I have a miracle that has happened in my life that I would like to share with you. In September 2000 at about midnight, I was sitting in a park in Chicago with Victor. Two young men approached us from behind with guns and put them to our heads. I stood up. A voice in my heart calmed me and told me not to fear, that we would be safe, but in my mind I thought that it must be wrong…this was it.
The two men demanded money and pistol-whipped Victor several times in the face and head. I thought he would have his glasses smashed and broken teeth and bones from how they were hitting him. One of them told me twice to lie on the ground, which I did not do. Instead I sat back down on the park bench.
The men became increasingly violent and at the moment I believed they were about to shoot Victor, I asked them not to hurt or kill him and tried to distract them by offering the camera I was carrying telling them it was very expensive and they could get a lot of money for it.I was thinking that they only way out of this is if someone else came along.
A few moments later, a man named Scott came riding by on a bike and the criminals told us not to say anything. I put my head down but made eye contact with Scott and sent a silent plea to him to help us. Then I put my hands down as if I was stopping a bike, and he stopped and asked what was going on.
At that moment, one of the men said “Kill them all”, and then there was a flash. I did not hear anything, but I thought a gun had gone off and I wasn’t sure if Victor or Scott were shot, so I turned my back and waited for my bullet because earlier I had thought in my mind that I wanted to share the same fate. But no shots had been fired.
After the flash, the criminals ran in one direction and Victor and I in another while Scott called 911. I could not run with the shoes I had on, so I took them off and ran across the street in my bare feet. While we were waiting for the police, Scott, who was wearing a St. Peter’s Cathedral T-shirt, said he has been protected by angels all his life. I was struck in my heart when I heard him say that because I had thought that too, so I asked him to repeat it to Victor. With the police, Scott, Victor, and I came back to the park minutes later to see what could be recovered.
Scott was determined that we find everything right away so the healing process could begin. We found everything except one of Victor’s lenses which had popped out while he was being pistol-whipped. Scott said he would return in the morning to look for Victor’s lens if it was not found that night, but we still searched for a few more minutes finally in my heart I said to God, I will get down on my knees, now please let me glorify you by finding the lens while I am on my knees. I knelt down and found the lens right in front of me. Scott did not know what I had thought in my mind, but he said as I held it up, “Praise, God”. Scott’s exclamation made me go weak.
