It may be hard to believe that these stories are true, but I promise you they are! God is speaking into the lives of the hurting through the Real Show in so many phenomenal ways…This powerful story is from one of our DFM volunteers, Lisa.
Growing up, Lisa was abused by her father, while her mother looked on. Both of Lisa’s parents abused marijuana and alcohol, and her only escape was to go to school during the day. As soon as she graduated high school, she moved to Hawaii and married a man who also abused her.
When her husband began abusing the three children they had together, Lisa knew she needed to get her family to safety. “I started packing up in secret. On the day I left I had to drive around Oahu in circles until our flight left. I knew if I was waiting at the airport he would find me,” she said. Lisa and her kids fled to Alaska to live with Lisa’s mom.
When her kids grew a little older, they requested to visit their father in Hawaii, and Lisa allowed them to go…but had no money to fly them back. Out of desperation, she used her company credit card to fly her kids home…fully intending to pay them back.
Things began to ramp up in Lisa’s life. Her ex-husband committed suicide after their kids returned to Alaska. She’d already been drinking regularly, but her addictions began to get the best of her. She started sneaking alcohol into work and drinking in her office.
One day, Lisa drank so much she started convulsing and wound up hospitalized, her breathing labored and her body shutting down. Lisa’s doctor contacted her family and told them to say their goodbyes.
In the midst of her alcohol-induced stupor, Lisa began to pray. She said, “I reached out to a God I never knew and asked Him to give me a second chance. I told Him I would do the best I could with whatever He wanted me to do with my life.” I reached out to a God I never knew and asked Him to give me a second chance. Click To Tweet
And miraculously, Lisa was healed in an instant. Her vitals were clear, her skin color normal, and she could breathe. Her family freaked out and started hugging her.
As soon as Lisa was discharged from the hospital, she became a counselor with her Alcoholics Anonymous group, helping people who came in off the streets. During this time, she continued to pray to God, without really knowing who she was talking to, she said. But then a friend from AA invited Lisa to church, and she gave her life to Jesus.
Although Lisa felt completely transformed, meeting Jesus didn’t fix everything in her life… The company whose money she stole to bring her kids to Alaska pressed charges, and Lisa was sentenced to 40 days in a maximum security women’s prison. Lisa brought her Bible to jail with her and began to lead Bible studies for her fellow prisoners, six of whom gave their hearts to the Lord.
When Lisa got out of jail, she moved to Washington. One of the first things she did was look for a church online, and when she stumbled across Pastor Daniel’s teaching videos, she felt prompted to check out Crossroads Community Church in person.
“His teaching had already completely, utterly changed my life,” Lisa told us. But she nervously wondered how she could ever find her place in such a large church. One Sunday she hung around after church to talk to Pastor Daniel, and he encouraged her to get involved with serving and stay connected….Before long, Lisa was serving with new believers, singing on the worship team, helping the church’s young adults group, and serving as a team leader for Celebrate Recovery.
What’s super exciting to us is Lisa is also now serving with Daniel Fusco Ministries, helping to facilitate the online outreach that initially caught her eye and helped her get connected to a community of believers. God has given me a heart for the broken, for people who are lost. Click To Tweet
“God has given me a heart for the broken, for people who are lost,” Lisa said. “More than anything I want to help people in my situation, and I believe helping Pastor Daniel and his ministry is a great way to do that right now because we’re all working to connect with people who are lost and don’t know what else to do.”
Lisa continues to be amazed by how the Lord is transforming her life, and we continue to be encouraged by her transformation too. “I can’t believe what God is doing in me!” she said. “Things are blowing up in the best way, and I can’t believe I get to be part of it.”
How Do We Break Free From Our Past