Juan recalls, “There was a lot of conflict in my home growing up. There was a lot of yelling and fighting. I made the decision to never be like them. Seeing how the conflict tore the family apart, I never wanted to be a part of it. I couldn’t live like that anymore, I remember I felt the need to get out. I said, ‘Enough’, I left multiple times and had to come back because I had nowhere else to go. In April, problems escalated and I just couldn’t live there anymore. I left my family and stayed with my friend’s family for a week. While I was there they contacted different places for me to stay. I tried to get into other programs or a homeless shelter. Every place I contacted had no room available. I called here to the mission and talked with program assistant, Kenne Miller, the next day I was able to talk to program manager, John Schmidt, and told him I wanted to seek God. I got in.”

“The one thing about the mission I love and that takes my breath away is that I can talk about God. That is awesome. Others do the same thing here as well. Whenever I’m having a bad day they will come and give me a scripture and they will cheer me up. I will do the same for them. I love my brothers back at home and I would love to share the scriptures with them, but God is leading me to know Him first and then I can go share with them. I believe God wants me to be prepared first. Not only do I know about God, but I feel like I have a relationship with Him,” Juan states. He continues, “The biggest thing I’ve learned is how to deal with insults. I drive with mission employee, Bill and we pick up donations. Sometimes people get angry because we aren’t allowed to take certain stuff. I see how he is gracious and deals with them in kindness rather than giving back insults. One of the things that God says to do is bless those who curse you. When I was at home, I would tell others what they were doing was wrong, but I see what that scripture means now. No matter what that person is telling you or how mean they are to you, I am to bless them and pray for them.”

“Recently, God used a message that helped me release all of my worries and troubles. After that day, I started smiling. It used to be that I would hardly speak one sentence in a day and now, if you get me going, I can’t stop talking. I’ll do whatever God has planned for me. I would like to go to the Air Force and possibly be an aerospace propulsions systems tech. I would like to go to space one day. If that is what God has planned for me then I’ll go and if not, I will be ok with that too. I would like to get a job, get a car, and basically go from there.”

Thank you for giving to the mission and providing conflict resolution for people like Juan.