|
Maria’s Story |
 |
I was living in California with my boyfriend when one day our landlord decided to sell the house we were living in. We started staying in motels, since it was hard to find an apartment to rent. My boyfriend’s mother offered to let us live with her so we left and moved in with her. While living there, I gave birth to our daughter. After her birth, my boyfriend started isolating me, emotionally abusing me and then his abuse became physical. I decided to leave the relationship and go to a shelter. Since I did not have any support in the city I had been living in, the shelter offered to pay for me to go back home. When my daughter and I arrived here, I wasn’t able to stay with my family, so I decided to call the Sheepfold and I was accepted into their program. The shelter was close to my family, so it worked out perfectly.
At first I didn’t like the shelter because it was strict and there were so many rules, but I stuck it out. I adjusted to the routine as I understood why the shelter had these rules. The religion here was new to me, I had never been introduced to Christianity. It was nice to hear how God is always here for us. In the end, the structure and routine of the program helped me stay on track. I recently graduated from the Sheepfold program. Now I have my own apartment and by the end of the year I will have graduated from school with a Medical Office Assistant certificate. I am looking forward to my new life.
- Maria, Sheepfold Graduate
Note: We have many families come to the Sheepfold each year. Each has their own story and faith journey. Some come to us having grown up in a Christian home, some as believers, some with minimal knowledge of Jesus, some from other non- Christian faith backgrounds and others with no faith background (like Maria).
Our prayer is that every resident that comes to the Sheepfold will come to know the Lord in an intimate way and make a decision to follow Him, but that does not always happen. However, we do know for a fact that a seed is planted in their lives – from the interview process, to case management and Bible Studies, no matter the situation, our residents are presented with the Love of Jesus on a daily basis. Often, we do get to see the results, but other times we just plant and water, never knowing the outcome. We trust that God will cause the growth in His perfect timing.
Please join us in praying for the families at the Sheepfold, that they would come to know Jesus in a personal way and make a decision to follow Him.
I planted the seed, Apollos watered, but God has been making it grow. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.
- 1 Corinthians 3:6-7
|
