My Before and After

If you have been to Honduras with Lifeline, you may have met Guillermo, our General Administrator. 

His story is one of humble beginnings – but also of determination to rise above his circumstances. It also reminds us of the life-transforming power of God’s grace and love.

Here is Guillermo’s story, in his own words.

Memories of a full household… and no mother

My early years were spent in Siguatepeque in central Honduras. It is a beautiful place known for its great climate and land. I remember seeing farmers come into town, using bullock carts to haul their harvests through the streets to the markets.

When I was born, my grandma took me under her care. 

For six years, I had no contact with my mother at all. No one explained to me where she was or why she left me with my grandmother. Only when I was older did I learn that I had a total of 14 half siblings, seven through my mother and seven through my father. When I finally learned of them, it was emotionally very difficult for me. 

Besides my mother, my grandmother had three other daughters. Because they worked far away in other cities as maids or in textile factories, my 10 cousins all lived with my grandmother and me in Siguatepeque. Once a week or sometimes once a month, my aunts would send money to her to help pay the rent and to cover other expenses. That was my grandmother’s only source of money.

My cousins went to school only through 6th grade, at which point they dropped out of school to work small jobs to help the family.

Living with all of them was normal to me. They were my family. I did not know what a father or mother was.

I had fun with my cousins. Together, we were very creative. A great memory is when my older cousins built a hut with grass and coconut tree leaves, and put in some old chairs and an oil lamp at the back of the hut. That was our favorite place to go, be together, play, and tell stories, or, when we were sad, to be alone and cry. It was our special place. The saddest day was when the oil lamp fell down, and the hut went up in flames.

A big life shift

Things changed when I was six or seven. My grandmother told me it was time for me to start school. She gave me a choice to stay with her or move to another city to go to school. I chose to move because I wanted to experience riding in a car, which I had never done. 

And the woman I was to live with – although I did not know it at the time – was my mother. I only found out that she was my birth mother after I moved in with her. 

I have never called her “Mom.” I just call her by her name, Caridad. She never explained to me why she left me with my grandma for seven years. Only when I started to ask questions as a teenager did I understand some of the complications of my childhood.

A poor boy goes to school

Ocotillo Christian School was just 100 meters from my new home, so that is where my mother enrolled me. I was eight when I started first grade, and I was able to walk to school.

We were very poor. Sometimes I wore shoes with different colored shoelaces. But sometimes I went to school barefoot or wore flip flops. In Ocotillo, the streets were simple dirt roads, unsafe for bare or unprotected feet. The dusty dirt roads turned to mud when it rained. Trash and other dangerous things were on the ground: contaminated syringes, dead animals, glass, and more. 

My mother was illiterate at the time, yet she knew the importance of education. She pushed me to do my homework and did what she could to provide me with some school supplies. Today, she can read and write.

Considering our extreme poverty, it’s only through God’s grace and help that I completed 9th grade. That was considered a huge success. I thank God! But I was not yet done with school.

Refusal to give in 

I’ll never forget a neighbor who treated me with scorn. He told me that I was destined to become a gang member, as was all of my generation. His words jolted me. They did not line up with what I had learned from the word of God in school.

I decided to embrace God’s view of me. I began to take every decision to Him in prayer, asking for His guidance in my life. 

The power of a mentor

It was when Pastor Antonio Orellana entered my life that things changed yet again. I met him when I started attending Lifeline’s Ocotillo Christian Church as a high schooler. He, his family and his ministry were very important in my leadership development and in my walk with Jesus Christ.

Pastor Antonio is God's servant. His heart is fully surrendered to the kingdom of God. He taught me to study the Bible. His way of discipling is through example, demonstrating the Gospel through his actions. Through him, I learned so much, and I thank God for him and his family! 

The before and the after

At age 18, not yet done with high school, I gave my heart to Jesus and was baptized on January 1, 2008. 

This marked a before and an after in my life.   

Before knowing Jesus, my thoughts were full of many questions. Why did I not have a stable family? I thought about suicide. I considered consuming drugs and alcohol. I had sinful experiences. 

But after surrendering my heart to Jesus, all of the questions, doubts, and negative thoughts were solved, one by one. God’s love changed me.

Determination to learn

Lifeline and Pastor Antonio gave me a scholarship for high school. 

In my third year, I told my mother that I wanted not only to finish high school but also to study at Lifeline’s Bible Institute at the same time. I asked her to support me by making a monthly tuition payment. She told me she considered it a good investment. Through much effort and sacrifice, she paid for part of my education!

I enrolled in the Bible Institute because I wanted to learn the Bible, Bible history, and to speak in public. I considered these important tools to use in ministry. I spent those years studying, reading, learning to play an instrument, and putting all my knowledge in practice in the local church.  

Graduation from both high school (in business administration) and from the Bible Institute happened in 2009. Obtaining the two diplomas gave me the opportunity to serve God better.  

A career path emerges

Following graduation, I focused on developing my skills in preaching and leading others in their ministries at church: youth groups, the worship team, house church leaders, and Sunday school.  

To earn money, I worked as the school’s part-time maintenance assistant. As time allowed, I talked to the teachers and helped guide them through the challenges they were facing. I began to see that God was pointing me to pursue education as a career.

From there things took off. I juggled a busy life as a university student (majoring in Spanish) and teaching at Ocotillo Christian School. Money was tight. I had to pay my rent and lots of bills, but I trusted that my finances would eventually improve. Those were four difficult years, but thanks to God, I got my university diploma!

Full-time positions with Lifeline followed: substitute, teacher, principal, and now, Lifeline’s General Administrator in Honduras. I oversee two schools, a clinic, the leadership of 13 churches, finances, economic empowerment initiatives, community leadership, and more. And in Ocotillo Christian Church, I am a deacon, I sometimes preach, and I meet with other church leaders. I consider all of this God's ministry, not mine. 

Lessons learned about God

Through these life experiences, I have learned some things about God. 

In the midst of poverty and difficulties, God can still work and be glorified. He did this through a kid who did not have a father or a mother. God can use anyone, no matter their background, to impact His kingdom.

Now I rejoice seeing lives being transformed throughout the ministries in Lifeline. I know that all that I went through growing up had a purpose from God, even though at that time I did not know what it was. Now, as an adult I can see the big picture. 

Today I am able to view life from a different perspective than other people. And together with the rest of Lifeline staff, we can continue to affect the lives of other people no matter their culture or background. 

I am imperfect. And I know that what I have today I may not have tomorrow. Yet God will continue to hold me, so I will continue to exalt Him. 

Now I am a husband and father. I met my wife when we were in 9th grade together. We have a 2-year-old son. I continue learning about God’s grace and mercy every day.

I thank all the individuals, churches, staff and volunteers who support Lifeline Christian Mission. This ministry has changed my life, and it changes the lives of others. Through Lifeline, God allows us to impact lives, and help lost souls to come to Jesus. I am really happy for what God is doing though Lifeline. 


When you invest in Lifeline, you invest in people. You give children the opportunity to be educated, mentored by strong Christians, given vocational opportunities, and to then cast a vision for others in their communities to live on mission for God. This is what it's all about!