We first met Jessica* at Rebalance, a YFC program that helps students build social and emotional skills.
Initially, she kept to herself and kept us at a distance. She also had a competitive spirit and hot temper as she would engage in the Rebalance games. This combined with the walls she put up, made it difficult to establish a connection with her and to notice any changes taking place. Later, we would come to see that the structure of Rebalance and the consistency of healthy, trusted adults in her life would actually be the catalyst for incredible change and vulnerability.
Jessica slowly started to attend City Life events outside of Rebalance thanks to those slow but sure connections we made with her. She began inviting friends and attended YFC Camp this year, her first summer with us.
It was at camp that we saw a true night-and-day change in her heart. We saw her walls come down in a way that is only attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit. The coolest part was her immediate acknowledgment of and obedience to share how the Lord was working in her heart. She shared this with those in her cabin and during our “tell-all” time on the last day at camp, where students had an opportunity to testify in front of everyone how they were noticing God in their life that week.
She gave a beautiful and vulnerable testimony of life at home, her journey of coming to Rebalance, then City Life, and the change she had been going through those past few days. “I’ve never felt so seen…” was how she described both her encounter with the Holy Spirit and those in the room who have walked alongside her since she came to YFC.
We are so proud of Jessica and unbelievably excited for her journey of becoming a believer, and allowing Christ to change her life from the inside, out.
*student name changed
