The Shadow of Death

“I thought he was going to kill me.”

Up to that time, Silvia had been in a relationship with a young man who had never shown signs of violence. In fact, she thought they had a good, loving relationship. Until that dreadful day when she felt like she had encountered the shadow of death.  

Her boyfriend came over to the house to see Silvia and her three children. He was agitated and without provocation he became hostile and aggressive. She always knew he had experienced the shadow of death himself. Earlier in his life he had been in a terrible accident and all of his friends in the vehicle died, except him. He didn’t understand why he was the only survivor and had verbalized how he felt guilty that he survived and they didn’t. Something must have triggered that dormant trauma and he lost all control of his emotions.

In that moment, he attacked her and attempted to kill her. Silvia struggled to break free and fled for her life with her children. She got out of town and hid in a hotel for the next month hoping and praying he wouldn’t find them. Every time she heard a loud noise her mind told her that it was gunfire and he was coming to kill her. 

Someone told her about a shelter and program for domestic abuse victims and she was accepted by the Door of Hope in Pasadena. Not long afterward she heard the news that her boyfriend had actually taken his own life right after she escaped. She had been living in fear all that time. Finally, she felt safe and began the hard journey of overcoming her own trauma and doing the necessary work to move forward in life.

Silvia took advantage of everything the Door of Hope offered. She got trauma therapy, took classes in finances, nutrition, life skills, and sought out career counseling. While at the Door of Hope she also took advantage of the time to get her GED and then began taking college classes.

Silvia wants to continue her education to become a probation officer and assist children who need special care.

God has been there all along and has not only protected her from harm but is providing a future. After having finished all the classes, and having saved a significant nest egg, Silvia successfully transitioned out of the Door of Hope last week.  

Our Deed & Truth H2H volunteers showed up Saturday and turned her empty house into a home.  

We are so proud of the fact that much of the volunteer team either graduated from the Union Rescue Mission Christian Life Discipleship Program or are currently in it. The guys worked hard and did a fantastic job carrying furniture, cleaning bathrooms, building bed frames, and hanging wall art. They were happy to help Silvia and her children move into their first home. They could relate to being homeless themselves and this service project proved to be therapeutic for them and also instilled hope for their own transitions. The graduates saw this as an opportunity to give back out of gratitude to God, and others, for helping them when they were experiencing homelessness.

When Silvia returned to her fully-furnished apartment she was blown away. Be sure to watch the video.  It will warm your heart.  

As always, we want to give a big SHOUT OUT to all of you who have donated finances and/or furnishings to help us turn Silvia’s house into a home. God is empowering your partnership with Deed and Truth to impact people’s lives, like Silvia and her children, in life-changing ways.