Our Children

Given A Future - Testimonies

Juan Martinez

My name is Juan Martinez and I am 20 years old. My life before entering Arms of Love was total chaos.  I cannot find words to express the terrible life that I had.  I was a boy without goals, a clear direction, understanding, or a family.  I felt alone like someone simple-minded and unimportant.

I was abandoned by my mother, who was a prostitute and mentally ill. I never met my father.  My brother Eduardo and I lived with my grandmother for awhile but she didn’t have money to feed us. Sometimes all we would have for food would be one small portion of oatmeal daily and we then stopped attending school.

Then my older brother was stabbed to death at a party one night. I came to Arms of Love in March of 2000 at the age of 11 with my brother Eduardo.  I began to grow in an environment of love and to experience for the first time what it felt like to have a family, to live as a family, to share with a family, and most of all to know God.

In Arms of Love I continued with my learning and as I began to finish the last two years of secondary school, I began to understand more about who I was.  I began to get all the answers about all the unknowns in my life—and I began to experience the love of God in my life.

Now, I will soon begin my third year at the University of Central America and am studying Tourism. I am actively involved in the campus student ministry and help to lead worship at the meetings. I recently went on my own mission trip and helped a poor family build their own home. I continue to learn so much.

I don’t know how to explain in only a few words my amazing life at Arms of Love.  I am so proud of myself and of all the sponsors that support the home.  Arms of Love has been and will always be the most special place in my life; where I have grown with love for others and learned about the love of God.

My goal is to complete my university studies and one day in the future make a difference in my country and in the world.