God is Good!

Ana Cristina Paitanmala had the perfect life. Her whole family were active members at the church. Her father worked at a warehouse while her mother was able to stay at home to help take care of their other sibling and cousin who lived with them. And her eldest sister was a nurse at the hospital making decent salary. They weren’t well off but they were a healthy and happy family. She was also accepted into our Riverside Tree scholarship program. At church, it was easy for Ana to cry
“God is Good!”

However, by at the end of 2020, Ana’s perfect life had turned upside down. In just a matter of a few months, her sister lost her job and later developed leprosy. Her father was involved in an accident at the warehouse and potentially faces a prison sentence. To make matters worse, she lost her mother to COVID. She could do nothing but cry and wonder why her life had fallen apart. She would still attend church, but she found it difficult to declare God’s goodness. “How can I say God is good with all that has happened to me?” she asked herself. She was uncertain of her walk in God.

But God had never left her side. She would soon find hope and restoration in those around her. Her sponsor in the United States wrote encouraging letters to her during this rough time and her fellowship within the Riverside Tree ministry helped to restore her faith in God. Soon, she was able to once again declare “God is Good!”

Ana joined this year’s mission trip and shared her testimony with numerous youth and leaders in Piura. “It is easy to declare ‘God is good’ in times of ease but we need to declare ‘God is good’ even when things are not so good!” she proclaimed. She shared the love of God with each child she came across and celebrated all that God did. God had restored Ana’s story from rags to riches!