The Canyon of Emptiness

Trauma is a devastating and demoralizing beast! It oppresses and depresses the mind. It can lead lost souls into dark and desperate places.

Ameerah knows this existence firsthand. But hers is a story of healing, deliverance, and redemption.  

Here is her story in her own words:

I grew up in a home where love and affection was acknowledged by the fact that I had a roof over my head and food in my mouth. My family stayed very busy and hugs were very few and far between. My adolescence and adulthood that was marked by the divorce of my parents, my OWN divorce from my husband who was having many affairs, physical abuse, the practicing of witchcraft, and a ten-year addiction to drugs and alcohol. 

Fear and self-loathing were my best friends and I couldn’t see a way out of the canyon of emptiness that grew over the years. My days were filled with many men and many places because I did not want to deal with myself or look at myself in the mirror. I knew God was there, but never knew how to reach His heart.  

In July 2019, I hit the bottom of my canyon and the only thing I could hear was the echoes of my cries and tears every day and night. I was drinking almost 2 liters of alcohol a day and my body was telling me that I was going to die. One night, crying out to God, he heard my despair and sent me an angel that told me about Teen Challenge. I was tired and shaking but I knew that my life would be changed forever by my decision to surrender to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at the Los Angeles Teen Challenge center. The day that I had my first intense encounter with Jesus Christ in October 2019, I remember the emptiness that I felt for most of my adult life dissipating with every praise.

I am walking in my new identity in Christ by taking fellowship in love with my sisters and people in my life seriously. I used to a be a recluse and hated to interact with people because I was afraid of being rejected. Walking with Christ has completely changed my outlook toward my brothers and sisters and because he taught me how to love myself, I am able to extend the love that he has shown me to others. I read many examples in the gospels on how Jesus, filled with the Spirit of God, led and ministered to all types of different people who would soon become his disciples and good friends and I aspire to do the same. 

I am amazed how the Lord has healed me from the inside out and continues to heal me and shape me in new ways every day. I lean on him for everything and I can do nothing without him. My healing experience with him has inspired me to start my own ministry catering to the healing of abused women and their families through the transformative power of Jesus Christ.  

The scripture that continuously speaks to my heart is 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4: “All praise to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” I am excited to get to know people’s hearts and direct them to the One who saved my life.

Special “Thanks” to our volunteer team from Pacific Crossroads Church and to all of our financial and furnishings donors for partnering with Deed and Truth to turn Ameerah’s house into a home.  Please keep Ameerah in your prayers as she serves God in ministry at Teen Challenge, offering hope and comfort to others who feel trapped, in that same, canyon of emptiness.