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GIANN GAMBOA: Found Meaning at Church

 

Just about everything Giann Gamboa needed in his life he found at Iglesia Nueva Vida, his church in Corona, Queens. There he found his girlfriend, hundreds of pals, a weekend soccer team and a spiritual life. As often as he could, he tried to bridge his professional life, as a manager of the Top of the World Cafe, with his religious life, sometimes offering a word of prayer to a troubled colleague or an invitation to join the church's daily 6 a.m. prayer service.

Friends at church still talk about how Mr. Gamboa, 26, arranged for 70 children from the church to visit and pray atop the World Trade Center a few months ago. "He loved being a Christian and sharing his faith with people," said Fernando Montoya, his best friend.

The last time anyone saw Mr. Gamboa, he was on the 78th floor about to squeeze into a crowded elevator as the building was being evacuated. But he offered his spot instead to a young woman on his staff who was crying and anxious to flee. "I'll just take the next one," he told a friend, as the elevator doors shut.

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times