A Child’s Hard Life and Her Life-Changing Christmas

Veronica Miranda is a joyful young woman who is passionate about sharing the love of Jesus with people in her community. But her early life was very different. It was marked by her parents’ incarceration, frequent moves, and deaths in her family. She became bitter after she and her siblings were sent to a Christian orphanage. 

In this Christmas episode of GPS: God. People. Stories., Veronica shares how God used a Christmas card message at the orphanage to lead her out of darkness.

Connect with us through email at gps@billygraham.org or on Facebook at Billy Graham Radio.

If you’d like to know more about beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ, or deepening the faith you already have, visit FindPeacewithGod.net. 

If you’d like to pray with someone, call our 24-hour prayer line at 855-255-7729. 

Transcript

MUSIC STARTS

Veronica Miranda:
00:00:00 I was the oldest of four kids, but when I was about 8 years old, my parents were taken to prison ’cause of their involvement in illegal activities. And I didn’t know if we were ever going to see my parents again.

Jim Kirkland: When Veronica Miranda was young, life was hard. And as a result, so was her heart ... until one Christmas when she received a gift that began to soften her hardened heart. 

Veronica:
00:00:25 Look at everything I’ve gone through. Like, I hate God and God hates me. So why would I receive something like this? And why would someone say they love me if they don’t even know me?

Jim: Veronica Miranda discovered that the answer to all her questions was found in the Christ of Christmas. Welcome to the Christmas episode of GPS: God. People. Stories. It’s an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. I’m Jim Kirkland.

From the moment He was born in a Bethlehem manger 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ was destined to die on a cross. But, as you’ll hear Billy Graham explain later in this episode, He was also destined to be resurrected three days later—and to be the answer to all our problems.

Billy Graham:
00:01:12 And Jesus Christ is more alive than ever before! He is alive to conquer despair, to impart hope, to forgive sins, and to take away our loneliness and reconcile us to God. Accept Jesus Christ this Christmas. Give Him the gift He most wants: your heart.

Jim Kirkland: If you’d like to know more about giving your heart to Jesus Christ and letting Him give you joy and peace in return, visit our website: FindPeaceWithGod.net. That’s FindPeaceWithGod.net. Now if you’d like to speak with someone, call the 24-hour Billy Graham prayer line at 855-255-7729. That’s 855-255-PRAY.

Intro: GPS: God. People. Stories.

MUSIC TRANSITION

Jim: While Veronica Miranda is preparing for Christmas, she’s also busy showing others the hope of Jesus Christ in her own community of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

For one example, she’s been packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Those are boxes filled with gifts to go to children in need around the world. She’s also been serving on her church’s outreach team, which helps a small school of about 30 students.

Veronica:
00:02:28 A lot of people like this microschool that I go in, I don’t go in and saying, you know, here’s all my Bible verses and I am a Christian, and I go to this church. Like, no, I just come in and I love on them. And then they begin to ask questions like, Well, why are you so nice? Why do you always smile? Why do you care about us? And then that’s the opportunity where you say, Well, because someone cared about me and His Name was Jesus. So I think the holidays is just an amazing time for us to truly live out like Jesus did.

Jim: This time of giving and celebration is what Christmas is all about for Veronica today—but it wasn’t always this way. This is how her story began:

Veronica:
00:03:13 I was born in San Antonio, Texas, to an American father and a Mexican mother. I was the oldest of four kids, but when I was about 8 years old, my parents were taken to prison ’cause of their involvement in illegal activities. I didn’t know if we were ever going to see my parents again. 

Jim: She would see her mom again, but it wouldn’t be for a few months. During that time, Veronica, her sister, and two brothers were placed in a large foster home that had lots of other kids. When her mom was released from prison, she decided to make a big change for the family.

Veronica:
00:03:47 We moved to the northern part of Mexico where she was born and raised, and we’re getting adjusted to this new country, this new place, new everything. 

Jim: While they were “adjusting,” tragedy struck. The uncle they were living with was killed—possibly because of drug cartel involvement, says Veronica. The family was once again in crisis, and once again they had to move.
Veronica:
00:04:12 From that moment on, we didn’t really have a stable place that I could call home, you know. We were going from one house to another, from place to place, city to city, just my mom, my siblings, and I.

Jim: The family of five was about to suffer yet another tragedy. Veronica was 11 when it happened. 

