Pictured: Nayara Goncalves
Nayara Goncalves already experienced one of the "biggest moments" of her life: becoming a Christian.
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The second came last Friday, when the 20-year-old cell phone store manager put her good works to good use - persuading a would-be armed robber to put away his gun and leave her store in the name of the Lord.
Every moment of the more than five-minute exchange between a calm Goncalves and the nervous, unidentified robber was captured on a store surveillance camera.
The robber walked into a MetroPCS store in Pompano Beach, Fla., around 10 a.m on July 23, wearing a dark cap and jacket and holding an umbrella.
He exchanged pleasantries with Goncalves, asking whether she was keeping dry, then asked to see a phone.
Moments later, he reached into his coat, apparently showing her a gun. He apologized: "I really hate to do this. ... Don't be scared."
"I'm not scared," replied Goncalves, a devout Christian who was working alone. She calmly walked back to her cash register, telling the man, "You can do whatever you want, but I'm just going to talk to you about Jesus, my God, before you leave."
The man momentarily paused, and said, "God bless you for that."
Goncalves told him she is a Christian. He replied sheepishly, "So am I and I absolutely hate doing this. I do. I'm embarrassed to do this. But I have no choice."
He said he had attended Calvary Chapel.
"Calvary Chapel?" "Pastor Bob?" Goncalves asks, saying she had visited there.
Yes, the robber replies, "Pastor Bob."
"I'm so sorry to put you through this," he said.
WATCH: Clerk Talks Jesus, Foils Robbery
A Pompano Beach cellphone store manager uses Jesus to talk an armed robber out of heisting her store.
Click here to continue reading.
SOURCE: McClatchy Newspapers
James H. Burnett III
(Staff writers Mara Rudolph and Laura Morel contributed to this report.)
