Grasping the Gospel: Allison’s Story

As many of you know, we not only offer a residential program for hurting young women, but we also offer an internship program for those who desire to learn and grow in biblical counseling, leadership, discipleship, and many other areas.

Our interns come from all over the world and commit to work with us for a full year. We provide housing, food, and other perks for them during their time with us, and we seek to provide them with many training opportunity to help them to grow.

Our interns go through a vigorous training process, and are responsible for supervising our residents, keeping everyone on schedule, lovingly helping ladies when they are struggling, provide accountability, and various other responsibilities. They are able to attend weekly training meetings and observe counseling sessions for further experience. We could not run our program without the help of our faithful interns, and we thank God for them!

We welcome new interns every January and July, so last month we were able to welcome a group of 4 young ladies to our team to begin their year with us. In the next few blog posts, we will be introducing these young ladies to you.

First, we would like to welcome Allison to our team! Allison came to us from Birmingham, Alabama, and she is excited to learn and grow here. We have asked Allison to share with us her story of Salvation and how God brought her to the internship at Vision of Hope. We hope you are encouraged as you read her story.

“God blessed me with parents who took seriously their call to teach and train me in the ways of the Lord. Frequently they reminded me of my need for the gospel. I began to recognize my sin before a holy God when I was 8, when God brought me to repentance, and I trusted in Christ for salvation. As I’ve grown, God’s deepened my grasp on the gospel and His grace and mercy to me. My parents have played a huge role in helping me see the sin and idols that often grip my heart.

Sanctification is a slow process, but I’m thankful that God continues to work in my heart! I’ve seen His sufficient grace made perfect in my own weaknesses and failings. God lavished grace on me that I could never earn, and I desire to demonstrate the same grace to others that He has shown to me.

Because of how God has worked in my heart and the passions He’s instilled within me, I love discipleship and biblically helping others. It’s something I want to grow in. Initially my mom found out about the Vision of Hope internship and thought I’d enjoy and glean much from it. There’s definitely a lot for me to learn here!

I’m eager to learn from the skilled biblical counselors here at Vision of Hope and be equipped to better love and serve others. I’m also looking forward to how God will grow and change me through this internship.

My desire is to be in full-time ministry eventually, or at least practice ministry as a lifestyle no matter where I am or what my future holds—honoring God in whatever context He places me. I’m grateful for the preparation that interning at Vision of Hope will provide.”

Thank you for sharing, Allison! What a wonderful reminder of God’s faithful work in each of our lives.

If you would like more information about our internship program, please visit our information page at http://www.faithlafayette.org/about/jobs/internship or contact Annie Martin at amartin@faithlafayette.org.

Bethany Dunn
Bethany heard about Vision of Hope while attending Word of Life Bible Institute in Florida. When she began praying about what God wanted her to do after graduating, He kept bringing Vision of Hope to her mind. Knowing that there was an internship available, Bethany applied, was accepted, and began her internship with VOH in July, 2012. Since then she has been amazed at the opportunities God has given her to learn more about His Word and how it applies to everyday life. Bethany now serves on staff at Vision of Hope.