[written by Thomas Wensil and Michael Sanders]
"Believe, the journey continues…" As I was getting my quiet time in this morning, these were the words that God spoke into my heart.
A year ago we found ourselves living life in a strange and unfamiliar place. We were sleeping on the floor of a worn out old night club and we found ourselves rough housing with boys off the streets of Los Pinos. A year later and we have been reunited in this unforeseen place.
What is it that brought us back?
A hopeless cause. An impossible mission.
"You can take a kid out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of the kid." Tony wondered if that may be the very statement that God seeks to prove wrong through this ministry. He has managed to get these kids off the streets and free from alcohol and drug addictions, but now there is an even greater task at hand… getting them free from generational sins and psychological damage. There are learned destructive behaviors that may take years to overcome.
"But take heart! I have overcome the world."
After being gone for so long, coming back seemed to be an overwhelming feat. The restlessness of moving around seemed to have taken hold and the distance that had taken hold made one question if the work that had been done in the past would even be remembered.
One may be the loneliest number, but it is also all it takes to spark hope!
One smile, one memory and one simple act. These are the things that brought back a flood of emotions. These are the things that made the journey possible and these are the things that we will continue to partner with Zion's Gate to support them with the hope that all things are possible!
There is always work to be done here. There is always progress being made with the teens and on this property. As I write this there are kids attending classes, the older boys are working on construction projects on the property, and a team of 11 from a church in North Carolina are busy cleaning, painting and pouring out love on the children. Tomorrow another group of 26 young adults will be arriving here, and will spend the next 3 months discipling these kids and furthering projects on the property.
That is what brought us back.
A hopeful cause. A possible mission.
God is the one who brings hope to the hopeless and makes all things possible. He sends people like Tony Deien to places like this. Places the world has given up on. Places that are dangerous, and difficult. Places that cost you your life. Thank God for Tony Deien, his family, and the missionaries who continually make sacrifices to bring about life in a place like this.
