Zions Gate- 5 acres, 3 ramshackle buildings, 3 toilets that may or may not flush, 1outdoor laundry station, 2 ice cold showers, 6 chore lists, 3 dogs, 1 cat, 11 live-in street kids,1 married couple and 43 World Racer tents.
This month the whole squad is together, we're having a blast in our tents, figuring out unisex bathrooms and rotating ministry schedules. Zions Gate is a place that ministers to an extremely poor suburb called Los Pinos. Tony, Zions Gates fearless leader is a man who thrives on transparency, obedience and authenticity; he goes into Los Pinos everyday and ministers to the street kids. And when I say minister I don't mean bringing food, or clothes, I mean hanging out, talking and just general living life together. Almost all the kids know him, they flock to him, paint thinner in hand getting high and asking about all the gringos at his house. Some of these kids live in dirt floor houses with a family member some live behind dumpsters and some just live anywhere they can. They steal, lie and cheat their way into getting money for food and more drugs. Tony, either on his own or with a group of missionaries talks to them, plays soccer with them, sits with them in their house and chats, holds babies, builds bathrooms, paints houses and anything else you can think of. And every now and then a kid who's been hanging around and keeps hanging around gets asked to spend a day back at the property, a day to eat three free meals, do some small chores around the place, talk about God and think hard about whether or not they want to stay living the life that they have or if they want to abandon what they know and get clean, start going to school, start learning some responsibilities and live with Tony and his wife on the property. Tony makes it clear-it's their choice; you can leave whenever you want but if you choose to stay you have some rules to abide by. No drugs or alcohol, no stealing, there are chores to be done and school is a priority. This may sound simple to us, but it's really a tough choice for them. They have to give up everything they know for the unknown. And once they make the choice, a brand new season begins. It's a season of choices, are you going to fight for this new life? Fight against entitlement? Are you going to choose everyday to honor each other? Are you going to fight against addiction and peer pressure, from friends and family back on the streets? Are you going to fight against the voices in your own head saying you're not worth it? It's been humbling watching these boys walk through these issues this month. And so fun to watch some of them overcome some of these things and just act like typical punk teenage boys. They rough house and never stop eating, sass Tony in typical kid fashion-same as they would to a parent, show off, hang all over girls and complain about school. They join us in ministry each day which includes one of the following: going to the dump to be with the more than 2000 families living there, doing hard manual labor around the property, joining a pastor who heads up a nationwide soccer/leadership training program or going to Los Pinos.
My ministry looked different than the rest of the squad, I had the opportunity to go and meet to president of the Honduran congress and work with his staff. It has been an awesome chance to see another government in action and I even got asked to help out with a presidential campaign (and not just busy work…like involved in strategy meetings and putting on a nationwide rally!) almost every time I went I was accompanied by Herman. Herman has been my own personal 17 year old, bandanna wearing body guard, why do I need him you might ask; well it's not safe for me to be alone in a taxi or walking around the capitol…so I get Herman to protect me. But more importantly most meetings I attend Herman gets to be in too. Here's a kid that 8 months ago was getting high on paint thinner in one of the poorest communities in the country, stealing, lying and cheating with the best of them now getting to meet some of the most influential people in Honduras. Let that sink in…8 months ago he was living on the streets and never gave a second thought to what a future could hold and NOW he's sitting in on meetings with people so powerful they help shape a country. Talk about perspective. Here's the best part, Herman did such a great job helping out at the youth rallies that he has been asked to help out at the rest of the years rallies, getting to set up and help monitor the events and continuing to rub elbows with the influential and the powerful. I'm not sure where this could lead Herman, but God doesn't set up these types of opportunities for naught.
Zions Gate is full of stories and opportunities just like this, stories of young men like Herman figuring out life and figuring out their worth. Zions Gate is equally filled with missionaries who come for a week, a month, a year to figure out life and to figure out their worth. It’s been a great month of growth for me both personally and throughout ministry-can’t wait to see what Romania has in store.
