A Braid Story…
Jenny grew up in a home with a single mother who often resorted to physical abuse when attempting to parent her children. Jenny along with her brothers found themselves in and out of foster care placements, or at times living with relatives. As Jenny was sharing her story with me, there were many tears as she appropriately grieved a childhood filled with brokenness and pain. While we sat together Jenny was able to identify three very tangible ways God used people in her life (often His church) to give her refuge, hope, and love.
- When things would become unsafe in her home, there were neighbors who often offered immediate refuge to Jenny and her brothers.
- Jenny’s older brother got connected with a local church that became a safe place for him and his siblings. In this church basement, listening to Bible Stories, these three kids found a brief but regular refuge from the darkness of their home life.
- Jenny had many foster placements, not all of them healthy ones, however she fondly remembers Jim and Carrie as being kind, nurturing, and taking her to church with them.
Thanks to the financial and prayer support of those reading this, I spend my days engaging with teenagers, hearing their stories, and walking alongside them in their journey. I also get to spend time empowering others to do the same. My encouragement to you is to keep being the Church to those on the fringes. It’s hard when we don’t get to see the happy endings filled with healing and redemption that is intended for us. I doubt any of these people who walked alongside of Jenny have any idea of how God used them and yet they were faithful to love her while she was present in their life. May we do likewise.
Grateful for your partnership.
Angelina Holte (Braid & Campus Life North Side Coordinator)