My name is Ánderson Godoy Salguero and I’m 21 years old. I was born in Bogotá, Colombia. I want to share how God came into my life and changed everything.
I was born in a dysfunctional family; there are four children from three different women. My mother used to work 10 hours a day to get money to buy food for my sister and me. I suffered from depression as a child. During my teen years I become violent at times and my depression led me to thoughts of suicide. I fought with my mother and even threatened her physically. I moved in with my father thinking I would have a better life. However, it soon became obvious that the fighting continued; only the opponent had changed. I sought a solution through my Catholic tradition, but it didn’t satisfy my needs. I felt empty and alone.
Nonetheless, others had a different image of me. I was an excellent student and was on scholarship throughout high school. I finished high school with one of the best averages of my city and received scholarships to many different colleges. But I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I took the admissions exam to a very prestigious college, the National College of Colombia. Although I was only 16 years old, I entered the college with one of the highest averages and began to study Pure Chemistry.
None of my academic achievements managed to fill the emptiness in my heart.
Read more of Ánderson Godoy Salguero's testimony at andeanadventure.blogspot.com, a Web site about Nazarene missions in the North Andean Field of South America. Salguero is a recent graduate of the Nazarene Theological Seminary of South America in Quito, Ecuador, and is exploring a call to mission.