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With little support from the government, the family of the Philippines' lone Winter Olympian Michael Christian Martinez resorted to mortgaging their home to send the 17-year-old to Sochi, Russia as the first Filipino Winter Olympian in 22 years, Rappler reports.

Martinez, whose mother tells Catholic News Service that she reached out to President Benigno Aquino for financial help without response, also overcame an inflamed knee and his family's typhoon-ravaged farm to make it to the biggest stage in figure skating.

“My house is mortgaged. It’s a crazy investment,” said Maria Teresa Martinez, the figure skater's mother. "I don't even think anyone at the president's office knows there's a Filipino skating in the Olympics."

It's a gamble, but the teenager from Paranaque, Manila, Philippines is relying on his faith and family's support to carry him to the promised land.

"Before there was no one to hold on to, only my mom but no one else," he told Simone Orendain of the Catholic Register. "So I'm holding on to God. Every competition I ask him for help and confidence and it really works!"

Martinez, 17, and a devout Catholic, is vying to become the first Filipino to medal at the Winter Games, having bested international pre-Olympic tournaments to earn an elusive ticket to Russia.