God sometimes chooses to use times of suffering to bring us closer in our relationship with Him. C.S. Lewis once wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
One of our newest interns, Kerowyn, came to us this past January. I have asked her to share with us her testimony and how she came to Vision of Hope. Please be encouraged by her story of how God has used trails in her life to grow her closer to Him:
“I grew up attending church with my parents and when I was in second grade I asked my parents about trusting my salvation from my wicked ways to Jesus Christ. I was baptized by immersion soon after that, and this foundation of salvation has set the stage for almost all of my life. My sophomore year of High School my father died suddenly from a heart attack, and my faith in an all powerful, all knowing, good God who loves me was put to the test. By God’s amazing grace, I clung to the Rock that is Higher than I through this time, and was able to focus on serving my family and sharing a sweet testimony of celebration that even though my Father was no longer with me on earth, he was in heaven with God thanks to what Christ did for us in his perfect life and death on the cross. Although our lives involve many twists and turns, ultimately it is a story of Christ’s relentless pursuit of us to make us his spotless bride when we join him in heaven.
“I attended Faith Church while going to Purdue, so I’ve been aware of Vision of Hope for a while now. During my time in Purdue Bible Fellowship, Faith Church’s college ministry, I also became friends with a then Vision of Hope intern, Liz Kaplanis. Liz shared with me what she was learning through her time at Vision of Hope, but all I could think was “I would be awful at that” and “I think that internship would kill me.” As my time at Purdue came to a close, I realized the intense desire I had had to get out of Indiana as fast as I could had changed; Between Faith Church Community and the friends I had made at Purdue Bible Fellowship, Indiana had become my home. At the urging of my mentor, I looked into the internship more and realized the it would be an amazing and unique opportunity to grow and share Christ’s love. After lots of prayer I decided it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, even if I didn’t necessarily think I was perfectly cut out for the position, so I took the internship.
“Usually when I’m asked about future plans, I automatically assume people mean, what do you want your job to be in the future? However most of the honest answers I have to this question have to do with everything besides my occupation. I have every intention of being very involved in some ministry in a church for as long as I can in my life. I would like to learn how to bake better bread, become an ACBC certified counselor, and I would really like to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail someday. As for a desired occupation; I’ve been extremely passionate about anti-human trafficking work for a number of years now, so I also aspire to be involved in that to some capacity. I’d also love a job that puts my Japanese and Mandarin Chinese language skills to use for God’s glory. Ultimately, my dream occupation is to be a wife and mother, if that’s what God has in store for my future.
“Before coming to work at Vision of Hope, I didn’t even understand that as someone’s authority you could either be a good authority, or be a bad one. I also didn’t understand what a HUGE role trusting your authority plays in joyful submission. In my short time that I have been at Vision of Hope so far, I have had the privilege to watch and learn from the staff about what it means to be a good authority – to ask good questions, seek to love with grace and with discipline, and also to grow in trusting my own authority. As a new intern, situations often come up that I would have no idea how to handle on my own and I have to rely on staff or older interns. This has been a sweet reminder of why I need to joyfully submit to God in all things; because he knows better than I do.”
Thank you, Kerowyn, for sharing your story with us! If you are interested in receiving more information about our internship, contact Jenn Breitwieser at jheikkinen@faithlafayette.org.
