"I chose not to make excuses - but to choose life"

Mauricio A. Rodriguez was born in a remote area of Estelí, Nicaragua, and is the 25th child of an alcoholic father. His mother was unmarried and abandoned him to die after he was born in a field near Estelí. She threw him into the open hole of an outhouse and then tossed large stones in the pit to hasten his death and cover her crime.

But God had other plans for him.

Miraculously, he was not hit by the rocks but was rescued uninjured and taken to the hospital. Against all odds, he survived and was adopted by his dad’s sister, a godly woman who taught him God’s Word.

“I had every opportunity to be a very broken person,” Mauricio says. “But I discovered a real God who healed my broken heart."  

Today, God’s plans for Mauricio continue to unfold.

Currently, he is in the process of launching the Tree of Life 1984 nonprofit foundation in Estelí to help teen mothers and their children find the same hope he has found in Jesus. 

Mauricio’s miraculous life story is told in his autobiography, The Gift From Heaven (Foursquare Missions Press)—an inspirational journey through betrayal and forgiveness, hurt and healing, destruction and deliverance, to a new life of hope, love and God’s redemptive purpose. 

The Gift From Heaven has been printed in Spanish and English, and currently is being translated into Japanese. Approximately 35,000 copies have been distributed, opening doors for Mauricio to minister in many churches in the U.S., Japan, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Mauricio is an ordained minister with The Foursquare Church and lives in Los Angeles.