My Story

Hello!

Before anything else, I want to thank you for taking the time to read my letter. My name is Joel Isaias Garay Gutierrez, and I hope you are doing well. I am 13 years old and am in seventh grade. Because of the pandemic, I receive online classes and send homework through the platforms that teachers ask me to use. Besides that, I receive extra information from school through WhatsApp, and because of that, my mother pays for internet service. Since the pandemic started, the lack of face-to-face classes has affected my learning. In addition, I do not have enough communication with the teachers or classmates to understand the lessons and instructions of the assignments very well. As you know, my father abandoned my mother and me many years ago. He does not communicate with me nor support my necessities. However, I know that he lives in Nicaragua. Therefore, my mother does her best by selling different items on the streets to cover my expenses. Unfortunately, her sales declined a lot due to the virus, and it is difficult for her to buy food and cover other payments, but I trust God will help us to go ahead as He has always done. Thankfully, we are doing well. Most of the time, she rests on Sundays, and I take advantage of going for a walk, talking, or eating something delicious with her, if we have the resources to do it.

Nowadays, my mother and I are members of the Full Gospel Church, which is 30 minutes away from where I live. When the virus forced our church and many others to close, we felt sad because we could not gather with our brethren. Let me tell you that we live in a rented house made of concrete blocks, a concrete ceiling, and a concrete floor. We only use one room to sleep and prepare meals in the same place. Fortunately, it has electricity and running water, and the room is in good condition. Our Heavenly Father has shown us his love and mercy all the time. Proof of that is that we received food parcels from you and the Living Water staff; those were a great blessing for my mother and me. The things that I miss the most from the feeding program are socializing with other children, hearing the bible classes, and eating tasty lunches like Spaghetti Bolognese. The program is an hour’s walk from where I live. Finally, I want to tell you that my mother and I gave this information to an evangelism team member to share with you my last news. I leave you for now, but I hope to receive a letter or picture from you the next time. Take care of yourself!

Many kisses and hugs,

Joel Isaias Garay Gutierrez

Translated by: Hillary Popol, AAC Secretary/Antigua