My name is Cm. The C stands for Cipriano (my father’s name) and M for Marilou (my mom’s name). I want to share my testimony of how I became a Christian and how God works in my life. My father was a policeman in the town of Pagbilao  and my mother was just housekeeper who took care of us whenever my father was at work. When I was about three or four years of age, my father was fired because he did something bad at the municipal hall. After that, we started farming at the land he owned planting vegetables and getting coconuts to sell for a living. When I was five years old, my mom hemorrhaged and died. Christine (my younger sister) and I saw how she died and my father started to cry and we also cried. After those sad things happened to my family, we went back farming again and helping my auntie get fish in the morning to sell.

 When I was in second grade, my father decided to pull me out school because he couldn’t afford to send me to school because he didn’t have a job.  I began helping my father in farming. When we were going home to our house near the cemetery (where my grandma lived and the place where my mom died) my father told me to stay and wait for him until he comes. Christine and I waited patiently. We got tired of waiting and it was getting darker so we started to walk. Many people saw us there sitting and started to ask us why our father was not with us. They brought us to my stepsister and we stayed there for a night and some of the people started to look for my father and when they found him, he was lying near the river because he had a stroke and couldn’t get up by himself.  He was sent to the hospital. My stepsisters and my aunties decided that  Christine and I would be separated. She would be living with my auntie and I would live with my stepsister. After a couple of months, my father got out of the hospital and my stepsister brought me to my father so that someone would take care of him and that’s what I did for six months. While I was taking care of my bedridden father, I was not thinking of going to school or my future,  I was numb at that time not thinking about God. But God was thinking about me and had a beautiful plan for me.

One day, a missionary family that just started an orphanage, came to visit to see how they could help my family. I was a little scared and didn’t know what to expect.  After meeting with my relatives, they decided that it would be best that I go to school at the orphanage. When I went there, they only had three kids and I was the first boy. They welcomed me as one of their own family members. They gave me some snacks and we swam in the river during my first day there ten years ago. There, I was homeschooled and taught how to read and live the Bible and know about Jesus came and saved the world from our sins. I accepted Jesus as my Saviour and I felt something different. God opened my eyes so that I could see all the wonderful plans He has for me. I also learned how to read and write and more good things that I didn’t know before. I also discovered the talents God gave me. I was having a lot of fun with them for three years. After  three years, the missionary family  left the orphanage to start another one. There were many changes because of different directors. When I finished  elementary, I was sent to a semi-private school for two years. During the summer vacation of my first year of high school, I started to get into trouble because  of the pier pressure in school and inside the orphanage. The examples I saw were not good. Because of my wrong choices, they discharged me.  Almost 10 years there, I was sent back to my stepsister. My dad died three years before that and my stepsister scared me that I would be sent to my mother’s relatives while we were heading to the house. The third daughter of my father didn’t accept me anymore so she passed me to my older stepsister. I stayed there for one week with many terrible mosquitoes feasting on me every night and I couldn’t sleep well and their food was scarce. During that one week , I did many things to help my sister and sometimes, some of my nieces and I with my stepsister would go up to a hill cleaning the mess up there. My nieces were having fun with me getting coconuts even though it was raining very hard. At this time, I didn’t know what was going to happen in my life but I was trusting God that He wouldn’t leave me and that was God’s promise. I also remembered Jeremiah 29:11 that says that God promises a hope and a future.

One day,  the Lord sent the answer to my problem. My former teacher text the missionary family that took me the first time when I was 8 years old. The missionary called as soon as they found out what had happened to me and asked me if I would like to go with them again the second time.  I said YES without hesitation. Now I’m back with my original family that took me. Now I am almost eighteen and I am a working student with two more years to graduate.  I’m having a lot of fun with them again. They say it’s as if I never left them. In spite of those bad and good things that happened in my life, I still could see God’s great plan for me. From those things that I‘ve been through, I’ve learned to trust God more and He is still working and using me for His glory.  To those who read this short story of mine………Always remember that God is always with you especially in the tough times!      CM