Veronica:
00:04:30 I remember that day, my cousin and my little sister, they were jumping on some bunk beds and my little cousin accidentally pushed my brother off one of the beds and he fell and hit his head. So we rushed him to the nearest hospital. We were outside a major city, so they didn’t have the necessary equipment to perform the surgery that he needed. 

Jim: Five-year-old Alex was rushed by ambulance to the nearest children’s hospital—which was six hours away. Veronica’s mother stayed with Alex in the ambulance; Veronica and her siblings followed in another vehicle. After they arrived at the hospital, the kids saw their mom sobbing. They had never seen her cry before.

Veronica:
00:05:10 And we came up to her and she said that Alex was now with God. We were all just shocked. And I was there with my siblings, you know, I’m the oldest and they kind of don’t understand. 

Jim: Just about 15 minutes after learning that Alex had died, another shock came for Veronica.

Veronica:
00:05:29 My mom, she comes up to us and she says that, you know, we’re in a children’s hospital, there’s children with lots of needs. And my brother, he was pronounced brain dead, but the rest of his organs were perfect. So she had decided to donate his organs. Now, again, I’m in shock, don’t really understand a lot of the science, you know, I’m like 11. And she says that there was a child who needed a heart, and she donated my brother’s heart. And man, in that moment, I just remember feeling so angry. 

Jim: That anger was directed toward God.

Veronica:
00:06:03 I didn’t grow up like going to church, knowing about God, just, you know, what you see on TV and what you hear about, but in that moment, I was just so angry at God. I was just tired of everything that we have already gone through. And then on top of this, He just took my brother’s perfectly good heart and just gave it to another kid. I was just so heartbroken and angry. Like, I just didn’t, I couldn’t comprehend why such a supposedly loving God would do something like that.

Jim: Veronica had been the one who heard the crash of her little brother’s body falling from the bed. She had run into the room and rushed to get her mom. Then just like that, a few hours later, Alex was gone—and part of her mom left with him. 

Veronica:
00:06:48 She went in this huge depression. She didn’t want to see us; she didn’t want to talk to us. It just felt like—maybe to her it felt like she had lost all her kids, you know, she didn’t want anything. And, I remember that was very hurtful because then now my siblings would look up to me and be like, Well, she’s not available. So, you’re the next one.

Jim: Veronica had to grow up fast—and not just because of her mom’s depression. Two months after Alex’s death, Veronica’s mom was arrested again. This time, though, she wouldn’t be out anytime soon. She was sentenced to 40 years in a Mexican prison. 

Veronica:
00:07:27 At that point, you know, it was tough, not only losing my dad, my uncle, my little brother, but now my mom. And, I did feel just this huge responsibility on me. I mean, I remember that day very clearly when they came and they took her and they were like—it was apparently something with the car. They just needed to check like a registration, like it seemed very harmless. And they took her to the police station or something like that, but then she never came back from that.

Jim: When Veronica’s mother called her, she didn’t have much of an explanation. 

Veronica:
00:08:03 She just said, you know, Mommy did some things and she needs to go away for a while. We actually stayed with this lady that she used to work for my mom, and she was taking care of us. And at the beginning she was very nice and great, but it just got really bad. She would hit us, like she would abuse us physically. She would take us in and out of school. She stole a lot.

Jim: Because Veronica’s mother was in a prison about 10 hours away, she had no clue her children were being mistreated.

Veronica:
00:08:37 And then one day, she wasn’t there when my mom called on the phone and we told her everything. And that’s when she had told us that she was already feeling something in her heart, that something wasn’t settling. 

Jim: Veronica’s mother had an idea. She had met a pastor who ministered to inmates of the prison and who also helped with a private Christian orphanage. Veronica’s mom arranged for her children to go there.

Veronica:
00:09:00 We got to the orphanage, I mean, this new place, and I had never been with that many children. I honestly, it—this is very silly, but when my mom was kind of explaining what an orphanage was to us, we grew up, we were very innocent. We didn’t know about a lot of these things, and I asked my mom, I was like, is it like the Zoey 101 show? Like, what is this? Like, I’m so confused. So I had nothing to reference it, so then we got to the orphanage and everyone was very nice. 

Jim: In spite of how nice the people and environment were, Veronica was still intimidated. She and her brother and sister were joining dozens of other children. Her brother would be in one home and she and her sister in another.  Veronica was about 13 at the time and she began to realize that she had changed, that her outlook and her attitude were different than they had been not all that long ago. 

