My Story

It is my pleasure to greet you in the name of Jesus hoping you are doing well! My name is Eva Cornelia Gonzalez Figueroa. I will turn 12 years old in June of this year. I attend 6th grade and I receive classes from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. I like to watch TV and play on weekends in my spare time. I like to be part of the feeding program because I receive tasty meals and medical care in the LW´s clinics. The meal I enjoy the most is fried chicken. I like the evangelism team's work in the program and would like to join them in the future. We are not attending church for now. This time the LW team encouraged us to seek a church and have a relationship with God.

On this opportunity, I want to open my heart and share with you about a difficult situation that my family is going through. My two older sisters and I are temporarily living at my aunt's house and our parents are not supporting us. I feel ashamed to talk about the reason we are not living with our parents because of that I beg for your prayers for my family. Unfortunately, my older sister Sayda was suffering from sexual abuse from my father who took advantage of moments while my sister was alone at home. He touched my sister in her private parts, and we know that the sexual act was not consummated, by the mercy of God. However, he threatened my sister telling her if she talked about it, he would hit her and kill our mother. My sister's mood changed a lot and her development at school was poor; the psychologist from her school talking to her found out about this sad situation. At that moment, the psychologist informed to the “PGN” (The Attorney General's Office, Promotes and ensures the rights of children and adolescents). They came to my house, gave the restrictions and immediately ordered my sister´s custody to my aunt Yoselin for an indefinite time.

They started with the legal process to protect my sister, and one of the orders was that my father had to abandon the house immediately, however, my mother allowed my father to continue being at home. After two months, the “PGN” came to my home to inspect that the restriction of not letting my father into the house was being complied with. Nevertheless, they found out that my father was still at home, so to keep us safe and ordered my second sister´s and my custody to my aunt Yoselin because my mother disobeyed the law and put us in a dangerous situation too. Thanks to God, my second sister and I did not suffer from the abuse. The legal process continues and can last a long time; The future of my sisters and mine is unknown because we do not know where we are going to live when this process is over. Meanwhile, my mother can visit us in my aunt's house buy only when my aunt is present. So please, keep my family in your prayers, especially my sisters and me because it has affected us; we hope they choose the best for our future.

We are living with my aunt Yoselin Yaneth Gordian, her husband Rodolfo David Velasquez Quiñones and my two cousins. My aunt and her husband work by doing “fletes” (carrying goods or other things for other people) or doing odd jobs to supply the family´s needs. They do not earn very much and since my sisters and I joined their family it has been difficult for them to cover all the home expenses. We are very thankful to the feeding program for providing us with food every week; it is so helpful to us. My father used to work as a mason and my mother is a housewife. Let me tell you that my aunt Yoselin provided this information to the Living Water team to share with you. Well, this is all for now. Many and abundant blessings to you!

Bunch of hugs,

Eva Cornelia Gonzalez Figueroa

Translated by: Violeta Hernandez / A-A-C Secretary-Antigua Guatemala