A Haven in the Hardest Moments

Ecuador

Why doesn’t family always feel like love? Why would anyone pressure a 14-year-old boy to do drugs? Why do so many people hurt each other? And how can a person run that gauntlet and come out the other side with their hope and faith still intact?

This young man from Ecuador would tell you Jesus is leading Him through it.

Jonathan and his siblings

Jonathan lives with his mom and three younger siblings in a community where most days it feels like the walls are closing in. Violence, threats from local gangs, poverty — it’s enough to put an enormous strain on a family.

But Jonathan finds a safe haven in the Awana club at his local church.

From the day he showed up, the pastors, volunteers and tutors have been everything you’d imagine a loving, caring adult would be for Jonathan. He says, “Even when I made mistakes or didn’t behave in the best way, they cared for me with love, teaching me the Word of God and guiding me on the right path.” Awana child discipleship and the church provided a place where he could simply be a kid and where he could breathe easy, if only for a few hours a week.

Weekly Gospel engagement has taught Jonathan a lesson that will follow him his whole life: God never leaves. In every moment of uncertainty about the future, every tense family discussion and community tragedy, God is there and His hand is in it, working all things together for good. Jonathan reflects, “Awana has been a refuge. I learned that God never abandons me. The church embraced me during my hardest moments.”

Jonathan’s testimony echoes the cry of many: By God’s grace, Awana arrived just in time, bringing hope, truth and spiritual family. Thank you for helping us make it in time. We couldn’t do it without your generosity.