Veronica:
00:09:56 I was just very angry at God, very angry at people. I didn’t smile. I could care less about anything. And going into the holiday season is when I was even more sad because I was going to be the first holiday without my family, or at least without my mom. 

Jim: Christmas for Veronica’s family had always been a very festive time.

Veronica:
00:10:20 Holidays were huge for us, especially for the Latin culture. We loved to have a party. That was a very fun time in our family where a lot of our family would gather, where we would cook, where you would see all your cousins, all these great things, and that was the first year I wasn’t going to have that. And even though there was lots of kids, lots of people there, I just felt so alone, like, no one saw me, no one cared about me, no one loved me.

Jim: But God saw Veronica, He cared about her, and loved her, and she began to discover that on Christmas Day. The director of the orphanage called all the kids to come downstairs and he wanted to share with them the true meaning of Christmas. He told the story of Jesus in a way that Veronica had never heard before.

Veronica:
00:11:08 I thought Christmas was about celebration and the gifts and Buddy the Elf and the cookies and all those kinds of things, not about like … Jesus. So then he was like, OK, we have some gifts for y’all and they start handing out the shoeboxes. 

Jim: But these weren’t regular boxes of shoes; they were Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Operation Christmas Child is an outreach of our sister ministry, Samaritan’s Purse. People pack these boxes with gifts to share the love of Jesus with kids around the world who are in need. Kids like Veronica when she was in that orphanage in Mexico.

Veronica:
00:11:47 When I opened my shoebox, I mean, there’s lots of great things in there. In my box, there was some school supplies. There was a calculator, like one of those, you know, fancier ones. There was a 12-pack of these super glittery pencils. Lots of great things in there, but when I grabbed my box and I’m taking everything out, and I got to the very bottom of my shoebox, and I read out a Christmas card and it said, Merry Christmas. You have a family that loves you and is praying for you. And when I read those words, I just started like crying.

Jim: The words that family wrote were the words Veronica needed to read. 

Veronica:
00:12:29 And the director of the orphanage, he came up to me and he hugged me and said, Look around. Look at all these kids. We’re your family too and we love you. And I just knew in my heart in that moment that that gift was sent specifically for me.

Jim: But Veronica didn’t know much more than that. She still had a lot of questions and doubts.

Veronica:
00:12:52 Look at everything I’ve gone through. Like, I hate God and God hates me. So why would I receive something like this? And why would someone say they love me if they don’t even know me?

Jim: Veronica started asking more questions about God and started paying more attention during devotions at the orphanage. She had questions like …

Veronica:
00:13:13 How do you even read the Bible? Is there a specific order? What would it look like if I were to, I guess, join in on this ride with Jesus? I really was just so clueless.

Jim: Not for long, though. The spring after that Christmas, God used another girl at the orphanage to minister to Veronica. A girl who had been through some terrible situations herself. This girl read to Veronica Isaiah 41:9–10. This is what that passage says: “I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. … ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and [I] have not rejected you. … Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Veronica:
00:14:02 And when I heard those words, I just felt so loved and so seen in that moment, just kind of like when I read those words also on that Christmas card that was in my shoebox on Christmas Day. But also this verse, it just felt so specific to me. It felt very like, God, He literally—the way I interpreted in that moment was like, OK, I took you out of all this situation, everything that you’ve gone through, I’ve brought you here so that you can know about Me, but also I’ve chosen you. And I will give you the strength and I will give you the power and give you like what you need so that you can live out My ministry. I really did feel like, OK, God wants me to do greater and bigger things, but I don’t know what that is.

Jim: Veronica asked the girl to pray for her. She was done having anger and hatred fill her heart; it was emotionally and physically exhausting. Veronica wanted to invite Jesus into her life.

Veronica:
00:15:04: And we prayed and I just felt like after that, I had this joy. I loved—I was just happy and I felt like I was able to breathe again. More than anything was I wanted other kids to know that Someone out there loves them and that they don’t have to be angry, and that they don’t have to be mad at themselves, at the situations, at God.

Jim: Veronica’s own ‘situation’ was about to take a turn for the worse. She wasn’t able to enroll in school because the orphanage had misplaced her birth certificate. The law required that a student had to have a birth certificate.

Veronica:
00:15:44 And that was really hard for me because I loved school. I loved studying. I loved learning new things. … And I really just thought that my education was that one thing that I had control over.

Jim: But Veronica didn’t waste this unwanted season. She noticed the children in the community around her were hungry—hungry both spiritually and physically. 

