My Testimony: Terror By Day

On Wednesday, July 21, at 8:15am, the store in which I work, 7-Eleven, was robbed…and I was there to witness every horrifying minute of it. Before the craziness ensued, it was just a regular day on the job. I had just finished dealing with a long line of customers that satisfied their fix for coffee and other things, and I had turned my attention to organizing some of the grill products. I let my coworker take over on the register for a while because of course, I can’t be in two places at once. I started to hear some loud voices, but I thought it was just another disgruntled, impatient customer. All of a sudden, I hear something that I didn’t anticipate at all: a GUNSHOT! I saw the gun, and I did what any unarmed man that feared for his life would do, and that is DUCK! The gunman yelled out, “Give me the m.f’ing money” several times while my coworker was shuffling through both of our registers, naturally scared, shocked and confused. There were four or five customers in the store at the time in various areas. One hid in the bathroom, another ran towards the coffee bar, and I saw one ducking on the ground near me. One customer who sits by the window almost every day saw the whole incident from beginning to end and was telling my coworker to give the robber the money along with the rest of us. After the robber got away with the money, I immediately called 911 and shortly, the police showed up and our store became known as the “crime scene”. For about three hours, witnesses including myself, my coworker and two customers were questioned about everything from the robber’s physical description to exactly how much money was stolen. I even got a call from the Washington Post and a reporter from a public access station even showed up to the store to get “the scoop”. After all the questioning and investigating, the head detective said that he would come back when the manager was able to open the office to look at the surveillance tape. Soon, it was back to business as usual. As Erykah
Badu once said, what a day.


When I saw that gun and heard that shot, I did feel a sense of fear because I knew that any one of us could’ve been the recipient of the next bullet. I realize that it was nothing but the Holy Spirit that protected all of us during the five minutes in which we were under siege. I see the bullet hole in the ceiling now and I consider it a symbol of God being our shield and His angels encamping around us. I thank God for giving me the wisdom to remember our store’s policy for what to do during and after a robbery. For many years, I heard about convenience stores being robbed, and I was arrogant enough to actually think that it would never happen while I was in one. That thinking is abolished now, and I understand that because of our sinful hearts, we are capable of doing things that have the potential to destroy ourselves and others around us. I am forever grateful to the customers that were with us during the incident, not because of the danger that surrounded them, but because they were able to share the evidence that was necessary to bring justice to this situation. They were also very encouraging and helped me to laugh, which might’ve taken longer if they were not present. To everyone that prayed for me and checked to see if I was okay, I appreciate you and I love you forever. I can say that the scripture that I kept meditating on the whole day was Matthew 10:28, which says, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill the body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in Hell”. This situation has helped me to be more cautious at work by paying more attention to my surroundings and making sure that not much money is kept in our registers. I am working towards being more compassionate and patient, even with the most demanding people. I make it a point to laugh as much as possible nowadays. For a while, I felt like I was being weighed down by expectations brought on by being one of the only employees at my store that spoke fluent English, but after this incident as well as my week at Teen Camp, I’m learning how to be content in the place that God has currently put me in until He leads me somewhere else. Now more than ever, I’m looking forward to fulfilling my call as a Youth Pastor and leading teenagers closer to Christ. I encourage everyone that reads this to remember that no weapon formed against you shall prosper, literal or spiritual. Please pray for all of those who are lost and have to resort to robbery. May the Lord draw them towards Himself so that they know they are forgiven. I sincerely hope that you are all blessed by reading my testimony, for it would’ve been wrong of me to take the glory away from God by keeping this concealed. Grace and peace, brothers and sisters!