Bienvenitos al jardin de refugio….PUERTA DE SION
Welcome to the garden of refuge…. GATE OF ZION
Gate of Zion
~our home for the month of July
~home to numerous boys and girls
~home to Tony and Lidia and their family
~place of hope and security
~home of second chances by the grace of Jesus' blood
~place where God's love is evident through his people every day
That is a quick glance at Gate of Zion. Tony is a man of God who, together with his wife, has a huge heart for the city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. They especially seek to show that love to the boys and girls of Los Pinos. These young people, some not even teens yet, have grown up on the streets, digging through dumpsters in order to eat, begging for money door to door and sniffing paint thinner to make it all go away. Paint thinner is theconly escape from a life that does not improve hour after hour, day after day.
Tony has offered them escape. He is not there so that they can escape the streets. He is not there to get them off of paint thinner. He is not there to offer a full stomach every day. Tony goes to the streets to offer them Jesus. These other things may be a side effect; but Tony is there to show them the love of a Savior who gave his life for them. A Savior who gives them hope and freedom. Jesus is freedom from their addictions. He is freedom from their shame. He is freedom from their sins. Jesus is freedom from all that holds them captive.
As a result of that freedom, several of these boys are off the streets. They are enrolled and attending school. They are shouting on the streets that Jesus has saved them. I have personally heard 2 of them give sermons on Sunday nights. They laugh and dance and run in the freedom they have found in Jesus. The possibilities are endless when found in the Spirit of the living God.
