“Hi, I heard you could give me a check and find me a place to live.”  These are the first words heard from a 16-year-old girl calling for help.  As we talked I discovered that Lisa is pregnant and has incredible dreams for her life and the life of her baby. She also has an incredible story to tell.

A story of poverty, mental illness, sexual abuse, drug use, and crime.  I learned she has been in juvenile detention, a psychiatric facility, and a home where she feels unloved and uncared for…a place where she doesn’t want her own baby to grow up.  She is also receiving services from a myriad of government agencies, and says she has been offered places to live by family friends she trusts.

I wondered for a moment why she had called Teen Parents since she was already receiving many of the services we offer — except one!  None of these people were telling her about Jesus.  She opened the door for that opportunity when she asked me why I was doing this program.  She began confessing how guilty and ashamed she felt.  When I told her about how God loves her, and how he offers forgiveness and will wipe her slate clean, she said she had never heard that before. Wow…never heard that before!

She did not make a commitment that day, but a seed has been planted, and she is listening.  This girl  is why I work at Youth for Christ.  I am excited by the opportunities God places in my path every day to share his love with another kid.  We are striving to reach 10 million kids by 2010.  I know that we are reaching that number one day, one kid at a time.