Mexico City is one of the most crowded cities in the world. Over 20 million people try to survive the traffic, the pollution and life every day. Many have struggled to carve out a small spot to live and work in the giant city and its surroundings.

Angelica and her husband Miguel came to the city nearly 20 years ago. Trying to find jobs, they left their hometown in Veracruz. In addition to leaving their families, they also left behind part of their culture in order to build a better life together.

They established themselves in Mexico City near some close relatives who provided temporary support and guidance for survival.

Angelica and Miguel had dreams to study and prosper, but the couple had to start working right away, because their firstborn son was on his way. As their needs increased, there were no more opportunities for personal development or studies. It was necessary to take whatever job was available.

Miguel held different labor jobs until he settled for a job with a car manufacturing company. They offered a low wage but provided the security Miguel needed for his wife and unborn son.

The area where this family lives is located on a hill, right outside of Mexico City. It is crowded with people sharing the same problems — low incomes and high unemployment rates. This area has a very high rate of robbery, drugs and violence.

The homes in this neighborhood consist of small, cement rooms. The houses crowd up the hills, and from the distance they look like cement shoeboxes, piled up with no plan or order.

Angelica’s family now lives in a vecindad, which is a cement-built set of rooms, much like the old-fashioned tenement apartments.

They have only one room for the entire family. The older boys, 18-year-old Alejandro and 14-year-old Miguel,  share the top bunk bed; 12-year-old daughter Angelica uses the bottom bed, and Luis, the youngest at 8, shares the bed with his parents.

The family has a small hall that they use as a kitchen and sitting area.

They share their bathroom, their washing tub, clotheslines and patio with 11 other families living on the ground level and the second floor.

One day the family met a woman from the church who worked as a volunteer there. She served at the children’s club that is now one of our child development centers.

She invited the little ones to come to the program, and Angelica allowed them to come. Afterward, Luis was registered at the Happy Faces Club Child Development Center.

After Luis’ registration, Angelica started to come, volunteering a few afternoons to get to know the program.

After a couple of years, Angelica became a Christian and enjoyed the benefits of the teachings her children received at the center.

“The word of God came to our home through the children.”

Angelica was the first to start reading the Bibles her children received from the children’s club. She said that one of the first sections of the Bible to make an impact on her life was Psalm 51,

“Because it speaks about the sin and the forgiveness of God and how He can create a clean heart in us, and then it teaches us how to live.”

As part of Compassion’s strategy to release children from poverty, children are provided with Bibles. But how can a Bible help children find their way out of poverty?

Children in this part of Mexico are regularly threatened by violence, robbery and gangs, even in their own homes. Children easily become hardened and develop low self-esteem. Receiving a Bible has been a great gift, especially after the church tells them that the Bibles hold precious treasures for them.

Miguel, the teenage son shares,

“Receiving such a gift made me feel important.”

But this is not the only benefit of a Bible. All three children took their Bibles home and shared the love of God with their parents. Luis constantly asked his mother to read his favorite Bible stories for him.

He was too little to read and needed help, so out of curiosity his mother started reading the powerful Word of God.

The daughter, Angelica, had always been close to her father, and she didn’t hesitate to share the Bible verses she learned at the program with her daddy. One day when she, her mother and brothers came home from church, Miguel mocked them and called them “alleluias,” a common name used to make fun of Christians.

This was one of the most stressful times for the children and their mother, but they remained faithful and continued attending church. Instead of fighting their own father, the children prayed and invited him to see with his own eyes what they did at church. After only a few weeks he decided to come to church with them and became a Christian himself.

After Miguel committed his life to the Lord, he changed his old ways. He does not spend any money buying alcohol, and he is committed to his family. He does not use bad words or yell at the children.

Every morning before sunrise, at four in the morning, father Miguel gets up to pray and spend time reading his Bible and praying to the Lord.

Angelica shares about her husband and marriage,

“Miguel used to be very different. He even admitted to wandering off on the streets before coming home, instead of taking the children to church on the week days.

And I used to be very rebellious; I used to fight constantly with my husband about the expenses or just any other reason…. Now when I get mad, I try not to do as I used to do before. I am trying to become a better woman and wife.”

Other than the old TV and homework, reading the Bible has become one of the children’s afternoon activities to help them stay entertained. The children in this cement shoebox are very close to their family and to God.

Now at home the children sometimes start sharing the verses they have memorized. It is almost like a contest: One of them starts with one verse and another one follows. Sometimes two or three start at the same time, and the oldest son, Alejandro, acts as a referee.

They keep a record of the Bible verses, and at the end they acknowledge who said the most. They have developed their own rules: They cannot say the same verse if someone has used it before, and they need to say the verse and the reference, otherwise it is not valid.

Their walls are covered with their favorite verses or with the ones they are memorizing. Their home is full of the words of God.

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Forty-year-old Jesula was a homeless woman who slept each night at a church in Delmas, Haiti. She became pregnant by a man who abandoned her before her son’s birth, and she could not even afford to visit a doctor because she had no money.

