Denise’s Story

Denise was abused as a child, but she never told anyone, never processed her pain or healed from the wound. When she grew up, she married an abusive man and the wound grew deeper. “I felt worthless, so I started numbing my pain with drugs.”

Eventually, her marriage fell apart, her children went to live with family and Denise found herself homeless, in a dark and lonely place. “Without my children, I felt like I was nothing,” she says.

It was then that she entered our Life Change Academy and the Lord turned her darkness into light! Through chapel services and Bible studies, Denise’s faith grew strong. “I was in my Bible every day and came to feel a connection with God. Now, I speak to Him constantly and feel Him all around.”

“I’m a new creation in Christ!”

Her growing faith and our Christian counselors helped Denise finally process her painful secrets. “The abuse no longer holds me in bondage to anger,” she says.

Denise’s children are overjoyed at their mother’s transformation. They spend lots of time with her, sharing their lives, and are growing in Christ because of her example. “They attended two retreats here and we worshiped God together,” Denise says, with tears of joy.

Her relationship with her mother, once strained by Denise’s anger, has grown strong as well. “We tell each other ‘I love you,’ something we never did before.”

A graduate of the Academy, Denise has been clean for four years now and is on staff at our Shelter of Hope, ministering to women who struggle as she once did. “God is using me in great ways and I’m amazed!”

Denise is thankful for the kindness and compassion of loving neighbors like you – and for the peace and hope she’s found in the Lord. “God renewed every aspect of my life and I’m so blessed and grateful.”

To read this issue of Hope Now, click here.