Faith is the substance of hope - of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. So if you can hope for it and imagine it and keep imagining and hoping and seeing yourself driving a new car or seeing yourself getting that job or seeing yourself excel seeing yourself help that person - that is faith.
There is a question for which we will never know the answer: had the U.S. not launched the Contra war to overthrow the Sandinista government would they have succeeded in bringing socioeconomic justice to the people of Nicaragua?