A story came to us this week of great redemption. Jesus has taken so many evils and wrongs in this woman’s life and used them for her good and his glory. I trust you’ll find her story encouraging.

The “Changed by Jesus” series features stories about how Jesus is working through the ministry of Mars Hill Church to change lives. If God has used Mars Hill to transform your life, please consider emailing your account to testimony[at]marshillchurch.org.  

A New Family — Changed by Jesus #2

I always knew God was there, but I was scared of him. I didn’t know how to trust him. Sometimes I went to mass when I was a little girl, because my dad was Catholic. At mass I heard about God and hell, which just made me fear that I wasn’t good enough. Then my dad ran off and my mom turned to drugs. It was pretty terrible growing up. I have ten brothers and sisters, and my mom couldn’t take care of us. She actually sold my brothers and sisters for drugs. When I was fourteen I was emancipated from my mother and became the head of our household. I did what I could to put food on the table for my younger siblings, but most of the time it was just pancakes. We had meat maybe once a week.

Eventually I had a string of abusive relationships with men and an abusive relationship with alcohol. I drank to forget the bad things. At this time I considered myself a moral person, so when I was raped and became pregnant, I kept the baby. Soon after I met the man who is now my husband, and together we raised my beautiful daughter.

When my daughter was a teenager some friends of ours invited us to Mars Hill Church. We had tried going to church in the past, but they were really legalistic and religious, and we didn’t feel like we fit in. We walked into Mars Hill Ballard on a Sunday morning, and they were playing some crazy loud music. My daughter thought it was awesome. I was stunned to discover that all these young people were going to church and they were all really warm, nice people. Then I heard Pastor Mark talk about his family and I could tell how much he loved them. I decided that I wanted to be around these people and find out more about them, so we started attending Mars Hill regularly.

Every week it seemed like Pastor Mark knew exactly what was going on in our home. My husband and I would talk about something Saturday night, and then somehow Pastor Mark would preach about it on Sunday. It was a little scary. God used that teaching to soften my heart, but I was still struggling. I knew God was there, but I wasn’t sure I trusted him. I wanted him to come down from heaven and talk to me.

On New Year’s Eve we went to the Mars Hill bowling night. I showed up with my husband and daughter, and we got assigned to a lane with another family. I was a little shocked when we arrived at our lane to find Pastor Mark and his family putting on their bowling shoes. It didn’t take too long until I realized that they were just a regular family. My daughter fell in love with Mark’s kids, and my husband got along great with Mark; the whole evening was just fantastic. That night I started to realize something: God was talking to me. He did come down from heaven, and the whole Bible was him talking to me. Every Sunday at church Pastor Mark was just speaking God’s words to me.

Now I can’t get enough of reading the Bible. God is changing our family life and making my husband into a strong leader. He used to not be very social, but now if you get him talking about Jesus he won’t shut up. We’re still not perfect, but Jesus is working on us. This Easter my husband and I both got baptized together at Mars Hill, and our friends who invited us that first Sunday were there to watch. My family wasn’t great growing up, but now I have a new family that loves me and a Father who I can trust will never leave me.