The true story of Gabriel Chavoya’s powerful, spiritual deliverance from gang life in East San Jose! PART 1
Gabriel (center) with his family
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(Editor’s Note: Brother Chavoya is a dedicated saint in our congregation, faithful as an usher and part of our church sponsored team called ACTS which counsels and provides education to individuals with alcohol and drug dependency. Our ACTS program will be featured in our spring issue. The following testimony expounds the saving mercy of Jesus Christ who can reach down to the most hardcore gang member and make him a devoted Christian. Read and be inspired!)
he “homies” needed to hijack a vehicle for a drive-by shooting on a hot, summer night in East Side San Jose. The gang of Hispanic young men walked up to the end of the line of waiting cars in a Jack-in-the-Box fast food eatery. At gunpoint they demanded the young driver to get out of his idling car. He refused so one of the gang members pointed a 12 gauge sawed-off shotgun at his chest and fired. A few days later they were all arrested. Gabriel Chavoya’s older brother was one of the gang members at the crime scene. He did not pull the trigger, but he was convicted as an accessory to murder. Even though he was only 16 years old, he was tried as an adult and sentenced to seven years in prison.
“This was a promise made to himself that he would not keep.” Gabriel was 10 years old when his brother was put away. He had always looked up to his older brother, but at that young age he told himself, “I will never do that kind of stuff. I will learn from this and will not walk in his footsteps.” This was a promise made to himself that he would not keep.
Childhood Struggles Gabriel says he was born on April Fool’s Day, 1980, at Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara, California. He was the last of two siblings born to Rosario, a welder, and Elizabeth Chavoya, a housewife. He was raised close to his mother’s parents and family. Growing up, he and his cousins feared their grand14
FALL/WINTER NEWSVINE 2019
