An eatery with a higher purpose

Two Freeport youth pastors open faith-inspired restaurant on Merrick Road

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On the gas-fired stove, an aluminum pot full of tomato sauce, fragrant with herbs and spices, simmered, while beside it an oversized kettle of red beans cooked in boiling water last Friday afternoon. The air was rich with the aroma of the flavorful sauce, which would be applied to pupusas and tacos. The beans would be smashed into a single mass, to be used as filling for any number of dishes.

Donnie Giron, 33, co-owner of Café Bethel with his wife, Wendy, 37, stood with the stove behind him, pointing out the Latin American dishes stewing in the chafing dishes before him: spicy chipotle chicken in a cream sauce, lightly cooked sweet plantains, chopped yucca root in red onion strips. There was also tilapia and spare ribs and fried chicken.

“It’s a little miracle that we’re here,” Donnie Giron remarked, and he meant it.

The Girons’ faith in God is tied to all elements of their lives, they say, including their three-month-old restaurant. The Girons are also youth pastors at the 900-member Freeport Bible Center, a missionary Spanish-English church, which is among Long Island’s largest Hispanic houses of worship.

The Girons, who have lived in Wantagh for the last three years, have no doubt, they say, that God guided them to purchase this eatery, on a roughly quarter-mile stretch of Merrick Road where the Christian faith is on full display. To the east, Merrick Road intersects with Church Street. To the west is the Word of Life Ministries Healing Center, a non-denominational Christian church housed in a theater-like building with a larger-than-life cross out front. Even the nearby 99 cent store has faded posters of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary in the front window.

Bethel, Donnie Giron said, comes from the Bible. It means “House of the Lord.” It has also been defined, appropriately enough for Freeport, as a chapel for seamen.

God, Giron said, “put this opportunity [before us]. The only thing we had was the dream.”

Making it in America

Donnie emigrated from Honduras in 2004, and Wendy from El Salvador in 2005. They met at a friend’s Christmas party and have been members of the Freeport Bible Center, on North Main Street, for a decade. They joined because, Donnie said, they were in what he described as a bad place. “We needed to change our lives,” he said. “We gave our lives to the Lord. It’s been a blessing.”

Wendy believes in miracles. Her life, she said, is a miracle. She grew up in poverty in El Salvador, one of six children. Her parents couldn’t find work, and the family often went hungry. Some days Wendy ate. Often she didn’t. Now her days are spent cooking and attending to customers. She no longer goes hungry.

“When I was a kid, I didn’t have anything,” Wendy said. “Now I feel like I have everything.”

Donnie grew up in the restaurant business. His family owned a country-style eatery in Honduras, which inspired the Girons to purchase their own here in the U.S.

First they needed to save and establish themselves, though. Before buying the restaurant, Wendy cleaned houses. Donnie was a waiter at a steakhouse. He still is.

The Girons refurbished their eatery with the help of friends. They work 12-hour days to keep it open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m, taking shifts minding the front counter with a staff of three. Their children, Donnie, 9, and Debora, 4, who attend the nearby Freeport Christian Academy, can often be seen in the restaurant.

Giving back

In their scarce free time, the Girons are youth pastors to a group of about 50 young people, ages 12 to 17, at the Freeport Bible Center, called Youth Without Limits. Members meet Fridays at the church at 7:45 p.m. They talk about life or watch movies. In August, the Girons take their charges on retreats at campgrounds across Pennsylvania. They also help build Habitat for Humanity homes for the poor.

“It’s about giving the kids some direction in their lives and keeping them out of negative behavior … so they can develop themselves as good human beings and leaders for the community and the future of the nation,” said Apostle Carlos Luis Vargas, 62, pastor of the Freeport Bible Center, which he founded in 1986.

To the young people, the Girons stress the need to be grateful for the lives they have here in the U.S. “They have mostly anything they want here,” Wendy said. “They can eat whatever [they] want here.”

“They have opportunities here,” Donnie added, “and that’s why sometimes they take it for granted.”

Not the Girons, however.

“I love this country,” Wendy said. “It’s a blessing.”