CHAPTER 1

The Angel with the Whistle

When I was about nine years old, growing up in North Philadelphia, I lived in a neighborhood that was predominantly German and Irish; there just weren’t many Hispanic or African-American families. Every Saturday a few of my friends and I would go to Fairmount Park where the Philadelphia Museum of Art is—the one made famous in the Rocky movies. We would take our fishing rods down to the Schuylkill River where we tried to catch catfish.
I remember one particular day, about nine or so of my friends and I went fishing together. The group included Joey, Kevin, Louie, Barry and his brother Labell, my brother Mikey, two other guys who lived in our neighborhood—and me. We must have caught close to ten catfish, but instead of keeping them, we threw them back into the river. As we were fishing, fifteen or more other guys suddenly appeared out of nowhere, surrounding us and forcing us into a circle. They began to demand our money. These guys were ready to beat us up with their sticks, bats, and knives. They were probably from West Philadelphia, about a quarter of a mile from where we were.
They started asking us questions such as what gang we were from and where we lived. They had already taken all our money and our jewelry—and we were scared. We were in a remote place with no one around and no place for us to run. Suddenly, their leader looked straight at me and for no apparent reason said, “You get out of here!” He told me to run off before they started beating up the other guys. I started to do just that, but I stopped as I realized Mikey was still there. I told them Mikey was my brother.
“You two—run! Hurry up before we beat you down!”
Mikey and I didn’t wait for him to change his mind! We started running up the hill. The guys from the gang watched us go. Then they turned back around and started beating our other friends, even though my friend Louie—a strong, cocky guy—actually tried to pick these guys up and fight back! While Mikey and I were making our escape, we saw a police officer who seemed to appear out of nowhere. As we approached him, he started to blow his whistle. We told him that a gang of guys were beating up our friends. As he looked down the hill at what was going on, he blew his whistle three times.

What Man?

When the gang that was beating up on our friends heard the whistle, they stopped what they were doing and started to run away. The cop blew the whistle another three times, and that gang began to run even faster. While they ran off, my brother and I raced down the hill to help our friends who were lying on the ground after being beaten up. After asking them if they were all right, we turned around to look for the police officer—and he was nowhere in sight! I asked the rest of my friends what had happened to the police officer who had come down the hill with us.
“What police officer?” they asked, “We never saw one!” I explained that there was a police officer who had blown his whistle three times, and again, they told me they hadn’t seen anything of the sort.
Today I find myself asking this question: was that policeman—who appeared for a second and then disappeared—really an angel sent by God? Were my brother Mikey and I just seeing things? Did we just imagine that there was a man who looked and acted like a police officer? I don’t believe we imagined anything; I believe God was demonstrating His love that day by assigning an angel to protect us. We could have been seriously injured or even killed.
I thought about this experience frequently as I was growing up. I knew I had seen a police officer, but when I turned around to see if he was following me, he was gone. I didn’t see him again. No one else had seen him or heard the whistle. Today I am sure he was an angel sent by God to protect my brother and me. In just one of the many passages in the Bible concerning angels, Hebrews 13:1-2 declares this: “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”

An Angel Assigned to You!

Angels are real. As you read the Bible, you will come across many instances where angels were sent by God to minister to people; to give them divine messages; to warn, protect, and guide them; to work on their behalf—and on one occasion, to set them free from prison! God has assigned angels to us for our protection and benefit. The angels mentioned in the Bible really do exist—and I have evidence in my own life that they do!

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