Finding Lasting Success After a Life of Hardship

In 2009, David Yee felt hopeless after losing his banking job. He had worked in the industry for 25 years and expected to retire from the company. “They were laying off thousands and thousands of people. And I happened to be one of those casualties,” explained David. “I survived so many mergers, I thought I was going to survive this lay off.”

For the next few years, David lived off unemployment benefits and his savings to make ends meet. He also turned to alcohol to cope.
“I felt like I was lost. I felt like something was missing. I was filling my void with drinking, but I wasn’t filling it with God,” he said. “When I found God, that was the void that was missing."

David gave his life to Christ and got a job as a postal carrier. Meanwhile, Ivette Diaz had been working on commission at a furniture store for several years. She was going through her own struggles as a single mother. “Hope was the only thing I have,” recalled Ivette. “I didn’t have anything. I didn’t even have a house; I didn’t even have a car. All I have was me and the kids.”

Ivette says that hope came from her faith in Jesus Christ. Every day, before going to work, she prayed for guidance. “The Lord told me to trust Him. And it was difficult because how am I going to trust You when I’m not going to have enough to pay my bills this month,” Ivette said. “I'm walking in, I'm asking the Lord, ‘Bring my name into people's hearts and minds.’ Even at night, when I get off work, I thank God for every customer that I was able to help sale or not sale,” she continued.

In fact, one of those customers was David. “He wanted to try this mattress and I didn’t know how to sell a mattress and I had to call my customer and my manager,” Ivette stated. “And she says, ‘Ivette, no, he’s not after the mattress, he’s after you.’ So, it was funny.”

Ivette and David began dating. Both started trusting God with their finances and saw their income grow. “I started seeing my increase in my paychecks,” she said. “Little by little, I saw His hand upon my life. I go back to the scripture, that He is the one who gives me the ability."

“I would tithe and then I would get more than what I just tithed in overtime,” recalled David. Then, Ivette became a CBN partner. “What I noticed is CBN, they don’t just help us, they help everybody in the whole world,” Ivette said. “One of the things that I love about it is the water system. I love to see the children's faces, the relief. Wow, I got some water, clear water, clean water. And that really touched me because there was a real person with real issues, with real situations. And they had a hope,” she said.

Today, Ivette and David have been married for 12 years and say the Lord is still blessing them financially. Ivette is making more than four times what she used to and David’s income has doubled. They encourage others to honor God through tithing and to give to CBN.