Drugs. Depression. Debauchery. Reckless living. A prodigal son to a T. That was my life before Jesus Christ. I was born into a Christian family; my father an immigrant from El Salvador and my mother a Midwest woman. They met in the Army, fell in love and married quickly. I have two younger twin brothers, and we grew up in a household abundant in love and compassion, but we didn’t have two pennies to rub together. We were so poor, at one point, my family bought grapes and beans that had fallen on the floor because it’s all that we could afford. I… Read More
Recovery
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It’s been a long road for me to get to this place. In 2008, I was kidnapped and held hostage for five months. I was pregnant and scared. From the beginning, my ex had an ulterior motive to have a child with me. He took advantage of me, and the family said to marry him so as not to embarrass them. When I tried to leave, he stabbed me in the abdomen. I managed to escape when my daughter was three months old, but he followed us and nearly beat me to death. Because he was well-known in the community, there were… Read More
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Ali Truwit has quite an inspiring story of courage, determination and Christian faith. In May of 2023, Ali lost her foot, and almost her life, when she was brutally attacked by a shark. Now, just over a year later, this young lady will represent the United States in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. The Attack Ali had just graduated from Yale in May of 2023, and to celebrate, she took a trip to Turks and Caicos with her best friend, Sophie. The two of them had been teammates on the Yale University swimming team. While snorkeling in the beautiful ocean waters, a… Read More
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At my husband’s funeral, we played “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)”. My mom had to physically hold me up, but I raised my hands in worship. I didn’t know how it was going to be okay, how this could possibly be in God’s plan for me. I didn’t know how I was supposed to keep being a nurse, when I couldn’t see an ambulance without having a panic attack. I didn’t know how any of it was supposed to work together for good. All (and I mean all) I knew in those… Read More
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Growing up in a Christian home, I was familiar with the faith. I had many encounters with the Lord as I earnestly desired to be close to Him, but something changed soon after. As I stepped into my teenage years, I became more accustomed to sinning without feeling bad about it, and steadily started to desire everything the world had to offer. There were several moments when I realized that God was still keeping me close, protecting me from going deeper into sin, regardless of where I was. When I turned 18, I had a sobering wake-up call as I ended up… Read More
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It's easy to get comfortable doing things we shouldn't. Well, I got comfortable going in and out of jail. I didn't sell drugs to make money. I sold to support my drug habit. Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, you name it. There just wasn't enough out there for me. For over 30 years, my lifestyle was my way or no way. Eventually, though, a parole officer almost caught me drinking at a halfway house. I was on high-control, so that would mean an automatic return to prison for me. Normally, I never got scared to go back into prison. Just a few days before that,… Read More