International Student Testimony

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Hello, I'm from Mexico and this is my story of how God helped me through English classes.

 

Before I attended English classes I was a man without faith, I denied God whenever I had the chance, I had a strong hatred towards people, I had a difficult childhood, in fact everything in my life was difficult, I grew up in a family of 5 members, my parents, two sisters and me, my dad traveled a lot for work so sometimes I only saw him once or twice a month, my mom worked all day, so I grew up feeling alone which was difficult for me. I spent a lot of my time on the streets of my city which was a bad decision that I would regret later, when I was 11 years old one December night three alcoholic men beat me and after that they raped me, when I got back home I could not speak about the pain I had in my body and in my soul it was so big that it is difficult to describe, my parents were not at home and my sisters thought that I had had a fight with another boy which was very normal in those days, I stopped talking for about three months, I did not go out, I did not want to see anyone, my head is confused, From that moment, my life changed and I became a cold person without feelings, That was the only way that I could continue with my life, This was also the first time I began to think about suicide, when I turned 18 I started working as a policeman. in my first week of work my own colleagues tried to kill me, I still do not know what happened that day  because they changed their mind , after that incident, my superiors sent me to do office work, I thought that would be the end of my problems but I was wrong, a couple of years later I was selected to travel to the northern part of my state to  start an investigation on  corrupt cops, a month after starting the investigation I was kidnapped . I remember that day as if it were yesterday, they took me to a safe house,where they beat me and began to make plans to kill me. When I realized what was happening like every person who is in serious trouble I turned to God asking him to save my life, minutes later their boss approached me. He touched my shoulder, then he hugged me and said, forgive me, this was a mistake. you will not die, we will set you free and you will be able to return home,  I had not cried for many years, but at that moment I did. I had been very close to death and when I asked for God's help he saved me, I feel bad because I  did not change my way of thinking about God. I don’t know how could be so blind and not see what He had done for me, the next year they detected cancer, They were able to catch it early enough, but those who have or have had this disease will agree with me that this disease not only attacks your body but your mind also, I was kept asking why these things happened to me, I felt tired of fighting, many times I tried to end my life but I never found the courage to do it, When the doctor told me that the treatments were successful, it was excellent news, but I was still blind without seeing that if I was alive it was thanks to God, after 10 years in the police I lost my job and again I asked for help God .  He replied again and a week later I was in America, I think god must have wondered what it would take for me to see how he was working in my life, I know I was very silly.

In this country and especially in this state everyone has welcomed me with open arms, I started to find the peace I needed but my heart was still damaged, I needed something I would find later, when I attended the English classes I met wonderful people. Not only the students from different countries, but I also  the people who helped make English class possible.

When I returned to Mexico, I knew what was missing in my life, It was god, but I did not know where to start looking, One day I received a message from an ESL leader telling me, that she had found a family from Texas who are missionaries in Mexico,  they were a great blessing in my life, I started attending church, studying the Bible, they taught me how to obtain salvation and best of all I could be baptized.

Maybe it is not obvious, but now I have a new heart, I have a new life, attending the English classes, helped me feel loved. This was what helped me finally open my eyes so that I could see all that God has done for me,  I lived many bad things, things that I will never forget, but God has helped me to learn to live with that, none of this would have been possible without those classes, I would not know any of you, I would not know the family who are the missionaries in Mexico, my heart would still be broken, my life would be empty, I would continue to live in a dark world, maybe it doesn’t seem like much to have helped just one person, but for me it was and I know that for God was too.

I am very grateful to all of you, you make my heart rejoice every time I have the opportunity to be present in the church and talk with you, I am very hungry to learn from God and to be able to help more people as I received help , maybe in the next English classes there is someone who needs help or maybe not, that is something that none of us know only God, but I need all of you to continue in the things of God.