Gerald’s Story: Growing Up Without a Father, Finding Hope Through Faith

Gerald’s story is told in his own words, alongside the voices of those who walked closely with him. It speaks about the pain of growing up without a father, the reality of poverty and the steady hope found through faith.

Watch Gerald’s story now

Read the transcript below

Gerald: It is hard to not have a father in your life.

But it is hardest when you don’t mean anything to your father.

I grew up in a neighbourhood in Santo Domingo, where drugs, illegal weapons, crimes and poverty were my daily bread.

My father decided to leave the house and my mother had to raise my brother and me all by herself.

I remember moments like me knocking on the doors of my neighbours and asking them for empty bottles just to exchange those empty bottles for bread and milk at the grocery store to eat the only meal of the day.

Gerald’s mother: Being a single mother in a very difficult area in Santo Domingo with many precarious situations and also crime, sometimes I had to look at my children.

Sometimes I had to look at them and ask myself why they didn’t have a father like other children. Why didn’t they have a father to be able to play with them or hug them.

Well, specifically one of the things that was most motivating was to remind them that God was their father.

Gerald: I fell down onto my knees and I started praying to the Lord. Telling the Lord, “Hey Lord, if you get me out of this situation, I promise you that I’m going to serve you for the rest of my life.”

Pastor Oller: It was hard to see the teenager the way I knew him, immersed in poverty, because the truth is that he has a testimony and a very significant story behind him.

Gerald: [At the Compassion centre] We found a place that provides food, uniform and transportation. But we found a place that provides the best of the best and it was the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Gerald’s mother: Compassion was a great, great, great help to us in the process of Gerald’s development and growth.

God turned that past into a glorious present.

Pastor Oller: I see him today as an advanced person. He is very successful, and has also become a youth leader of our congregation.

I am totally amazed at the progress he has made.

Gerald: I graduated and I got a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. Thanks to Compassion International, I got certification in Christian leadership.

Gerald’s mother: One of the things that strikes me is God’s faithfulness towards my children and Gerald. God has blessed him with a wonderful wife and beautiful girls.

I believe that this is a reason to say, thank you Lord.

Gerald: My family and I, we are also sponsoring a child from Peru. Her name is Hannah and we are so excited! Just imagine that.

Not having a father in my life just made me understand what a father means for kids.

Thanks that one day someone from Compassion International decided to show me evidence about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not going to repeat the same story as my father.

To have Jesus in my life, to be part of the Compassion International programme, just changed my life until today.

Gerald with his family

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