Another Special Life in Christ
These testimony lives are not stories of "role models". Jesus is the
role model!
These are lives wonderfully touched & changed by Jesus!
Sonny
Arguinzoni:
Sonny
Arguinzoni grew up on the mean streets of New York. At the age of 12 he ran with a gang and carried
a homemade gun. At 15 he was a hopeless heroin addict. He was incarcerated ten times for crimes
committed to support his habit, including hard time at Rikers Island Penitentiary. In the midst of this darkness Sonny saw the light. Through the help
of a faith-based organization founded by David Wilkerson and the tough love of a notorious gang
leader, Nicky Cruz, Sonny discovered the liberating truth of Jesus Christ in 1962. Says Rev.
Wilkerson:
"Sonny Arguinzoni pastors a church in Los Angeles,
with a congregation comprised mostly of converted addicts, alcoholics, and prostitutes. He
has also founded an entire organization of addict churches throughout the United States
called "Victory Temples."
"I met Sonny on the corner of Flatbush and Myrtle
Avenue in front of a pizza parlor. He was a hundred-dollar-a-day junkie -- dirty, sick, and
hungry. He thought I was a narcotics agent at first, but he took a few minutes to hear me
out. He had been busted so many times, he lost count. He had no time for his parents or God
-- all he lived for was the next fix. He busted apartments and stores, stealing everything he
could find to pawn for drug money.
"He was a con man, a cheater, a liar, and a thief.
But drugs had worn him down to the bone. He was tired of the hassle.
"I helped him kick his habit, cold turkey. But
most important of all, Sonny turned his life over to Jesus Christ. Talk about a miracle --
Sonny walked away from his habit, his old con friends, the pushers and pimps -- and went to
college, married a beautiful lady, and entered the ministry.
"Today Sonny Arguinzoni is a respected minister,
author, and friend to thousands of junkies and other street people. Jesus Christ took a
nobody from a back alley -- and turned him into a man of God. It's a
miracle!"
"Victory Outreach" was born. Originally dubbed
"The Addict Church" Arguinzoni developed a rigorous rehabilitation program to lead junkies
off the street and into productive lives. Many ex-addicts have been called into full-time
ministry, reaching out to the very people still lost in the inner cities. Victory Outreach
churches and rehab centers were started in cities across the U.S. and then the world. In September 2015, the closest center seems to be in Atlanta, HERE. See Sonny's web site, HERE.
Today Victory Outreach International has over
500 rehabilitation homes and churches in the U.S. that support them. These
vibrant facilities help men and women beat substance abuse, leave gangs and prostitution and
discover their unique purpose in life. They also have centers in 18 countries from Mexico to the
Netherlands to the Philippines. The original church he started in Boyle Heights has grown to
over 4,000 members on 20 acres in nearby La Puente, California.
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(posted 2005; update 25 September 2015)
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You have just read a very brief example of the
powerful, supernatural transformation of a person's life which is possible through the
acceptance of Jesus as your savior. Are you tired of life as it now is for you? He will
accept you just as you are right this second! Consider accepting Jesus now
[check it
out]!
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