Homeless Man Spreads Gospel by Making Crosses Out of Palm Leaves

A homeless man in San Antonio, Texas, is taking his troubled life and turning it around by making and selling crosses he makes by hand out of palm leaves to members of the community.

Miguel Zamora, 46, makes the crosses by hand using hairspray, palm leaves, and scissors, and posts up at the intersection between Culebra and Zarzamora Street to sell them, KSAT reported.

“I do this because I love crosses and, first of all, I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Zamora said. “I feel like it drives me closer to him and encourages me never to give up on the struggles we have in life.”

The crosses are a form of income for him because he is homeless.

“Doing this helps me get by,” Zamora said. “Sometimes we are not able to eat, but somehow doing this helps us each day.”

Zamora and his wife, Gina, have been living on and off the streets of San Antonio for the past three years. But Zamora attributed his homelessness to having a rough childhood growing up, including a life filled with gang activity and drug addiction.

“I was in segregation for five years,” Zamora said of his time in prison for gang violence. “I had a lot of time to myself. The only thing that kept me sane was reading my Bible and listening to, we had a radio, so listening to the word of God.”

Zamora also said he has been sober for about six months and hopes that his recent decision to overcome his addiction will help him get off the streets.

“I did heroin and crack cocaine,” Zamora said. “My biggest drug was fear though because ‘Once you get out of gangs, the only way out is death,’ so I lived in fear for a lot of years.”

Zamora said every time he sells a cross with the community it fills his cup both physically and spiritually.

“Every time I give a cross, it goes to a deeper meaning within myself,” Zamora said. “I feel like I am giving to the people, hoping that it might help somebody as well. I love to encourage them that no matter what they are going through, I let them know I have been through this and this and this but I also had a way out.”

Palm weaving is something many Christians do the week of Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, and the beginning of Holy Week. The day celebrates Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem a week before his Resurrection.

Several people, including a man from Los Angeles and a woman from New Jersey, have taken up the craft during Holy Week to become closer to their faith.