A story of God’s blessing through hardship and difficulty. This is the story of Santiago Cruz, a member of the land bank “The Blessing” at AMC, in his own words.
“My name is Santiago Alejandro Cruz, I´m 43 years old, married to Fátima del Rosario Luna of 37 years old, together we have 5 children.
I came to land bank “The Blessing” on April 28th, 2011. Before being a member of this land bank, I lived in the community El Granadillo # 2. My wife was a member of a group of women benefited by AMC in a fund project revolving with pigs, I went to work on other farms to earn the support of my family. I personally felt uncomfortable because I lived with all my family in the house of my mother-in-law and sometimes in the house of a sister-in-law. The desire to have my own house was big and much more to have a farm, since I did not think it was convenient to go out for many days to work in other farms and leave my family.
One day my wife was informed that AMC was promoting access to land for families without resources and my family was one of them, so I investigated the application process through my wife who was already close to AMC.
Receiving the notification that we would be given the opportunity to be partners was a great joy for my family. We did not think about it and we came to the land bank, we made a plastic house, we went through the land and everything was grass, the only thing that was there was the opportunity to work it.
The first days were hard, we did not know anyone, and we had almost nothing to eat. The house did not protect us well from the conditions, much less in winter. However, my wife and I promised not to miss this opportunity and fight, because we believe in a God who gives us strength.
I proceeded immediately to work the plot, we planted cassava (yucca), and basic grains, these were the items that sustained us at the beginning. Today our plot of 2.68 mz has bananas, annatto (achiote), cocoa and fruit trees; this has helped us to have secure nourishment.
Three years ago, my wife was diagnosed with a serious illness, which affected us in all aspects, to such an extent that we requested help in different places to buy medicine. We got frustrated because we thought that we would not be able to make our payments for the land in the stipulated time. My wife’s family knows the desire we have to inherit a house and a working farm to our children, and they helped us to cancel our loan.
Today I am happy and relieved to have no debt, everything that will be produced will be earnings, in addition to seeing how my wife has considerably improved her health.
I can only thank God and AMC for helping us to make our dream come true, to have a house of our own and a farm as a means of work.”
This story was originally written in March 2019. Since this has been written, Santiago’s wife has still been struggling with her health conditions and at times has seemed to only narrowly escape death. Her situation is still difficult so please continue to pray for healing for her.
Farmer to Farmer: Nicaragua 