to the cereal aisle. She selected a box of Captain Crunch cereal. Sylvia said, “I love Captain Crunch cereal.” We continued shopping and went through the entire store but I never saw Jerome the store manager. The employees told me that he was on vacation. The girls working at the store secretly came up to me and and said that they were going to give each family $100 gift cards for food. The girls at work here are definitely very giving. They have lived in this ghetto area long enough to know what it’s like to be hurting. Finally everybody filled their shopping cart.

As they got into the checkout line to pay, it seemed like the entire staff came together and gave each family a $100 gift card. They said this is from us to bless you. The families began to cry when they experience that wonderful second blessing.

Sylvia fell in love with the girl that handed out the gift cards. She grabbed hold of her and gave her a big hug and started talking with her. She wanted to know her schedule so she could come by and see her again. Before Sylvia let go, she prayed for everybody from that store that was there. The way she prayed I feel someday she’s going to become an evangelist.

This all started when they anointed that grocery cart and having the faith that God would supply the food to put inside it. The anointing did not stop here. They continued by anointing me, the money and Blue Mustang via a sheet of paper. In the end they had enough of a blessing that they could go home and have cheeseburgers tonight. They still have money left over when they checked out.

The assistant manager came out and said, “Before you leave, meet me at the gas pump to fill up your cars.”

The families replied, “We only brought one vehicle the other one is at home.”

The manager then said, “Go home and get it and I will fill it up to.” The manager waited there at the pumps until they got back with the other vehicle to fill it.

Again they replied, “In order for us to receive a miracle we had to anoint everything about it. We anointed the prayer we made and we anointed the cart. We even anointed the food that’s not even in there yet.” These families were strong believers but they were waiting for a miracle.

There is more to this story that happened as we walked out of the store. I was still talking to the families when nine young men walk by carrying two basketballs. They were carrying something else but I could not tell what it was. It looked like it was made out of plastic and duct tape. They recognized the families but had no idea who I was. They felt like I might be harassing these families and began to threaten me. They said, “If this guy is bothering you, we will get rid of him for you even if we have to carry him out and throw him away.”

The families replied, “No, but he is actually blessing us. We did not have anything to eat and he has changed this.”

The families began to explain to me who these boys were and they liked to play basketball. The manager of the store will loan them his basketballs from time to time. If not, they were using newspaper wrapped in duct tape for their ball. They could not afford to buy a basketball of their own. I looked at the boys and asked, “Are you boys hungry?” They confirmed that they were. I then said, “I have breakfast burritos, cookies, and granola bars.” I set up all the food on the picnic tables there at the park and served them.

I then said, “You boys just stay here. I will be right back.” I headed down to the Walmart store to pick up some basketballs. I was going to pick up four basketballs for these guys. The manager of the store when he figured out what I was up to brought out 10 more basketballs. He said I am going to pay for 10 balls and you pay for the other four. I then load them up out in my pickup and I headed back to the park. I had food for them in my pickup. When I met up with these guys I told him that I had food for them to eat. They were excited about getting something to eat. I did not tell him about the balls right away. After they ate I went over to the passenger side of my pickup and opened the door. I said I need some help over here. One of the guys came over and looked inside my pickup and saw all the basketballs. He said man look at all them basketballs. Yeah I need them I said I need you to get them out here they are for you guys. They were so excited I swear they thought I was giving them $1 million dollars. I threw some of them out myself towards them. I was totally amazed on how well they could shoot. They were really excited at being able to play with real basketballs. There was an older couple who was watching while this was all going on and they came out. They shared, “We are on a fixed income and have been trying to save up so that we could get you guys some basketballs. Maybe we can get you some shoes instead.”

The boys were really excited about that. Even though it was cold they said, “Sonny we want to ride in the back of your truck.” So some of them just jumped in the cab with me and the rest of them climbed in the back. We went to one of those Famous Footwear stores and picked them up some shoes. The old couple bought five pairs and I bought the other four. We then went back to the park where are they played with their new basketballs and new shoes. Boy were they having fun.

During the following week the boys called me and thank me for the blessings I gave them. They said, “At first there were only nine of us playing basketball but we got more boys together because of the extra basketballs you gave us. Now there are twenty-four of us. Boy, basketball is fun now that we have teams and real basketballs to play with. Because of what you have done, we are now going back to youth group and getting actively involved in church again.”

Before they met me the nine boys were playing basketball using a branch as a hoop. Somebody went in there and built them a court. I am betting that God had something to do with it. They put in four basketball hoops. Even the surface was replaced with a nice slab of concrete. The boys said, “We came here to play basketball one day and there were 30 guys here working to put all this stuff in.” The boys continued telling me what they’ve been up to. They have been witnessing to other teenagers in the area. The Holy Spirit has given them courage to go out even at night. Because of the danger in the streets at night, they used to be afraid to go out after dark. But now they pray with people and have given 110 homeless people blankets. He then said,” When it was cold that week the homeless were freezing out there. We took them hot cocoa and hot cider to warm them up. We just kept driving around searching for people who were in need.”

It is cool how God has been using these nine boys who rededicated their lives to Jesus Christ. I have learned that any circumstance that happens in my life and here I get a chance to meet different people, I continue to share Jesus Christ with them and love them. Showing love and kindness to people has the potential of changing their world by bringing them into God’s Kingdom. That is one thing that Jesus commanded us to do – is go out to talk about him and bring them into His Kingdom. Boy, it sure is fun watching God work.