Your testimony is not a list of the bad things you’ve done and how you are a great person now that you know Christ. Your testimony is how God has worked in your life, even before you knew He was there. It is how God has written your story and what He is still writing. –Rachel Lucus
My heart suddenly found itself in my throat. I stood in the corner of a large room, observing. Children partnered with adults as they were individually tutored in math, science, reading and writing. My eyes caught sight of a little boy, who had just come from school. Just by watching, it was obvious that he didn’t even know how to spell his last name. He looked at his tutor with wide brown eyes, unsure of how to continue.
She smiled at him, “Let’s sound it out.”
Hope was here.
Almost every Tuesday afternoon, you can find Rachel speaking those encouraging words. She is one of the many volunteers at an after school, tutoring program. The program itself is incredible. But it’s incredibility is solely based off of the hope that is found in Christ, and reflected in the hearts of the program’s volunteers.
These students often walk to there themselves. The open, and loving atmosphere allows for the students to ask questions, learn, focus, and freely be themselves. It is not uncommon to find their living situations filled with hunger, brokenness, and drug abuse. Their parents are usually not involved in their lives.
Rachel’s heart breaks for these students. Coming from a family of divorce, Rachel’s own heart was broken, just as so many others have been. But instead of dwelling in her past, she uses her former brokenness as a catalyst for change.
Rachel can see, now, how God used good circumstances, and horrible ones equally to draw her near to him. The most beautiful thing for Rachel to see is that even before she knew who Christ was, He knew her and was with her, always.
More than anything Rachel knows that the hope she found in Christ, is hope everyone can find. She wants people to know His love, and who He is. Tutoring students after school may seem trivial, but Rachel knows that seeds of hope, no matter how big or small, GROW because of Christ.
xo
AnnaFilly
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