Redeeming Blood, Not Gang Blood
CBN.com Violence was a way of life for Jack Hakimian. He grew up in the tough neighborhoods of Los Angeles where his role models were gang members.
“He pulled out that gun and began to cap on these enemies, these Crips,” Jack said. “And I realized, ‘OK, if you want respect, if you want power, if you want influence on a high school street level, then you’ve got to put in your work.’”
Jack joined the infamous L.A. Bloods, but he quickly found out the streets never delivered what they promised.
“I had been arrested twice for selling cocaine,” he said. “I had almost been killed several times. I had been betrayed by other Bloods.”
The more Jack got involved in the gang, the more he learned the rhythm of streets.
“The more violence you do, the more things you steal, the more money you make - the more stripes you get. So for me, I was just trying to get more stripes to get more recognition,” he said.
And danger was never too far behind. Jack remembers the day he and a friend were confronted by rival gang members.
“You could see their frenzy,” Jack said. “They’re out the window with sawed off shot guns ready to kill me. I see them coming and so I began to run through the parking lot. And they’re literally chasing me, but of course, they’re about 50 yards away from me. At this point I am trying to climb the fence, but I can’t get up. I felt their hands on my back. I heard them say, ‘Come here you slob.’ All I hear is, ‘We’re going to kill you, you slob.’ And then I black out. Three, four hours later, I wake up. I’m in the paramedics.”
Still Jack remained loyal to the Bloods. It was only when he started seeing his friends die that he realized he had to change.
“I remember being alone in the room and praying, without even knowing I was praying, that maybe God would help me and protect me,” he said. “And that’s part of why I got this cross on my fist, as you can see, because I always saw this religious symbol of the cross as one of protection.”
One day, Jack was pulled over for tailgating and arrested. He was sentenced to six months for violating his parole.
“It was just that reality that, ‘Here I am in the Blood module with these men who literally looked like Satan embodied in the flesh.’ You could see them calculating; what are they going to take from you? Are they going to take your money? They’re going to take your body? They’re going to take your dignity so they can have more stripes?” Jack said. “And I remember looking up in the concrete room, ceiling and just beginning to cry. I said, ‘God, if you’re real – Jesus, if you’re real, I don’t know who you are – Jesus.’ I just knew to say ‘Jesus, if you’re real, help me. Please help me.’”
Two hours later, Jack was transferred to another unit. A pastor gave him a Bible, which he began to read.
“And I’m telling you, the Word of God was just jumping out and speaking to me,” Jack said. “Jesus showed up and began to help me. One of the first things that he did was he began to pour out his peace into my heart, into my life; and this peace started from the inside.”
Over the next six months, Jack made a sincere commitment to turn his life around.
“God confronted me and I just broke down and I began to cry and I began to weep and I just made that commitment to Jesus that, ‘Man, Lord, I need to walk with you,’” Jack said.
But, when Jack was released from jail he started hanging out with the gang again. Then one day, he had to make a choice to stand for God when the gang leader told his followers to kill their rivals.
“This fire came into my heart because I realized what he was saying and it was basically destructive,” Jack said. I said, ‘You know, God would not be happy.’ He said, ‘Well, I’m going to show you who God is.’ And he went into the other room and he got his 12-gauge sawed off shotgun and came back outside and to the living room. I just reached out my hands to him. I said, ‘I’m just giving this advice because I don’t want them to go to hell. I don’t want them to spend life in prison. I don’t want people to die unnecessarily.’ At that point he just said, ‘Look man, I want you to leave right now.’ And I took his offer real quick.”
Jack left the gang for good that day and never looked back. Today, he is married with four sons and owns his own computer web design company.
“God has redeemed my life, I would say, in a holistic way,” he said. “It’s not just forgiveness. It’s not just peace; but it’s a beautiful wife and four beautiful boys.”
Jack knows he is now fighting a different battle, one that he is willing to lay down his life for - one with eternal significance.
“He will give you a new set of friends,” Jack said. “He’ll give you a whole new set of codes to live by and those codes won’t lead you to death and misery and pain; but will lead to joy, peace, and of course eternal life.”