Jesula felt desperate about her situation, but she could not find a way out. During the day, she wandered the streets of Delmas or visited old friends in the hope of getting something to eat. Usually she was disappointed in her search. In the evenings, she would head for the New Jerusalem Church where she slept using a pew as a bed and rags for blankets.

Having no one to turn to, Jesula grew more concerned for herself and her soon-to-be-born child. In her situation of hardship, she felt she was going to lose her mind.

While staying at New Jerusalem Church one night, Jesula heard about the Child Survival Program.

Some mothers came to the church to pray that night, and they began sharing powerful testimonies about the program and how it was helpful beyond their expectations.

The next morning, Jesula rushed to the Child Survival Program office. She was now in her seventh month of pregnancy.

Jusula’s story of struggle captured the staff members’ attention. Within a few days she was registered into the program, because the staff believed it was the only way to save her and the baby.

Jesula was not a Christian yet, but she was convinced that God heard her cry and in His grace, He made a way for her. Jesula felt she was at the beginning of a wonderful journey.

“I wanted a father that would care for me and for the baby in my womb. The Child Survival Program staff has played such a role perfectly.”

The Survival Program staff found a place to shelter Jesula. She received home visits and regular medical checkups. She also had the privilege of visiting a doctor on a regular basis prior to childbirth. Thanks to this assistance, Jesula had a successful childbirth.

Through the Child Survival Program, Jesula learned how to read and write. She attends a cooking class and hopes to use this skill in the future to earn money.

Jesula feels that her mind and spirit are uplifted through the Bible stories she learns, as well as the songs they sing during meetings with the mothers, learning about good manners and other cultural and social activities the program holds every year both for the children and their caregivers.

Through the teachings of the Bible, Jesula accepted Jesus in her life as her personal Savior and commits herself to attending church services and living a Christ-like life. She realizes that the Child Survival Program gave her the most precious treasure in life, eternal security and happiness in Jesus Christ.

A few months after his birth, Jesula’s son Slenth suffered from malnutrition. Again to Jesula’s astonishment, she was asked to bring him every morning to the Child Survival Program center for appropriate nutrition. Jesula also received dry food to take home, including rice, oil, milk, spaghetti and sugar.

Slenth is now two years old and is in good health. Jesula hopes to be able to send him to school next year.

“Really, I don’t know what I would do without the assistance of such a program. My life would have been a mess and my child being sick would not have made it.”

Today, Child Survival Program coordinator Elsie feels satisfied about the physical progress that Slenth has made. Elsie also is impressed by Jesula’s discipline and brilliant mind to learn new skills that help her to be a very good mother for her child. Elsie shares,

“Like Jesula and Slenth’s story, there are many other uplifting testimonies of mothers out there about the survival of their children through the Child Survival Program, and I think this is what gives a real sense of purpose to the work we are doing and also encourages us to keep going.”

After the January 2010 earthquake, Jesula had to go back to sleep at the church, because the home she lived in was severely damaged.

Since she was in the program, she received a wood frame, corrugated iron sheets and nails to build a temporary shelter where she now lives with her child.

Jesula gives high priority to activities with the Child Survival Program.

She tells everyone that through the program she receives all she needs for her child despite the absence of his father.

A Child Survival Program staff member says of Jesula:

“If there is one mother you can expect to see in the Child Survival Program meetings, it is Jesula.

She attends every activity, even the class we have for the little children. She loves to draw with her son when he needs help.”

Jesula believes the Child Survival Program is making a difference in this big neighborhood of about 10,000 inhabitants, where children are mostly vulnerable to diseases like diarrhea, fever and malnutrition and where mothers lack education of all kinds.

“I will never have enough words to express my gratitude to the church here, the Child Survival Program staff and the donor of the program. I consider myself a rags-to-riches lady just because of their love put in action. God has used the Child Survival Program to save my child and my life and to give us hope for the future.”

Ever since the Child Survival Program arrived in the area, there have not been any death reports of young children because mothers receive a solid education and know how to raise their children.

Many mothers now testify to the benefits of the Child Survival Program in their lives, the lives of their children, and their families. With the new skills they have acquired, they exert a positive influence on other mothers in the area who cannot be part of the Child Survival Program.

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• “You wanna go out to eat tonight?”
• “What would you like for lunch today?”
• “There’s nothing on TV.”
• “It’s so nice out…let’s go for a drive with the top down on the Jeep.”
• “It’s starting to get warm again. We need to think about turning the sprinkler system back on in the yard.”
• “I need to run to the store to get some more diapers and Diet Coke. Can you think of anything else we need?”
• “Morgan is outgrowing his clothes so fast, is it okay with you if I go to the store to see if I can find him some new pajamas?”
• “I’ll empty out the dishwasher.”
• I’m going to take a shower.”
• “Feel like ordering a movie?”
• “The housing market is so bad right now. I don’t know if it’s the right time to sell our home. But we sure need more space.”
• “I’m starving!”
• “What would you like for dessert?”

I would bet that most of those phrases are NEVER uttered in the homes of children who attend Compassion child development centers. And the ones that are, are said in a much different context.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to listen in on their conversations for a week?

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