Pastor and founder of Victory Outreach, an organization that helped to plant hundreds of churches all over the United States and all over the world, Sonny Arguinzoni Sr., has passed away at the age of 85. Arguinzoni’s main church, Victory Outreach of Chino, California, posted about his death on its Facebook page Tuesday, revealing he had passed away on Monday.
“Sonny wasn’t just a man; he was a movement,” Victory Outreach Chino said in the post. “His unwavering faith and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ inspired millions around the world. Through his vision and leadership, countless lives were transformed, and entire communities were uplifted.”
“Sonny’s legacy is one of hope, compassion, and relentless dedication. The impact he has made globally is immeasurable, and his love will echo through the hearts of many for generations to come. He was greatly loved and will be greatly missed,” it concluded.
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference — and pastor of New Season Church in Sacramenton — got on his X account to offer up his condolences after learning of Arguinzoni’s death, according to The Christian Post.
Rodriguez called Arguinzoni the “Godfather of inner city ministry” and a “man of God that led countless lives into the hands of the redeeming Savior.”
“The follower of Jesus that changed the world. … Sonny Arguinzoni passed into eternity. We will miss you,” posted Rodriguez. “My hero, your legacy lives on!”
Arguinzoni was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1939. As a teenager, he was involved in gang activity and was a drug addict until becoming a born-again Christian in his early 20s. In 1967, Arguinzoni and his wife founded Victory Outreach, a ministry that currently boasts around 700 churches in 33 countries, with ministries focused on helping those in inner-city environments.
Victory Outreach Chino was the first church of the ministry, founded in 1967 and based in Los Angeles, California, before being moved to La Puente, California, in 1985. In 1989, Arguinzoni appointed his son, Sonny Arguinzoni Jr., to the position of senior pastor of the congregation, which eventually moved to its present Chino location in 2007.
“Since 1967, we have helped thousands of people take control of their lives. From our simple beginning, we have grown into an international organization, carrying the hope and message of Jesus Christ to the four corners of the earth,” the church said. “We have taken steps to make sure the legacy of Victory Outreach continues for generations to come. In Victory Outreach churches and centers worldwide, it is compassion that triumphs … faith that endures.”
Arguinzoni was instrumental in reaching out to groups of people that had been underserved by Christ’s Church for a long time in America. It’s not hard to understand why. Inner cities are rife with crime, drugs, prostitution, violence, gangs, you name it. All of the stuff Christians are supposed to avoid.
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However, we as individuals are not to participate in that kind of behavior. We’re supposed to be reaching out and helping those who are caught in these destructive lifestyles. Jesus specifically sought out the riff-raff of society and chastised the Pharisees for not doing the same.
The lesson from this great man’s life is that Christ’s cause of salvation is worth fighting for and enduring risk for.