Ares's Story

Because of friends like you

When Juliana came to New Mexico Christian Children’s Home, she was in the middle of starting over.

After moving to New Mexico and walking through significant struggles as a family, Juliana was rebuilding her life while raising her children. She was working toward her GED, preparing for college, attending counseling with her children, and trying to help her family heal after living in survival mode for so long.

At Hope Haven, NMCCH’s residence for single parent families, Juliana found the stability she needed to begin moving forward. And in that steady place, something else began to change.

Juliana found her way back to God.

She earned her GED and enrolled at Eastern New Mexico University. As her own relationship with God grew, she began reading Scripture and talking more openly with her children about Jesus.

All the while, her son Ares was watching.

For years, Juliana had wondered how much Ares really understood about God. He wasn’t rebelling against faith. He simply hadn’t grasped who Jesus was, what salvation meant, or what it looked like to know God personally.

One day, Juliana noticed something. Ares had picked up the Celebrate Recovery Bible she had been reading. There was a bookmark inside. He had been reading it on his own.

Juliana was so excited that she simply let him keep the Bible and found another one for herself.

Soon Ares began asking questions about the verses he was reading. When Juliana didn’t know an answer, they would ask a friend or talk with Tom, an NMCCH minister who took the time to explain things in ways Ares could understand.

“I could see the wheels turning in Ares’s mind,” Juliana remembers. “He was asking real spiritua questions and trying to understand God.”

Ares started wanting to attend Friday night Bible study again. Reading Scripture by himself was no longer enough. He wanted to ask questions. He wanted to learn.

Most importantly, he wanted his faith to be real.

As Ares continued reading Scripture, certain words stayed with him.

He thought about the Bible’s teaching that “now is the day of salvation.” He remembered his mom teaching him from Romans about confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in his heart that God raised Him from the dead.

The more Ares read, the more he wanted to understand who Jesus really was and what it meant that Christ had died for his sins.

He later explained: “I didn’t want to wait until ‘someday.’ I wanted to know Jesus now.”

Ares talked with God, confessed his sin, and trusted Jesus to save him.

Then, after a Friday night Bible study, he told his family that he wanted to be baptized that Sunday.

When they got home, Ares asked his mom to teach him how to pray. They sat together, held hands, and prayed. Juliana helped him understand how to talk to God. But the words were Ares’s own.

That Sunday, Tom baptized Ares. For Juliana, watching her son publicly declare his faith was the answer to years of prayer. And she has continued to see evidence of what God is doing in his heart.

When Ares received a backpack for school, he found a “Jesus Loves Me” bracelet inside and proudly began wearing it. He talks about God with his friends. He gets up in the morning and listens to the Bible as he prepares for his day.

Today,

Juliana says:

“Watching Ares come to know Jesus has been a gradual process, but it has been beautiful to witness. I can see a confidence in him when it comes to Jesus that was not there before. I can see his curiosity, his desire to learn, and his excitement about knowing God for himself.”

A mother came back to God. Her son picked up her Bible. He started asking questions.

And in the steady, Christ-centered community surrounding their family, God worked in their life.

That’s the beautiful thing about giving children and families a firm place to stand:

You never know what God will build on that foundation.

Your prayers and generosity help write these stories. Friends like you provide the stability and Christ-centered community where children and families like Juliana and Ares can grow, rebuild, and encounter the love of Jesus.

Thank you for being part of changing families’ futures through New Mexico Christian Children’s Home.