The following is my testimony that I shared with 300 other students, parents, and supporters of Christian Campus House at our Annual Spring Banquet.
For 18 years of my life I was physically, emotionally, and verbally abused by my father. In December of 2007, I left my real family due to a domestic violence case. At that point, I was homeless. I stayed with my best friend for a while before I found a permanent home. I ended up moving into my friend Heather's home permanently. The family was really inviting and took me in as if I was there own child. I was forced to go to church when I lived with this family. I never really "got" the messages or listened to what was going on. The family I was living with helped me get to college.
August 23, 2008 I moved 4 hours away from home to go to Trine University. 4 hours away from my past. 4 hours away from the drama of my hometown. 4 hours away so that I could start a new life. A new life is what I started! The second day I was on campus I went to a worship session with Christian Campus House (CCH). Worship was good and I thought I could get to know a lot of people through the organization. I started attending everything that dealt with CCH from Freshman Girls Group to Friday Night Activities.
Around the middle of fall semester it really hit me that people in CCH were different than me. It really hit me that they had something that I was missing. One of the senior girls in CCH named Erica was very blunt with me one day and asked me why I cursed. I had no response. God spoke to me through her and from that day until now I have stopped cursing. That one step has started a changing trend. I have changed so many things in my life since that day. During Christmas break, I returned to my friends’ house and I was reading a book called "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. This book really touched my heart because it shared the Gospel with me and helped me realize I had a hole in my heart that could only be filled with Christ. I accepted Jesus into my heart!! :)
After Christmas break I started seeking God more and learning more about the story of Jesus. I met with my campus minister, Travis, and he helped me seek God to heal all the hurts and pains from others in my life. He encouraged me to forgive everyone for the things they have done to me that have hurt me. I wrote a list of ways people have hurt me and through a process of a couple of weeks I forgave every single hurt on the list. I forgave my brother, my father, my mother, every single person that has ever hurt me. I had been meeting with Robyn and she was showing me what scripture says about baptism. On my first missions trip to Dungannon, Va I felt God calling me to share with others that I wanted to lay down my past and be renewed in Christ. I was baptized on March 13, 2009! During that moment I could not explain how I felt. God was soo good and I was so excited to be starting this journey of loving and serving Him.
After returning from Virginia, I applied to be a missionary at Cedar Point to tell others about the amazing things God had been doing in my life. I found out that evangelism is not the easiest thing to do, but I knew that God was teaching me how to do it that summer. Between Cedar Point and school I went back to my hometown to stay with my friend and her family. I found out that the Denise, my friends’ mom, had moved out and that her and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce. Being “home” just didn’t feel like home anymore.
Once my second year of college started, God had been laying on my heart for a while that I needed to reconnect with my real mom. I didn't know how I was going to communicate with her or what I was going to say, so I just prayed about it. Eventually, in October, God led me to write my mom a letter and send it via snail mail. I told my mom that I was sorry for everything that had happened and that I had forgiven her. I told her that I had grown so much. That I had grown independently and that I had found my identity in Christ. I told her I wanted her to be a part of my life again. I prayed over the letter before I sent it in the mail.
On October 31, 2009 I received a text from my cousin Courtney (who is the only family member I stayed in contact with during this time) and she told me that my mom had received the letter and it was the best thing she could have ever received. God knew this was the perfect time for us to reconnect. I could not have been any happier at that point. God had placed my mommy back in my life!
During Christmas break in 2009 I met up with my mom again for the first time in two years. This meeting was in God's perfect timing. It was not easy. It was one of the hardest things I have done to approach my mother, who I had not seen or talked to in two years. One of the first things she said to me is that she just wanted to move on and put the past in the past and have a relationship with me. God answered my prayers! I was so excited to just move forward and have a relationship with my mom!
During this same Christmas break chaos occurred at Denise's house. I came back to Trine a week early because I felt unwanted and uncomfortable. In February, I was emailing Denise and the conversation ended with her telling me to have a good rest of my life and that she did not want to be a part of it. I was homeless, again!
Broken and unknowing of what God's plan was for me, but still trusting Him, God led me to be a missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ for the summer in Wildwood, NJ. This would provide a home for me to go to during the summer, a place to grow closer to God, to share Christ's love, and make money with a summer job. God provided. He not only provided me with a home for the summer, but He provided me with over $3,000 in support so that I could spend the summer telling others about Him. God is so awesome. During the summer God really laid on my heart that being an evangelist is what I am called to do. Telling others about Jesus comes so naturally to me and I am able to open up to anyone. I'm excited for my future missions to glorify God's Kingdom.
It is now my junior year and God has been blessing me with so many things. I have had a home for every break from school. CCH has truly been a place for me to grow in my relationship with Christ. I have been able to share my love for Jesus with several people on campus. One of my friends and I started having weekly “Prayers for Revival” meetings. We pray for God to be known to everyone on campus-students, faculty, and staff. God has been faithfully working to answer our prayers and to make Him known on Trine’s campus.
From June 8, 2011-August 2, 2011 I will be in Nairobi, Kenya with 17 other college students through an organization called Christian Missionary Fellowship International (CMF). While in Kenya I will be working alongside the team of CMF missionaries and Kenyan nationals currently serving there. We will be traveling to the Mathare Valley slum each day to be a part of the ministry going on. Mathare Valley is a one square mile slum outside of Nairobi with approximately 800,000 residents living there. I believe that the ministry I am a part of in Nairobi will bring me one step closer to seeing where God has called me long-term.
This internship would not be possible without the prayers and support of churches, family, and friends. The more I learn about this trip, the more I realize I need people to pray for me. Pray for the ministry that will take place while my team and I are in Nairobi. Also, pray for all of my support to be received. The total cost of the internship is $5,672 and currently I have raised $2,600, which is 45% of my goal.
Through all of these highs and lows in the past four years, God has provided. I am not homeless anymore! I have the new CCH Girls House to call home next year. The Girls House will provide me with a place where I can reach out to the lost and grow in a community of believers. I am excited to see the growth within Women’s Ministry with the addition of the Girl’s House. Thank you for your support to this ministry.
In Christ,
Brandi :)
