Martin - A Transparent Testimony of a Changed Life

This is Martin’s story. He shares the testimony of how his life has been transformed from one that was full of darkness because of harsh family circumstances and from socioeconomic standing, to one with needs met, access to programs and education, and having hope for his future. You can even see the joy on his face in the picture below. In his own words, Martin, who is sixteen years old, shares his life, faith and education experience deeply from his heart.

My name is Martin Opiro, I am 18 years old, I grew up in Palami village with both parents. I come from a polygamous family, so my father had 2 official wives with 12 children, 8 from my mother (I am the fifth born) and 4 from my step-mother. Both wives and all 12 children were relying on my father to provide, even though he had no other income besides farming. Of the food he raised, 98% would be for consumption and the other 2% would be sold to buy other basic needs of the family.

My father struggled all year and with the addition of new babies in the family, the expenses kept on increasing and the income remained unstable.  To cope with the struggle, my father would go out to the bar to relieve his stress. The more time he spent out, the more he developed bad habits and a love for alcohol. All of this, and him taking on more wives, the problems continued to rise.

These habits put the family at stake. Not only did we struggle to get basic needs and food, but it also made it hard for myself and the rest of the children to do well in school. My father passed away in February 2020 after being poisoned by unknown people when he had gone to drink at the bar as usual.

By God’s grace, throughout all of these challenges I had been connected with Sports Outreach.

I actually came to know Sports Outreach in 2013 through a victory teens program in church when I was 8 years old. I loved dancing very much and was the youngest in the program. I was very active, I wouldn’t miss a practice, and would always come an hour early to practice. I was good at the new dance moves. I am among the pioneers of mango tree day care (Morgan preschool) and attended 4 children’s care camps at Sports Outreach. I was nurtured and mentored by the coaches because they wanted me to become a coach like them and coach other children, and I wanted that too.

So this prompted Sports Outreach to see the passion and love for what I was doing. The coaches began asking me questions about my life and family and at the end of it, they offered me an opportunity to join the education scholarship program. I am now able to go to school regularly as a result.

I came to know Christ in 2014 when New Foundation Community church held a crusade at Hope Alive in Koro Abili trading center. After Pastor Aloysius preached and announced an alter call, I became convicted and was ready to receive Christ. I moved slowly, went in front, confessed Christ as my Savior, and began my journey of salvation. But after 4 years I began struggling with life and made bad choices. I stopped committing in church, I lost the love I had for the club, and I began living the life I thought I wanted.

But in December 2020, I attended the youth camp at Koro where there was a series of teaching from different guest speakers under a theme "Rise and Shine”. During those teachings I began to realize that I was far from the Lord. So on the Passover night when Pastor Aloysius requested the ministers to pray for people, I received prayer and renewed my faith! I hope to remain faithful to God and follow small steps of obedience every day.

I have a self-driven spirit and my Coaches have seen that and also seen a potential of excelling in academics because of my performance in class since I joined the program. Since my results have been promising, now my future goal is to be a teacher.  I admire the way teachers teach with a lot of passion and of wanting every student to excel. I want to do that with my future students.

Many people tell me that now I am old enough to be done with school, I should stop. Many people also complain about the other boys my age that are disobedient and do not make good choices, but I do not want to be like them. I have made up my mind to not listen to the misleading advice to stop school and to not be like those who are disobedient. I have began this new life and want to continue with school and rely on God.

It’s amazing to see how the overall ministry of Sports Outreach has influenced this young man, from preschool to church to sports to education. If you would like to help continue to impact kids just like Martin, click here to donate!