The gang member approached Pastor Shawn Wagner. He had tears in his eyes.

Earlier that day, December 19, 2009, Shawn had invited Edmundo to the first Rock N the Hood Gang Ministry outreach.

He began to confess all the bad things he had done, said Shawn. I shared the gospel with him. He got on his knees and accepted Jesus Christ into his life.

Other volunteers had similar stories to share from the large event held in Mid City Park in the City Heights area of San Diego, he said.

Shawn and his fellow 70 volunteers had arrived in mid-morning at the inner-city park. They noticed a few Hispanic gang members already there. Shawn introduced himself, spoke with some of them for about five minutes, and gave them his business card. He had no idea whether any of them would return for the outreach, which included music, 150 toys to give away, free food for nearly 400, and a gospel message.

The Gang Ministry, founded by Shawn and Pastor September Chaser, exists to reach, save, and mentor gang members of inner-city San Diego. Its outreach, Rock N the Hood, bridges the gap between the church/societyand San Diego's inner-city gang members by presenting reliable solutions to socio-economic, relational, and spiritual problems. It reaches gang members in a relevant way to build relationships, and then provide a path by which they can exit the gang lifestyle and discover the true purpose for their life.

He reported 37 people making a decision for Christ that day. When we did an Altar Call near the end of the outreach, many kids and families came forward to receive Christ. Please pray for Rock N the Hood Gang ministry as we are planning our next outreach already, said Shawn. 

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For information about the Gang Ministry, go to https://www.sdrock.com/ministries/gang/ or email gangch@sdrock.com.

Anita Palmer is part of Rock the Word: The Rock Church Writers Ministry. For information, go to https://www.sdrock.com/ministries/writers/ or contact writers@sdrock.com.