Uriel Montoya is only 19 years old, but his life was already on a downward spiral when he joined the new soccer league started by Zone 10:15, a community development center based at the Maranatha Church in the Fuego Nuevo neighborhood of Mexico City.

That league is not only making a big impact in the community, but also in the lives of the young men like Uriel who play on the team, according to Community Health Evangelist (CHE) Mariana Luna de Fortis, a Maranatha Church member who helps run the Zone 10:15 programs.

“Uriel was known as one of the ‘kids of the curb,’ ” said Mariana. “He quit school when he was only three classes away from finishing junior high school. He didn’t work and hung out in the local park, drinking and doing drugs. But Uriel began listening intently to the CHE lessons that we have been giving at the close of each soccer game in the league.”

Uriel not only listened, but also took the lessons to heart and began changing before their eyes from a “neighborhood problem” to a community leader and activist.

“He participated in the soccer league’s first ‘seed project,’ painting speed bumps in the neighborhood around the park, and organized a team to clean up the street where he lives,” said Mariana.

“The league is a good thing,” said Uriel. “It’s a way for us to have fun on Sunday afternoons. We compete in a healthy way and get to experience community with neighbors and friends. And now, almost no one throws trash in the park or goes there to do drugs. Little by little, we are reclaiming the park for families so they can take their kids there and have fun.”

Uriel also credits the soccer program with his personal turn-around.

“Personally it has helped me tremendously,” he said. “Before, I drank every weekend and I’d go to the park to do drugs. Now I do not drink and I have made friends with many people who I did not get along with previously. The league has changed those relationships.

“The lessons have taught me values and to try to pursue goals, to respect my family, friends, and acquaintances,” he added. “And they have taught me to do what I can to better the place where I live.”

Uriel has a long way to go, but he has finished those three classes he needed to complete junior high and plans to continue his education in high school. Eventually he hopes to become a mechanic and repair cell phones. The future looks brighter for one young man in Fuego Nuevo, thanks to the Maranatha Church and Zone 10:15 community center.