[Jesus] saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. -Matthew 9:9b, ESV
Bayrón entered a Honduran juvenile detention center in 2016 with a three-year sentence for the crime of extortion. Inside the center, his loneliness and distress drove him to take refuge in drugs, but he still couldn’t find relief.
While he was going through this tough period in his life, Bayrón met two men from Orphan Helpers who shared the gospel every morning and showed him the love of Jesus. He started to attend their devotionals and felt himself drawn toward Christ.
“I wanted to know more about Jesus. I wanted to experience God because they talked so much about Him,” recalls Bayrón.
Bayrón began to search the Scriptures. He started to realize that God accepted him with all his mistakes, his faults, his anguish, and his problems. He decided to make Christ the Lord of his life.
Now released from the detention center, 18-year-old Bayrón is involved in a church and using the life skills he learned through Orphan Helpers. He is trusting God to continue to provide opportunities for him and to shape him. He expresses his gratitude to God for the true miracle of a changed life.
“The Success Academy was very important to be able to strengthen myself in the faith. I now want to serve the Lord with all my heart,” he says.
Bayrón now goes back into the center of his own free will. He shares with the other boys in the center about the power of God that set him free.
Like first century tax collectors, Bayrón was known for his extortion. But also like the tax collector Matthew, Bayrón has left that life behind and accepted Jesus’ call to “follow me.”