Emanuel lives in the Dominican Republic. He is 17 years old and a Nazarene pastor’s son who has benefited from child sponsorship.

Here he shares his experience and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As a pastor's son, I have learned the importance of planning. With many expectations and things to do, I had everything planned about how my year would be. Not only did I feel bad for my plans and goals, but more for the total confinement of lockdown. Seeing so many deaths in other countries and here , too—people I know lost loved ones, and fear increased every day in me, and around me. 

Prayer times with my family helped me a lot. I spent a lot of time with them as our routine changed. We no longer said goodbye in the morning and saw each other only at night. Now we are closer as a family. During the lockdown I spent more time praying, read new books, and watched movies with my family. I like that, and I thank God for that part of this sad reality that has touched the world. Little by little, many establishments have opened, and we have had to learn this new mode of life. 

I learned that God can change our lives in an instant like the blink of an eye. I saw how lucky we are and sometimes we don't even realize it. During this time, I helped my church and [Nazarene] district with things like preparing food rations for people in need and preparing things for online services. I really like to see how my dad asks me about technological matters.