Jeremy Santiago

Campbell High School

My parents divorced when I was 6 years old.  My father took me to Wisconsin because the court said my mother was not fit to be a parent.  I loved my father dearly but he was a rough parent.  One day my prayers were answered, I won a gold medal in the Junior Olympics, and most of all made my father proud.  God gave me strength to ask my father to live with my mom.  He was so furious, he wanted to kill me.  He went on a rampage, what hurt the most was that he said “You are not my son anymore.”  But I stood there and I sucked in all the pain, eventually he took me to the airport.

My mother loved me and it showed. Unexpectedly, my mom could not afford her bills so she left me with my grandparents and moved to the mainland.  I was so angry I lashed out, punching everything, but secretly I was crying inside.  I lost myself, most of all I ignored my faith, and ignored Jesus.  For a while I was constantly angry, until I got into a car accident.  I heard God’s voice say “come back to me.”  I started going to church again and I started going to this Youth for Christ club, called HYPE.  My friend introduced me to this club, and she was a Christian.  February 13, 2011 I was baptized and proclaimed to the world that I accept Jesus in to my heart.

My whole life I was angry: the divorce, being taken away from my mom, being disowned by my dad, my mom leaving me, my grandma kicking me out.  I felt that I was all alone, but I know that God is with me, and I can trust in God to get me through anything; like what Proverbs 3: 5 says; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”  Because of what I went through now I have the chance to share God’s love to those who feel alone, are in pain, and suffering. At the very least, I want to show God’s love to kids who are going through a rough time.