"Teacher, seriously. Jesus is real!"

Samanta is a 12th grade student at Rey Sabio Salomón school in Ecuador. A lovely young woman, Samanta likes challenges, is kind, and strives to help others. In her free time, she enjoys reading mystery books. Her twin sister is her best friend. Samanta enjoys celebrating family birthdays because these are the rare occasion for the family together, and serve as a way for them to forget their daily struggles.

Her mother is a domestic employee, and Samantha works as a nanny. Due to the pandemic, in order to keep their jobs, they must live in the houses where they work. This means that Samantha can see her mother only one weekend a month, and she sees her sister only on weekends. Keeping up with her studies on top of her job duties is a challenge, but Samanta keeps a good attitude.

Until recently, though, Samanta was rebellious and often in a bad mood. She used to blame her mother for not being close to her father. Relationships at home were difficult and tense.

One day, Samanta attended a meeting at school where she learned that she could talk to Jesus. This intrigued her! She began to experiment with talking to Jesus about her struggles at home. Soon she began to feel loved. In telling her teacher about sensing this love, she said, “Teacher, seriously, Jesus is real." 

Samantha now knows that the Lord has a purpose for her life. Jesus’ love has helped her love her mother and sister. Little by little, her relationship with Jesus becomes stronger, making her mother and sister want to experience what she has! Samanta is taking advantage of every minute that she has with them, and asks for prayer so that soon, they too can have eternal life!