Broken To Blessed: Turning Trials To Music

by JP Ocampo

I was born with a cleft lip and palate, and bilateral microtia. This means my left ear is underdeveloped and my right ear never formed. As a result, I have profound hearing loss on my right side and rely on my left ear, with the help of a hearing aid. From birth, I faced medical and developmental challenges, particularly with feeding, speech, and hearing.

My mother, Grace, had lupus during her pregnancy, which contributed to my complications while I was in the womb. My dad Dr Philip, an ER doctor, would often bring me to the hospital with him. Thus I was no stranger to doctor’s visits, both for my mom’s health and mine.

At two years old, after some surgeries, my dad was finally comfortable enough to introduce me to the rest of the family. The fact that his son, a doctor’s child, was born with so many congenital deficiencies made him feel deeply ashamed.

Because of the burden my parents felt for me, they made sure my medical needs were met. I went to special clinics to help me overcome my hearing and speech difficulties, and in school, they requested that I be seated at the front and exempted from the haircut policy so my ears could be covered up. I became the “golden boy” of the family because it took so much to fund my surgeries and treatments.

In the middle of all this, while I was a small child with physical challenges, my Tita Pearl, who was then part of the Papuri Music Ministry, spoke something over me. She said I would one day be part of the music ministry. With hearing, speech and sight impairments, that seemed impossible.

Life went on, and it wasn’t easy. My parents’ relationship struggled, and eventually, they separated. I witnessed their fights while trying to focus on my studies.

Then as I entered my teen years, things took a tragic turn. My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer. He refused surgery, and I watched as the cancer slowly ravaged him. He passed away when I was 14. Just a few months later, my mother suffered a second stroke, which left her bedridden for four years. She passed away when I was 17. I was left to cope with the loss of both parents, all while wrestling with insecurities and questions about my identity and my faith. By God’s grace, my wonderful Lola Nora stepped up and took great care of me.

For years, I struggled with feelings of inadequacy, questioning my self-worth, my sexuality, and whether God was really in control of my life. After all, why would I follow a God who took both my parents away too soon, and gave me hearing problems? Would I even find love in a world that looks at beauty at face value? I felt like I had nothing going for me.

But in the midst of the pain, God did something amazing. Despite my physical deficiencies, by His grace alone, He gave me the talent to make music. And so I was able to join my school’s music group, Kundirana, and serve God through the music ministry in CCF’s Jzone, now called Elevate, and Exalt Main. God even gave me the opportunity to make music arrangements and lead the teams I was assigned in.

But as I made music and served, I still faced deep battles with depression, bitterness, and thoughts of suicide. I was fighting a war within myself while pretending to be okay on the outside. And then during a CCF retreat in 2017, God broke through. I had grown up in church, hearing the Bible and the gospel countless times, but it was in that retreat that I truly understood God’s love for me.

As I played the piano as part of the music team during worship, I heard God’s quiet but powerful voice saying, “Don’t you know I love you? I created and planned for you. Why are you here playing for me? Is this an accident? This is where I want you to be.” It was at that moment that I TRULY surrendered everything to God. I decided to make Jesus the Lord of my life and made a covenant to grow in Him, to love Him, and to serve Him.

Even with all the challenges — the cleft lip, hearing loss, surgeries, hospital visits, bullying, and the trauma of losing both my parents — I’ve come to realize that none of it was a mistake. God intended for me to be here, to serve Him in music and to minister to the world. Psalm 139 reminded me that God saw me, formed me, and wrote every single day of my life before I took my first breath. For so long, I thought I was broken, defective, and a burden. But now I know the truth: I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

The enemy tried to steal my joy, distort my identity, and silence my faith, but Christ secured everything. Not just survival, but life to the full. I was to be placed EXACTLY where God wanted me to be. From a life of doubt came a life of blessing and security.

What once seemed impossible because of my physical conditions became a testimony of God’s faithfulness and power—not because of what I could do, but because of what He, who formed me and knows me intimately, can do when I fully surrendered to Him. To God be the glory!

JP OCAMPO is an Exalt Music Coordinator at Christ’s Commission Fellowship (CCF) and also part of the Papuri Music Ministry as a keyboardist in their major events.