In Need of Hope and a Friend

G’awna and her boyfriend were living in a motel when she found out she was pregnant. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do. She couldn’t afford to care for another child. She was fighting a drug addiction and trapped in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, who was struggling with his own drug use. A motel room wasn’t the streets, but it certainly wasn’t home. She felt hopeless.

But then she met a volunteer from Jesus on Colfax, a Resonate Global Mission partner ministry in Aurora, Colo.

Jesus on Colfax ministers with people living “on the edge” in  Aurora, a suburb of Denver. Many of these people live in motels because they cannot afford rent or a mortgage for a home. The team of ministry leaders and volunteers shows up every Tuesday night with food to build relationships with people and to pray with them.

That’s how they met G’awna.

They brought G’awna food and spent time getting to know her. She said she was a Christian, but in her circumstances, she said, it wasn’t always easy to believe that God loved her. At the end of the visit, when the volunteers asked if they could pray for her, she said yes.

“The volunteers came not only with warm food but also with a reminder that I have a Father in heaven who loves me,” said G’awna.

She said she was encouraged to hope again because she had friends who cared about her. She found renewed hope that Jesus would deliver her and that her life could be different.

Over time, the friendship and support G’awna received helped her believe that her life could change for the better. The volunteers also gifted her a car that had been donated, and that helped G’awna take some important steps.

“She had the relational support to leave her bad situation and to take steps toward a new life,” said Shawn Sikkema, the Resonate ministry partner who started Jesus on Colfax.

G’awna moved out of the motel and is no longer in an abusive relationship. She is starting to heal from drug addiction and has a stable home for herself, her two daughters, and her baby boy.

Sikkema said that today G’awna has so much more hope and joy. She’s “making the most of every opportunity.” She and her mom are even volunteering with Jesus on Colfax.

“They want to be part of loving other people who are in need of hope and a friend,” said Sikkema.