Straatwerk

"Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me." Psalm 27:10

Samantha grew up in a family with two alcoholic parents and four siblings.  She describes her childhood as being "very difficult", saying that she ran away often.  The most difficult part for her in her younger years was her fathers drinking and the abuse that he inflicted on her mother, her brother and herself.  She remembers feeling very helpless and desperate, sitting in the room, crying and begging, but unable to stop the abuse.  From the age of seven, Samantha was sexually abused by her father.  Later, in her early teens, Samantha's mother divorced her father and for Samantha, things improved because her father was out of the house, but at that time her mother began drinking heavily.  Samantha got to the point where she couldn't handle her mother's drinking anymore and so she left home and lived with her grandmother for a while.  She was very rebellious during this time:  drinking, skipping school and hanging around people who were a bad influence on her.  Later, she ran away again, this time ending up at a shelter.

While living in the shelter, a time that Samantha describes as the best in her life, she met a lady pastor who helped her and was surrounded with people who loved her and cared about her.  Samantha, in her late teens then, stayed at the shelter for more than two years.  During that time she committed her life to the Lord and learned much about God and the Bible.  However, after two years she was told that her mother was very sick, and so she returned home to be with her. She realized then that she was very angry towards her mother and she wanted to talk to her about all the things that had happened while she was growing up and ask her mother why she didn't protect her and respond to the abuse of her father.  Sadly, when she confronted her mother about those things, she didn't respond and only continued drinking.  At that time Samantha also started drinking again, and before long her mom passed away.  Samantha then stayed with her grandmother for a short time, but before long her grandmother also passed away and soon afterwards things got even worse for her.

Feeling completely alone and without anyone to turn to, Samantha started working with an escort agency. During the two and a half years that she was in the escort agency she got involved in drugs and eventually found herself prostituting on the streets. Samantha says that there on the streets the abuse started all over again:  rapings, beatings, hittings, but that she didn't even care anymore; it happened since childhood and never stopped.

Eventually she met a man whom she later married, and left the streets and the drugs, but continued to drink. A friend of hers who was living with them was often visited by a group of Christians and they began to befriend Samantha as well, inviting her to Bible studies and encouraging her to surrender her life to the Lord.  Samantha began going to the safe discipleship house with her new friends for Bible study, and as she spent time in the Word and with this group of Christians, she recommitted her life to the Lord and chose to follow and serve Him. These Christians had a significant influence on her decision and she is thankful for their persistence in visiting her, encouraging her, and speaking to her about the Lord.

Samantha noticed that once she started getting into the Word of God and  fellowshipping  with believers, and then made the decision to surrender to the Lord  again, things began to change.  She found that she was very eager to study the Bible and learn and the more she did, the more many of her problems seemed to go away.  She gave up drinking, though it was a struggle for her in the beginning of her walk with the Lord and took some time before she was able to give it up completely. She began to see and experience how God was answering prayer in her life.  She also experienced freedom and power to forgive when she was faced with her father shortly after she recommitted her life to the Lord.  

Two years ago at Christmas time Samantha was told that her father was very ill.  She invited him to stay with her family for a few days and was surprised to find that she wasn't thinking about the past anymore.  During that visit, just two weeks before her father died, Samantha found the grace to say the words to her father, "I forgive you and I love you."

Fellowship with believers has been what has helped Samantha the most with her growth in the Lord.  She was actively part of a local church when she first began walking with the Lord but when she moved to a new area and had no support from believers around her, she fell back into drinking for a short time.  The Lord used a friend in her life to remind her of the truth. She became involved in a Bible teaching church in the area where she lives.  The group of Christians that she met has helped her to grow by not giving up on her, encouraging her, and doing Bible study with her.  Her three sisters are also now believers and they are able to encourage one another in the Lord.  Samantha has also seen a tremendous change take place in her concerning her relationship with her young son, Keith.  She used to say that she would never have kids and even after she gave birth to Keith she struggled to bond with him, but has seen how over the past year, the Lord has given her patience and love for her son.  She now reads Bible stories with him in the evenings and considers herself blessed to have a beautiful son whom she can help to grow up in the knowledge of God.

In order to keep growing in her walk with the Lord, Samantha expressed her need to spend more time with the body of believers and have regular fellowship. The message that Samantha would like to share with the world is that God is alive and there is hope.  God never gives up and so we don't have to give up either!