Our Success Stories

Born in 1967 in Bakersfield, David Ramirez’s earliest recollections placed him in gang membership as young as 8 years old when he began using PCP. The gang life was something he feels he was born into which gave him a strong sense of identity and belong-ing. His fellow gang members loved him and valued him in a way that a natural mother and father would have. They took care of each other, protecting one another, and the camaraderie was addicting.

At the age of 11 he was convicted of using and selling PCP and was sentenced to 6 months in Camp Owens. No sooner had he been released from Camp Owens than he was convicted of strong armed robbery, and during the arrest David had shot a police officer. While being apprehended for the robbery, David was shot in the hand when the gun he was using was thrown out the window of the car and backfired when it hit the ground.

After spending 10 years in prison, David got his first job working for a construction company remodeling houses even though he was still living the gang life. During that time he was gaining respect and a leader-ship position among members of the Mexican Mafia. One day as walked into a home that he and his boss were working on, he heard voices in the back room. He found his boss naked and being held at gun point. It was a drug deal that had gone wrong. The assailant, armed with a 357 Magnum, demanded that he take his clothes off. When David refused, he was shot in the in chest three times and also shattered his forearm. The injury left his arm paralyzed for the next 2 years resulting in several corrective surgeries.

After all this David was still unwilling to turn his life around, and God was nowhere in the picture. His only allegiance was to his gang family. As he gained influence among gang leadership, he was put in charge of more of the so called “political decisions.” Time went on and David was given more status and power over other people’s lives. He was beginning to be in a position to show favor or disfavor, to help or hurt, to kill or let live.

Unexpectedly a nine-year-old boy who had been abandoned by his mother who was a prostitute began to soften David’s heart.

He noticed desperation and vulnerability in the boy’s life. He remembered when he was 9 years old, when as a young gang banger, his life had taken such a drastic and dangerous course. The boy began to call him dad, which began having a profound effect.

David says, “God began working through that little boy. My heart was so broken. I felt that God had stripped me of all my power and pride. I bowed my head and wept while asking Jesus Christ to be my Savior.”

David has been clean and sober for 1½ years. He currently volunteers at The Hope Center and has become a faithful friend and man of God. Bullets couldn’t stop him, but the love of Christ did when He sent a little boy into his life.