One of the exciting new ministries of the Reformed Presbyterian Church here in Tijuana is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Terrazas del Valle. The center is called "Forjando Nuevos Destinos" (Forging New Destinies) and shares the property with the "Dios Viviente" (Living God) Church. The program started just over a year ago when several men in one of our churches, "Cristo Arca de Salvacion" (Christ the Ark of Salvacion) who themselves had been helped to break drug and alcohol problems through rehab centers had the desire to start a rehab program. They approached the pastor, Armando Ponce, with their burden to help others find freedom from drugs and alcohol by the power of God. The Director of the center is Carlos Vasquez.
They started with a small building and a handful of guys. The center quickly grew to ten, then more, and now they are ministering to over 40 men and boys. These men sign up for a 3 month program. The first step is the detoxification center where they are kept until their body completes the withdrawal stage and they are no longer violent. In stage two they stay in one of the dormitories, locked at night, and begin working on the compound. By stage three they are given more privileges, and some even go out of the center during the day to work. Many of the men decide to stay longer than the required three months, some do not feel strong enough to face the pressure on the outside, and others feel a desire to keep learning and growing in their faith and to help the new comers.
Their families are supposed to pay about $20 a week to cover food and other costs, but the reality is that many families do not have the money or no longer have any contact with the person in the center. The center is run on a very small budget.
The men attend two Bible Studies a day, sometimes in the mornings they attend a small group inductive Bible Study using the Bible League Project Phillip materials and other similar studies, and in the evenings they have a worship service. It is very impressive to hear these guys sing, and follow along (out loud) in their Bibles with the preacher. They are very enthusiastic!
There are also some young boys and teens at the rehab center. The government agency DIF (like Child Protection Services) has been to the center and has allowed them to stay. I would be great in the future to have a separate facility. So many children and young teens here have problems with sniffing glue, and then go on to use other drugs.
One of our work groups this past summer, Rusk CRC from Zeeland Michigan, helped to build bunk beds in one of the dormitories, and to put plywood on the walls. Another group from Hillcrest CRC in Hudsonville, Michigan held an eye clinic at the center during the day, seeing almost 150 people, and then the youth performed a great evangelistic puppet show at night for the guys at the center and the community in Terrazas. We were also at the center last week with a neighbor of ours, Chema, who makes plaster figures that are sold at the border to tourists. He went with us for a day to the center to teach some of the men how to make plaster wall placks with scripture verses on them, so that the men at the center can make, paint, and sell them to help with their operating costs.
If you would like to see more pictures from the Rehab center, click on the link to Forjando Nuevos Destinos on the right hand side of the page.