Veronica:
00:16:06 So I started a community soup kitchen. I learned how to cook and I cooked meals for 270 kids. … So these children would come in every day to eat the meal I would cook. 

Jim: Veronica was just 13 years old at the time … starting and running a soup kitchen! So, what kinds of meals does a 13-year-old running a soup kitchen prepare? We asked her.

Veronica:
00:16:32 We did a lot of rice. We did a lot of what we call tinga de pollo, which is, it is shredded chicken and like the sauce and then you would serve it on top of a tostada, so like a fried corn tortilla. We would do tacos. We would do lots of just like Mexican meals. We cook Mexican food. We got rice, beans.
 
Jim: Now Veronica had started a soup kitchen simply as something to do since she wasn’t able to be in school. But the problem with her birth certificate was resolved and she was able to return to school within a year. Before that, though, she also helped distribute Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes to other churches and organizations in the area. And, she led a weekly discipleship program from Samaritan’s Purse called The Greatest Journey. 

Veronica:
00:17:20 The Greatest Journey is a 12-lesson discipleship program for children that once they receive their shoeboxes, they’re invited back into that same place to hear about the Word of God. I had the opportunity to teach this. They’re the 270 kids of our community, but also the 50 kids of the orphanage. And it was just a huge blessing. It really just strengthened my walk with Jesus and it reinforced my calling and what the Lord had called me out to do. 

Jim: That year, Veronica started to thrive. She built a new kind of family with those around her and she had a whole new understanding of Jesus by the time her second Christmas at the orphanage came around. 

Veronica:
00:18:03 I didn’t feel so alone that Christmas. I wasn’t in such a dark place either. Throughout that year I was able to heal a little bit more, and also just came in with more gratitude.

Jim: Veronica had the joy of the Lord in her heart that Christmas. She was celebrating in a very different way. Within three years, Veronica and her siblings would no longer be living at the orphanage. An American couple who had gone on a mission trip to Mexico had worked to win legal guardianship of the kids.

Veronica:
00:18:32 First they came down to the orphanage, did ministry, and they left. But then they came back the following year and said that the Lord had put in their heart to start a process to bring us back to the U.S. It took about three years; it was not the easiest process, but the Lord made a way and it was a huge blessing. 

Jim: In 2014 when Veronica was 17, she and her siblings moved with that family all the way to Washington state. They stayed with them about two years before being welcomed into another family—the Barnetts.

Veronica:
00:19:08 They are amazing. They live also in the Seattle area in Washington state, so when I say I’m going home for the holidays, that’s where I mean, when I go up there and spend some time—and even Christmases with them has been a fun, new, different type of experience.

Jim: [read with a smile] The Barnetts are not Hispanic. So, the ‘fun, new, different’ way of celebrating Christmas came was really a culture shock for Veronica and her siblings.

Veronica:
00:19:36 Let me tell you, Hispanic culture, we celebrate on the 24th. We have a dinner and we love to have music. We have dancing; we have spending time with family. You’re talking with cousins, aunts, everyone until like midnight. And then by midnight, that’s when, you know, most of the time, you can open gifts and celebrate with your family. You see all the little kids playing around and join ’cause Santa, I guess in Latin America, comes around midnight.

Jim: [read with a smile] But during Christmas Eve in the United States with the Barnetts, Veronica and her siblings had a quiet dinner of turkey and ham. 

Veronica:
00:20:12 I think that was the first time I probably ever had ham. And then it was like eight o’clock. They have this beautiful tradition, the Barnetts, where, with their kids, every year, we’d get to open a gift, which is pajamas and a board game. I had never, I don’t think I’d ever owned officially a pair of pajamas, like, you know, a pajama set. So, we did pajamas the 24th and we all did a board game and played together like a family. And then everyone went to bed at like 10 o’clock, so my sister and I were like, What’s happening? 

Jim: On Christmas morning, Veronica and her sister and brother opened presents with the Barnetts, who had two children about those same ages.

Veronica:
00:20:53 We got to share like just that moment of joy and happiness all together in a smaller environment. You know, I didn’t have 50 kids. It was just us there, and it was just so beautiful. And, they’re just such a loving family. 

Jim: The Barnetts asked Veronica and her siblings how they were used to celebrating Christmas. They told them. And the next year, the Barnetts said, We’re going to do a Mexican Christmas!

