Celebrate Recovery Stories

We've got mail!

 Jennifer

“As one of the girls in the faith based dorms it is easy to say that the Strom family and the love of Jesus that shines through them not only made my time meaningful but changed my life. My family is whole again and I am still drug free. I have been home 18 months. Tell Jake that what he is doing is more powerful then any of us can imagine.”

Caleigh

"I did 8 months at Woodman and have been home two years now. I was desperate to get to Terry to ask him where I could go for help. He gave me information and now I am in a great church and God is the biggest part of my life. I have full custody of both my children. Terry and Jean helped me get started and stay with God. Thank you so much for what you do.”

What an inspiration these women of faith are! Thank you ministry partners for standing with us. Your prayers and support enable us watch God bring beauty out of ashes.

Terry and Jean are Seeing Women Set Free

We visited the women in hospice. Claudia, one of the inmate patients, was in her final stages of liver cancer.  She looked at me and said, “Oh!  You’re Terry’s mother. I met you at Woodman State Jail.” Claudia spoke about how she loved it when Terry sang He  Rescued Me! “That’s what Jesus did for me. This is so difficult for my daughter and my mother.  But now I know the Lord.”

Then we prayed, and from her deathbed she began to sing How Great is our God! Karen, the Chaplain’s assistant who is also an inmate, came with us to bring Bibles and books. She had just received a two-year set off. She has been in prison 19 years and was with me the night of Karla’s execution.

Before we went into the hospice unit she told me, “I’m a mess today. I’m trying to figure out how to tell my family I will not see the parole board again for two more years.” However, when Claudia began to sing, I looked across at Karen. Tears were streaming down her face, and in her brokenness, she sang How Great is our God.

Commissioning at Carole Young Medical Center

Edrena Smith coordinates our Murray Faith Based Dorm. She received a letter from one of the women who was eligible to graduate. She had been diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer and had been transferred to the Carole Young Medical facility in Texas City. They did surgery to remove her right breast, and she was facing radiation or chemo. Her letter was amazing, showing the kind of gratefulness that comes from a heart transformed by Jesus. Despite her loss, she was so thankful for being in a place that had no locked doors, feeling freedom. She had been reading her past journals written at Murray and realized God had been preparing her heart for what she was now facing.

She was also grateful for the family of God, and her letter moved me to tears when she wrote:

I’ve learned your family won’t always be there for you. It may seem funny but people you aren’t related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. All family isn’t biological.

She closed by asking if we would mail her graduation certificate and if I would commission her. So Edrena and I surprised her by driving to Texas City. It’s a four-hour drive but worth every minute of it. What a reunion we had!

A Dramatic Story of Reconciliation

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There were amazing testimonies of reconciliation at Reignite, but none so dramatic as Liz and Chris. They recently remarried after she served time in prison for placing a hit on Chris' life. She came to Christ and kept in touch with their little son.

When Chris saw the new Liz, he forgave her. They are very much in love, and their family is reunited. Her mother-in-law welcomed her back into their family. She hugged Liz and whispered in her ear, "Now our family is complete." Miracle working God!

He gives beauty for ashes. The oil of joy for mourning and a garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness. Thank you for providing the resources for this growth spurt. We need your partnership and prayers.

Under the flow of His amazing grace.