Testimonials

Although Angel is a fictional character, she could not be more real to me.

I understand Angel on such a deep level. In heart, mind and soul, she is me.

Like Angel, my first rejection came from my father. My lovesick momma was helpless by herself, an unfortunate trait she passed on. Like Angel, I learned God’s truth early on. I could swear by it. My mom couldn’t take care of me or herself, soon CPS removed me. Only, I would go back home and it would get worse.

Hunger, lack, emptiness were not things young children navigated smoothly.

Soon my mother found a new man to cling to and married him. The depravity I experienced only magnified. At night, the living room would turn into a battlefield.

My parents would drunkenly fight and assault each other nightly.

From man to man she went, dragging me along her adventures of hopelessness.

Far removed from any friends or hope I had left, she moved me across the state.

I did not know what would happen when I explored the world on my own. She had never equipped me for anything valuable. It was not long before I found myself sold to the highest bidder. I was a child in prostitution, being sexually exploited by a trafficker, with no other dream than to survive.

No one was coming to save me.

Night after night I was used, beaten and used again.

I started to believe every lie my trafficker fed me. He told me I had no family and that no one would ever love me. My own parents didn’t want me. I was a mistake. I should have never been born.

Even after I was rescued,  it made no difference. The damage was done. The little girl who used to beg for her fathers love, who would wait at the window was gone. In her placed was a jaded and war-torn refuge filled with self hatred.

I would repeat my own exploitation, again and again I would come back to where I was saved from. I just wanted to be free but I couldn’t help walking myself back into the same prison I had found myself exonerated of.

I denied myself love, friendships, opportunities, and second chances because I never believed I was worth it. Hope cost too much. I could not afford to dream any more. The shame I carried was back breaking. I grieved my innocence.

I knew God’s truth. Men came to use you and toss you when they’re done.

But, what if there was more? I couldn’t shake the feeling imploring me to look more into this truth. The truth is I was never wanted. There is no negotiation in that. When I should have been in school I was being sold by the hour.

I’m not sure the day it changed, however.

It was was more of a haunting whisper.

Beloved. Follow me. It was the same voice I had heard before when I was hiding under the dinner table as my parents fought during another drunken night. It was the same breath of love I felt laying down beaten and bloody. It was there the revolution was more to God’s truth than I knew about.

He found me when I was in despair and he loved me back to life. The hatred I had for my life melted slowly. I met myself for the first time. I had never experienced real peace or purpose until I let Him come into my life.

I set goals for myself and reached new heights I was so proud of. I got baptized and gave myself to the Lord. I got my diploma and started on college. These accomplishments were God redeeming me with his everlasting love he will always have for me. I am so thankful to everyone along the way.

Thank you Redeeming Love Foundation for all the love, support and guidance you have given me. Thank you for my beautiful car so I can chase down new dreams and goals.

I was failing nearly every single class except for Freshman Seminar. The longer I stayed out on the streets the harder it was becoming for me to want to go home. One time when I did make it back, my mother made me go to the doctors and that’s when they called Awaken. Awaken really saved me from a terrible road I was headed down and I’m so glad they did because without them I have no Idea where I would be today.

But thankful to them I finished school early, I was accepted into college, no longer living that life anymore.  I am able to say my mother is proud of me. Who I am today is because of Awaken, my mom and my choices but mostly Awaken and my mom. If you would have told me as a freshman I am who I am today, I would have laughed in your face. NEVER did I think I would be here today. I am now going to college to become a nurse and I know now that I am capable of a lot more than I think. Now if you don’t take anything from this, N.R Narayana Murthy once said “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong.”