Testimonies

Jaylen is a 17-year-old who started coming to our youth group a little over a year ago (he's the one in the blue hoodie). At the time, he was often homeless and had a very unstable relationship with his mom. For months, he was skeptical about God and anything related to the gospel. He would sit and listen to the Bible stories, but never seemed ready to take the next step of making Jesus his personal Savior. I prayed for Jaylen often, but honestly, I wasn’t sure if he would ever come to see his need for Christ. This past summer, I took 14 teens to a Christian camp, where I was able to stay with them for the whole week as their youth sponsor. The week was going smoothly, and on the very last night, I asked the question I often ask my teens: “Where are you at with God?” To my surprise, Jaylen said, “Izzy, I think that when we get back to Minnesota, I’m ready to give my life to God.” I looked at him and asked, “What’s stopping you from doing it right now?” We walked over to the camp coffee shop, and I shared the Romans Road with him. As we walked through the gospel, Jaylen broke down in tears. Right there, he cried out to God, asked for forgiveness, and surrendered everything to follow Jesus. It was one of the most heartfelt prayers of surrender I have ever witnessed, and that night, Jaylen became a child of God.

Since returning home, Jaylen has been faithfully coming to church on Sundays and has even brought his mom and younger brother. He’s planning to be baptized soon and join the church as a member. His life has been completely transformed; what a testimony of God’s power to bring someone from death to life!

Shakira is a 17-year-old girl who has been coming to our church for a long time. For years, she was never serious about her walk with God and often had an attitude with me. When I first got to know her, she would pull her hoodie so tightly over her head that I couldn’t even start a conversation with her. I often wondered why she kept coming, but she was always faithful.

Over this past year, God has radically transformed her heart. I began to see real change once I started spending intentional time with her outside of youth group. We’d go to Chipotle, drive around after grabbing McDonald’s, go downtown, or sing worship songs together. In those moments, our relationship deepened, and I could see her hunger for something more. Earlier this year, Shakira shared with me that she had asked Jesus to save her and that she was tired of living a depressed, double life. She wanted to get serious about her walk with God. Since then, her desire to grow has only increased. She’s asked me to buy her a personal Bible so she doesn’t have to keep using her phone, and she’s started coming to church on Sundays. She’s also serving on the youth worship team on Wednesday nights, using her gifts to glorify God. The once cold, attitude-driven girl is now bold and excited to worship the Lord. She dreams of graduating, going to college, and one day coming back to serve as a youth leader at Family Baptist. She has a growing hunger for God’s Word and a desire to disciple the younger generation. Truly, Shakira is a testimony of God’s transforming grace and a glimpse of the future of Family Baptist Church!

Bam is 12 years old and one of the most faithful attenders of our youth group. For a long time, he was right on the edge of salvation. He listened intently during lessons and often stayed afterward to ask more questions. This went on for months, and all I could do was keep praying for him.

Bam comes from a family of five children, with three different fathers. Tragically, all three of those fathers have died—one of them being Bam’s own dad, who was shot. The killer is still alive. His mom has endured more loss than any mother should ever face, yet she continues to do her best to raise her kids.

Because of all he has lived through, Bam carries deep emotions and has even battled suicidal thoughts. Still, even in the middle of his pain and instability, God was drawing him to Himself.

One night after youth group, Bam waited for me and broke down weeping. Through his tears, he admitted he was struggling to believe that God could forgive him for his past, yet he longed for the peace and belonging that only Christ can give. That night, with tears streaming down his face, Bam surrendered his life to Jesus.

Since then, Bam has been growing in his faith. He is being discipled alongside his friend Jaylen, and both serve on the teen worship team on Wednesday nights. While he still has ups and downs, God remains faithful, and Bam is hungry to learn what it means to grow into a man of God and a future leader.

Aniya was a 14-year-old girl who rarely came to youth group. Her siblings were faithful attenders, so she would show up occasionally—but usually with the mission of tripping me up and publicly ridiculing the truth being taught from God’s Word. She was not kind, and her hard exterior made her very difficult to reach. Honestly, I didn’t pursue her much at first. I wanted to focus on the teens who were faithfully showing up and eager to learn.

But then I heard Aniya was pregnant. She was only 14 at the time and had already been kicked out of her house multiple times. Her family pressured her to have an abortion, but she chose to keep her baby. Because of that, and other tensions, she received little to no support from her family during her pregnancy.

I wasn’t sure if I should get involved, but I felt God clearly prompting me to step in. I got her phone number and began reaching out. Our church is connected with Metro Women’s Center, a pregnancy resource center for mothers in need, so our relationship began with me picking her up each week and driving her there. At first, she was cold and barely spoke, but over time, those drives became the place where walls began to break down. Slowly, we grew closer and became friends.

Her pregnancy was difficult. Some days she was kind, other days she snapped at me before I could even ask how she was doing. Our relationship had extreme highs and lows, but I made the choice never to give up on her. I wanted her to see the unconditional love of Christ. Over those nine months, we had countless gospel conversations, and little by little, her heart began to soften.

When the day finally came, I was with her at a doctor’s appointment when they discovered her blood pressure was dangerously high. She was immediately admitted to the hospital, and the next morning she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Ah’Treavion. I stayed with her through labor and witnessed firsthand the brokenness and dysfunction of her family. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever experienced, but God gave me the strength to stay. In that moment, Aniyah asked me to be his “godmom.”

Please continue to pray for them both. We still go to the Women’s Center together, and recently Aniya asked if we could start a Bible study, which has been so encouraging to see. Earlier this year, we were sitting outside in my car when she began to understand her need for a Savior. In that moment, she chose to put her trust in Jesus and prayed, asking Him to forgive her of her sins.

She’s pushing forward to be the best mom she can be, and just recently, I was able to help her move into a beautiful teen homeless shelter that will provide long term stability. She’s also staying in school, planning to graduate, and even hopes to attend college.

God’s hand is all over Aniya’s story, and it has been incredible to watch Him work in her life.