The ceremony was sponsored by the Buckner Family Hope Center
in Peñitas to strengthen families within the community, giving couples the opportunity to display their commitment to each other and their children. Each couple in the wedding ceremony participated in programs offered at the Hope Center. Buckner President and CEO Albert Reyes officiated the wedding
ceremony with Ricardo Brambila, director of the Family Hope Center, and the pastoral staff of Centro Cristiano Familiar Paraiso de Palma, the church where the ceremonies were held. The wedding was a community moment, as the church filled with friends and family to witness the ceremony. It was an anticipated moment. A quiet chatter stirred around the room silenced only by the entrance of six women clothed in white walking gracefully down the aisle escorted by a family member. Reyes led the six couples through a series of symbols to remind
those at the altar about the permanence and importance of life together in marriage. “A marriage where there’s a commitment really is a responsibility to work this out when things get challenging,” Reyes said. “Every marriage
has problems, but from the work of Christ, it can be a place for healing.” For Tony Gonzalez and Norma Aleman, the wedding is just that –
healing. They met 19 years ago in the plaza in Cuidad Miguel Aleman in Tamaulipas, Mexico. “There was a time when were separated for two years,” Aleman
said. “We didn’t have to get back together, but I love him.” “I was drinking and not good to her,” Gonzalez explained. Getting back together, Norma said, felt like they were starting their
relationship anew, a new promise for their family that began one year ago when they started attending classes at the Hope Center. “I needed to change my life with my kids,” Gonzales said. “I never spent time with them and figured I was wrong. I started going to Buckner, and it helped change that.” At the Hope Center, Gonzales worked with a group of men
in a fatherhood mentoring program. His transformation surprised Aleman. “‘What did you do to my husband?’” Aleman thought. “For so
many years I’d been telling him to stop drinking and quit smoking, he hadn’t done it. He used to be cold.”
52 BUCKNER TODAY • Spring 2016
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56