My mother died when I was 6 years old.  My father could not cope, and left to start a new family with another woman, abandoning me and my three brothers.  I was left with no parents, and so went to live in the south of Peru with my grandparents and great-grandfather.  Three years later, I was taken to Cotahuasi.  There, I heard God's word for the first time through a local Christian man.  So at nine years of age, I accepted Christ into my life. 

I determined to go to school to learn to read so I could read the Bible.  God kept me faithful through my teenage years, and at 18 I moved to Lima to study the Bible.  There I was discipled and grew in my knowledge of God.  This equipped me for my time in the army, where I shared the gospel with other men, and carried

carried a small Bible in my pocket, which was forbidden in the military. 

After the Peruvian-Ecuador war in 1981, I developed post-war psychological trauma.  I was married and had 3 children, and my illness continued and worsened.  I couldn't work for three years.  I went to Lima to get help, but didn't get any better.  Finally, after years of struggling, a Christian brother said to me, "Only God can cure you."  I realised I needed to seek God whole-heartedly once again.  One night I went out for a walk and prayed and pleaded for God's help.  That night I was miraculously healed. 

I began to work again, but in 2001 God called me to change my job for Him.  I just wanted to serve God and leave other things behind.  I began working with the Shaws in Cotahuasi in 2002.  I also started theological training to prepare me to take God's word to other places in need of God's saving grace. 

I suffered at an early age, but I met God at an early age too.  The main thing is that I have God. We are not missing anything when we have the love of God.  I want to be open to know God's leading.  We can't decide, we can only wait on what God wants. 

Preaching, teaching, and church planting in 2 villages; leadership in Ministry Center; maintenance and construction; radio ministry development and administration.

Santiago (7-25-64) was abandoned as a child but heard the Gospel when he was nine years old and received Christ, as he experienced His life-changing work at such a young age.  In God's faithfulness, he grew through many difficult trials and heart aches.  He desires to keep bringing the Word of God to more villages.  He is also an elder in the Cotahuasi church.