In Honduras (Month 3), our entire squad spent the month of March living at Zion's Gate Ministries.
This ministry is owned by Tony Deien and his wife. For 5 years they've been ministering to a community outside Tegucigalpa called Los Pinos. This small village is rampant with drugs, crime, poverty, teen pregnancy, and abuse. The street kids living there are some of the most dangerous people you can encounter, and they aren't even 18 yet.
some of D squad during an afternoon of evangelism in Los Pinos.
*photo by Rose Huber
They started getting high at age 8,9,10. They steal from neighbors, commit violent acts in their community, and stay stoned for days at a time. These boys have parents– parents who are abusers, junkies, alcoholics, or simply absent. With the poor education system in Honduras, kids barely go to school anyways, and some have never learned to read.
And for some reason, all these "punks", as Tony calls them, are drawn to him. Tony meets them where they are– high, and stops to hold conversations with them. He invites them to help build an outhouse for the community, or paint a house. He buys them lunch. He asks them about their drug addictions. He shares with them the ideas of a different life.
Christopher doing laundry
Tony and his wife have opened their home to the street boys of Los Pinos. These kids come to Tony because they want a way out. These guys don't just want to get clean, they want a better life, a better education, a better reputation. Tony and his wife currently have 8 boys and 3 girls living with them most of the time. They fight for each one, helping them to find Christ, giving them discipline for the first time, and showing them responsibility and hope.
Ariel runs the pulperia, a store that serves as a snack bar for us missionaries. All the proceeds go towards fun activities/outings for the boys. *photo by Rose Huber
When they come into Tony's home their hearts begin to take new shape. Ariel smiles. Mario cares about his education. Carlos does chores with diligence and urgency. They take on life, responsibility, a cause– baking cookies (Fernando), running a store (Ariel) , growing a garden (Walter), learning English (Louis ). They rest in adolescence…finding joy and comfort in the things of childhood. Fernando, 12 years old, will sit on the couch with Tony and watch cartoons for hours.
Fernando and some friends play in one of the tree houses they built.
It's said that people who have suffered abuse have a higher chance of becoming abusers themselves. These kids are some of the greatest abusers. They have been through hell I haven't even seen in nightmares. They've been given an identity by the world and they claim it. When they come to live with Tony and his wife, they are smack in the middle of a spiritual war. Sitting on the edge of freedom, they can see the Kingdom Tony offers them– love, honor, privilege, inheritance, but they don't know what to do with it. They have lived their entire lives thus far as abusers, failures, misfits, criminals. They don't know how to live as the heirs of the Kingdom they have become.
Tony takes the big risks. He chooses to love these "punks" who barely comprehend love. He chooses to love "punks" who reject him day in and day out. He chooses to love these "punks" into their new identity. He calls them SONS.
Tony enrolled Carlos and Mario (pictured above), and Fernando in private tutoring to catch up on the years of schooling they've missed.
Christopher, Louis, Carlos, Rony with my squadmate Sammie Jo on our last day at Zion's Gate
These kids know Christ has a new identity for them, but for some young ones it seems to good to be true, and they panic. They go get high. They stop doing their homework. They don't take on the responsibilities given to them. They run away, back to Los Pinos. This happens to at least one of the teens every six months or so, a relapse that breaks Tony's heart.
Tony constantly gives, gives, gives. He gives these boys all his heart, trust, time, home, finances… He gives them a full inheritance. And each one at one time or another has taken it all and left.
Some return the next day, a week later, or even after a month. Most of the time when one of them runs away, he comes back, head hung low. With a sincere heart the boy will apologize for leaving, for returning to his old way of life, and ask to come home again. Tony will meet him where he is, and welcome him home with love and compassion.
Does this story sound familiar? In Luke, Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son. After sinning against his family and community by squandering his inheritance, he returns home, full of shame.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
"But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Tony lives out the parable of the prodigal son more times than I can count. And his love for these boys is infinite. It is a love that stretches to impossible heights and depths. It's a love stronger than death. And it covers a multitude of sins. It's a love that pours from the wellspring of life, and it never runs dry. Tony's secret is that this love is not his own. He gives the love he receives from the Father. Every morning he faces the day with a full cup. All day he pours out over these boys, fighting for them like a warrior in battle. When the day is over and his cup is empty, he lays down, exhausted…able to rest because he knows he has poured out all he has for each of his sons. And the next morning, he greets the day with his cup full again.
And surely enough these boys, seen by the world as dead, are being raised to life. This impossible feat is being overcome. Christ has given these boys victory, and Tony is showing them how to walk in it.
The name of the ministry, Zion's Gate, was prophetic word for Tony and his wife.
In Isaiah 60:11 it says concerning the city of Zion, "…your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut day or night…"
Christ greets all with open arms of mercy, ready to receive all who come to him, never rejecting sinners, but rather, beckoninig them into the Kingdom as sons and daughters.
To learn more about Zion's Gate Ministries or Sponsor one of the boys, check out the website at http://www.zionsgate.org/ (please note this website is currently under construction)