Veronica:
00:21:19 Everybody made homemade tamales. I was teaching everyone how to make tamales. We made I think like 150 tamales. My sister made some salsas. We made homemade tortillas, everything. And it was just really fun how they like just really wanted to include us in, you know, kind of learning about how we celebrate our Christmases. It’s always a joy to be around them. We always are cracking jokes, just having a good time, and it’s just so nice. It’s always a joyful time.

Jim: Although Veronica celebrates Christmas with her new family, the Barnetts, she still keeps in touch with her mom, who remains in prison in Mexico. 

Her mom accepted the Lord while attending a weekly Bible study. And today, she leads a Bible study in prison and is constantly encouraging and praying for her adult children.

Veronica:
00:22:10 When my mom was gone, like when she was taken right to prison, that was like, OK, I really don’t think I can handle more of this. And now looking back, I’m just so thankful that God provided strength, the fact that He gave me that strength when I was 12 years old is just an amazing testimony of His Word, and what, like, He really is there with us at all times even when we think we’re going to break. So, that just like fills me—it like renews my faith every time.

MUSIC TRANSITION
Jim Kirkland: Veronica Miranda first began to understand God’s love for her when she read the card that a family had tucked inside an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. 
That led to her discovery of the joy and peace that can only come from having a personal relationship with Jesus—the Christ of Christmas. 

If you’d like to know more about beginning a relationship with Jesus, or going further in deepening the one you already have, visit us at FindPeaceWithGod.net. That’s FindPeaceWithGod.net.

If you’d be more comfortable speaking with someone, call the 24-hour prayer line. There’s someone waiting to speak with you now at 855-255-PRAY. That’s 855-255-7729. Both that phone number and the link to our website are in the show notes.

Stay close. Veronica has one more thought about Christmas to share in just a moment.

Voice-over: You’re listening to GPS: God. People. Stories., a podcast production of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

MUSIC STARTS

Billy Graham:
00:24:05 Today, our imaginations go back 2,000 years to that first Christmas when the world experienced three phenomena.

Voice-over: Billy Graham …

Billy Graham: 
00:24:14 First, there was the star. There were many stars in the sky, but none like this. This one shone with the aura and brilliance of another world. It was as though God had taken a lamp from the ceiling of Heaven and hung it in the dark sky on a troubled world. Second, there was a new song in the air. A world which had lost its song learned to sing again. With the coming of God in the flesh, hope sprang in the heart of man; and led by angelic beings, the whole world took up the refrain, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” And, thirdly, there was Good News—the Good News that at last a Savior had come to save men from sin. “His Name shall be called Jesus, and He shall save His people from their sins.” He was the central theme of that first Christmas. And Jesus Christ is more alive than ever before! He is alive to conquer despair, to impart hope, to forgive sins, and to take away our loneliness and reconcile us to God. Accept Jesus Christ this Christmas. Give Him the gift He most wants: your heart. This is His birthday. Let us give Him a gift worthy of His love.

Jim: We can tell you more about giving your heart to Jesus. Visit us online or give us a phone call. For going online, the address is FindPeaceWithGod.net. That’s FindPeaceWithGod.net. And for the phone number of our 24-hour Billy Graham prayer line, the number is 855-255-PRAY. Someone is there, ready to answer your questions and pray with you, so keep the number handy. 855-255-7729. And again, we have that number and the link to the website ready for you in the show notes.
Our guest on this episode of GPS is Veronica Miranda. Her childhood was marked by a series of traumatic events, all of which led her becoming bitter toward God. That changed when she received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. Now, she sees Christmas as a perfect time to tell others about Jesus Christ and how much He loved them.

Veronica:
00:26:28 Christmas is such an important time and holiday. I think that a lot of people’s hearts during the holidays soften a little bit and that gives us so much opportunity to minister and love in like showing like your community that you are there, that you do see them, and that they’re loved.

Jim: Veronica Miranda’s story is a picture of the Christmas story—Jesus Christ coming into her broken heart just as He came into a broken world … to bring new hope and joy. We’re grateful to Veronica for sharing her story with us and we are grateful to you for listening. To be sure you don’t miss any of our stories that we’re bringing you, subscribe to GPS wherever you listen to podcasts. And if this GPS was a blessing, if you enjoyed hearing Veronica’s story, could we ask a favor of you? Give us a quick rating or review on your podcast app? That really, really helps more people find out about this podcast.

I’m Jim Kirkland, and all of us here at GPS: God. People. Stories. wish you a very Merry Christmas! This podcast is an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association—Always Good News.

CLOSING MUSIC
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