Lost & Afraid

How can someone who is lost ever be found if no one is looking for them?

“I felt lost. I felt afraid. I felt overwhelmed. All I could think to do was to pray.”

Brittany

Brittany is 27 years old. She has three children and was in an abusive relationship. She finally realized she had to get out but she had no family to run to and nowhere to go. Without a plan she just grabbed her children and ran.

She called over 40 outreach programs that she found online. They were all full. She had nowhere to turn and running out of hope… then she had a premonition to pray. With one phone number left she called and they had room for a 4-day stay. While there she got a return call from the Door of Hope in Pasadena and they had a room open up for her and her children.

God answered Brittany’s prayer, by sending the “Door of Hope” to give Brittany a safe place to stay, to breathe, and time to think. She still felt a little lost but she was no longer afraid. They provided helpful counseling and classes and helped her get her GED.

Fast forward six months… Brittany recently got a call that her government voucher for housing was approved. But she had to find a place to live. Brittany is a go-getter! She made finding a home her full-time job… and God honored her efforts.

This past Saturday, Deed & Truth helped Brittany turn her empty apartment into a place to call home. She no longer feels lost!

Brittany is taking classes to become a respiratory therapist. Her desires in life are to become a good mother, get a good job, and save money to provide a good life for her children and herself.

Deed & Truth has helped her transition into her own space for the very first time for her and the children… but it took a real tapestry of volunteer groups to make it happen.

• Christ Central Church bought the new items for the kitchen, bathroom, and bedding.
• Volunteers from Pacific Coast Church in San Clemente helped load the truck with all the furniture and furnishing that dozens of people had donated.
• Friends of our friends, who we had never met, showed up at her place to clean and
  decorate.
• Four men from the Union Rescue Mission Christian Life Discipleship Program provided the muscle to unload the furniture and put it her 2nd story apartment.
• And the Deed & Truth core team was there to help put it all together while Brittany and her children went out for the afternoon.

We couldn’t have done it without all these wonderful and compassionate groups and individuals. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all those who made this happen. But interestingly enough, every one of the volunteers who worked at her apartment, said they wanted us to call them again to volunteer as they were the ones who felt blessed by the experience.

As a wise man once said, “those who refresh others, will themselves be refreshed.” (King Solomon, from the book of Proverbs)

Isn’t it interesting… it appears that doing “this sort of thing” is what God made us to do… to bless others (especially those who are lost and afraid).

The sense of fulfillment we receive in serving God, by serving humanity, is evidence of our higher purpose in life.