With her graduation from the New Beginnings Addiction Recovery Program getting closer, Edna was given more and more responsibility at Faith Refuge. When called on to drive a van back and forth to the Faith Resale, it soon became apparent that this was not a good idea.
You see, before coming to Faith Refuge, Edna was shot in the face which left her vision impaired in one eye. This led to a roller coaster of drug and alcohol use as a way to cope. She found herself in and out of jail and she lost custody of her youngest child.
Even though she was only a bystander, and the shotgun wasn’t intended for her, her life was radically changed that day. But on another day, years later, she met a pastor while in jail. He told her about Faith Refuge and she found herself on a journey to becoming the woman God had created her to be.
“This is the first place that has accepted me for who I am,” she said. “Here they change lives. I have never in my life felt more welcome, more love and full of God.”
Edna is an example of how one day or one chance meeting can change the whole trajectory of our lives. And when we are listening for the prompting of God through His spirit in our lives, He has things in store for us we could never imagine.
Edna could have given up. She could have accepted the idea that one poorly aimed gun shot which led to a downward spiral was her lot in life. But God had other plans for her life.
She later said, “I didn’t know places like Faith Refuge existed.” But God sent someone to her in jail to tell her there was hope.
Edna may not be able to see well enough to drive, but she has a clear vision of God’s plan for her. She now says, “I want to spread the message of Jesus everywhere I go.”
Here’s to all those jail and prison chaplains out there answering the call to take the Gospel into some of the darkest places of all.
