Martin is the eldest from a family of five children. They live on $80 a month. Most people in his squatter's area believe that their future is limited. They accept this fate at an early age andoften resort to drugs or drinking to cope.

Martin is different. Sidewalk children's ministry has had a great impact on his family. His parents' resolve that he have a better life has been echoed by the weekly lessons from the Sidewalk Ministries team. They tell him that God has an amazing plan for his life and that if he will walk in obedience to the teachings of Jesus, not only will his own life be blessed, but he will be a blessing to his entire family. He can be the child of promise that changes his family's cycle of poverty. God has helped Martin to make straight A's in the last six years at school. He is now poised to enter High School due to a scholarship the Sidewalk workers are working to raise. It helps Martin to know that people outside his family believe in him too."