By Cesiah Magaña, Mexico Field Communication Specialist
And Leura Jones, Contributing Writer
Sergio Ivan starts his day early. Waking before the sun rises, he packs his tennis shoes. Today he has an important race, and Sergio, even at the young age of 12, runs with passion and dedication.
His mother, Cita, recalls him winning his first race when he was only 5. “He was always running up and down,” she recalls. “He was never still.”
Sergio lives in Carranza in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Because of their extreme poverty, children living in communities like Carranza often have few aspirations or dreams. The message poverty engraves in their minds and hearts is “you don’t matter, and you are not going to make it.” The lie is reinforced by the lack of opportunities that poverty brings.
But Sergio has been part of the Compassion-assisted “A Light in My Path” child development center for four years. His teachers have given him a different message—that he has the God-given potential to succeed against poverty.
Along with nearly 200 other students at this center, Sergio enjoys classes after school and has learned how to stay healthy by staying active, eating vegetables, and showering and practicing good hygiene. Most important, children here learn about the love and the plans God has for them.
Like the other children, Sergio has been encouraged to play sports. Two years ago the school PE teacher found that many children were good runners. Sergio was one of these and began training for 600-meter runs and relay races. In a few months, his school had a very strong relay team and started winning so many races that they qualified for the nationals.
Sergio hit a roadblock when he found out he would need spiked running shoes to compete at this level. He knew special running shoes would be too costly for his family. Sergio’s father works 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, to earn $12 per day to support his family of seven. Buying $120 shoes seemed impossible.
But at his child development center, Sergio has heard repeatedly that nothing is impossible with God. And so he believed.
One day while Cita was shopping in the street market, she found a pair of secondhand spiked running shoes for $20. It seemed like a fortune, but Cita and her husband agreed to use money they had saved to buy their son the shoes. “What a great day!” Sergio recalls.
He went to nationals again last year, and his relay team placed fourth. He runs with great support from his pastor, his teachers, and his family. They’ve also helped him learn that no matter how he performs, he is loved by God and that every talent is a gift from Him. Though he has won many medals and much recognition, he does not boast but continues to humbly serve his mother and his church.
Persistence and endurance, especially in the face of great poverty, are two of the things we need most in order to succeed. Sergio is learning this lesson in a practical way. And most important of all, he has learned that nothing is impossible with God.
Isaiah 58 