From Broken and Angry to Whole and Loving

“Everybody tells you about the miracles Jesus Christ will work,” Samantha says, “but I didn’t expect them in my life.”  However, when you see Samantha as she was in the depths of her addiction, “a broken, angry individual,” and as a happy, healthy young mother today, you clearly witness God’s hand at work.

Samantha was an excellent student in high school, even earning an academic scholarship.  But she had begun experimenting with drugs and dropped out of college after a year.  She was able to support herself and her son, but her addiction took an ever-increasing toll on her physical, mental and emotional health.

“Then I started to get into trouble,” Samantha recalls.  “I found myself in and out of psych wards and rehabs.  Altogether, I spent about a year of my life incarcerated.  I lost time with my child.  Even my parents couldn’t be near me.” Last June, Samantha found the Little Rock Compassion Center — and the miracles began. “I had some job skills that would be beneficial here,” Samantha says.  “Pastor Holloway took a chance and hired me.”

Now an office assistant at the Compassion Center, she also worked in our thrift store and warehouse — all while attending classes in our drug & alcohol recovery program and discovering Jesus Christ.  She tells us, “I learned about this God who loves me even when I’m not perfect.  I have a close, loving relationship with Jesus.  He wants me close to Him so He can extend His hand to me.  That’s something I just didn’t have before.”

Today, Samantha is happy and healthy.  She is sober and no longer needs medications for her mental health issues.  Her legal problems are behind her, and she has a strong connection with her family who look at her with amazement.  She is saving money and looks forward to getting out on her own and raising her son.

Samantha is deeply grateful to the Compassion Center, and especially to friends like you who make miracles like hers possible.  “Knowing that you’re thinking of us and keeping us in your prayers, is what makes this work. Just like you did for me, you help everyone who comes through here become the person God set out His awesome plans for.”