– In 2011, when Pastor Gustavo Banda planted a church in Scorpion Canyon, on the border with Mexico, with the United States, he did not imagine that his congregation would become a refuge for thousands of immigrants.
According to Guiame.com, it all started when Gustavo and his wife Zaida Guillén, they moved to the slum, where no one wanted to beten kilometers from Tijuana.
He comments that “it was a clear mandate from God to move here, even though I there was absolutely nothing in this placethe pastor told CBN News.
“Working eight months, and day and nightwe knew that God was going to do something specialbut no one had any idea what was really going to happen,” he added.
Planting a church in a forgotten place
Obeying the voice of the lord, the couple built the temple Ambassadors of the Church of Jesusoryesin the center of Scorpion Canyon.
There were no paved streets or sewers in the neighborhood. The hillside is littered with trash, and crime is high.
“When we first moved here, there were only cows, horses, chickens and people with many needsBanda said.
He and his wife began Sunday services at the new church, and the rest of the week they traveled rough roads, ministering to those in need, from house to house.
“We share the love of Jesus with them. It was a mandate from God, that we have to go to the poor”, says Gustavo.
Opening the door to immigrants
In 2016, more than 20,000 Haitians arrived in the city of Tijuana, fleeing povertyand natural disasters in their home country, and the church, ambassadors of christ, became a refuge for immigrants. “I never imagined that there were so many people in the church,” the leader commented.
Since then, his church has opened its doors to help refugees from different parts of the world.
“It started with migrants from Haiti, Africa, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Today we mainly have people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia, and some from Mexico. We estimate that some 35,000 people have passed through the church,” said Gustavo.
Today the church houses 1,200 people, who are at the borderhoping to legally enter the US, and start a new life.
help those in need
“We feed him 3 times a day. We try to help you with all your needs. At night the whole church turns into one big giant bedroom, where everyone makes their beds on the floorand sometimes, there is not even space to walk”, pointed out the pastor.
A team of church volunteers provide education for the children, and offer computer courses, which prepare immigrants to enter the United States.
“The most important thing, that migrants should know when they arrive here, there is hopeand although they have left their families behind, all of us who are here have become family,” he said.
And he concluded: “I don’t have the numbers, but years ago we baptized many, and many are giving themselves to Jesus”.
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