“My name is Átila.

My childhood wasn’t good.

I didn’t play with other children.

I didn’t have any friends.

My parents fought a lot.

I hated my life.

But everything changed when I met Jesus Christ.”

Poverty needs an eternal solution.

It’s a problem that seems overwhelming—too big for anyone to really make a difference.

But a difference is possible.

Meet Átila, a 16-year-old boy from Bom Jardim, Brazil—a boy who grew up in abject poverty:
 

Life is hard in Bom Jardim, a coastal community near Fortaleza, Brazil. Most adults are unable to find employment, but some scrape out a paltry wage working as manual labourers and street vendors. In the midst of crushing poverty and disease, families find it difficult to maintain a shred of hope. Átila’s family is no exception.

The living room of his family’s small, three-room house acts as his bedroom and a store where his mother sells candy and eggs to earn a meager income. As a young boy, he watched helplessly as his alcoholic father argued endlessly with his mother. Átila grew emotionally distant, escaping into a dream world of his own, built on his fears, questions and dreams, desperately looking for meaning in life.

At four years old, Átila was enrolled at the Projeto José Henrique Student Centre, a Compassion project run in partnership with Fortaleza Presbyterian Church. There, he developed into a gifted student, learning to read before any of the other children his age. Although he excelled academically, making friends was far from being his highest priority.

“Playing with the other children was not my favorite thing – I used to run away from group activities,” recalls Átila. His attitude grew worse, escalating to the point that he wanted to leave the program altogether. “My behaviour made me lonely and confused… I was depriving myself of happiness.” Evani Arraes, the project director, saw through Átila’s request and refused to let him leave. She wasn’t ready to give up on him, even if he was. She saw that there was so much more in store for Átila, even though he couldn’t.

His emotional distance grew to despair, and Átila began to desperately desire change.

“He showed me an intelligent Jesus…”

Change came for Átila in 2006, when he was introduced to Jesus Christ and became a Christian. “Thousands of people told me about Jesus at the child centre, but I wasn’t open-minded about it. I started to become interested in Jesus when Pastor Ricardo [Teixeira, of Fortaleza Presbyterian] showed me an intelligent Jesus. I started to study His teaching about how to live among people, loving your neighbour, and I realized that there was something different about him,” says Átila.

He joined the church and began to see that same difference in the people at the Compassion project—the people who loved him dearly, despite his rejecting their affection. As he saw the difference Jesus made in the lives of the men and women at the project, Átila’s heart began to change. He saw that God had given him an opportunity for a new life.

Instead of being distant, he grew close to the mentors and teachers at the project. As a teacher’s aid in the Art and English classes, he began sharing his knowledge with the other students. “I stopped being so selfish and started helping the other children.” The formerly shy and depressed young man found that he loves something previously unimaginable: Drama. “If I can act in a play in front of dozens of people, I can do anything,” he declares confidently.

New Dreams, New Desires

Today, Átila is a new man. His relationship with his parents has improved. God has given him love and mercy for his alcoholic father and a friendship with his mother. His mother, who has joined her son at Fortaleza Presbyterian, beams, “I want all his dreams to come true. I know he can do anything.”

His dream: Becoming a psychologist and social worker.

Átila is a trainee at a non-profit organization and helping transform the lives of children living in desperate poverty. “Social work is my life, and doing something for my community, for this child centre that helped and still helps me, that’s what I want to do,” he says.

“God has shown me His immeasurable love. He converted my arrogance to humility, and transformed my mind. But, I am not an example. I don’t deserve a single blessing God gave me. [I believe] God has great plans for our lives. I have many things to do, to see, and to feel. And what assures me that I will face everything successfully, is the fact that I will never be alone, because he has shown me Jesus, my best friend.”

By Bianka Costa, Compassion Brazil, with Aaron Armstrong, Compassion Canada