A Family Transformed

Karol used to sleep on the streets because she spent all her money on drugs and alcohol and couldn’t afford rent. Sometimes she didn’t have food for her children. Often, she didn’t even know where they were.

Life didn’t improve after she was married. Her husband, Daniel, often came home drunk and wanted nothing to do with his family. He was violent, destroying what little furniture they had by throwing it against the walls. Karol and Daniel yelled and argued all the time.

“I feel really sad about those times. I don’t like to remember,” Karol said.

She told her husband many times that their lives needed to change. But neither of them knew how or had the strength to take the first step.

At the time, Karol didn’t realiSe that God had wonderful plans in store, or that the path toward transformation, healing, and redemption would begin with a most unexpected source—her 5-year-old son.

A Special Invitation

Augustin is a friendly, energetic child who likes soccer and toy dinosaurs. He was outside playing one day when a member of the nearby church invited him to an upcoming children’s event—an Operation Christmas Child outreach.

Pastor Ramon, who has led the church in Augustin’s neighbourhood in Santiago, Chile, for nearly 40 years, explained that the congregation serves in a “complicated place” known for drugs, alcohol, and violence.

“Sometimes we have to close the door during worship because of the gunshots outside,” he said.

Pastor Ramon isn’t intimidated or discouraged. His desire to reach more girls and boys with the Good News led him and the congregation to host an Operation Christmas Child outreach event and The Greatest Journey follow-up discipleship classes.

“It’s important to plant the seed of the Gospel in their hearts when they’re young,” Pastor Ramon said. “If we plant the seed now, we will see spiritual fruit in the future.”

Augustin was so excited about the event that he raced home and told his mother. The next week, as Karol looked around the church and saw her son and other boys and girls with their shoebox gifts full of fun items, she was shocked.

“He had never received gifts like that,” she said.

Karol was so moved by the love and generosity shown to her son during the outreach event that she readily agreed for him to attend The Greatest Journey discipleship course consisting of 12 Bible lessons taught by a trained, local volunteer.

Augustin invited his older sister, Maite, to join him in the classes, and they both learnt about God and His Word. The siblings began going to Pastor Ramon’s church, and they continued even after the classes were finished because they were eager to keep learning.

Karol saw their enthusiasm for church and how much happier they seemed once they started attending. She didn’t hesitate to say yes when Augustin asked her to come with them.

New Life in Christ

It didn’t take long for Daniel to also agree to join his family at church. As they heard Pastor Ramon teach the truth and promises of the Bible, and received encouragement from church members, the Lord began to work in their hearts.

“My life was a mess. I was living without purpose,” Daniel said. “But God changed me.”

Daniel and Karol decided to commit their lives to Jesus Christ, and by His grace and mercy, their lives have totally transformed. They no longer get drunk or do drugs. They are devoted to spending time with their children. Daniel has a stable job, and doesn’t come home from work ready to lash out at his family.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes in my home,” Maite said. “We’re living a better life now.”

Augustin especially enjoys spending more time with his parents and going on occasional family outings—something they never used to do because all the income was wasted on drugs and alcohol.

Karol and Daniel still struggle with regret and guilt from decisions made in the past. But they’re learning, day by day, to embrace God’s forgiveness and to thank Him for renewed relationships.

“Now, I take care of my kids,” Karol said. “We are a new family.”

Also, for the first time in their lives, they belong to a church family. “They’re not blood relatives, but they feel like a family,” Karol said.

She is grateful to God for using Operation Christmas Child and The Greatest Journey to inspire Augustin to become involved with church, calling her son “the bridge that changed our lives.”

She knows that without the Lord’s intervention, they would still be on a destructive path. “If not for Jesus, we would be in a different place right now,” she said. “We would be lost in the world.”

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